Best Small D1 Men's Distance Schools

There are a few programs that come to mind that are currently rising and could be exciting to watch develop in the future.

How bad I wish there was a metric that showed how good a program was relative to how hard it is to recruit/train/coach at that location and how much money they have. A way to genuinely rank who was getting the best bang for their buck. Pretty sure there would be a significant number of mid majors topping the list.

It's great seeing NAU win. But it's hard to put them on the same playing field as others when you remember we're talking abtout the university that calls the most popular altitude training site in the Western Hemisphere home. I sure hope they're pretty good

Idk about "best" but I got to Uof Idaho, and the amount of improvement they've seen from last year to this year is astonishing. I think with their current group of guys they could snag 2nd in conference, and that's only because NAU is in our conference. Here are some really talented guys on the team here, and as long as they stay healthy, I think they could do some great things in xc.

You should bump one of those and replace with Portland.

Bump NAU, they're huge (35,000 students?) and Ron Mann had it going decades ago.

Iona though really dependant on foreigners.

Portland a great call. Been good for a while but all under Rob Connor. Trophy 2 years ago with non-blue-chip recruits and imagine not a huge budget. Very expensive and have to go against Oregon, Washington, etc.

In 3 years, Furman from nowhere to 13th at NCAA and with a pro group, see if they're around in 5 more years. Less than 3000 students and very expensive.

Boise is putting pieces together quickly, but seem like hired free agents more than a team?

I think William and Mary will be on this list soon too. Solinsky going to bring both genders back to when Gibby had some top 15 teams in a row.

That bronco bucked wrote:

You should bump one of those and replace with Portland.

Ahh I compeltyly agree, I meant to put them on there.

Dartmouth, Eastern Michigan, W & M, Navy, Princeton

@OP, do you mean small as in "population" small, or small as in "non-power-5 conference" small?

I think William and Mary will be on this list soon too. Solinsky going to bring both genders back to when Gibby had some top 15 teams in a row.[/quote]

Solinsky is only in charge of the men, but has already started to right the ship. Still has a way to go, but already has a decent recruiting class with Zach Skolnekovich a recent FL Finalist. Should be a program of note once again in a short time.

Eastern Michigan seems to be a team that produces with a bunch of tough Midwestern kids and sometimes foreign.

Iona will always take the short cut and sign older foreigners, but will consistently be good. Though NCAA's was surprisingly disappointing for the amount of talent they have on their roster and the amount of scholarship they put into the distance.

Rob Connor has a great program at Portland that will always be in the mix and sometimes place quite high.

Investe wrote:

Rob Connor has a great program at Portland that will always be in the mix and sometimes place quite high.

This. Superb program, 3,911 listed enrollment. Solid education.

Furman University, 2,811 listed enrollment.

Men missed auto just one point behind Virginia at Regionals.

Redshirted top 4 and 3 freshman inside top 5 there.

Women redshirted #1 with 6 freshman inside top 7, missing auto by 5 points.

Future bright.

The future is always bright at Furman. How many of their kids stay, how many top 5 recruiting classes do they have on the girls side, that never do anything?

Their boys were 13th, once, failed to make the meet this year. The girls really improved this year, compared to last year, due to the amazing performance of having 5 runners finish the race. Furman ruins talent.

Hater - It's the staff's 4th year.

They have had one top 10 recruiting class on women's side.

They have had two top 10 recruiting classes on men's side.

Yeah let's not talk about Furman here. There's probably a permanent sign in their locker room that says "next year is the year"

It's tough to compare them to the traditional "small schools" given their very abnormal financial situation. Plus I can't stand the arrogance over there. They posted on their Instagram that they were about to be conference champs days before the race. You're in a crap conference with a massive financial advantage. Congrats guys....

I'm pretty sure Syracuse is like 2500

TeamT2 wrote:

I'm pretty sure Syracuse is like 2500

try 20,000

Nova, although the team hasn't been as strong the last couple years, still got patty cakes

You want to pile on Iona or Furman, what do they have that Villnova doesn't. I like Marcus fine, but unacceptable that they don't make NCAA's every year.

Close.

rubar wrote:

TeamT2 wrote:

I'm pretty sure Syracuse is like 2500

try 20,000