Ranking WI collegiate distance programs

Shame he ended up in the WIAC? What would have been a shame is to have seem him go to either of those schools. Where talent goes to die. On the other hand, take a look at the talent that has developed in the WIAC. You can back to the 2000's and name Matt Groose UW-O (1:47/3:41) Ryan Kleimenhagen UW-P (1:48/3:59i mile). Or let's talk 5k/10k types. Tim Nelson UW-Stout (13:57/29:35) Tyler Sigl UW-P numerous XC/Track national titles, Olympic Trials marathon qualifier 2:17:28, Josh Dedering UW-Lax range from 3:54-1500m to 1:03:31 1/2 marathon, John Dewitt UW-O 2:17:38 Olympic marathon qualifier, Dawson Miller UW-W 8:46 3k steeple and last but not least, Ian LaMere UW-P (13:54/28:38) and now professional runner for Brooks. Lets here anyone that comes close to that from Marquette or UWM.

It is 100% a shame. He had been offered from numberous power fives across the country and even had interest from Stanford according to his social media. NXN qualifiers should not be running D3. Period.

I agree. Hard to get pumped up about a bunch of 1:53 guys. Good walk ons, but not game changers for Wisco. 2/3 will be out of the program in 2 years, the other one will be a leg on a Big Ten DMR 3rd place team, and will always narrowly miss making finals in an open event. 800 running is not Mick's speciality, and these guys aren't talented enough to overcome that.

It is pretty humorous to see how many people are getting out the pom poms for Milwaukee. Why are we praising them so much for getting a couple good runners? They are Division I, they should be bringing in 2-3 of the best kids in the state every year. Wenzel is a steal, Fitzgerald is a good developmental athlete, but lets be real, they wasted money on Freitag, Ellenbecker and Currie. When you look at the fact that Oshkosh picked up Scheik and Potter, you kind of have to look at this recruiting cycle as a bit of a failure.

Scheik is a game changer, he should be running ate a power 5 school this fall. Potter is from Oak Creek, same as Milwaukee's Michael Sippy, how did they overlook him? The only thing I can think of is that these guys were un-recruitable from an academic standpoint, even for Milwaukee. How else can you explain these two going to UW-Zero.

In addition, has anyone been following Marquette's recruits? Holy crap. Those guys are all capped out already. One of the kids they are bringing in ran over 5:00 this spring. Even Milwaukee doesn't bring in that.

Look at all the missed opportunities of talent that are oozing out of the state meet. You can't tell me that neither of these schools can lure some WIAC commits with some last second money? Its not a shame, its a tragedy!!!

Guys choose WIAC schools for numerous reasons. The can get a great education at a lower cost being a big one. From a coaching aspect, the coaching at the WIAC schools is so much better, it' s not even close with developing athletes and pure knowledge. If you're talented enough, you also do get opportunities to race against D1 competition as well. D1 doesn't mean better for running. Look at McKenna Ramos. Ran 3:45 closing down in 56 for 1500m and won numerous national titles his freshman year. Transferred to UW and never again touched his PR's his last 3 years at UW. Considering Wesley comes originally from a small school and has been a multi sport athlete, going to UWO will be a good leap. If he continues to develop and runs low 14's, he always then has the option to transfer if he chooses. Even if he does run 14:10 or something, it isn't like he won't have alot of competition. NCC's 5th 10k guy this past spring ran 30:05.

wwharrier wrote:

Shame he ended up in the WIAC? What would have been a shame is to have seem him go to either of those schools. Where talent goes to die. On the other hand, take a look at the talent that has developed in the WIAC. You can back to the 2000's and name Matt Groose UW-O (1:47/3:41) Ryan Kleimenhagen UW-P (1:48/3:59i mile). Or let's talk 5k/10k types. Tim Nelson UW-Stout (13:57/29:35) Tyler Sigl UW-P numerous XC/Track national titles, Olympic Trials marathon qualifier 2:17:28, Josh Dedering UW-Lax range from 3:54-1500m to 1:03:31 1/2 marathon, John Dewitt UW-O 2:17:38 Olympic marathon qualifier, Dawson Miller UW-W 8:46 3k steeple and last but not least, Ian LaMere UW-P (13:54/28:38) and now professional runner for Brooks. Lets here anyone that comes close to that from Marquette or UWM.

You seem to have some pretty good insight into the history of Wisconsin collegiate running. What in your opinion are the differences between the division three Wisconsin schools and the non-madison division one's? If you were the ad or the coach of Milwaukee or Marquette and you wanted to elevate either program to a level that produces the best results in the state outside of Madison, how would you go about doing that?

Being 100 wrote:

It is pretty humorous to see how many people are getting out the pom poms for Milwaukee. Why are we praising them so much for getting a couple good runners? They are Division I, they should be bringing in 2-3 of the best kids in the state every year. Wenzel is a steal, Fitzgerald is a good developmental athlete, but lets be real, they wasted money on Freitag, Ellenbecker and Currie. When you look at the fact that Oshkosh picked up Scheik and Potter, you kind of have to look at this recruiting cycle as a bit of a failure.

