The NCAAs That Were
The Week That Was In Running - November 22 - November 28, 2010

To read last week's LRC Week That Was, click Here.
To read any 2010 LRC Week That Was, click Here.

By LetsRun.com
December 1, 2010

In case you didn't come to LRC much during the Thanksgiving holiday, we present to you our Week That Was. Below you can find links to each of the homepages from last week so you can re-create LRC as it existed when you weren't there.

In terms of analysis, this week we present you with some cold, hard facts from the one truly significant event of last week from an LRC perspective - the 2010 NCAA Division 1 Cross-Country Championships. We give you the stats - make that stats, stats, stats - and leave the analysis largely up to you.

What teams were the biggest surprises for the year? What teams were the biggest busts for the year? What teams bombed at NCAAs? What teams ran great at NCAAs? We tried to look into those questions and more by comparing each NCAA team's finish at NCAAs to their finish last year at NCAAs, their pre-season ranking this year and their final regular season ranking this year.

We then moved on to some individual stats. How did the top 10 returners from last year fare at this year's NCAAs? How did the top 10 at Pre-NCAAs in each race do at NCAAs this year? See the answers below.

As for the Alan Webb - Galen Rupp matchup, we must admit that was a real pleasant surprise to the calendar. However, it's a real shame no one got the word out about the race until a few days before. US stars need to race each other often and hype it in advance for this sport to grow in popularity.

Men's Team Stats

The Good	The Bad
Teams That Made The Meet But Weren't Ranked In The Top 31 In The Pre-Season 1. Richmond (24th, no pre-season votes) 2. Notre Dame (25th, no pre-season votes) 3. Louisville (28th, 34th in votes in pre-season) 4. Penn State (30th, no pre-season votes) 5. California (31st, 37th in pre-season) Comments: If you aren't ranked in the top 31 in the pre-season, the odds are stacked against you, as only 5 unranked teams made the dance and none finished higher than 24th. We guess technically six made it, as Princeton was 31st in the pre-season and they went on to finish 12th.	Teams That Were Ranked In The Top 31 In The Pre-Season But Didn't Make The Meet #18 Iowa State #19 Arizona State #21 Michigan State #25 Butler #30 Cal Poly
Teams That Moved Up The Most From The Pre-Season Rankings 1. Florida State +22 (from 24th to 2nd) 2. Indiana +20 (from 27th to 7th) 3. Princeton +19 (from 31st to 12th) 4. William & Mary +9 (from 28th to 19th) 5. Oklahoma +7 (from 12th to 5th)	Teams That Moved Down The Most From The Pre-Season Rankings 1. Georgetown -13 (from 16th to 29th) 2. NC State -9 (from 11th to 20th) 3. Villanova -8 (from 15th to 23rd) 4. NAU -6 (from 3rd to 9th) 5. Alabama -6 (from 5th to 11th)
Teams That Moved Up The Most From The Final Regular Season Rankings 1. Virginia +14 (from 31st to 17th) 2. Florida State +9 (From 11th to 2nd) 3. Indiana +6 (from 13th to 7th) 3. Portland +6 (from 19th to 13th) 5. NAU + 5 (from 14th to 9th) 5. Princeton +5 (from 17th to 12th)	Teams That Moved Down The Most From The Final Regular Season Rankings 1. California -13 (from 18th to 31st) 2. New Mexico -11 (from 5th to 16th) 3. Colorado -8 (from 7th to 15th)

Don't believe us? Check our stats below.

