speaking of 800 runners, strauman moved up 10 spots from psac's to regionals to 28th. good season for him?
speaking of 800 runners, strauman moved up 10 spots from psac's to regionals to 28th. good season for him?
Great season for him...think about it. How many runners do you know in the PSAC that never ran cross before and in their senior year could go out and finish 28th at conference?
Dude is talented & tough...a good combination.
Hoovis
haven and boro will have much better teams next year since they are both very young. Boro looks to have the edge though with three front runners in hahn mclaughlin and arthur but if they cant get depth then they still wont look too impressive. Haven's Getz, Hilton, and Pomerantz aren really too comparable but a solid year of training could make them a suprise next year. Ship is young but they need more top guys to compare to Haven or Boro.
I agree that ships women will need some more additions to the line up to get that #3 or #4 spot...but they also have Mccollum who was out this year with an anemia problem who was there number 2 or 3 girl depending last year, with her healthy and running again in the line up they should be able to do it, also strayer the freshman will have a year of experience under her belt to move up and close the gap. congrats ladies on a great year!
Hey...anybody else attend D2 Nats and have any comments/thoughts to close out the cross season?
sean craig from LH will win the outdoor 800 for the next four years if he stays healthy
HOOVIS = D-BAG
If any press truly is good press...then, I guess I owe you a thanks there dbag.
Hoovis
Nice Chris Clark Interview over at Flotrack:http://www.flotrack.org/articles/view/673-dii-interview-chris-clarkHoovis
Hoovis 2 wrote:
A couple of thoughts from Nationals...
On the women's side, I thought lil' Spence ran a really tough race. Jessica Pixler (SPU) is really tough and, as defending champ, ran the race that she should've run...go to the front and push the pace and don't let anybody hang around. Congrats to Pixler and her coach, fellow Seattle Club Running Company club member Erika Daligcon, who in her first year as head coach continued the longstanding tradition (established by running legend Doris Heritage) at Seattle Pacific with an individual champ and a 4th place team finish.
Neely (who I still can't believe is in college as I remember her barely walking when we were stretching at Heiges Field House my frosh/soph years at Ship) wouldn't just let her win and hung on for as long as she could. We all know Neely is talented (she's got good genes from both Steve & Kirstin), but the fact that Neely was able to hang on for 2nd is a testament to her mental toughness. I know that the rumors abound that Neely will be xfering to Baylor, but I really hope that's not the case as I'd love to see her lead this very talented young Ship team for years to come.
Also, I thought Mary Dell (2nd runner for Ship) ran a great race at Nats. Dell finished 25th at Nats after finishing 10th at Regionals. A very impressive run by the sophmore. That finish, along with the fact that all the Ship ladies did what they were supposed to do (ie, nobody bombed) were the key to their 6th place finish...an awesome team performance.
The Ship ladies team has a bright future ahead of them...but, will have to continue to add talent if they are going to beat Adams (who returns their #3, #4, and #5 runners who finished 19, 22, and 24 respectively). And, Grand Valley, who finished second will likely be the favorite for next year's title as GV returns 4 sophs & a junior, all of whom were top 50.
And, I would be remiss not to give a shout out to Jaime Wright who, in her last collegiate cross race, secured All American honors by finishing 20th at Cooper’s Lake. A great race and substantial improvement over her 84th place finish last year. Harp, who just missed AA honors can hopefully follow in Wright’s footsteps and do it next year, as a senior.
On the men's side, I thought the overall performances by Lock Haven & Boro were slightly worse than expected, but, not nearly as bad as many people on this board perceive. Both teams looked flat off of the starting line...a mile into the race the back of the pack was filled with Haven runners -- never a good sign. Haven just looked like a team that was tired...either from a long year which included a victory at regionals or perhaps were battling some illness, as they just didn't seem on top of their game. Russell usually has his guys ready to run, so not their best performance, but they seemed a bit flat this past weekend.
With that said, when you look at this team, none of us should've expected them to finish higher than say 12th. Haven didn't even make Nats last year and while they ran solid this year, they lack a front-runner and are not as strong as past years at the #4 and #5 slots. Some noted that Pom had an off day, but even if he would've run great, he would've finished near Hilton & Getz, would would've shaved off about 70 pts. but still placed them behind #16 Boro.
With regards to Boro, this is a very young team. No Josh Arthur, no Dave Nimeira. There is something to be said for Senior leadership, and this team didn't have it this year. There were only two returning runners from last year’s 14th place team (Hahn & McLaughlin). So, finishing in the top-10 should not have been expected. On a good day, I thought they’d finish 12th. Saturday wasn’t a good day, but it was a solid performance for a young team.
