MIAC 2024 Cross Country

Lyness spotted running on the Ole course. Bad day for the Oles!

I still can't over having a coach that doesn't run and didn't do it at a high level. I'm genuinely curious how the current Oles feel about that. Do they want more from their coach or have they been glazed by Parker Max propaganda?

Bati has either choked or been burned out by nationals. Maybe this will be his year though.

As a current Ole alum, I gotta say, I'm quite disappointed in Coach Power. How DARE he develop All-Americans who break school records and qualify for national meets. He is creating a program that is winning conference meets, qualifying for nationals, and I HATE IT!!! Shame on him for trying to build this program up!

At what cost? An egocentric deadbeat dad who doesn't run isn't the best role model the school can find.

While I’m glad we both agree that we cannot stand to see Power creating a successful program because we are both miserable people, I believe there is hope for him yet! I think the school should make him watch a particularly enlightening educational video called Wet Hot American Summer. There I believe he will find inspiring individuals he can model his behavior after. And find Jesus. He needs Jesus. Someone from Bethel back me up here.

From what I hear, he only takes his team to Connecticut so they can stay at the casino and he can use their per diem at the tables. He had a good run last year and was able to take athletes to race at Boston with his winnings.

Hopefully his system for the tables is better than his self-invented training system.

Ironically, certain members of the Carleton team are no longer allowed at Vegas casinos after getting caught counting cards. Rumor has it that is the true source of the injuries of Gabe and Indy.

I ran in the MIAC 30 years ago, so I’m very out of touch with the current coaches and runners. But as an outside observer, the constant Power hating on this thread is very bizarre!

You reap what you sow.

Any way, the D3 Glory Days Newsletter has listed Bati as a potential national champion candidate. Great to see him and Augsburg get recognition from national media.

If the Oles would have hired the Edina coach like the team wanted, none of this would be an issue. Yes, he's had marginal success, but his leadership and gatekeeping at the D3 level are an embarrassment to the program. While his teams are running in national championships while the MIAC is down, many have accurately pointed out they have underachieved. He claims to create elite teams and reduces the roster size while neglecting athletes he recruited and others that simply want to follow the D3 model of doing the sport they love.

The goal for several of us is twofold. One, we want more for the Oles. The athletes deserve better. Two, and it may just be me, but my goal is that any time a future employee googles him they hear how he treats recruits, how poor his morals are, and how poorly he manages the Ole budget.

You’re absolutely right! I hope employers log on to Letsrun and expose his poor moral behaviors. Because as we all know, an anonymous message board like this where you can post anything about anyone is the MOST reliable source of information. I truly don’t understand how others can’t understand this. I guess you and me are the only smart ones here huh? Cheers!

I’ve read the whole thread and others and I’m not even sure what the accusations are.

He doesn’t let some people join the team? Didn’t run in college? Maybe prefers lower mileage? Something about his kid(s), but unless the kid’s mom is the one posting I’m not sure how reliable the source is.

Anyway as a non-Ole, I’m just happy he coaches his runners to get smoked by Mo at conference. CC and Outdoor last year, this year they’ll get smoked at CC, Indoor and Outdoor!

Don't smoke crack. That sums up the whole thread.

I've known Power since college. He's always had a bit of an ego, but is a pretty okay guy.

He doesn't have a kid. That was an untrue rumor on here a few years ago.

He did run in college but can't run anymore. That definitely makes him more cranky than he used to be. I feel bad for his assistants.

He has a smaller roster than the previous coach did, but they are still one of the biggest teams in the country.

Any that watched the Ole documentary can see he cares about his athletes and his training is fine for his team. It's not recycled Daniels training, but it works for most of his guys.

Anyone in coaching knows that nobody outside of a program knows why runners improve or don't improve. So many issues can contribute to that.

All the other stuff is pure stupidity. Sometimes stupid funny. But mostly stupidity.

How does he treat recruits? I’ve talked to handful of Olaf runners, spanning the spectrum from top guys to people who never ran varsity races, and they seemed pretty happy with their experiences. I guess someone else in this thread pointed out what’s so weird about this to me: I don’t even understand what the specific concerns are. It just seems like generalized anger.

Well when I ran decades ago, I didn’t improve much, and I was hurt a lot. I was frustrated and said a lot of mean things about my coach. Looking back it occurs to me that I was pretty unfair about it all. My coach cared about our team, put a lot of energy into his job, and trained us as effectively as he could. I wish I could go back and react differently, but I was young and emotional. This all kind of brings me back to those days.

This is likely sour grapes because several teams in the MIAC have scorers he told they don't meet their performances. If his goal is the only work with top talent, that makes sense. Some would argue D3 is about developing untapped potential. We had a kid visit campus last week that our coach was very excited about. He said Power wouldn't meet with him. Our program is in a different place than them, so I guess it is understandable. I talked with him and he was nice enough. The team was a bit cultish for me. Our coach seems to like him, but it seems to be mainly the other cities coaches that don't like him. Again sour grapes.

Can we shift the focus to next week's meets? The Scots and Johnnies will face off at Augustana. This will be an exciting MIAC preview to see if either team can top the Oles and who is fighting for second. Most of the other teams will be at Lax. Any predictions?

Since everyone is dying to know what the accusations are, I’ll tell you!!! He treats his runners badly! How? I have no clue and just make up rumors because I’m unhappy and salty. Second, he makes his runners really bad by peaking them for regional/national meets that matter more than conference. He NEEDS to focus on peaking them for conference!! How else is he supposed to avoid his runners getting smoked by Bati at MIACS? I don’t care that Powers runners are performing well at regional/national meets and becoming All Americans. As the non-Ole stressed, smoking people at conference is WAY more important than regional or national performances! Conference > nationals. Man, I’m truly astounded by how smart I sound sometimes.

Looks like the altitude training is helping. PhD student Will Kelly runs 23:45 at Oregon to finish 4th for Montana State and 29th overall. That is significantly faster than this time last year. Will be fun to see what he runs in a month.

Royal here, everyone needs Jesus

copleyely agree with this take though, hating on success is a bizarre and sad way to live life