Portland in 3rd! Over NAU, Syracuse and Oregon

UPXCFan wrote:

The Pilots are one of only four teams in the country to finish in the top 14 at the NCAA's for eight consecutive years, joining Northern Arizona, Wisconsin and Oklahoma State. Portland's previous best finish was seventh, which happened in 2001, 2008 and 2013.

via -

http://portlandpilots.com/news/2014/11/22/MXC_1122142946.aspx

Portland has done well and did very well today, they deserve their place on the stage and in the sport. If they can even reach NCAAs next year it will be a great accomplishment because this senior-heavy crew has been running a good deal better than 14th over their careers but will leave a big gap to fill. I had the impression that there are some guys that could have run today but they let the two seniors finish out their careers despite having problems (the ended up leading to DNFs), and that takes guts and is an indication of how the team thinks of itself. Can someone fill us in on the other non-seniors in addition to Martinez?

Wisconsin was in the top 10 for the 19th straight year, and I am not certain, but they might have been in the top 22 for the last 43 years! Neither string is likely to end in the next three years...

NAU doesn't have the history of Wisconsin but you can go back further than 14 years and look at their success. They were good in the late 80's as well. Before they started handing out 4 trophies.

Acutally 36 times in the last 43 years.

Sorry. Meaning Wisconsin has finished in the top 10 36 times in the last 43 years.

Not making the top 10 is a disaster and I know. I was on a team that placed 13th. And the alums didn't let you forget how bad you messed up.

rojo wrote:

Where the hell is Ryan Grote? I hope he's celebrating....

Should we bring back the Grote Poll in his honor?

+1

I'm actually shocked to hear that they had never finished higher than 7th before. I guess Grote always hyped them up so much that I had assumed they had finished top 5 at least once.

Still, great run by the Pilots who have knocked on the door for a long time.

Glad my son will joining the Pilots next year. Great program and tradition finally getting their due.

Conner did say before or just afterward that they have a strong second group of guys who'll return next year. This year's team was senior heavy, but they have a lot of great depth that'll get their shot next year. The West is actually pretty wide open next year outside of Stanford, who is a lock to make it. The Ducks should make it based on talent alone (and definitely will if Ches comes back), but after that it's wide open.

letsracer wrote:

I'm surprised that they don't routinely whip Oregon. Portland has culture. Oregon is a redneck town that loves football and thinks Steve Prefontaine was the pinnacle of American Distance Running. If you were a recruit, which would you pick: the place with art museums, good coffee shops, and plenty of trails or the place where country joe driving a pickup truck is your roommate...

Oregon is a town????? Never knew.

It's actually a city, not a town. letsracer is right about the level of excitement there, though.

http://hostedbywho.co/travel/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/boring.jpg