2010 NCAA Finish	Last Year's Finish	Pre-Season Rank	Final Regular Season
1. Oklahoma State	1st (0)	2nd (+1)	2nd (+1)
2. Florida State	30th (+28)	24th (+22)	11th (+9)
3. Wisconsin	7th (+4)	4th (+1)	4th (+1)
4. Stanford	10th (+6)	1st (-3)	1st (-3)
5. Oklahoma	12th (+7)	12th (+7)	6th (+1)
6. Oregon	2nd (-4)	3rd (tie) (-3)	3rd (-3)
7. Indiana	No qualify	27th (+20)	13th (+6)
8. Iona	8th (0)	10th (+2)	7th (-1)
9. NAU	4th (-5)	3rd (tie) (-6)	14th (+5)
10. Arkansas	26th (+16)	13th (+3)	9th (-1)
11. Alabama	3rd (-8)	5th (-6)	12th (+1)
12. Princeton	No qualify	31st (+19)	17th (+5)
13. Portland	13th (0)	8th (-5)	19th (+6)
14. Syracuse	14th (0)	9th (-5)	10th (-4)
15. Colorado	6th (-9)	6th (-9)	7th (-8)
16. New Mexico	8th (-8)	14th (-2)	5th (-11)
17. Virginia	15th (-2)	22nd (+5)	31st (+14)
18. BYU	17th (-1)	17th (-1)	15th (-3)
19. William & Mary	5th tie (-14)	28th tie (+9)	16th (-3)
20. NC State	27th (-7)	11th (-9)	21st (+1)
21. Duke	28th (+7)	23rd (+2)	20th (-1)
22. Providence	20th (-2)	20th (-2)	24th (+2)
23. Villanova	11th (-12)	15th (-8)	22nd (-1)
24. Richmond	No qualify	Not ranked	28th (+4)
25. Notre Dame	No qualify	Not ranked	26th (+1)
26. Texas	28th (+2)	28th (tie) +2	30th (+4)
27. Minnesota	24th (-3)	26th (-1)	23rd (-4)
28. Louisville	23rd (-5)	34th (+6)	29th (+1)
29. Georgetown	22nd (-7)	16th (-13)	25th (-4)
30. Penn State	No qualify	Not ranked	26th (-4)
31. California	No qualify	37th (+6)	18th (-13)

Women's Team Stats

The Good	The Bad
Teams That Made The Meet But Weren't Ranked In The Top 31 In The Pre-Season 1. Boston College (19th, no pre-season votes) 2. Texas (20th, no pre-season votes) 3. NC State (24th, 34th in votes in pre-season) 4. Kansas State (25th, no pre-season votes) 5. Toledo (28th, no pre-season votes) 6. Tulsa (30th, no pre-season votes)	Teams That Were Ranked In The Top 31 In The Pre-Season But Didn't Make The Meet #15 West Virginia #17 Notre Dame #19 UTEP #20 BYU #22 SMU #26 Wisconsin #29 Iowa #30 Arizona State
Teams That Moved Up The Most From The Pre-Season Rankings 1. Stony Brook +25 (from 32nd to 7th) 2. Oklahoma State +23 (from 41st to 18th) 3. North Carolina +17 (from 31st to 14th) 4. Arizona +14 (from 25th to 11th) 5. New Mexico +13 (from 18th to 5th) 6. Iowa State +8 (from 16th to 8th) 7. Georgetown +7 (from 11th to 4th) 7. Colorado +7 (from 13th to 6th)	Teams That Moved Down The Most From The Pre-Season Rankings 1. Florida -21 (from 8th to 29th) 2. Washington -13 (from 3rd to 16th) 3. Duke -11 (from 6th to 17th) 3. Virginia -11 (from 10th to 21st) 5. Princeton -8 (from 7th to 15th) 6. Oregon -7 (from 5th to 12th)
Teams That Moved Up The Most The Final Regular Season Rankings 1. Princeton +10 (from 25th to 15th) 2. Kansas State +8 (from 33rd to 25th) 3. Texas Tech +7 (from 10th to 3rd) 3. Stony Brook +7 (from 14th to 7th) 5. Providence +6 (from 15th to 9th)	Teams That Moved Down The Most From The Final Regular Season Rankings 1. Washington -12 (from 4th to 16th) 2. Virginia -8 (from 13th to 21st) 3. Michigan State -7 (from 16th to 23rd) 4. Oregon -6 (from 6th to 12th) 5. Stanford -6 (from 7th to 13th) Comments: An awful day for the PAC-10 schools.

Don't believe us? Check our stats below.

