2008 DIII XC

I also do not know why people are keeping NYU as the second ranked team in the country, they might not even make it to nationals as a team this year.

they definitely shouldn't be ranked 2nd, maybe closer to 20th, but they had a pretty deep team last year and if some guys improve a little they'll have a solid team. my guess is that is that they'll get third at the atlantic region for an at large bid.

Cortland, barring injury should be a lock for the #1 spot in the atlantic region, but other than that, it will be a dogfight for the second spot, as well as the next 2 or 3. This will be a lot more clearer after the first couple weeks of races, but until then it is near impossible to tell.

Okay, practices start in, what, six weeks? Who's got the good/great incoming classes? Who's having a notable summer of training?

bump

didn't cortland's top guys transfer to penn state after coach moran left?

i agree that cortland is looking pretty good, but i don't think there will be that much of a dog fight for the second spot. more like for the 3 and 4 spots

Then who is in the 2 spot?

i'm not going to say who i think because i'll get ridiculed,

but i think there will be a team that'll surprise everyone,

which i know is a pretty weak prediction considering that

it is more likely that there will be a surprise team than not.

twosies wrote:

i'm not going to say who i think because i'll get ridiculed,

but i think there will be a team that'll surprise everyone,

which i know is a pretty weak prediction considering that

it is more likely that there will be a surprise team than not.

Nice prediction, loser. It took a lot of guts, forethought, and intelligence to say "I bet...someone will get second."

haha true

alright then, someone's going to upset cortland out of no where

I think they're talking about Ithaca's b-team. They were top 10 in the atlantic region last year.

yea....

how did you know?

ha

twosies wrote:

i'm not going to say who i think because i'll get ridiculed,

but i think there will be a team that'll surprise everyone,

which i know is a pretty weak prediction considering that

it is more likely that there will be a surprise team than not.

So you're gonna say the two spot is a lock then not say who it is? If you were a real man you would say it. Then we can tell you why you are wrong.

Nothing is ever a lock. Last year Calvin should've been a lock as they returned most of the guys from the team that won nationals team with 37 points (or somewhere around there). Yet they didn't put it together and didn't even get top three, and that can always happen.

Watch out for Richard Dunbar Institute of Technology. New Team on the scene out of the mid east region....

Calvin was by no means a lock, the fact that they were number 1 for almost the whole season in the rankings, goes to show hoe much of a crock the rankings are some times.... NYU was second in 2006 and returned EVERYONE from that team, NYU ended up winning nats with out the help of arguably their best distance runner, who while in the race did not contribute nearly as he should have due to injury.

That being said....they will not be as ready to roll this year although I am sure they will still find a way to put something competitive together.

Calvin should've been a lock not by virtue of the rankings which clearly are always a huge guessing game, but by the fact that they returned runners who placed 5, 12, 17, 31 and 51 in 2006. That is four all-americans - if those runners could've just equaled their placing from last year they would've ruined NYU and everyone else.

But the point is, teams are never locks, because so much can happen between seasons that you never really know what things can look like. Cortland brings six guys into the cross country season who have run nationally competitive times in track, but injuries, burnout or a big choke session at nationals can render that level of talent irrelevant, and some team that overperforms this upcoming season could absolutely steal away the title.

[quote]post Master General wrote:

NYU ended up winning nats with out the help of arguably their best distance runner, who while in the race did not contribute nearly as he should have due to injury. [quote]

What? Who? Say what you want about Hany, but he was probably their best distance runner. Are you talkngi about someone else being injured? Hany finished 8th if I recall, which is still legitimate.

I think those who are counting NYU out are foolish. Repeat as #1? I doubt it. But they'll be there.