MIAC XC 2017

A freshman wins out of nowhere.

St Olaf is going to have to work. Doge, Meikle, Cook-Gallardo...Carleton is going to be strong. Macalaster as well. Lots of underclassmen who ran well this year in xc and track.

Gustavus is going to struggle to reload. Saint John's also may slip.

Concordia jumps Augsburg. This is the year.

carleton is supposed to be good every year, and they barely made nationals 1 or 2 years recently...there is not much to suggest that olaf will "have to work." the miac meet is just another meet before nationals for them. not being arrogant/biased, just stating facts. thats great if carleton can manage a respectable top 3 but 1-5 depth is all that matters.

That's not a "respectable" top 3. That's a top 3 that most likely will all be in the top 10 at conference.

The rumor at MIAC was that Carleton also is pulling in an insane recruiting class. They might be good next year though early to say.

Isn't Carleton getting three sub- 9:20 3200m runners? That was the rumor I heard at outdoor MIACs this year.

I also heard Gustavus is getting a pretty decent class, that might save their slip to the bottom half of the MIAC.

This is the first year I haven't heard of any studs going to Olaf in a while, anyone hear anything?

So what happened to Berhe? Is he coming back? Judging early now, that could majorly sway Olaf's chances.

It's gonna be embarassing when Carleton takes 5 minute van ride over to St Olaf, wins conference, and gets back in time for dinner.

Sidenote: Do any other MIAC teams have cross country courses?

Ants In My Eyes Johnson wrote:

It's gonna be embarassing when Carleton takes 5 minute van ride over to St Olaf, wins conference, and gets back in time for dinner.

Sidenote: Do any other MIAC teams have cross country courses?

Gustavus, St. John's, St. Mary's, St. Olaf, Concordia Morehead, and Carleton all host meets/races on their campuses that I know of.

Bethel probably COULD fit an 8k but they don't.

Basically, all the non-cities schools have courses on campus.

Okay, I don't want to be mean by taking a shot at them, because a lot of the guys on their distance team are really nice people, but St. Thomas is pretty terrible at developing male distance athletes as of late.

They bring in so much talent, and then they sort of just simmer there. Most (obviously not all) make only slight improvements on their high school performances or are hurt off-and-on all four years and it prevents them from reaching their potential. It is really frustrating to watch, even from a competitor's standpoint. You obviously don't want to lose, but you also want everyone to get the best out of themselves.

That is not to say that they are the only team that doesn't struggle with developing athletes, though. Plenty of others do. It is just that with the athletes and resources they have, they should be a perennial powerhouse in the conference and a routine national qualifying team in cross country.

I obviously have no idea what their team training is like, but I personally think it is the atmosphere and culture of the team. They routinely compete with each other in practice to the point of it hurting their progress. Many either burn out (sorry for the call-out, but Trevor Smith), or are hurt (Burbak, Hestad). It is tough to watch and it doesn't look fun.

Speaking of the incoming recruiting class. Any big names coming into the MIAC? Also, anyone know which school got the best talent this year?

This is what I know.

Carleton is getting 2 fast Minnesota guys (Matt Wilkinson and Lucas Mueller) that run around 9:20 3200 and a Wisconsin guy who runs pretty fast too. Can't recall the the name.

Olaf is getting a 9:28 3200 runner from the Wayzata Liban Jama and a few high 16s 5k runners. Not super familiar with their recruiting class though.

Saint John's is getting some metro kids that are very solid runners. A few low 16s and sub 2 800 runners. Such as Justin Brakob and Chris Stanek. A few out of state recruits such as a big one Jack Colleran.

Gustavus got 3A state champ in the 1600 and 3200 Andrew Stumbo. He has a 15:49 5k time and also is a 2 time XC state champ. Big pick up for GAC. I know a few solid Wayzata runners (Jeremy Gilbertson and Nick Kerbeshian) will be at GAC too.

I don't know anything about the St. Thomas recruiting class. Sadly don't have any connections with them.

Bethel got Ezekiel Lelinga from Mounds View. A very fast in the 800 runner and an all state cross country runner.

Concordia I know they got a Stillwater runner that runs mid 16s. Can't recall on the name.

Don't know anything on Augsburg, Macalaster, and Saint Mary's. I might have heard Augsburg is getting a 2-flat 800 runner.

I'm probably missing a few runners. Let me know if I am.

Interesting info about the incoming recruits. Seems like there will be some who have the potential to contribute. Is Jerry the last freshmen to have finished in the top 10 on the men's side? Maybe we'll see some more crack the top 10 because y'all are weak AF.

What team does the most with who they get, then?

Hard to tell. To go negative to ignite some discussion on the thread, St. Thomas and Carleton seem to get a lot of talent and a lot of it doesn't seem to work out. But that could just be them getting guys who are relatively tapped out by the time they show up to college. Probably tough for a lot of 6aa guys (or Madison West guys, should probably just @ Jonah Berry--he had a really solid career but ran some high school times that would make you think that he would have been able to have hung with Jake and Paul) who are running 9:15-9:30 and have pretty advanced running ages.

On the women's side Carleton seems to really burn through talent. I think St. Thomas does a lot with what they get on women's side and have had a pretty crazy amount of success moving long sprinters up to the middle distances (Junget and Gapinski).

I gotta go with good ol reliable and pick St. Olaf to win MIAC. Gustavus 2nd, Carleton 3rd, Bethel 4th, Saint John's 5th. It's kinda hard to tell right now. But, this is what I think as of right now.

1. Carleton, for reasons already stated.

2. St. Olaf, I mean they're not going to drop 2 spots with rebuilding teams chasing them.

3. St. John's, who doesn't have to rebuild as much as Gustavus.

4. Gustavus, who will partially reload.

5. Hamline, on the upswing.

6. Macalester, if they get a similar freshman class.

7. St. Thomas, though they will be the 3rd best team 2 weeks into the season.

8. Bethel, who had a bad race at MIAC last year, definitely more mid-d.

9. St. Mary's, whose returners can get them 9th as long as they get a freshman to make them a whole team.

10. Concordia, because of their underclassmen and Augsburg losing their last low stick.

11. Augsburg, who got 13th in the Bundesliga but can do no worse than 11th here.

1. St. Olaf: They might be losing their low sticks, but they have many great runners to back them up.

2. Carleton: They got some solid runners already. They are getting a few great freshman too.

3. Gustavus: They will have a small spread between the runners. Also getting some great freshman coming in.

4. Hamline: Got some young talent. They should be solid from 1-4. They need a 5th.

5. Bethel: Good that most everyone is returning. Not the best MIAC meet for them last year. I think they can make it in the top five or maybe top three.

How's the MIAC gonna do at Regionals?

MIAC Bros wrote:

How's the MIAC gonna do at Regionals?

We don't have to live in Iowa. I'd say we already won.