Division-I XC Rankings

portland is way better than 13th. they should be top 5 or at least top 8.

With German 6th they finish 3rd, with him anywhere in the top 15 they finish third. Thats what I remember being determined.

1. Oregon

2. Oklahoma State

3. Stanford

4. Wisconsin

5. Colorado

6. Iona

7. New Mexico

8. Georgetown

9. Auburn

10. William & Mary

11. Providence

12. Alabama

13. Minnesota

14. Syracuse

15. Portland

16. Virginia

17. Louisville

18. Notre Dame

19. Villanova

20. Arkansas

6 in the top 20.

G'twn and PC will be flirting with top 10 again

Louisville could be even higher

Syracuse is the team nobondy wants to talk about...but they are extremely deep.

ND...trying to round into form from about 5-6 years ago

Nova...you never know...they always seem to sneak in international talent

Fastnbulbous wrote:

surprise wrote:

I know something you don't know

I'm looking at the roster, and German and Colby are listed as Sophomores, so it's up to date, but Ryan Vail is also listed as SR. So either he has another season of eligibility, which would be very nice, or it's a mistake.

With or without Vail, they've got another chance at the championship. Colby Lowe ran very well all season except for NCAA. They've still got Chirchir and Kosgei. Prentice has tons of potential and is due for a breakthrough. Having someone like Fernandez should elevate everyone's game. Looks very, very promising.

not a mistake

I garauntee FSU will be in the top 20. Mark my words, there will be some big suprises from them.

I follow Great Lakes Regional and have no idea how you can have Notre Dame that high? I'd be shocked if they qualify for the meet at all? Minnesota the same (Mead and then very unproven mid-distance guys)

I'm sure. They don't develop too much in the distances, they just bring them over on a plane.

Nole wrote:

I garauntee FSU will be in the top 20. Mark my words, there will be some big suprises from them.

Why is everyone forgetting Northern Arizona?

They are gonna be a force

Nole wrote:

I garauntee FSU will be in the top 20. Mark my words, there will be some big suprises from them.

Rickman!

The word on the "trail" is that Vail did get another yr of XC, even though he has ran in 4 big12 championships. Something about Smith getting a medical for one of his seasons 1/2 seasons.

And yes they did get Girma Mecheso, SEC 2008 XC champ. Released from Auburn. Gotta give D.Smith credit, he keeps selling guys on Stillwater. He should be in the State Dept.

Ok.ST has a stable on ponies that should take a long way this year.

I will say this again. Girma not German is now at OSU. He has transferred from Auburn. They now have Girma and German.

Girma transfers to OkSt. Any graduates should rip up their degrees if he manages to slip through.

but OkSt will now win NCAA's easily.

stdent athelte wrote:

OkSt will now win NCAA's easily.

That's the same story as last year, and last year was very unimpressive.

MAC checker wrote:

I follow Great Lakes Regional and have no idea how you can have Notre Dame that high? I'd be shocked if they qualify for the meet at all? Minnesota the same (Mead and then very unproven mid-distance guys)

Agree somewhat. I think they will qualify, but top 20 isn't going to happen after losing Smyth.

Sorry my mistake on Vail,

Technically he does have a yr of eligibility, if medical claimed for 2006 XC season.

He did not run Big 12's or regionals, or NCAA's in 2006. ( only 2 in season races in 2006).

2008 -4th in Big 12

2007 -3rd in Big 12

2006 -did not run Big 12

2005 -19th in Big 12

2004 -Freshman Red shirt all season.

Interesting. Mecheso isn't listed on the roster yet. Isn't there a rule that transfers can't compete for one season?

8th place last fall wrote:

Wait till you see Dave Smith's infamous run at the back in a group strategy in operation again.

I have to agree with this. OSU has the running talent to do well for sure. They had the talent a year ago.

But it was frustrating as heck to see every race, one after the other where they were all running together as a group - holding their best runners back and running the tail enders too hard. They even did the same thing in training! It was no wonder they crashed at NCAA's. My recollection is that they would not have been 3rd even if German had finished, which he didn't, so you can't go by that anyway. They got 8th. And one of the reasons was because him and Vail were way behind everyone else the first 8k of the race, which was totally stupid, especially for Smith to have German do that, and again they ran the same way all season! So they had no development. Plus they have two very talented Kenyans, who have not progressed at all under Smith, and were actually faster before they got there. German is the only one who has been doing really well and that's because he is so innately talented and does a lot of extra things on his own, against the wishes of Smith.

Past performance is the best predictor of future. I would like to see OSU come through, like they were expected to do a year ago. But I think unless Smith lets them train, get in shape and compete, they will be lucky to get anywhere close to top three.

I think Virginia could make a big step up to ~8 this year instead of their usual 12-15 range.

If Mecheso has transferred to OK State, that is a huuuuuge pickup. That guy is a total stud.