2010 NCAA Finish	Last year's finish	Pre-Season Rank	Final Regular Season
1. Villanova	1st (0)	1st (0)	1st (0)
2. Florida State	2nd (0)	24th (0)	2nd (0)
3. Texas Tech	4th (+1)	4th (+1)	10th (+7)
4. Georgetown	21st (+17)	11th (+7)	3rd (-1)
5. New Mexico	13th (+8)	18th (+13)	5th (0)
6. Colorado	20th (+14)	13th (+7)	8th (+2)
7. Stony Brook	No qualify	32nd (+25)	14th (+7)
8. Iowa State	17th (+9)	16th (+8)	12th (+4)
9. Providence	11th (+2)	14th (+5)	15th (+6)
10. Syracuse	18th (+8)	9th (-1)	11th (+1)
11. Arizona	30th (+19)	25th (+14)	9th (-2)
12. Oregon	9th (-3)	5th (-7)	6th (-6)
13. Stanford	16th (+3)	12th (-1)	7th (-6)
14. North Carolina	No qualify	31st (+17)	18th (+4)
15. Princeton	5th (-10)	7th (-8)	25th (+10)
16. Washington	3rd (-13)	3rd (-13)	4th (-12)
17. Duke	8th (-9)	6th (-11)	21st (+4)
18. Oklahoma State	No qualify	41st (+23)	19th (-3)
19. Boston College	No qualify	Not ranked	20th (+1)
20. Texas	No qualify	Not ranked	24th (+4)
21. Virginia	15th (-6)	10th (-11)	13th (-8)
22. Michigan	27th (+5)	27th (+5)	17th(-5)
23. Michigan State	26th (+3)	23rd (0)	16th (-7)
24. NC State	No qualify	Not ranked	28th (+4)
25. Kansas State	No qualify	Not ranked	33rd (+8)
26. Penn State	14th (-12)	24th (-2)	23rd (-3)
27. Minnesota	10th (-17)	21st (-6)	22nd (-5)
28. Toledo	No qualify	Not ranked	27th (-1)
29. Florida	7th (-22)	8th (-21)	29th (0)
30. Tulsa	No qualify	Not ranked	26th (-4)
31. Rice	No qualify	28th (-3)	31st (0)

Men's Individual Stats

Here we see where some of the stars of the pre-NCAA meet finished at the NCAA meet a little over a month later.

Pre-Nats White Men / Finish At 2010 NCAAs
1 Samuel Chelanga, Liberty / 1st
2 Ryan Hill, North Carolina State / 22nd
3 Daniel Chenoweth, Harvard / 238th
4 Trevor Dunbar, Portland / 25th
5 Miles Batty, BYU / 15th
6 Lee Carey, Providence / 24th
7 Joseph Bosshard, Colorado / 26th
8 Alfred Kipchumba, Portland / 45th
9 Soufiane Bouchikhi, Eastern Kentucky / 49th
10 Shadrack Kipchirchir, Western Kentucky / 27th

Pre-Nats Blue Men / Finish At 2010 NCAAs
1 Chris Derrick, Stanford / 5th
2 Elliott Heath, Stanford / 42nd
3 Jake Riley, Stanford / 6th
4 Barnabas Kirui, Mississippi / DNF
5 Diego Estrada, Northern Arizona / 16th
6 Donn Cabral, Princeton / 34th
7 Michael Coe, California / 91st
8 Chas Gillespie, William & Mary / 58th
9 Leonard Korir, Iona / 4th
10 Ciaran O'Lionaird, Florida State / 18th

Top 10 Male Returners From Last Year (Last Year's Finish On Left) / Finish At NCAAs This Year
1 Samuel Chelanga, Liberty / 1st
2 David McNeill, Northern Arizona / 123rd
3 Chris Derrick, Stanford / 5th
4 Barnabas Kirui, Mississippi / dropped out with back injury
5 Jordan Chipangama, Northern Arizona / did not compete
6 Dorian Ulrey, Arkansas / 11th
10 Colby Lowe, Oklahoma State / 9th
12 Ryan Sheridan, Iona / did not compete
14 Alfred Kipchumba, Portland / 45th
16 Hassan Mead, Minnesota / did not compete

Women's Individual Stats

Pre-Nats Blue Women / Finish At 2010 NCAAs
1 Risper Kimaiyo, UTEP / 4th
2 Alex Banfich, Princeton / 20th
3 Deborah Maier, California / 30th
4 Tara Erdmann, Loyola Marymount / 25th
5 Aliphine Tuliamuk, Iowa State / 13th
6 Shelby Greany, Providence / 12th
7 Amanda Winslow, Florida State / 138th
8 Ashley Higginson, Princeton / 74th
9 Emily MacLeod, Michigan State / 37th
10 Pasca Cheruiyot, Florida State / 17th

