Where Your Dreams Become Reality
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Where Your Dreams Become Reality |
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Sept. 12, 2006 Chris Solinsky heads a powerhouse Wisconsin
team that’s favored to repeat as NCAA champion, according to the first
Division I men’s cross country poll released by U.S. Track and Field
and Cross Country Coaches Association. Despite the graduation of two-time NCAA
individual champion Simon Bairu, Wisconsin returns four runners who
placed in the top 18 at last year’s NCAA cross country meet – Solinsky
(third), Matt Withrow (ninth), Stuart Eagon (17th) and Tim
Nelson (18th). Wisconsin won last year’s NCAA title
with 37 points, far in front of runner-up Arkansas (105). Last year’s
top two teams are picked to finish in the same order this fall. Rounding out the men’s top 10 behind
Wisconsin in the USTFCCCA rankings are Arkansas, Colorado, Stanford,
Texas, Iona, Portland, Arizona, Oklahoma State and Kansas. The second ten (11 through 20) consists
of BYU, Notre Dame, UTEP, Georgetown, Oregon, Ohio State, Dartmouth,
Michigan, Alabama and Arizona State. The weekly USTFCCCA rankings are determined
by a committee of NCAA Division I coaches. Updated rankings will be
posted each Tuesday at www.ustfccca.org. Solinsky gives Wisconsin a battle-tested
senior at the front of the pack. Solinsky followed up his third-place
finish at last year’s cross country nationals with wins at the NCAA
indoor (3,000 meters) and NCAA outdoor (5,000 meters) meets. Second-ranked Arkansas has won 11 NCAA
cross country titles under legendary coach John McDonnell, but none
since 2000. The Razorbacks’ top returnee is Peter Kosgei, the 12th-place
finisher at last year’s nationals. Kosgei is joined by All-American Kenny
Cormier, Shawn Forrest and Adam Perkins, among others. Colorado is ranked third, two spots higher
than its 2005 NCAA finish. The Buffaloes return a strong core of All-Americans
– Brent Vaughn, James Strang, Stephen Pifer and Billy Nelson. Fourth-ranked Stanford lost just one
runner from the team that finished sixth at last year’s NCAA meet.
Neftalem Araia was eighth in 2004 and 11th last year, and
he’ll be joined by veteran runners Jacob Gomez, Brett Gotcher, Jonathan
Pierce and Rolf Steier. No. 4 Texas returns Joe Thome, 15th
at last year’s nationals, as well as Jake Morse and Leonel Manzano.
Manzano won the 1,500 meters at the 2005 NCAA outdoor track and field
championships. The USTFCCCA cross country rankings will
be updated each Tuesday during the season at www.ustfccca.org. USTFCCCA Men’s NCAA-I Cross Country Coaches Poll (9-12-06) Next poll: 9-26-06 Ranking Team (first place votes) Region Points 1 Wisconsin (15) GL 450 2 Arkansas SC 435 3 Colorado M 410 4 Stanford W 399 5 Texas SC 378 6 Iona College NE 367 7 Portland W 356 8 Arizona W 332 9 Oklahoma State MW 318 10 Kansas MW 298 11 BYU M 269 12 Notre Dame GL 261 13 UTEP M 249 14 Georgetown MA 241 15 Oregon W 222 16 Ohio State GL 208 17 Dartmouth NE 205 18 Michigan GL 189 19 Alabama S 182 20 Arizona State W 180 21 Florida State S 141 22 Eastern Michigan GL 135 23 Minnesota MW 118 24 Florida S 112 25 William & Mary SE 99 26 Virginia SE 87 27 Iowa MW 78 28 Michigan State GL 76 29 Butler GL 68 30—tie American MA 57 30—tie Providence NE 57 Also receiving votes: North Carolina
State 22, Cal Poly SLO 18, Princeton 17, Washington 12, Air Force 10,
Tennessee 4, Weber State 3, Iowa State 2, Illinois 1, Liberty 1, Texas
A&M 1. Regions: NE = Northeast; MA = Mid
Atlantic; SE = Southeast; GL = Great Lakes; MW = Midwest; SC = South
Central; M = Mountain; W = West; S = South. Rankings for the USTFCCCA poll are voted on by a committee of NCAA-I men’s cross country coaches. The poll, now in its 21st year, is conducted and compiled by Don Kopriva, the Division I coaches public relations director. Contact him at P.O. Box 3040, Lisle, Ill. 60532 or via e-mail at XCPoll@aol.com. The poll is available on the USTFCCCA web site (www.ustfccca.org)
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Cross Country Spikes 10% off Injured?
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