2008 Div I XC Freshman Performances

Thanks for clarifying that. I suspected as much. but since he was Australian anyway, I didn't research his info thoroughly. I'm more interested in American collegians for their potential to represent the U.S. in World Championships and Olympics.

Witthrow is a good example of a late bloomer. Well, not late exactly, as he did place 9th his red shirt freshman year in 2005. He hasn't surpassed his incredible 13:35 pr since 2005, but his 28:26 10k last spring shows he's got the gas tank filled and is ready to go.

It seems like Matt Centrowitz might be a similar case. He didn't redshirt, but he only ran one race last year, Conference, for a less than stellar 27th place. He'll likely step it up this year.

Fastnbulbous wrote:

Thanks for clarifying that. I suspected as much. but since he was Australian anyway, I didn't research his info thoroughly. I'm more interested in American collegians for their potential to represent the U.S. in World Championships and Olympics.

Witthrow is a good example of a late bloomer. Well, not late exactly, as he did place 9th his red shirt freshman year in 2005. He hasn't surpassed his incredible 13:35 pr since 2005, but his 28:26 10k last spring shows he's got the gas tank filled and is ready to go.

It seems like Matt Centrowitz might be a similar case. He didn't redshirt, but he only ran one race last year, Conference, for a less than stellar 27th place. He'll likely step it up this year.

Hard to be a late bloomer [Withrow] when you win Footlocker and then place as the first American at the World XCs (Senior race).

He has had repeated injury problems, starting from HS and then in college .

Fastnbulbous wrote:

I read my post afterwards and did not mean to be snippy, just to add some additional information - I think we are pretty much on the same page and apologize if it came out wrong.

This weekend was Chris Derrick's college XC debut.

1 Scotty Bauhs, Sr, Chico State, 23:45

2 Aron Rono, Sr, Azusa State, 23:53

3 Chris Derrick, FR, Stanford, 24:18

4 Scott MacPherson, JR, Arkansas, 24:23

5 Garrett Heath, SR, Stanford, 24:25

8 Hakon Devries, SR, Stanford, 24:32

13 Jacob Riley, FR, Stanford, 24:45

Bauhs is a Div II runner who won the race last year in 23:07. Rono, last year's NAIA champion, was also 2nd last year in 23:13. Scott MacPherson was only the #5 Arkansas guy at last year's NCAA in 183rd, 31:48. Heath was Stanford's #3 in 129th, 31:38. Hakon Devries, who was 8th in this meet, was the Stanford's top returning runner with 73rd, 31:05.

Basically it looks like not a bad but not a brilliant start for Derrick. He'll need to improve a lot if he wants to shoot for the top 20 at NCAAs. I'm not too worried though, it is his first real race since he contracted mono last spring, not counting a road race he did early summer for a tempo run.

23 Kevin Havel, FR, Stanford (unattached), 25:14

I forgot to mention Kevin Havel ran unattached for 23rd, a decent performance, showing potential to run the championships with his team.

What an exciting weekend. I've got a fever, and the only cure is more Cowboy Jamboree! German Fernandez performed nearly as brilliantly as expected, edging out his All-American (8th in last year's NCAA) team captain Ryan Vail. But the biggest surprise is he wasn't the top frosh, as Daniel Kirwa from Eldoret, Kenya easily took the title. Sixth place Festus Kigen is also from Eldoret. Tenth place NCAA finisher David McNeill was second. This is a good sign that Fernandez has a decent shot at top ten or better if he peaks as planned next month. Colby Lowe demonstrated he also has the goods to run with the big boys, finishing close behind All-American (15th) teammate David Chirchir, while Ryan Prentice may have a bit of work to do to earn a spot at the championships, especially if OK State wants to go for the win.

Cowboy Jamboree

01 Daniel Kirwa, FR, Harding, 23:57 (from Eldoret, Kenya)

02 David McNeill, SO, Northern Arizona, 24:02

03 German Fernandez, FR, Oklahoma State, 24:12

04 Ryan Vail, SR, OK State, 24:13

05 David Chirchir, JR, OK State, 24:13

06 Festus Kigen, JR, Texas Christian, 24:18

07 Colby Lowe, FR, OK State - non-scorer, 24:20

23 Ryan Prentice, FR, OK State - non-scorer, 24:54

49 Kevin Williams, FR, Oklahoma U - non-scorer, 25:41

Check out Luke Puskedra in Oregon! It has me licking my chops for NCAA's, as I'd love to know how he and Fernandez would have done in the same race. The fact that he was merely four seconds behind top 10 NCAA All-American Kinsella is just as impressive as Fernandez's performance. So far Fernandez, Derrick, and Puskedra are all living up to early season expectations. Matt Centrowitz, last year's top recruit, ran well for 9th place in 24:32 unattached. He might have a chance at running in the championships this year.

