Division 2 Midwest Region Predictions

Bellarmine

Pretty confident there are six bids but someone correct me if I am wrong.

1. GVSU

2. USI

3. Lewis

4. Hillsdale

5. Indianapolis (Don't sleep on them...bring back Alex Cushman plus 2 sub 9:15 steeple guys)

6. Ashland

Teams who can make a run- Michigan Tech, Ferris, Wisconsin-Parkside, maybe Malone

Geeze, whatever happened to the MIAA? They were well represented in the 80's but this list shows them as nonexistent. I thought most of our teams were made up of region athletes that may have been a little better than average in high school but loved running and worked at it in college and did pretty well regionally and nationally. My alma mater is a ghost of a program they used to be. I wonder if there just has been a large turnover of coaches that just cant get it together. That conference was pretty good in track as well during that time.

The MIAA...you might want to start with the Central Region since that's where the are.

However Truman State isn't in the MIAA these days, they are in the GLVC.

Bump

I think UW-Parkside is being a little underestimated so far. Yes, Lewandoski is gone but they return everyone else on a team that missed by one place last year. I may even put them at #3. Lewis should be tough as well.

Correction, uwp has 5 returning from regional squad. Looking at last year's results they seem to have the most returning depth for the teams competing for a qualifying spot, outside of GVSU and USI.

GLIACXC wrote:

I think UW-Parkside is being a little underestimated so far. Yes, Lewandoski is gone but they return everyone else on a team that missed by one place last year. I may even put them at #3. Lewis should be tough as well.

You can tell my GLIAC bias by not putting Lewis up there.

Is that top list your actual rankings?

Patty Harris wrote:

Is that top list your actual rankings?

Rough draft.

A real step down for Truman State for sure. Anyone in that conference contend for anything other than bottom feeder championships? I guess Missouri S&T at least puts out some useful engineer types. What does anyone else do with a degree from that conference?

I would love to hear the logic behind that list

Not sure how this has shifted from talking about regionals to you bashing the GLVC. Probably should get off of your high horse...it's not like the MIAA is the Ivy League or anything. Some degrees may hold more weight than others but the GLVC schools aren't graduating incompetent people. They have just as much success as MIAA graduates I'm sure.

Also USI is one of the best distance programs in the nation with home grown kids on both sides. UW-Parkside, Indianapolis, Lewis, Bellarmine, and St. Joe's have all been solid on the distance side either individually or team wise and Missouri S&T has great field events, especially PV.

Team wise in the MIAA you have Lincoln in the sprints and then Central Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney are decent. Fort Hays St had Keehn and Kinuthia. They aren't the RMAC or anything

lolz parkside will miss ncaa by 1 point again to ashland

This year will be pretty interesting with a lot of turnover from a tight Regional last year. USI and GVSU are locks, but everything after that are toss ups. Parkside and Lewis will be really solid teams with a lot of depth. Ashland, Hillsdale, Malone, and Ferris State will be the teams to watch from the GLIAC. UINDY returns Cushman and saw a lot of improvement out of Keller and Casey. Saint Joseph's returns Barrett, and Bellarmine should have a better year as well.

Locks: USI GVSU

Mid Pack: Parkside, Lewis, Malone, UINDY

Chasers: Ferris State, Saint Joseph's, Bellarmine, Hillsdale, Cedarville

I'll admit my bias right away as I'm a UIndy alum but I'm really hoping for big things from them this year. I haven't talked with too many of them about their summer training, but I'm expecting an All-American season from Alex Cushman. He was just a few spots off in XC in 2013 and has national meet experience in both indoor and outdoor track. Don't want to say too much too early because they've still got to prove themselves, but the talent is there for a very good team.

Ashland will not be a factor, nor will Hillsdale.

GLIAC will only have Grand Valley as a lock. With Ferris St sneaking in.

nick hull returns as a lock for a top 25 spot @ gliac conference so I believe he can use his chase pack to qualify for regionlas. 100%.

Bump