you do know that all last school year (2005 - 2006 school year), rupp was having some kind of thyroid problem where he had to start taking some medication, but they never figured out the right dosage for him, so he continually had off days and training wasn't as good as he/they had hoped it would be, as with his races.
then before cross country came around last season (2006), they finally got the dosage right to combat his thyroid problem, and his results reflect that. he did great at pac-10's and regionals, and finished 6th at ncaa's. and that was his first ncaa championship cross country meet. that's not too shabby. so he was really just starting to get in good, solid training, and he ran that well in xc. now he's running phenomenally(up to his true potential probably) in track, and if he stays fit and healthy, it's going to carry over to xc and i won't be surprised if he takes on mcdougal for the national title, which brings me to my next point.
rupp, mcdougal, and withrow duked it out their senior year's of high school at FL nationals, so rupp deffinately has xc toughness if he can duke it out with those guys. not that withrow went on to finish 4th at us nationals xc the following year and run 13:35, and mcdougal- well you know about his cross credentials i'm sure. so i forget what you original point was - something about his cross times not being up to par with his track times? but you should understand last year was his first year (2005) was his first year of cross, and he wasn't ever 100% healthy, nor was he in track. this past season (2006) he was, and he did well, but he was just starting to get back into it. wait until cross 2007 to decide if his cross performances live up to his track credentials, and if they don't, then they don't. some runner's don't, but that doesn't make them any less tough of a runner- it just means it's not their forte. look at cheseret. he could run 13:13 for 5000m, but not finish in the top 3 at pac10's, regionals, or ncaa's. he's still a formidle runner though, one i expect to see good things from in the future.