Bill Dellinger Invitational

01 David Kinsella, SR, Portland, 24:02

02 Alfred Kipchumba, FR, Portland, 24:05 (from Iten, Kenya)

03 Luke Puskedra, FR, Oregon 24:06

04 Augustus Maiyo, SR, Alabama, 24:12

05 Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, SR, Oregon, 24:14

The Freshman at the Notre Dame invite were less impressive, but definitely had a deep field to contend with. Last year's Footlocker winner Michael Fout was a somewhat disappointing 30th. Joe Miller ran well, considering his previously best accomplishment was a modest finish at the 2006 Footlocker Midwest Regional championship. Princeton's Donn Cabral didn't run, while my other top 20 picks Aprill, Leung, Kaulbach and Carlson struggled.

Notre Dame Invitational

01 Samuel Kosgei, SR, Lamar, 23:32

02 Shadrack Songok, SR, Texas A&M, 23:33

03 Jeremy Criscione, SR, Florida, 23:34

04 Luke Gunn, SR, Florida State, 23:35

05 Patrick Smyth, SR, Notre Dame, 23:36

25 Lee Carey, FR, Providence, 24:16 (from Bedworth, England)

30 Michael Fout, FR, Florida State, 24:22

42 Bobby Aprill, FR, Michigan, 24:31

44 Joe Miller, FR, Notre Dame, 24:32

45 Brian Leung, FR, Princeton, 24:32

61 Dominic Channon, FR, Providence, 24:42 (from Nelson, New Zealand)

101 Max Kaulbach, FR, Princeton, 25:09

147 Jordan Carlson, FR, Notre Dame, 25:48

Wisconsin stomped the competition at the Paul Short Invitational, and didn't feel the need to run Rob Finnerty and Maverick Darling. Who knows what's going on with them. Tito Medrano of Syracuse was 47th in 24:41. Sam Chelenga of Liberty won in 23:05.

Wisconsin true freshman Eliot Krause finished 21st in 24:18 at Lehigh.

Notable American True Freshman Performers (that I know of)

Luke Puskedra, Oregon,24:06,(Bill Dellinger Invite-3rd)

German Fernandez, OK State,24:12, (Cowboy Jamboree-3rd)

Elliot Krause, Wisconsion,24:18, (Leigh-21st)

Chris Derrick, Stanford, 24:18, (Stanford Invite-3rd)

Colby Lowe, Ok State, 24:20, (Cowboy Jamboree-7th)

Micheal Fout, Florida State, 24:22, (Notre Dame Invite-36th)

Bobby April, Michigan,24:31, (Notre Dame Invite-42)

Brian Leung, Princeton, 24:32 (Notre Dame Invite-45)

Tito Medrino, Syracuse, 24:41 (Leigh-47th)

Ryan Prentice, Ok State, 24:54 (Cowboy Jamboree-23rd)

Ben Johnson, Stanford, 24:55 (Stanford Invite-15th)

Eric Fernandez, Arkansas, 25:00 (Stanford Invite-18th)

Micheal Kaulbach, Princeton, 25:09 (Paul Short-101st)

Kevin Havel, Stanford, 25:14 (Stanford Invite-23rd)

Charles White, Abilene Christian, 25:22 (CowboyJambore-42nd)

JT Sullivan, Stanford, 25:29 (Stanford Invite-31st)

Kevin Williams, Oklahoma, 25:41 (Cowboy Jamboree-43rd)

Miles Unterriener, Stanford, 25:46 (Stanford Invite-43rd)

Jordan Carlson, Notre Dame, 25:48 (Notre Dame Invite-157th)

The Top 10 Freshman Performers based on times,place, & course difficulty -

1.German Fernandez

2.Chris Derrick

3.Luke Puskedra

4.Colby Lowe

5.Ben Johnson

6.Eric Fernandez

7.Ryan Prentice

8.Micheal Fout

9.Kevin Havel

10.Charles White

Good catch, Elliott Krause. He finished 12th in 15:23 in last year's Footlocker Regional behind Bobby Aprill, and only had a 9:23 PR in the 3200. Looks like he just made a jump to the big leagues with a blazing 24:18, as Wisconsin's #5 man. Tito Medrano was ahead of Krause in that Footlocker race in 8th last year.