Hahn proved he'll be the favorite in the conference next year...and ran the race we all expected him to run last year. Nice to see him make up for last year’s performance. McLaughlin seems to have run basically the same race at Nats he ran last year…which is very solid. These two will be a strong anchor going into next year making Boro once again the far and away favorite for the region (I’m guessing Haven will take issue with that comment...but no offense intended).
From an individual perspective, it was great to see Weiss finish out his career with a solid 11th place finish and another All-American honor. Weiss was an incredible asset to the PSAC both on and off the XC course and will be missed. Best of luck to you Jeff.
Chris Clark ran a great, great race. Sitting in 8th/9th through much of the first half, he ran as strong as a second half of the race as anybody, except maybe for Crouch from Queens. Both Clark & Crouch looked really solid over the second half of the race, but Bauhs (Chico) and Braun (Adams) had opened up too much of a gap.
It was to tough to watch Regan. We all wanted him to just magically jump ahead 6 places or so to ensure he would get AA, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. He ran as tough a race as he could (dude looked like he was hurting a the mile mark)…a very gutsy performance. One that serves as a reminder just how tough it is to become all American. While not quite as stellar as his 12th place finish from a year ago in Joplin, I bet Regan would admit that this one was even more special, as he clearly had to fight every step of the way to become a repeat All American.
It was interesting to watch both races up-front, as I thought both the men’s and women’s races played out the same. The favorites (Pixler for women and Bauhs for men) went to the front and pushed the pace. The challengers (Spence for women and Braun for men) both ran incredibly tough races, doing everything in their power to not let the favorites get away from them. Those upfront races and the toughness shown by all four of those runners – coupled with the cold & snow – made this an epic cross country race. It is the epitome of why I love this sport.
Also, it was great being able to travel back from Seattle to the Rock and see so many familiar faces – Spence, Papa, Ed Fry (at his last cross meet), IUP Alum (Eric Shafer, the General, the infamous Johnny Karpacs, etc.), Jo Rupp (Millersville) and Carl Leonard (Boro) who both remind me how old I am, as well as the many others I saw & chatted with. Also, it was great to be able to sneak in a long run on the North Country trail at Morraine. I forgot how awesome it is to run to run on the snowy trails of western PA.
Another cross season in the books…and already, I can’t wait until next year.
Hoovis
Hoovis 2 wrote:
A couple of thoughts from Nationals...
On the men's side, I thought the overall performances by Lock Haven & Boro were slightly worse than expected, but, not nearly as bad as many people on this board perceive.
With that said, when you look at this team, none of us should've expected them to finish higher than say 12th. Haven didn't even make Nats last year and while they ran solid this year, they lack a front-runner and are not as strong as past years at the #4 and #5 slots. Some noted that Pom had an off day, but even if he would've run great, he would've finished near Hilton & Getz, would would've shaved off about 70 pts. but still placed them behind #16 Boro.
Hoovis
Just becuase the PSAC teams had exceptionally low expectations going in does not change the fact that they pretty much sucked at Nats. Relative to the rest of DII the distance running in the PSAC has lost a tremendous amount of ground in the last 10 - 15 years.
I flew in from Boston for the race.
And a few others came as well:
Nearly all of the 1986 Championship team was there.
And probably 30-40 Boro alumni probably 25 All-Americans.
The President of the University(EUP) attended as did one Olympic Gold Medalist.
Any time it comes close to the East the Old Boro guys try to get there to support Edinboro and the PSAC.
I have been to all the Slippery Rock Nationals and they do a great job, just a great job.
Needless to say I was not one of those nutjobs running around with no clothes on all painted up.
Had a great time anyhow!
i painted up and it was one of the best experiences to be able to wear no clothes and paint up and support my teammates great times
So, Word has it that Matt Gaudet and Nate shelly were kicked off IUP's track team?
The distance situation at IUP is not good. Training formally three times a week is asinine. Perhaps Gaudet and Shelly should buy into the philosophy of the new head track coach, who has been extremely successful at every other school he's coached. Surely, trying to be better than mid-pack in the PSAC can't be a bad idea.
the new coach at iup has also gotten fired at every other school he has coached at too. so that should should tell you something about him. maybe there is something wrong with that dude. EDWIN FRY for President!!!
