Official 2014 NESCAC Cross Country Thread

Steven Allison, at age 36, will return for a record 8th season of eligibility. He ran from 1998-2004 then went on a 10 year Mormon mission. But he's back now.

Over the past couple years Amherst has had the well deserved reputation of having a talented but wildly inconsistent/under performing team. They may or may not shake that label this year, who knows. But don't sleep on their potential.

Turissini (8:19 3k)

Crowley (Indv. qualifier xc last year)

Fussell (31:25 10k)

Meijer (26:12 as a frosh)

Mohammed Hussein (incoming recruit, Mass Gatorade runner of the year.)

They might qualify for nationals, they might finish 10th.

Williams should be very strong up front, unless Cotton transfers away again. Theoretically depth at the 4-5 spots should be a concern, but they always find someone.

Middlebury and Bates lose a lot. Midd graduates 4 of their top 5. Hannon, Martin, and Graboys gone for Bates.

Colby is the team on the rise. Never thought I'd type that sentence. They return their top 6 from last years 6th place team at regionals.

Tufts brings back 4 guys who were top 50 at regionals last year.

MIT will dominate at Purple Valley

Should be interesting to see Colby and Amherst on the rise.

Colby:

Chelimo (14:47, 3:49) ...if he can just learn how to pace a race

Eastman (not sure where he was for track, but he should improve a lot into his sophomore year)

Hale (31:24, 14:51)

Coffman (15:11)

McCarthy (66th at regionals)

Williams does not seem to have much of a depth problem through 5:

Cotton (14:22, 29:50, All American in 5k)

Mazaheri (14:29, 30:31, 9th in 5k)

Inde (14:42)

Ford (3:50, 25:50)

Townsend (14:56, 3:57)

After that they seem to drop off a bit, so they'll be hoping to stay healthy if they are to have any chance at beating MIT at purple valley. Their top 3 might make them very competitive at the National meet. Will be interesting to see if Cotton uses his eligibility this year or next year (I believe he only has one year left).

MIT has a solid group returning as usual. They would have been up there with Midd and Williams this fall at Regionals if they hadn't had two runners fall. If they can put it together (at any meet after Purple Valley), they will be a threat.

Xie (14:35, 31:05)

Jordan (14:58)

Deyo (15:07, 31:49)

Leung (14:56)

This recent photo of Cotton seems to suggest where his allegiance lies:

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/cinn/sports/c-xc/auto_headshot/8208709.jpeg

Williams has no shot at the Purple Valley Title. MIT is going to take them to Beaver town.

Any thoughts on Regionals being at Williams this year? It should put New England at a disadvantage at nationals the next week because its such a brutal course. If I recall correctly, last time it was at Williams the region didn't perform very well at Nationals.

Good teams will have plenty of opportunities to run fast throughout the year. If a team can't prove they deserve to go they won't. Williams is a tough course, but that's NESCAC XC at its best.

Posted a similar reply in the DIII thread, but I edited it to fit this NESCAC one. (regional finish in parentheses)

1) Williams - (Placed 1st, return 3 of 5) Cotton and Mazaheri could go 1,2 in the region. Inde, Ford, and Townsend (if he can stay healthy for once) will make a solid top-5. Plus, they're deep and always bring in a solid freshmen class. Lastly, they have home-course advantage. They will be extremely hard to beat at regional.

2) Colby - (Placed 6th, return 5 of 5) Chelimo and Hale has great outdoor seasons. Chelimo is my dark horse to challenge Cotton for the regional crown. The only question regarding Colby is the status of Silas Eastman. Where has he been??

ABOVE: Teams that will contend for the title

BELOW: Teams that will contend for third place.

3) Tufts - (Placed 4th, return 2 of 5) Tufts loses a lot--Shapero (12th last year), Wallis, and Norton. But their depth will carry them to a top five finish.