So things are looking pretty good -- most of the top ten I picked are performing great, and a few near the bottom have been surpassed by other more recent freshman standouts.

Great post, I would mostly agree with that assessment.

Ben Johnson is another freshman who was under my radar. He was 6th in the 2006 Footlocker Nationals, and ran a 9:07 steeplechase last spring, the second fasted time in the nation. Eric Fernandez was 21st in the 2007 Footlocker Midwest Regionals, while Charles White of Abiline Christian was 15th in that same race. Plenty of talent that didn't run nationals is now up and coming.

Alfred Kipchumba from Portland, who out-kicked Puskedra for 2nd at Dellinger, is also a true freshman, though I believe he is a year older than the average US freshman.

More on Krause from the Badger web site:

Rounding out the final two spots of competition were junior Ryan Gasper with 24:15 and freshman Elliot Krause with 24:18. Making his second appearance in the top five spots in his second meet, freshman Elliot Krause continues to brighten the future for men’s cross country.

“After the race, Ryan Gasper turned to me and said that it was Krause who stepped up as the leader in the last mile of the course” Byrne said. “To see a freshman inspiring the older runners, keeping them honest, and practicing great team running is all you can ask for as a coach.”

Actually, Krause ran 9:09 at the Wisconsin state meet this spring.

Kevin Burnett from Texas A&M is a true freshman who ran aroun 25:10 this weekend at Notre Dame

I think the best previous freshmen class was in 2001. However for some reason there seems to be a black hole in results from that year. Even TrackShark is missing that year -

http://www.trackshark.com/results/championships.php

I know of the big three of course, but can't find results that identify four more of the top seven true freshmen (American) from 2001. Can anyone help?

I could find info on the previous years, but am not sure who were true freshmen, and American. I don't know who Franklyn Sanchez was or what happened to him.

2001

04 Dathan Ritzenhein, Colorado, 29:11

11 Alan Webb, Michigan, 29:38

76 Ryan Hall, Stanford, 30:43

2000

05 Franklyn Sanchez, Georgetown, 30:26.9

24 Daniel Lincoln, Arkansas, 30:56.8

29 Ryan Hayden, Villanova, 30:59.2

33 Oliver Bodor, Northern Iowa, 31:02.4

45 Andy Smith, NC State, 31:16.0

48 Donald Sage, Stanford, 31:18.6

53 Luis Luchini, Stanford, 31:19.3

1999

37 Jason Hartmann, Oregon, 31:17.3

41 William Kemby, Belmont, 31:19.4

47 Jorge Torres, Colorado, 31:26.1

66 Mike Mwangong, Iowa St, 31:42.3

104 Seth Hejny, Stanford, 32:07.1

108 Tom Parlapiano, Villanova, 32:08.2

130 Ben Lake, Oklahoma St, 32:27.2

As near as I can tell, 7 of the 24 seniors from the 2000 Foot Locker finals ran as true freshmen in the 2001 NCAA's:

4 3 D. Ritzenheim 29:11 Colorado

11 10 Alan Webb 29:38 Michigan

32 29 Jason Sandfort 30:04 Arkansas

73 60 Rod Koborsi 30:40 Georgetown

76 63 Ryan Hall 30:43 Stanford

145 117 Seth Watkins 31:27 N. Arizona

177 146 Erik Grumstrup 31:49 Minnesota

There had to be more true freshmen running, but that kind of research is above my pay grade.

http://www.raceberryjam.com/archives/nc1mencc01.html

http://footlockercc.com/history/2000boys.htm

Well it was an interesting day for sure. My first question is why did the top three OK State runners do the open race? What does it mean? Did they miss their race? Did the coach not want to put the team in any sort of contention when missing some of their big guns? Hrm. In the White Race, Stanford made a big statement, smoking the field. In fact, it looks like if everyone ran the same race, they would have beaten Alabama too.

