Navy doesn’t have the funding, bad quality of life, literally active duty, can’t have 5th years since they have to go serve, no internationals, and more cards stacked against them. Hats off to them. The rules are the rules and racing is racing but man I think these guys deserve it more than some of those bubble teams.
It was a bit of a wild year, so many teams just out.
If Portland holds against CBU I think it shakes things up a bit.
But more than ever you need to have a good plan at the beginning of the year and go pick off some of these teams.
I ran in the mid west region and we always went out of region at least once usually twice a year to get points. Never needed them but we got them
Furman's Nuttycomb performance pulled a few teams in at the end when they got bumped in. Tulane and Ole Miss were the other easy points from Pre-Nats. If you were at both meets, you had lots of opportunities.
Portland only has the budget for one shot at points. Like most years, a few places here or there in a few different meets could easily swap in 5 or 6 different teams. The hard part with a limited budget is to perform in the race you're chasing points (or at least be lucky and have a bunch of teams perform poorly) and well enough at regionals to use your points. When Portland is a top 10 team, historically, points didn't matter. In the 15-25 range though you either have to perform all season or get lucky on the day of regionals.
She hasn't raced. Assume she is inj? I don't think she ran in her father's race in Aug. so it might go back that far.
Providence also has been without former BE champ Jane Buckley. She tried racing once in a minor 3k in Ct, after RS almost 2 years. It apparently didn't go well, though she finished. So that's two top 5 runners that could have made a difference
Stearns, Upshaw, K Moore, Carlson, N Moore, Baloga, Congdon
Expect their 6&7 up closer to the number 3 and they have a scary good spread. BYU as well will have a very small gap from 1-5
Oregon looks good but they’ve gone hard and seemingly all out in the last 2 races. Hope that fatigue doesn’t come back to bite them. Washington is confusing/ peak too soon? Stanford is coming into form at the right time. They also held out a few top girls
OR looks like the NCAA favorite. Per Shalane's post-race interview, 2 were held out due to illness. At full strength next week, OR is my pick FTW with their big-2 in the top 15 ahead of BYU & NAU's #1s, then next-3 in top-40 (AA) or very close.
You are correct about Stanford rounding into form with Bunnage back and better than ever while Kennedy & Dudek continue their terrific seasons. However, this was possibly Stanford's best race since the 2019 season due to an out-of-nowhere performance from Stewart, moving past Dudek as the team's 3rd runner.. By far her best race since coming to The Farm.
However, Hell No on your "they also held out a few top girls" nonsense. Whittaker was just a placeholder at ACCs, temporarily subbing in for DaDamio. Either Whittaker or Suarez will be the alternate next week. And, if you are referring to Riggs, she hasn't raced at Stanford and likely won't until well into next year, if at all, so she's never been in the conversation
With Bunnage & DaDamio back in the lineup, this is Stanford at full strength. Amy's still rounding into top form so should be even better at NCAAs, possibly top-10. Unfortunately, despite Flynn having a breakout season, still too big of a gap back to her #5 position for the team to compete for a podium spot. However, with another performance like today, certainly top-10, maybe as high as 4th which would be just off the now-top-3-teams podium.
Stearns, Upshaw, K Moore, Carlson, N Moore, Baloga, Congdon
Expect their 6&7 up closer to the number 3 and they have a scary good spread. BYU as well will have a very small gap from 1-5
Oregon looks good but they’ve gone hard and seemingly all out in the last 2 races. Hope that fatigue doesn’t come back to bite them. Washington is confusing/ peak too soon? Stanford is coming into form at the right time. They also held out a few top girls
OR looks like the NCAA favorite. Per Shalane's post-race interview, 2 were held out due to illness. At full strength next week, OR is my pick FTW with their big-2 in the top 15 ahead of BYU & NAU's #1s, then next-3 in top-40 (AA) or very close.
You are correct about Stanford rounding into form with Bunnage back and better than ever while Kennedy & Dudek continue their terrific seasons. However, this was possibly Stanford's best race since the 2019 season due to an out-of-nowhere performance from Stewart, moving past Dudek as the team's 3rd runner.. By far her best race since coming to The Farm.
However, Hell No on your "they also held out a few top girls" nonsense. Whittaker was just a placeholder at ACCs, temporarily subbing in for DaDamio. Either Whittaker or Suarez will be the alternate next week. And, if you are referring to Riggs, she hasn't raced at Stanford and likely won't until well into next year, if at all, so she's never been in the conversation
With Bunnage & DaDamio back in the lineup, this is Stanford at full strength. Amy's still rounding into top form so should be even better at NCAAs, possibly top-10. Unfortunately, despite Flynn having a breakout season, still too big of a gap back to her #5 position for the team to compete for a podium spot. However, with another performance like today, certainly top-10, maybe as high as 4th which would be just off the now-top-3-teams podium.
I largely agree but I think if both run their best either BYU or OR could win. The good and bad news for BYU is they have had a different top 5 almost every meet. Will they all have an "A" race, or just a "B" race? Are Hutchins and Lexy H-L ok? The OR runners have been very consistent. I see NAU as clear best of the rest, then Washington (have not seen them get better as season goes along), Georgetown, ND too close to call for 4-6, then Stanford, W VA, AL, Providence and NC St (top 10 if they can repeat regional performance) UT, NM too close for me to call for 7-13. Most of these teams have strong top runners, but also weaknesses. I still think 150 points will win. McCabe has been very impressive - could she challenge the top 3? I agree Bunnage could be top 10 especially in team scoring.
I largely agree but I think if both run their best either BYU or OR could win. The good and bad news for BYU is they have had a different top 5 almost every meet. Will they all have an "A" race, or just a "B" race? Are Hutchins and Lexy H-L ok? The OR runners have been very consistent. I see NAU as clear best of the rest, then Washington (have not seen them get better as season goes along), Georgetown, ND too close to call for 4-6, then Stanford, W VA, AL, Providence and NC St (top 10 if they can repeat regional performance) UT, NM too close for me to call for 7-13. Most of these teams have strong top runners, but also weaknesses. I still think 150 points will win. McCabe has been very impressive - could she challenge the top 3? I agree Bunnage could be top 10 especially in team scoring.
rbtrackfan, should first state I enjoy your posts & our eventual discussions.
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