D2 East Region - 2015

d2runninnnnn wrote:

Wide open this year. Many teams take a hit with graduates. Who will take it all? What recruits will make an impact? I say Bentley will surprise everyone this year.

I agree that this year will be very wide open, should be pretty exciting. I don't think Bentley can really be considered a surprise, just given the success and relative youth of the team. I think they will be a contender for a spot to nationals.

AIC and RW are still the favorites and then I agree that the third spot is wide open and certainly Bentley could be chasing it - FP still will be viable - Stonehill seems to be the team with the largest "hit" from graduation and Kirkpatrick transferring.

Where's Kirkpatrick going?

Majoring in electrical engineering. Earned Saint Thomas Aquinas Medal for having the highest cumulative grade point average on the team for the last two years.

He came out to Stonehill on a 3/2 program and is going to Notre Dame to finish up.

That's impressive. Best of luck to him.

This will be an interesting year for sure. AIC has the most depth and talent returning from all the teams I see. Not sure whether or not Biwott will be competing as he used his senior eligibility for track but has one year for XC. Regardless, they will be the team to beat in the East. Thereafter, RW, Bentley, FP, Stonehill, and Adelphi will likely be battling for those last two spots. RW and Bentley both have a lot of returning talent (Bentley returns all runners I believe) and also have youth to support it. Adelphi took a hit with Filipazzo leaving this year but they still have some runners that can compete. FP is always a strong team with many talented runners. If they are healthy, we could see something from them too.

My take right now is:

1. AIC

2. RW

3. Bentley

4. FP

5. Adelphi

6. Stonehill (not sure what they have for recruits but they lost a lot of people)

This is just a guess and the outcome could be very different. Only summer training and time will tell. Good luck to everyone!

Agree that Bentley has young talent - but would have to put them behind both FP and Adelphi and closer to Stonehill and maybe even Merrimack.

FP - Smith/Ham/Minor/Holmes/Rugabirwa and Adelphi -Grady (transfer who had to sit out XC)/Panetta/Marois/Velasquez/Coccia both seem stronger to me than what Bentley currently has coming back.

As far a s Stonehill - I would not sleep on them because they still have a deep team (numbers wise) with Santos (had a nice spring at 5K/10K),Massey/Henseler/Rego/Southiere/McGee/Bradford/Xelhua and some solid incoming freshmen from MA (Carney from Lowell and Taxter from Xaverian). All the teams above seem to be one injury away from losing a key fifth scorer and although Stonehill does not seem to have any top returners, they do have the ability to "pack run" and overcome injury.

Merrimack had a few guys run the 10K distance this spring (Harris/Vadenais/Wegman) and has some young talent as well (Gentile/Steinbrecher/Murphy(who was hurt last XC) returning so you never know what happens after a summer of training for them either.

I see D2 East like this:

AIC

RW

Adelphi (based on Grady getting a low stick)

FP

Stonehill

Bentley

Merrimack

Bentley takes it. You heard it here first. Returns entire top 10.

The team that cooks the books together, wins together.

Bentley.

just wait.

SNHU.

This school has come from the bottom of D2 East (25/28) to the top 10 within one year. It took the addition of now sophomore's Mclaren and Tuttle for the whole team to see a new level of success. Although depth on this team is clearly lacking, I believe that the quality will speak for itself with their top 5 runners (out of 8 lol).

The addition of Nacho Hernando will make a huge impact along with their change in coaching staff. The new coaches are very strong and are a great addition to this program with a lengthy history of success.

http://www.snhupenmen.com/sports/wtrack/coaches/ButlerLex

http://www.snhupenmen.com/sports/wtrack/coaches/Nick_Aguila

http://www.snhupenmen.com/sports/wtrack/coaches/Joel_Bergeron

No idea where this will put SNHU in the rankings of D2 East, but definitely better than 10th place.

john.sandyborn@gmail.com wrote:

SNHU.

This school has come from the bottom of D2 East (25/28) to the top 10 within one year. It took the addition of now sophomore's Mclaren and Tuttle for the whole team to see a new level of success. Although depth on this team is clearly lacking, I believe that the quality will speak for itself with their top 5 runners (out of 8 lol).

The addition of Nacho Hernando will make a huge impact along with their change in coaching staff. The new coaches are very strong and are a great addition to this program with a lengthy history of success.

http://www.snhupenmen.com/sports/wtrack/coaches/ButlerLexhttp://www.snhupenmen.com/sports/wtrack/coaches/Nick_Aguilahttp://www.snhupenmen.com/sports/wtrack/coaches/Joel_Bergeron

No idea where this will put SNHU in the rankings of D2 East, but definitely better than 10th place.