4) Amherst - (Placed 8th, return 4 of 5) This is a wildcard pick really. They return a solid, experienced core led by Crowley (18th last year). Really just think that Middlebury, Bowdoin, and Bates lose too much to be able to pull off a top 5 finish.

5) Middlebury - (Placed 2nd, return 1 of 5, 3 of 7) Midd loses a lot, but return a great senior leader in Kevin Wood. Sebastian Matt also had a good race for them and will greatly improve next season. They have home-course advantage at NESCACs, and the ability to train in the hills for the regional course. On paper, they place no higher than 5th. But knowing their past ability to surprise and compete when it matters, don't ever count Midd out.

6) Bates - (Placed 5th, return 2 of 5, 4 of 7) Stansel will lead a very young and inexperienced Bates squad that loses a strong senior core. Due to the fact that they do return 4 of 7, they have more upside than Bowdoin.

7) Conn College (12th last year) Obviously they are taking a hit losing last season's individual champ, LeDuc. However, they return everyone else from what was a young conglomerate. They need to work on getting that pack to drop about 20-30 seconds. If things go well, I could see them placing as high as fourth.

8) Bowdoin - (Placed 7th, return 1 of 5, 2 of 7) I can't believe I'm saying this, but Bowdoin coming in is the 8th best team in the conference. They greatly under-performed last season, and with a large conglomerate of seniors graduating, I don't see them doing anything special. They lose Horowitz, Seekins, and Saba. They return Hoose, who had a great outdoor track season and will compete among the NESCAC's best. The fact of the matter is that for the past 2-3 seasons the same 4-5 people had been running varsity. They need to get these young guys lots of race experience if they want to compete for a chance to go to nationals come November.

9) Wesleyan - Returns a strong group of young runners.

10) Hamilton - Led by NCAA qualifier Adam Pfander, Hamilton should be a lock to beat Trinity, but no one else.

11) Trinity - Hoagland had a good outdoor track season and will most certainly compete for a top-35 finish.

Word on the street is that Tully Hannan will be coming to Bowdoin next fall to use his 6th season of eligibility, and thereby finally complete his degree in advanced Smirnoff chugging under the tutelage of one Dr. J. Christian Sleeper, SfD.

Hahahaha this makes me laugh. only because its at my high school's course and while fairly hilly it doesnt compare to any courses around our county. It is one of the best maintained courses in the state or region for that matter. College runners could use a few hills. It weeds out the men from the boys.

this is my schools course and I have to agree it is pretty brutal compared to other college courses. However hills can make things interesting

Look at courses in the Midwest and south... Often times nowhere near as hilly. In college you're not just competing against people in the same area...Bro....

The course being hilly isn't the direct issue. It 1) makes the region look bad when times are slow--people in Wisconsin have no clue what the Williams/Middlebury (not sure which you are referring to but both are hilly) courses are like, and 2) it tires the runners out for nationals the following weekend, again, making the region look like poop.

Did the Middlebury course change or something? When I ran it a few years ago it was fairly flat.

I think the main concern is the Williams course, since Regionals will be the only race close enough to NCAAs to affect how NE runners perform there.

While the hills definitely tire out runners more than a flat course, I actually think the huge home-course advantage that this gives Williams will help their performance at nationals. They\'ll be able to win while still not racing all out and maybe put in a few runners who won\'t run at nationals like they did last year.

Colby, however, will have to work harder if they are trying to challenge Williams for the NE Crown. This might really tire out a team that would, otherwise, be a contender for podium at NCAAs. If they settle for 2nd, however, they may be ok.

It will be interesting to see how Williams does without the bear...

http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/thannan1/library/

Also, anyone down for a Smirnoff 2k soon??

how did that happen? whoever let it go should be kicked off the williams team

Eastman skies XC in the Winter. He was a standout in that sport during high school.

Maybe he decided to take the spring off in order to get back in running shape.

stfu about eastman, I'm worried about the damn bear

Big Spring High School, Newville, PA. Grass track. Mango Smirnoff. Midnight.