Big Sky XC - 2017

Lots of action this weekend.

Anyone have takeaways?

Mine:

Southern Utah is incredibly good on the men's side, and NAU still might be better. Will be a dual meet at conference and that will be exciting to watch. Two of the best teams in the nation dueling it out.

NAU women have been underrated in the regional rankings. They are a great team and have to be the favorite on the women's side.......by a lot.

Montana State women are good, but think after NAU on the women's side the next 3-4 teams are tight however.

Paige Gilchrist should be women's favorite, as strong as Jenica Dodge has been running, Gilchrist is still the class of the conference.

Eastern Washington men had a strong showing in Montana.

This conference is constantly improving. Big Sky should have some pride.

Updated Rankings:

Men

1. Northern Arizona

2. Southern Utah

3. Weber State

4. Eastern Washington

5. Idaho State

6. Montana State

Women

1. Northern Arizona

2. Montana State

3. Southern Utah

4. Weber State

5. Montana

6. Idaho/Eastern Washington

My take on the weekend-

SUU men are very good but 10th in the country and top 4 are two different worlds. Nothing to be down about and it will definitely be fun to watch the race play out but it is not close between the two just as last year was not close.

Because of the unusually deep fields at ND and Dillenger, it's hard to tell how well Weber, ISU and Idaho ran. Missoula Meet was interesting but didn't tell the whole story between those teams as it looked like some squads didn't have their full rosters.

Here's my ranking after this week-

Men

1-NAU

2-SUU

3-WEBER

4-IDAHO (look closer)

5-EWU

6-MSU/ISU

Women

1-NAU

2-MSU

3-IDAHO

4-SUU

5-WEBER

6-EWU/MONTANA

Big Sky Results this weekend (Men's)

