There's been a thread on all the other regions basically so why not give Minnesota/Iowa/Nebraska etc some love? Who are the teams to beat in this region, and what individuals do you see joining said teams at Nationals?
There's been a thread on all the other regions basically so why not give Minnesota/Iowa/Nebraska etc some love? Who are the teams to beat in this region, and what individuals do you see joining said teams at Nationals?
Men:
Wartburg, St John's, NWU, and Hamline should all be strong again.
Women:
Grinnell, Luther, Wartburg should contend for the title.
That's all I've got.
as for individuals, you'd have to go with the defending champ from neb. wesleyan, for the men at least.
How much does Wartburg have coming back? I think St. Johns has most returning, not sure about Nebr. Wesleyan. I am talking men's team BTW.
I heard that the central regional is at St. Olaf where the NCAA will be the next week. Probably a big advantage to the region as a whole since they turn around and run it the next week @ NCAA's. Being a Minnesota guy I do know that St. Johns will be very good again and I think Hamline will be better than maybe expected.
I would think that running the course twice in a row will definitely help out the Central Region runners, especially if the conditions are similar to last year's snow and mud.
Where is the MIAC championship at this year? Certainly not St. Olaf, that would be too much! BTW, how will the Oles be this year?
Sure would suck to WATCH nationals on your home course. I hope there is a repeat of 2002 for the oles and carls.
The Oles are possibly the worst team in the region, no lie. I think Cornell might even beat them.
Ouch. is Thronton still the coach?
The MIAC championship is the same place it is every year: Como Park in St. Paul.
Who will challenge the Ne. Wesleyan guy (Dunker) for the men's individual title? I think he was close to top 10 @ NCAA last year.
I think Kelly Fermoyle from St. John's would have a chance. He had a rough region race last year but bounced back at Nats to earn AA honors.
Matt Busche from Luther will contend for the men's title. As for teams, St. Johns, Hamline, and Wartburg look good. Luther should have a good showing, but the loss of my brother Eric from last years team will hurt them.
How many returners does each team have? It sounds like Hamline and Luther have lost some key runners, but does anybody know about St. John's, Neb. Wesleyan or Wartburg?
NWU returns everyone from last years XC team except Cody Waite. They have four instate freshman added who all were between 4:36-4:47 in the 1600 and around 10:00 for the 3200 at the state track meet.
Yeah well that was the high school state track meet. We're talking about a Regional Championships. Anybody have any info on any of the other big dogs in the Central?
Is Tony Hoff returning for St. Olaf this year? That guy was a stud. I don't see his name in last year's regional results, so I am guessing he redshirted? Wait.... I just needed to scroll towards the bottom.
Jason Havey ripping on his own blood. Hamline is not going to be that good they lost there 3 best runners, two graduated and the other was had the car accident. They return two pretty solid guys but those two alone do not give them a chance to win the region. I think St. Johns will win it, on paper they are really solid, with erichsen coming off a HUGE track season, they are going to be really tough.
VanBruggen (who was any where from SJUs 1st through 5th) was diagnosed with a stress fracture. That could definitely hamper SJUs success.