Central region: The usual suspects...but will Minnesota-Duluth miss out?

It’s the smallest (by number of teams), but qualifies the most. The Central region usually produces the winners of the national meet. And it’s usually one of these two teams: Adams State orWestern State. Both will qualify both men’s and women’s teams, though the women’s winner will be close. My gut tells me Adams men (with Ryan McNiff (pictured) leading the way) and Western women (ditto for Sophie McNeeley). You know my bias: I’ll be rooting for Adams in both.
But what is perhaps more interesting is the three-way battle for the remaining two women’s spots. The men get five qualifiers. It’ll be Colorado Mines, Metro State and Augustana.
The Augie women pulled a big-time upset at the Northern Sun meet. Their young team (all frosh and sophs) will be close to home, which will work in their favor. And in spite of their stumble, Minn.-Duluth will tighten up their pack and beat out a very good Mary squad (with the nation’s best-named runner, Dakota Wolf) and qualify for Louisville. (Another disclosure: I recently lived in Duluth for 2 ½ years, so I’m familiar with UMD’s squad.)