Montana vs. Montana State vs. Eastern Washington

1 - Eastern Washington - 30

1 Johnson, Colten SO-2 25:33.4

5 Hommel, Matt SR-4 26:14.0

7 Price, Ronan FR-1 26:19.6

8 Rehm, Domenic JR-3 26:21.0

9 Oser, Austin SR-4 26:24.4

15 Nicol, Mason SR-4 27:12.0

17 Stahl, Logan SR-4 27:18.1

23 Sanford, Evan SO-2 29:22.2

2 - Montana State - 37

2 Hough, Brendon FR-1 25:47.8

3 Buck, Collin FR-1 25:56.8

6 Carroll, Cameron SO-2 26:19.1

10 Collins, Riley FR-1 26:28.1

16 Schmalz, Anthony JR-3 27:17.3

18 Vandine, Andrew SO-2 27:24.8

19 Bianchini, Chris FR-1 27:44.5

14 Chamberlain, Gannon SO-2 28:06.5

22 Duggan, Evan FR-1 28:40.6

24 Morris, Connor FR-1 30:36.2

3 - Montana - 54

4 Eastwood, Jonathan JR-3 26:05.1

11 Drew, Micah SR-4 26:30.1

12 May, Dillon JR-3 26:33.7

13 Baratte, Andrea FR-1 26:54.6

14 Alexander, Paden SR-4 27:05.7

20 Peterson, Kyle FR-1 27:54.4

21 Kredo, Kyle FR-1 28:16.7

SDSU Classic XC Meet

3 - North Dakota - 69

9 Kvidera, Scott SR-4 26:14.7

12 DiDonna, Cataldo SR-4 26:28.1

14 Bakken, Matthew FR-1 26:31.8

20 Henne, Jacob SO-2 26:48.6

24 Sweeney, Kyle SO-2 27:02.9

40 Townsend, Taron FR-1 29:13.8

41 Schiller, Noah SO-2 29:38.8

42 McMannes, Connor FR-1 29:50.2

Bill Dellinger Invitational

8 - Idaho - 243

46 Stucker, Dwain SO-2 24:27.2

58 Cardenas, Fabian FR-1 24:35.4

65 Ollar, Grayson SO-2 24:43.0

73 Delcourt, Tim SR-4 24:51.0

84 Ovnicek, Skylar JR-3 25:03.9

92 Fred, Austin JR-3 25:17.2

93 Schultz, Drew SO-2 25:18.4

97 Seely, Caleb FR-1 25:29.8

99 Godfrey, William JR-3 25:34.8

Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational

Blue Race

1 - Southern Utah - 72

5 Tate, Mike SR-4 23:51.8

6 Knevelbaard, Kasey JR-3 23:58.5

17 Collins, Josh JR-3 24:07.8

21 Espino, George JR-3 24:12.2

23 Wright, Matthew SR-4 24:12.4

48 Reed, Aidan SO-2 24:35.5

83 Ricketts, Christian FR-1 24:59.6

106 Osterstock, Nate FR-1 25:15.8

13 - Weber State - 350

37 Stone, Jacob FR-1 24:28.0

50 Cross, Jordan JR-3 24:38.2

116 Rimann, Colton FR-1 25:23.3

125 Glad, Cody SR-4 25:38.2

148 Cox, Conner FR-1 26:04.1

Gold Race

6 - Idaho State - 167

22 Simmons, Joe SO-2 25:21.8

28 Petty, Joe SO-2 25:28.8

34 Allen, Jesse JR-3 25:33.4

40 Diderickson, Wyatt JR-3 25:39.1

65 Kuciemba, Ricky FR-1 26:05.5

74 Condelario, Garrett FR-1 26:14.9

85 Oswald, Conner SO-2 26:23.6

Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational

4 - Portland State - 163

2 Cisneros, Alejandro SR-4 24:53.9

37 Maule, Jayson FR-1 26:10.8

38 Emeterio, Jacob SO-2 26:11.4

42 Wikler, Justin SR-4 26:18.1

44 Shelevy, Elmer JR-3 26:20.4

59 Solano, Andy FR-1 26:35.8

65 Leonis, Nigel SO-2 26:40.6

67 Rae, Jason FR-1 26:44.3

74 Solano, Erik FR-1 26:56.1

122 Hvidsten, Austen JR-3 28:15.9

Louisville Classic

Gold Race

1 - Northern Arizona - 20

1 Baxter, Matthew JR-3 23:10.6

2 Day, Tyler JR-3 23:11.3

3 Trouard, Andy SR-4 23:27.9

4 Beamish, Geordie SO-2 23:35.0

11 Grijalva, Luis FR-1 23:42.2

12 Lomong, Peter JR-3 23:42.3

56 Wolff, Ryan JR-3 24:35.8

60 Nelson, Harvey SR-4 24:39.1

67 Burks, Cade SO-2 24:45.1

207 Havriliak, Kyle JR-3 25:56.1

Rocky Mountain Shootout

4 - Northern Colorado - 93

6 Haas, Stephen SO-2 26:42.0

18 Romero, Jeremy SO-2 27:25.2

22 Irish, Tristan JR-3 27:50.7

24 Rogerson, Joshua JR-3 27:55.7

25 Remington, Isaiah SO-2 27:58.0

26 Campbell, Josh SO-2 28:11.5

30 Duggan, Luke SO-2 28:31.2

31 Watson, Chase FR-1 28:51.4

32 Bailey, Nick JR-3 28:56.2

33 Garcia, Mitchell FR-1 29:22.4

36 Higa, Jacob SR-4 29:35.7

37 Buttry, Nathan SO-2 30:19.7

38 Corrie, Timothy SR-4 30:53.6

Sacramento Capital Cross Challenge

4 Sacramento St. - 118

13 Changco, Elijah SO-2 24:44.2

42 Salcido, Ryan SR-4 25:20.1

61 Sickler, Tyler SR-4 25:35.6

64 Schraer, Aidan SR-4 25:39.3

76 Thomson, Tristen SO-2 25:47.8

127 Scheuer, Samuel SR-4 26:34.5

138 Lockwood, Trevon FR-1 26:43.2

SUU also ran 2 at Sacramento Capital Cross Challenge

7 Moore, Koy JR-3 24:27.9

10 Riding, Jiraa FR-1 24:36.4

Southern Utah women are red-shirting two or three of their top girls. Seems like everyone is evaluating them like they have their full squad from last year.

Thats not how you spell my name.

Good point brought up earlier on the women's individual title race. Is Paige the favorite? If so, who's going to stop her?

