2014 SEC Cross Country Championships... Mizzou?

Hey guy. Why don't you come talk to me when mizzou is even on the bubble of making ncaa. What a joke.

Mizzou scored zero points at SEC Indoors outside of the DMR. I hear the same song and dance every year - Mizzou is young, Mizzou is talented. Mizzou is where distance runners go to die. There are plenty of awesome high school runners in the state that go on to incredible careers at out-of-state colleges. Mizzou takes Footlocker finalist and trains them to run in the slow section of SECs. A complete overhaul of that program has been in order since Jeff Pigg left in the 90s. I think Arkansas will win next year and there were some really tough guys from Ole Miss and. Kentucky that may breathe some life into their XC programs next fall.

bump

Sounds like a bit of self-promotion by the douche bag of a coach. No way you can convince us your guys are in position to win anything when you cant get a team to NCAA. Save the hype for your staff and recruits. We know better on these boards.

What's with all the negativity? Goodness...

I call BS on that

Where is it?

A&M. Nuff said.

What does everyone think now that the regular season is complete?

The conference looks like it's the weakest it has ever been, with only one ranked team (Arkansas at 24) and no other teams really on the bubble for the NCAA Championships. Arkansas is the clear favorite going in with 3 solid front runners in Kebenei, Gonzales, and the new foreigner. Missouri struggled at Griak, but came back with a decent team performance at their home meet. Georgia and Florida, who finished 2nd and 3rd last year, just finished 36th and 37th out of 38 teams at Wisconsin. Ole Miss wasn't terrible at Pre-Nats, but they definitely are not performing as their track times would predict, where is Gilley and Domanic for them? Texas A&M has under-performed as compared to their solid performances on the track last season. Is anyone going to show up for Auburn besides McCormack? My predictions going in:

1: Arkansas

2: Missouri

3: Ole Miss

4: Auburn

5: Texas A&M

6: Florida

7: Georgia

8: Tennessee

9: Kentucky

10: Mississippi State

11: Alabama

12: LSU

13: Vanderbilt

I'd definitely say Arkansas is the favorite but I wouldn't be surprised to see an upset from one of these teams. Kebeni and McCormick are the clear favorites for the individual title but in a smaller race environment their low stick won't be as significant as it would at a larger meet where they put 30 points on another teams number 1, here they will only get a couple points advantage here. Look for the race to be won by a teams 4, 5 runners.

I agree tho, this is a pretty weak year, I think anything could happen.

How are all of the SEC teams so awful this year?

midwestern miler wrote:

How are all of the SEC teams so awful this year?

What do you mean? UK had three guys under 26 at pre-nats.

Individual Predictions:

1: Kebenei-Arkansas

2: McCormack-Auburn

3: Gonzales-Arkansas

4: George-Arkansas

5: Dickerson-Missouri

6: Schneider-Missouri

7: Hillenbrand-Kentucky

8: Spencer-Texas A&M

9: Tobin-Mississippi

10: Grimster-Auburn

11: Cushing-Missouri

12: Wallace-Arkansas

13: Gilley-Mississippi

14: Villarreal-Texas A&M

15: Dalquist-Arkansas

Kanely Stabeni wrote:

I'd definitely say Arkansas is the favorite but I wouldn't be surprised to see an upset from one of these teams. Kebeni and McCormick are the clear favorites for the individual title but in a smaller race environment their low stick won't be as significant as it would at a larger meet where they put 30 points on another teams number 1, here they will only get a couple points advantage here. Look for the race to be won by a teams 4, 5 runners.

I agree tho, this is a pretty weak year, I think anything could happen.

This is a common misconception about the relative importance of 'low-stick' runners balancing out weaker 4/5 finishers. In a small race, the 4/5s do not get buried by a huge group of runners. Sure, maybe you get 1 and 3 rather than 2 and 4 while competitors get 5 and 7 rather than 10 and 14. However, your weak guys, come in only 3-8 places behind rather than giving up 25 points by being behind by 10 and 15 places.

If you have strong 3/4/5 runners you are better off in a big race where they put lots of points on the opposition because 10 seconds can mean 30 place at something like Wisconsin/adidas and NCAAs.

What's up with UF and UGA this year? Injuries? red-shirts? It seems like they're holding back on some of their top runners from last year. Are the coaches just playing a game of watch and see?

1 Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark. SEC

4 Texas A&M College Station, Texas SEC

6 Missouri Columbia, Mo. SEC

9 Kentucky Lexington, Ky. SEC

2 Mississippi Oxford, Miss. SEC

4 Auburn Auburn, Ala. SEC

7 Georgia Athens, Ga. SEC

8 Florida Gainesville, Fla. SEC

10 Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. SEC

11 Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. SEC

14 Mississippi State Starkville, Miss. SEC

http://www.ustfccca.org/2014/10/featured/wisconsin-pre-nats-produce-significant-shift-in-division-i-cross-country-regional-rankings

They are simply not good.

The conference is the worst it has been in years.

Not a team even thinking about making Nationals according to latest Kolas calculator.