Well that just about does it. Don't even both with the races, just give them the crown now. SNHU, your 2015 D2 East Regional Champions!

I agree the East Region top 3 could be a toss up. Looks like Stonehill takes the biggest hit losing their entire top 5 with AIC losing their 3 of their top 5. 4 of the top teams return at least 5 of their top 7: Roberts Wesleyan, Bentley, Franklin Pierce,and Adelphi. My prediction for top 5 team finishes would be as follows, with their top returners:

1.) Roberts Wesleyan: Bender, Rodger, Watson, Pease, Bellomo,

2.) Franklin Pierce: Smith, Ham, Minors, Rugabirwa, Holmes

3.) AIC: Chirchir, Byrne, Green, Mehretu, Hume

4.) Adelphi: Grady, Moody, Velasquez, Panetta, Marois

5.) Bentley: Haas, McHale, Mehta, Chapski, Cooper

Not knowing about each teams recruiting classes, here are my top 15 predicted finishers. I am sure that a few teams will have someone new crack the top 15.

1.) Chirchir - AIC

2.) Smith - FPU

3.) Scott - LIU Post

4.) Gutbrod - SCSU

5.) Byrne - AIC

6.) Ham - FPU

7.) Haas - Bentley

8.) Green - AIC

9.) Bender - Roberts Wesleyan

10.) Rodger - Roberts Wesleyan

11.) Watson - Roberts Wesleyan

12.) Grady - Adelphi

13.) Darnell - Molloy

14.) Minors - FPU

15.) Pease - Roberts Wesleyan

Is it confirmed that Biwott is not coming back for his last year of XC?

Without him in the race - I would agree that AIC will not win the team race - also not convinced that Chirchir wins the overall race either. He certainly will be in the race for the top spot, but several guys can/have beaten him.

How can so many people be interested in such a weak region?

i chose D2 wrote:

How can so many people be interested in such a weak region?

Go away then if it bothers you troll

D2 East Regional to Be Held @ Hopkinton Fairgrounds in NH on November 7th - hosted by Franklin Pierce

Looks like twice around the loop for the boys

Lets look at the East Region womens teams. Looking at last years results and the current rosters, Stonehill should regain the top spot with Roberts Wesleyan settling for 2nd. The third and final spot will be up for grabs. Teams like St. Thomas Aquinas, Merrimack, and LIU Post will be battling for a trip to nationals.

My prediction for top 15 finishers:

1. Dooley - Bentley

2. Jerotich - AIC

3. Stasiuk - AIC

4. Williams - LIU Post

5. Borofski - Stonehill

6. Hutchinson - Roberts Wesleyan

7. Knox - Stonehill

8. Sablan - Roberts Weseyan

9. Pagliuca - Assumption

10. Wojcik - SNHU

11. McAdams - Stonehill

12. McNally - Adelphi

13. O'Hanlon - SNHU

14. Valento - Roberts Wesleyan

15. Stirling - LIU Post

nexctrackfan wrote:

AIC and RW are still the favorites and then I agree that the third spot is wide open and certainly Bentley could be chasing it - FP still will be viable - Stonehill seems to be the team with the largest "hit" from graduation and Kirkpatrick transferring.

Stonehill Reloads with Six Recruits (based on TFRRS rosters) and some people coming back from injury (Dan Nolan and Rob Massey).

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Lucas Taxter – MA (15:52 @ FP ( 3rd in MA D1 State Meet )/4:22 Mile/1:56 800

Larry Carney – MA (16:01 @ FP (4th in MA D1 State Meet)/ 9:38 2 Mile

Riley Dowd – MA (16:24 @ FP (26th in MA D1 State Meet)/4:22 Mile

Alex Demeule – MA (16:29 @ FP (12th in D2 MA State Meet)/9:43 2 Mile

Chris Drace – NJ 16:21 XC PR/4:22 1600/9:40 3200

John Onken – NY 16:42 @ Sunken Meadow(3rd in SuffolK County Meet)/9:35 3200

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They may actually be stronger than I thought earlier this summer and now should absolutely be considered for a top three birth in D@ East Region.

This is a very solid recruiting class for D2 East (which admittedly is the weakest region in the country).

Correction - I meant to write Dan Gordon coming back for last year of XC eligibility.