Currie's 15:41 PR was on a short course, and likewise should be discounted.

It all comes down to coaching. The coaches in the wiac are all students of the sport. Outside of River Falls, every single coach in the wiac has had a standout athlete or several of them. Look at these bios. Like actually read these, they are pretty damn impressive.

Tom Antczak UW-Platteville

http://athletics.uwplatt.edu/sports/xc/coaches/Antczak_Tom?view=bio

Dan Schwamberger UW-Eau Claire

http://www.blugolds.com/sports/mxc/coaches/SchwambergerDan?view=bio

Derek Stanley UW-La Crosse

https://www.uwlathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=951&path=mcross

Jeff Miller UW-Whitewater

http://www.uwwsports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=2811&path=mcross

Matt Schauf UW-Stout

http://athletics.uwstout.edu/coaches.aspx?rc=921&path=mcross

Eamon McKenna UW-Oshkosh

http://www.uwoshkoshtitans.com/sports/mxc/coaches/McKennaEamon?view=bio

Brett Witt UW-Stevens Point

https://athletics.uwsp.edu/coaches.aspx?rc=1205&path=cross

Now tell me with a straight face you would rather run for one of these guys. No way.

Pete Corfeld UW-Milwaukee

http://mkepanthers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=286&path=mcross

Mike Nelson Marquette

http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/c-xc/mtt/mike_nelson_310728.html

Its like night and day. Do you want to run for guys who are passionate about the sport, knowledgeable about the sport, are personable, have had years or decades of success. Or do you want to run in Milwaukee for lazy, unmotivated, and underachieving coaches?

I can assure you that UW's failure to recruit Sippy and Potter was not because of academic issues but rather because they did not show serious promise until their senior year (after they had already determined their college plans). Also to blame is Byrne's pathetic inability to secure in-state talent. Who would want to run for the Badgers right now anyway? What have they accomplished with all their big name runners? Hirsch, Hacker, Nameth, Kromer, Gessner...

Schiek probably went where it cost him the least.

Former Wisconsin Great wrote:

Schiek probably went where it cost him the least.

Keep telling yourself that. #wiscosucks

Are you insinuating that it would have cost him less at Wisconsin but he chose to pay more to go to UWO?

Former Wisconsin Great wrote:

Are you insinuating that it would have cost him less at Wisconsin but he chose to pay more to go to UWO?

Im not insinuating anything. Im literally telling you the kid would rather run for cruddy d3 school over boarding the sinking ship that is Wisco.

I don’t disagree that the ship is in trouble. But if he chose to attend UWO instead of UW at the same price, that is a bad decision. I don’t think he was offered a chance to attend UW due to Clearinghouse requirements. He will probably be a 14:15 runner at UWO.

Wesley is going to be in very good hands at UW-O. He will re-write the record books and be a multiple time national champion.

B'gosh wrote:

Wesley is going to be in very good hands at UW-O. He will re-write the record books and be a multiple time national champion.

Can we just let the kid enjoy his freshman year and whole college career without these types of expectations? Ramos was not expected to do anything like he did his freshman year. He broke out and had some very solid veteran training partners to bring him along. It was a great environment for him. The times will come, and I hope his freshman year he is right there for all-American consideration for xc. But he is not the best recruit to ever to go D-III. Let's enjoy his talent and not set the bar so high before he has even set foot on campus.

This is a message board, people are suppose to make wild and overhyped predictions. It is reasonable to say he should do these things over his career. Schiek ran under 15 minutes for XC 5k, and if he didnt play basketball all winter he probably would have pushed Bosley to run more like 8:55 to win this past weekend.

Research questions for you

Who has come into the wiac with a better resume than Schiek?

What did they ultimately do in their collegiate career?

I'll bet you that anyone you list ended up being a several time national champion. So yes, that's going to be everyones expectations of Schiek.

The North Woods wrote:

This is a message board, people are suppose to make wild and overhyped predictions. It is reasonable to say he should do these things over his career. Schiek ran under 15 minutes for XC 5k, and if he didnt play basketball all winter he probably would have pushed Bosley to run more like 8:55 to win this past weekend.

Research questions for you

Who has come into the wiac with a better resume than Schiek?

What did they ultimately do in their collegiate career?

I'll bet you that anyone you list ended up being a several time national champion. So yes, that's going to be everyones expectations of Schiek.

First name that comes to mind is Josh Thorson. Ran 9:00 in high school and then pulled the reverse Ramos. Started at Minnesota, did nothing, then transferred to UW-Eau Claire after his freshman year. Yes, he won 3 or 4 national titles.

The biggest surprise is Bednarek. He is one of the top 10 sprinters in the country. Betting he does 2 years juco and then goes to Iowa.

Some top in state Wisconsin athletes that attended WIAC schools off the top of my head. Gary Garcia-UW-W 1:57/4:17/9:17.

John LeRoy-UW-O 1:56/4:16/9:13. The recent Wisco graduate who went D3 to Wartburg Sam Pinkowski 4:10c/9:07 and just had a very successful freshman year.