She has to be the favorite, women's side here is how I'd rank top 5:

1. Paige GIlchrist - NAU

2. Jenica Dodge - Idaho State

3. Mikayla Malaspina - NAU

4. Emily Pittis - Montana

5. Caroline Harden - Montana State

I don't see anyone challenging Paige Gilchrist.

Santa Clara meet results. Five Big Sky schools.

http://redcaptiming.com/results.html

Looks like we know just about everything we're going to know before showtime in 2 weeks. Let's get our predictions on the table!

MEN

1.NAU

2.SUU

3.Weber

4.Idaho

5.Idaho State

6.Eastern Washington

7.Montana St

8.Sac St

9.Montana

10.Portland St

11.No Colorado

12.No Dakota

WOMEN

1.NAU

2.Montana St

3.Idaho

4.SUU

5.Weber

6.Idaho St

7.Montana

8.Eastern Washington

9.Sac St

10.No Colorado

11.Portland St

12.No Dakota

MEN Individuals

1.Day-NAU

2.Trouard-NAU

3.Baxter-NAU

4.Tate-SUU

5.Beamish-NAU

6.Grijalva-NAU

7.Knevelbaard-SUU

8.Lomong-NAU

9.Collins-SUU

10.Wright-SUU

WOMEN Individuals

1.Gilchrist-NAU

2.Dodge-Idaho St

3.Malaspina-NAU

4.Lasota-Mont St

5.Condie-Idaho

6.Fruchey-SUU

7.French-Mont St

8.Hamilton-EWU

9.Quinones-Sac St

10.Goo-NAU

This is really solid. I concur on the team rankings. Men is right on individually. Women I would say Malaspina at 2, Hamilton and Quinones I don't see in top 10 even though they are good, and Goo to be even higher. Pittis had an off race at Santa Clara, but she can run in the top ten. Here's my women top ten:1. Gilchrist - NAU2. Malaspina - NAU3. Dodge - Idaho State4. Goo - NAU5. Lasota - Montana State 6. Pittis - Montana7. Condie - Idaho8. Fruchey - SUU9. Myers - NAU (she'll come on)10. French - Montana State

Just over a week!

I've got pretty much the same things except I like EWU men a little higher and some changes in the women's teams:

MEN

1) NAU

2) SUU

3) Weber

4) Idaho

5) EWU

6) ISU

7) MSU

8) Montana

9) SAC

10) PSU

11) NDU

12) NC

WOMEN

1)NAU

2)IDAHO

3)MSU

4)UM

5)WEBER

6)ISU

7)SUU

8)EWU

9)PSU

10)UNC

11)Sac

12)ND

Curious women's rankings...

Why Montana at #4?? They haven't really shown much muscle this year to deserve to be ahead of teams like Weber, SUU and Idaho St. In fact, ISU beat them in Bozeman earlier in the year I believe.

Mike Tate will win the individual crown - just watch

nobodyspeshel wrote:

Curious women's rankings...

Why Montana at #4?? They haven't really shown much muscle this year to deserve to be ahead of teams like Weber, SUU and Idaho St. In fact, ISU beat them in Bozeman earlier in the year I believe.

They had half their team sitting early on with some minor injuries. Take a look at their roster from last year, look at their track times- then look who they ran at Missoula Invite. They are getting back to full strength and it wouldn't surprise me to see them up in the mix. It's just an educated hunch and I'm not a UM guy, just follow the league closely.

Hhhhhddddd wrote:

Mike Tate will win the individual crown - just watch

You are probably right as I think he cares more about it than anyone else in the field. NAU likely runs easy, wins and moves closer to a national team title. Doubt any of them actually give two shits about the league title.

I could be wrong.

It’s tough to not care about the conference meet. Even if just due to the fact that SUU definitely will be gunning for them it could require them to give it a serious go

Solid predictions it turned out.

Men's side was as expected except maybe Montana State having a better showing and Eastern Washington not doing as well. Northern Colorado guys made a big leap.

Women's side I was surprised how close Idaho was to Montana State. Weber State women tried to run away with it but faded. Montana never really put it together with their roster.

Any other thoughts?