Wake Forest - what has happened

they have good years where they finish in the middle of the ACC and bad years where this is the result and really bad years where they finish behind Miami

Check out their roster then check out the social media of those athletes. They are not focused on being good at running but definitely focused on other things that college offers. Shocking the athletic department does not focus on this.

Olympicbound wrote:

Check out their roster then check out the social media of those athletes. They are not focused on being good at running but definitely focused on other things that college offers. Shocking the athletic department does not focus on this.

I've seen you post on multiple threads with this weird social media thing. I'm sure they're adequately focused.

The AD does not care. There are a handful of schools that the AD has any expectations for cross country and track. Wake does not appear to be one of them. Pretty sad from a once very good program.

Yuuker wrote:

The AD does not care. There are a handful of schools that the AD has any expectations for cross country and track. Wake does not appear to be one of them. Pretty sad from a once very good program.

Wake has delusions it can be a football school so it destroyed the cross-country course on campus to build a training facility for their hapless football team. Pretty much pounding sand down a dead rat hole. They'd rather spend millions of dollars to try to get a football team that might beat a 2nd rate high school team if their starters didn't show up than to put even minimal effort into a non-television sport.

So now instead of just a football team that sucks they have a cross country program that sucks too. I should note that even though the XC team was 14th out of 15 it's got a better record that the football team.

The team doesn't suck because they lack a XC course. That is a poor excuse. They should at least be solid in XC. They are horrible.

I think Keith was using that as an example of the level of support for cross country not the prime reason they didn't do well.

I was hopeful the program was turning things around with some improved times on the track last year but that was a rough result at ACCs. I don't know what the problem is but a while ago they were trying to build a competitive/full track program. Not sure if they are still putting a lot of money into all the events but 11.6 scholarships don't go far when you have to cover all those events. I always thought it would be very difficult for them to compete with state schools in track who have more walk-ons, football converts and cheaper tuition.

You are probably correct. If they are trying to build a full team with the price of tuition, limited support, academic prestige (difficult to be admitted) then they are crazy. Good luck to them in the future!

Garick Hill wrote:

I think Keith was using that as an example of the level of support for cross country not the prime reason they didn't do well.

I was actually agreeing that the AD doesn't care. They thought nothing of wrecking the XC course (and the throws area). It was like it didn't matter at all.

Tough to get stud-muffins like Garick when you show no support for the team.

Yup you're right, victory awaits! Keep chasin skirt and downing booze in season! That's the plan to righting the ship! Go Deacs! Get that contract!

Why not just start a whole section of this website based on bashing coaches/programs? It's a weekly occurrence. Wisconsin, OR state, Marquette, now this one.

Just add another tab to the message board section. Bash away.

WeirdXCresults wrote:

Recently read ACC XC results. Was surprised to see Wake Forest was 14th out of 15 teams. Anyone know what has happened to that school? Didn't they used to be good eons ago. I ran in the SEC in the late 90s and they used to have good teams and some good individuals back then. Would imagine that it could be a good distance school. Has their program's funding been cut or something?

wake is 100% focused on the golf program.

Oh, COME ON! Like a school such as W&M, an elite academic school in a beautiful southern location should regularly make nationals. Period. It takes five studs. That's it. These programs SUCK now. There is nothing wrong with fans of our sport having high expectations of places such as Wake. If you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen. Better yet, do something about it.

why not just talk about all three of these programs in the state of North Carolina that are under performing. Since everyone took care of Wake bashing here are the other two.

Duke: Has been an absolute joke for the last 5 years. The men have been awful lately, with good performances by an athlete or two saving that program. And the women have gone down hill ever since that number one ranking and Wesley Frazier. THIS PROGRAM WAS SO BAD THEY DIDNT SCORE TEAMS AT REGIONALS LAST YEAR TO HIDE FROM THE RESULTS.

North Carolina, Chapel Hill: had a great few years but finished 9th at ACCs on the mens side. That program should never be outside of the top 5 every kid in the world knows UNC. This is a University that ranks in the top 30 in the world. Clearly the best institution for in-state kids to come to. But constantly losing to NC State. Havent won an ACC title in at least 30 years what a joke. And the women are about to miss nationals after winning the ACC last year.

Somehow NC State is the best program in the state of North Carolina. ABSOLUTE JOKE.

And Wake is worse than all of them.

This program will go nowhere until the director is fired and they bring in a new director with youth and passion. The director of the program has a difficult time relating to the kids, and does not have the greatest resume coming from Notre Dame. My guess is that he probably took a lot of credit from the Notre Dame head coach, and claimed that he coached many of the successful individuals. The associate AD who handles track and field, amongst multiple other non revenue sports, is a great guy but does not have the best understanding of what a truly well qualified coach is. I think Millar probably interviewed well, and has done a solid job preventing much negative press being brought upon his team outside of the track. Which really should not be a difficult thing to do there, but there had been a few incidents occur before he arrived. There have been 2 or 3 individuals in the mid distance events at Wake Forest that have been Millar's saving grace, and without them he would be fired. His men's team has consistently been placing in the teens in every conference championship each season. 13th seems to be right around their consistent place in any ACC championship. Until he goes, this program will continue to struggle and not make nationals in cross country. Brad Hunt is a great guy, and carries a great deal of passion to his role, but Millar has severely limited him and has developed a toxic relationship with him over the seasons. I hope they find a way to resurrect the Wake Forest men's distance program, but I do not see it happening soon. For those who questioned the support, that's not the answer. They have invested the large majority of their scholarships into men's distance.

Man Bear Pig wrote:They have invested the large majority of their scholarships into men's distance.

Now THAT is embarrassing given their recent results.

Remember, we're talking about a team with enough history that an entire friggin workout is named after their program (Wake Forest drill).

Thanks for the posts. There doesn't seem to be much insight here, but it's helpful to see some of the guesses. I wonder where they will finish in the regional meet.

They need to find some blue chip guys looking for great academics and have them grind it out. Additionally they need about 5 or 6 decent walk-ons to find the Garick Hills (previously posted on this thread) of the world. He ran in the 9:30s in high school and won an outdoor 10k title while solidifying their cross line up. Garick was one of the guys grinding it out day after day and workout after workout that makes teams good. Add to that his exceptional academics and you can start building a good team.

Forget trying to be good at track & field at Wake. It's too small and too expensive to fill out an entire team. Wake should easily land recruits with good weather in NC that is superior to the weather up north or further in the south.

Throw some money (doesn't even have to be too much) at a good coach and watch them create a top program. If it can be done at Syracuse it can easily be done at Wake.