01 22:51.3 Samuel Chelenga, Liberty, 1 White

02 23:30.1 Tyson David, Alabama, 1 Blue

03 23:30.7 David McNeill, Northern AZ, 2 Blue

04 23:33.1 Hassan Mead, Minnesota, 3 Blue

05 23:34.7 German Fernandez, OK State, 1 Open

06 23:35.5 Felix Kibioywo, Auburn, 2 White

07 23:36.4 Garrett Heath, Stanford, 3 White

08 23:37.0 Chris Derrick, Stanford, 4 White

09 23:37.5 Girma Mesecho, Auburn, 5 White

10 23:38.3 Patrick Smyth, Notre Dame, 4 Blue

11 23:38.7 Jeremy Criscione, Florida, 6 White

12 23:39.6 Augustus Maiyo, Alabama, 5 Blue

13 23:39.9 Jordan Kyle, Colorado, 7 White

14 23:40.7 John Beattie, Tulsa, 8 White

15 23:40.8 David McCarthy, Providence, 6 Blue

16 23:41.1 Andrew Ledwith, Iona, 9 White

17 23:43.2 Mark Korir, Wyoming, 7 Blue

18 23:43.4 Kiel Uhl, Iowa State, 10 White

19 23:44.4 John Kosgei, OK State, 2 Open

20 23:46.2 Elkanah Kibet, Auburn, 11 White

21 23:47.3 Chris Rombough, Minneosta, 8 Blue

22 23:48.1 Elliott Heath, Stanford, 12 White

23 23:48.4 Emmanuel Bor, Alabama, 9 Blue

24 23:48.8 Guor Marial, Iowa State, 13 White

25 23:49.4 Laef Barnes, UCLA, 14 White

26 23:50.6 Ciaran O'Lionaird, Michigan, 10 Blue

27 23:51.4 Ben Ashkettle, Northern AZ, 11 Blue

28 23:52.2 Harbert Okuti, Iona, 15 White

29 23:53.0 Andy Baker, Butler, 12 Blue

30 23:53.0 Mohamed Khadraoui, Iona, 16 White

31 23:53.5 Japheth Ng'ojoy, UTEP, 17 White

32 23:54.7 Ryan Sheridan, Iona, 18 White

33 23:54.8 Joseph Maina, Eastern Kentucky, 13 Blue

34 23:55.2 Craig Forys, Michigan, 14 Blue

35 23:55.3 Stephen Shay, BYU, 19 White

36 23:57.3 Kyle Perry, BYU, 20 White

37 23:57.5 Colby Lowe, OK State, 3 Open

38 23:57.8 Nicodemus Ng'etich, UTEP, 21 White

39 23:58.1 Ben True, Dartmouth, 15 Blue

40 23:59.2 Patrick Mutai, UTEP, 22 White

41 24:00.4 Mark Matusak, California, 16 Blue

42 24:00.9 Ryan Collins, Virginia, 23 White

43 24:02.1 Brad Miller, Syracuse, 17 Blue

44 24:02.7 Morten Bostrom, Northern Arizona, 18 Blue

45 24:03.9 Jacob Kirwa, New Mexico, 19 Blue

46 24:04.3 Hillary Bor, Iowa State, 24 White

47 24:04.7 Hakon Devries, Stanford, 25 White

48 24:04.9 Chad Hall, UC Riverside, 20 Blue

49 24:05.5 Daniel Chenoweth, Harvard, 21 Blue

50 24:06.6 Bobby Mack, North Carolina State, 22 Blue

The rest of the freshmen were disappointing. Fout and Hill ran over half a minute slower than they should be capable of. I found out what's up with Wisconsin's freshmen. Rob Finnerty has mono, and Maverick Darling a stress fracture. Bummer. With Donn Cabral M.I.A., it's up to Stanford's Kevin Havel, Ben Johnson or Arkansas' Eric Fernandez to step it up for the fifth position for Team Freshmen if they get the chance.

24:15.9 Jake Riley, Stanford, 33 White

24:27.7 Mike Fout, Florida State, 51 Blue

24:33.4 Ryan Hill, NC State, 59 Blue

25:04.9 J.T. Sullivan, Stanford, 11 Open

25:08.3 Bobby Aprill, Michigan, 15 Open

25:18.6 Jordan Carlson, Notre Dame, 23 Open

25:23.7 Tito Medrano, Syracuse, 160 Blue

CHILE PEPPER XC FESTIVAL 2008http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/downloads1/47824.txt?ATCLID=1606387&SPSID=33710&SPID=2418&DB_OEM_ID=6100

Eric Fernandez of Arkansas was 36th at the Chile Pepper Invite, in 30:40. Daniel Kirwa of Harding won in a blistering 28:53, followed by Samuel Kosgei (Lamar, 29:05), and Shadrack Songok (Texas A&M, 29:16).

Brian Leung ran 24:23.70 at the Princeton Invite today, another PU freshman, Sean Wilson ran 25:01.10.