Pre-Nats White Women / Finish At 2010 NCAAs
1 Lucy Van Dalen, Stony Brook / 5th
2 Laura Tremblay, Colorado / 23rd
3 Kathy Kroeger, Stanford / not in results
4 Laura Hoer, North Carolina State / 21st
5 Emily Jones, Georgetown / 29th
6 Stephanie Price, Minnesota / 31st
7 Alison Parris, James Madison / not in results
8 Holly Van Dalen, Stony Brook / 6th
9 Kristie Krueger, Georgia / 28th
10 Amanda Moreno, UC Santa Barbara / 99th

Top 10 Female Returners From Last Year (Last Year's Finish On Left) / Finish At NCAAs This Year
2 Kendra Schaaf, Washington / 11th
4 Catherine White, Virginia / DNF
5 Allie McLaughlin, Colorado / did not compete
6 Amanda Marino, Villanova / 10th
8 Emily Infeld, Georgetown / 2nd
9 Risper Kimaiyo, UTEP / 4th
10 Cecily Lemmon, BYU / did not compete
13 Sheila Reid, Villanova / 1st
15 Rebecca Lowe, Florida / 148th
16 Pasca Cheruiyot, Florida State / 17th

Analysis Of NCAAs From A Loyal LetsRun.com Reader

On a side note, we need a term for what we call our regular readers. If you've got a suggestion email us. LetsRun.com regular David Graham often sends us insightful commentary. This week he did it again on the men's NCAA meet. It was so good, we're just pasting it here.

Most Surprising Men's performances: Stephen Sambu and Luke Puskedra. Nothing in their races this year indicated that these two were going to finish as high as they did today...I certainly didn't expect anyone to push Chelanga like Sambu did.

Most Surprising Men's team performance: Florida St. (I figured on a great day they could get a top 5 finish, but not 2nd ...) I also didn't expect Oklahoma to finish 5th. Yes, they ran well at regionals, but I wasn't expecting 5th place. They can return to Norman, OK with their heads held high. Great job to FSU & OU.

Hat's Off: Sam Chelanga joins an elite club of double winners at the NCAA CC championships. He's only the 11th person to do so.

Hat's Off2: Oklahoma State came through when it counted and got good performances from everyone. Just as Chelanga defended his individual title, so the Cowboys defended their team title. Two in a row.

Scary Thought: Not a single man on OSU's team graduates this year! (Their winning margin today was ... 120 points!)

Biggest Performance by a 5th man: OSU's Jonathan Stublaski put in a huge performance for the Cowboys and closed up their scoring with a great race. (And at 36th place, he made All American to boot)

Biggest "So close...and yet so far": Wisconsin would have easily gotten 2nd place except that down the final stretch one of their top men, Elliot Krause, pulled up lame and walked in. So they got 3rd ...

Biggest Choke Team: Stanford. For the second year in a row, they came in as the favorite and didn't run well. Last year Derrick ran well and the team poorly, finishing 10th. This year, two people ran well, Derrick and Riley; and the team ran so-so, finishing 4th. So, it wasn't the disaster that last year was, but it wasn't the race they were looking for. Too bad. Back to the drawing board ...

Best Milers: Last Year Dorian Ulrey of Arkansas ran to an impressive 6th place finish. This year, he finished 11th and Oregon's Matt Centrowitz 10th. German Fernandez was 8th. I always admire milers who run well at cross country races. They are uncommon. Congrats to all milers who make All American in cross country!

Biggest Individual Disappointments: David McNeill of Northern Arizona finished 2nd at NCAA Nationals last year and won his conference and regional meets this year. Today, he finished ... 123rd. In addition to the Stanford and Wisconsin team members who fell off the pace, Oregon's A.J. Acosta - the 2005 Footlocker National High School Cross Country Champion who was finally injury free this year and had run sub 24 minutes for 8K - finished in 161st place in 31:42.

Biggest Thrill for Me: For the first time ever, the video was streamed to Ecuador and I got to watch the race live!! The quality wasn't great (because our internet connection isn't great) but I was happy! Woo-hoo!

Biggest Need for improvement in TV coverage: the finish line. Every year, the CBS crew shows the winners kicking down the home straight and crossing the line. Then, instead of showing the rest of the top finishers sprinting down the stretch for team points and All American finishes, the camera focuses on the winner while he walks around trying to recover. This drives me crazy. I find myself yelling, "Show the rest of the race!!!!" Both the race for All American and the team races are still going on while the winner cools down. Someone needs to convey to CBS that they need to keep the camera focused on the finish line. (This year, we saw Chelanga & Sambu finish, but missed the rest of the top 50 ... and therefore the race for the team title ...)