I heard the head coach was pisssed at fry because he wasn't going meet with the Distance runners After regionals unitl January 12th.
Sounds to me like the distance coach at IUP is a complete idiot. But how does that lead to Matt and Nate getting kicked off the team?
Sounds about right. Coach Fry has always had a very hands-off style. That can be either a great thing, or a horrible one -- depending upon the maturity of the runners on any given team. If there is strong senior leadership, a team can flourish with a coach who writes great workouts but is a bit more hands off. If there is not strong leadership, the model fails.
Personally, I believe that this is the biggest reason for such fluctation in the IUP program over the years. Some years, there was strong senior leadership and the team did well. Many years, there was not and the team struggled.
Not sure what's going on with Gaudet & Shelly, but they are that Senior leadership...so, hopefully, it's all just a rumor or gets worked out quickly.
Hoovis
One other thing I feel compelled to add. The distance program at IUP has not fluorished over the past 10 years. It needs some change. I'm not sure I agree with how the change has taken place, and dont' have strong sentiments on the new coaches one way or another (simply don't have direct knowledge), but one thing is clear -- if you judge a program by its success (PSAC Championships & All Americans) - there is a need for change at IUP (and likely many other schools in the PSAC).
Below is the list of T&F All-Americans from IUP over the past 10 years. There are only two distrance runners -- Sara & Mindy. That's not "success" in my opinion. It doesn't necessarily imply that the previous coaches had to "go" -- but, it does imply that change was/is needed.
Hoovis
1998
Derek Brinkley 400 IH 52.16 5th
Brian Spickler Decathlon 6941 5th
1999 Mark Bridge Javelin 224’3” 2nd
Derek Brinkley 400 IH 51.70 4th
Erik Friedman Javelin 200’5” 7th
2000 Dave Singer Decathlon 6,542 7th
Amber Plowden 200M 24.05 4th
Amber Plowden 100M 11.89 3rd
Derek Brinkley 400 IH 51.50 2nd
Mark Bridge Javelin 224’7” 2nd
Sara Raschiatore 3,000M 9:49.31 6th
2001 Amber Plowden 200M 24.47 6th
Amber Plowden 100M 11.66 National Champion
Amber Plowden Indoor 55M 7.06 6th
Sara Raschiatore Steeple chase 10:43.95 5th
Derek Brinkley 400 IH 51.17 National Champion
2002 Sara Raschiatore Steeplechase 10:54.84 3rd
Mark Bridge Javelin 228’5” National Champion
Noah Christian Javelin 212’ 5” 2nd
Amber Plowden Indoor 60M 7.48 2nd
Amber Plowden 100M 11.56 3rd
Amber Plowden 200M 24.03 5th
2003 Becky Bullard Heptathlon 4,900 7th
Mindy Sawtelle 10,000M 35.50.49 4th
2004 Becky Bullard Indoor High Jump 5’8” 3rd
Mindy Sawtelle Indoor 10,000M 16:48.89 4th
2005 Ron Jett Decathlon 7088 3rd
Mike Rairigh Javelin 204’0” 6th
Becky Bullard Indoor High Jump 5’7” 7th
Mindy Sawtelle Indoor 5000M 16:58.28 7th Mindy Sawtelle 10,000M 35:55.57 3rd
Mindy Sawtelle 5000M 17:18.73 8th
2006 Sean Strauman Indoor 800M 1:53.68 8th
Sean Strauman 800M 1:56.60 7th
Rob Conrad Javelin 208’ 9” 8th
2007 Sean Strauman Indoor 800M 1:50.62 2nd
Sean Strauman 800M 1:50.68 4th
Troy Litten Pole Vault 15’ 11” 7th
2008 Chris Gardner High Jump 6’8 ¾” 5th
Sean Strauman
we never had official practice after xc ended, but that did not mean we did not run. after xc season ended, we had two weeks off and then resumed to training again. coach fry gave us work outs to do until we came back from break. once school started up we met officially.
when i was around, the guys and i met on our own and did our work outs with out fry. this will be fry's last year, but he is still the distance coach. after 43 year of coaching at IUP, i feel he should have more respect from everyone, including the new coach. nate and matt got kicked off the team because they did not show up to practice a few weeks ago. but we are all used to fry's method.
after this year it will be different. but i think fry was disrespected by the new coach by kicking the 2 best runners off the team. oh well, cant do anything about it now.
I stand by coach fry. he is the most amazing person i have ever met and his dedication to the program showed year after year. i hate to see him leave IUP.
-jorge