2016 NESCAC Cross Country

1. Peter Kosgei

2. Jamie Norton

3. Coby Horowitz

4. Bijan Mazaheri

5. Colin Cotton

6. John Stansel

7. Allen Sumrall

8. Dan Vassallo

9. Steve Prefontaine

10. Mohammed Hussein

If it's a race on pure anger, I pick Vassallo to win.

needs more Tully Hannan. Also, I think my brother (Ben Wallace) deserves a place in the top 10.

My son goes to Tufts.

Rumor is Ke$ha is coming to NESCACs to meet David "The King" Chelimo

Individual Predictions

Tier 1:

1. Nichols

Tier 2:

2. O'Connor

3. Hussein

4. Hale

5. Decker

Tier 3:

6. Chelimo

7. Dudek

8. Jones

Tier 3.5:

9. Eastman

Tier 4:

10. Bosworth

11. Brossy

12. Simpson

13. Kibet

14. MacAlister

15. Aschale

16. Walker

17. Rich

18. Colaizzi

19. Lucey

20. Madeira

21. Williams

22. Gagnon

23. Anderson

24. Aispuro

Honorable Mentions: R. Meijer, Jacobson, Tufts Son, Ferguson-Hull, Espinoza, Cohen, Evans, C. Nelson

Team Predictions:

1. Williams - 56-62

2. Colby - 66-72

3. Amherst - 84-90

4. Middlebury - 134-140

5. Conn College - 145-151

6. Tufts - 155-161

7. Bates - 176-182

8. Bowdoin - 215ish

9. Wesleyan - 250ish

10. Hamilton - 251ish

11. Trinity - 643ish

congrats dude wrote:

congrats on the top 10 finish at nationals. was that a program high?

for those keeping score at home, it's important to remember the trophy count at the only meet that matters.

Williams 7

rest of the nescac + mit 0

Funniest thing on this thread are the Ephs who claim they don't care about that 4th place regionals finish on home soil, yet are still clearly bothered by that 4th place regionals finish on home soil.

I have no idea what criteria was used to decide this, but I'm a fan. Good luck to all racing tomorrow at NESCACs. I'm racing at Big-12s tomorrow, but I must say, I miss the NESCAC vibe.

-Allen

Top 5:

1. Nichols

2. Hussein

3. Chelimo

4. Hyszczak

5. O'Conner

Williams looked really vulnerable today. And wow Nichols was amazing. O'Connor too.

Vulnerable translates to:

Williams 83

Amherst 100

Middlebury & Tufts 126

Colby 127

and for the women:

Williams 47

Tufts 72

Bates 109

Middlebury 113

Amherst 132

results at:

https://www.directathletics.com/results/xc/10724.html#85055

Vulnerable, as in, won pretty handily without their top runner?

Now if Hale is hurt, then sure, they're obviously not quite the same team as with him.

Can a brother get a nescac recap?

Colby's course settles the nordic skiers vs. xc runners debate. It was probably one of the most difficult college courses out there. Tim Nichols is honestly going to give Ian Lamere a scare at nationals, and I think he has a shot at winning it all. James Jones won the freshman battle by getting 4th and looks like a 9th grader. Nichols took it out hard and never looked back. O'Connor and Chelimo followed, and then the rest of the field. Lots of slipping. Williams looked pretty bad out there, but Amherst/Midd/Colby couldn't close the deal. Probably a different story at regionals, considering Williams' history.

Rainy and cold day - true cross country weather - on a course that was slow to begin with. Williams was without Hale from the start, leaving them vulnerable to Amherst and Colby. Nichols was never vulnerable. Nichols had control of the race, gun to tape. Pleasure to watch. O'Connor and Chelimo battled it out for 2nd through the middle of the race, with Chelimo fading at the end. A pity Tufts didn't have the depth to back up their 1-2 punch. Mo was caught in no-mans-land in 4th until Decker got to him at 6k. Future ROTY James Jones ran smart, moving up gradually throughout the race in a couple of packs and passing the Hussein-Decker duo with 400 to go. Mo stayed with Jones, finishing a close 5th while Decker couldn't hang. Other frosh from the ROTY debate: Aschale (9th) ran well behind elite (for now?) teammate Bosworth, who outkicked a fading Decker for 6th. Trinity's 20/21 year old frosh McAlister started fast and faded fast, dropping from a top 10 spot in the loops to 39th at the finish line, which represented Trinity's day as a whole. Completing the top 10, Brossy and Dudek packed up mid-race with Jones and the Conn College boys and finished 8th and 10th respectively.

Elsewhere, Williams delivered with signature depth from Simpson, Anderson, Colaizzi and Williams. Nothing out of the ordinary, but no mistakes. Duos from Bowdoin, Middlebury and Hamilton also repped well. Perhaps the Midd boys suffered a little bit from a fast start, taking charge over a very conservative Williams team early on. Williams didn't take top of the team race until mile 3. Amherst ran well, but a major gap between their top 4 and 5th man was too much to overcome. While Nelson and Meijer rose up gradually during the race, Lucey faded badly on the Colby hills and fell outside the top 40. The only other team with a realistic shot at taking down Williams was Colby, but it never looked convincing. Gagnon ran consistently and strongly, as did Chelimo, but Kibet and Madeira were subpar. However, the real shocker was Silas Eastman, making his season debut. Imagine a rock thrown into a well, and sinking into blackness. You are picturing Eastman and Colby's chances of victory as the race progressed. So did Williams win or Amherst/Colby lose? Probably a bit of both.

What a meet. Tufts' Delicious Duo up top made me wetter than the course today - and that's no small feat. Kids were handling those ski hills like lubed up slip-n-slides. Seriously though: What can I do to get in Timmy Tickles' tight, floral-printed pants? That boy gets me GOING.

And don't even get me started on Bates' boy wonder and absolute SAVAGE James Jones. He's scaled the totem pole straight from High School Scrub to Master of Bates, which reminds me of what I wanted to do with my totem pole when I saw him thrusting past the rest of the field in the last mile.

The Willy Boys did little to wet my willy today - in fact, seeing their mud-crusted 2-7 struggle through the finish almost killed the hard-on Timmy and Grumpy Boy had given me 3 minutes earlier. ALMOST.

The letter why wrote:

Vulnerable, as in, won pretty handily without their top runner?

Now if Hale is hurt, then sure, they're obviously not quite the same team as with him.

Hale is out with a calf sprain. He should be running in the next few days. 'String cheese' knees are intact.

The race came down to whether or not Amherst and Colby could capitalize on Williams' vulnerability.

Mo was where he needed to be, Cosmo outpaced Liam, Craig Nelson and Raymond Meijer looked strong, but Amherst dropped the ball with that fifth spot.

Similarly, Colby looked like they had a shot at the title, but fell apart halfway through the race.

It was honestly a toss-up until the results were posted. Williams ended up winning, but not without some serious contention from Amherst. On any other day, on any other course, the results may have swung in Amherst's favor.