Gotta Love NCAA Cross Country,

David

Note: 2 NCAA Photo Galleries Got Added Last Week: *2nd Men's Photo Gallery Here *2nd Women's Gallery Here

Recommended Reads

*LRC Oklahoma State And Chelanga Repeat!!!
*LRC Sheila Reid Leads Villanova To Repeat Title!!!
*Q&A With Famed Track And Field Journalist James Dunaway He'll be only the 2nd journalist inducted into the T&F Hall of Fame and he deserves as much after more than 50 years in the sport. A great guy and an LRC visitor.
*Two Rochester, NY Old Guys Battling It Out To Become 1st Marathoner To Run 1,000 In History

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Quotes Of The Day From Last Week

Sunday/Monday: "It (a 1991 article on human limits in the marathon) concludes that 1:57:58 is possible for 'a hypothetical subject with a VO2max of 84 ml/kg/min, a lactate threshold of 85% of VO2max, and exceptional running economy.' ... The key for me is that the athlete with a VO2max that high never has an exceptional running economy, so it is much like trying to find a motor vehicle with a 6 liter engine that also gets you 80 miles to the gallon (and those are the kind of unrealistic figures we're talking in combination)."

- Ross Tucker writing in the latest Science of Sport article to speculate on the limits of human performance, what determines those limits and what indicators we can measure to tell if we're really approaching unbreakable barriers. Tucker points out that predictions about human limitations will always involve assumptions and may overlook as-yet-unknown aspects of physiology, but at some point, something has to budge - the perfect athlete who tests the highest in every facet of running physiology is unlikely to exist. There must be limits imposed by our tendons/muscles/brains. The article also links to LetsRun's piece (which includes exclusive video) of the Monaco meeting of the last four 800m world record holders.

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Friday/Saturday: "[Bill Rodgers] runs on a fuel far more exotic than gasoline. A day's intake totals some 4,000 calories (vs. a normal 2,500 calories) made up of large amounts of milk, soda and fruit juice, plus such junk foods as chocolate-chip cookies, olives, pickles, Fritos, ketchup, horseradish, tartar sauce, potato chips and various dips involving quarts of mayonnaise ...

Following a hard workout he occasionally indulges in a gin and tonic, a sombrero or a piña colada. He avoids tobacco, although he was a pack-a-day smoker until five or six years ago. Ten hours' sleep refreshes him for the next day's run."


- Quote from a 1978 People Magazine article about Bill Rodgers posted by jaguar1 on the message board thread Hey Pete Gilmore/BroJos (re: front page quote). We highly recommend the Rodgers article.

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Thursday: "If the most common question I get asked is, 'How do I run a fast marathon?,' the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th ... most common questions have something to do with diet, running form, sleep, footwear, stretching, weights; anything but actual running. American runners seem to have an unending fascination with all these extra-curricular activities, yet we continue to get slower at running marathons ... If you want to improve your performance in the marathon, stop worrying about minimalist shoes, caveman diets, and new-age running form, and start worrying about getting out the door and running a little more than you did last week. High mileage works!"

- American marathoner Pete Gilmore telling the truth.

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Wednesday: "The first two guys ran well, and beyond that, we didn't. That's probably on me. If five-sevenths of them run poorly, I've got to have a talk with them."

- Colorado coach Mark Wetmore talking in the Denver Post after his men finished 15th - their lowest showing at NCAAs since 1989. We gotta give the guy props, as very few coaches would say something like this to the press.

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Tuesday: "In 2008, it came down to the same spot and I let it go. Today I said I wasn't going to let it go."

- Repeat NCAA individual cross-country champion Sam Chelanga of Liberty, talking about the finishing straight which resulted in victory on Monday but runner-up status in 2008. Chelanga's victory was harder than expected while Oklahoma State's was easier. On the women's side, Villanova and Sheila Reid were the victors and team title #9 overall and #2 in a row was much sweeter than the first according to the Wildcats' #2 Amanda Marino, who cried after the score was announced and told the Daily Times, "Winning one championship is tough. To do it twice is amazing. The second one is so much sweeter."

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Last Week's Homepages
*Mon (Nov. 29) *Sun (Nov. 28) *Sat (Nov. 27) *Fri (Nov. 26) *Thu (Nov. 25) *Wed (Nov. 24) *Tue (Nov. 23)

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