1. St. Olaf - Split their squad and sent the guys who don't like Power to La Crosse to finish 9th. Their JV beat every MIAC squad except Carleton, Mac, St. John's and St. Mary's. The Conn College meet was a wash, only beating one team ranked ahead of them. Rumors of a short course abound with some historically fast times. Presumed MIAC favorites, but any of the annual Power planned mind games versus Bati could spell trouble for the home team.
2. Macalester- Lost to St. John’s. In a smaller meet like the MIAC, this will be a close race. But off days from Wiltse and Galloway held them back. Need to tighten the spread to hold off St. John’s. Need huge days from Edwards and McKee to top the Oles on their home course.
3. St. John’s – 17th overall defeating Macalester. This is shaping up to be quite a battle. Both the Johnnies and Scots averaged 26:00 and 26:03. Kaluza continues to show he’s going to be one of the top runners in the MIAC over the next three years, finishing well ahead of McKee
and Edwards. Like Mac, need a better tighter spread to think of challenging Macalester
or St. Olaf.
4. Carleton - Carleton appeared to run their full lineup for the first time at Lewis-Clark. A healthy Gabe Nichols and Roy Llewelyn should put fear into the Oles lineup, but relying on freshman to score leaves some doubt. If Lyness returns to form, expect the Carls to use every bit of home/crosstown advantage to challenge Mac/St. Johns.
5. Bethel – 11th at La Crosse placing 7 ahead of the Gusties No. 5 runner. Hage solidifies his claim as the best freshman in the MIAC. Graber has his worst race of the season, but he’ll be a certain All-MIAC competitor. They may have been missing others, but this young team has promise.
6. St. Scholastica – While the Saints lost to Gustavus at La Crosse, the low stick of Calvin Boone is too much to overcome. As a Nordic guy, he’ll be expected to run much faster in cooler temps and that will be enough to hold off Gustavus.
7. Gustavus – 12th at La Crosse. They’ll ride the Tyler Smith train as far as he can take them. The 800 ace continues his strong 8k season running sub 26th for the first time. Evan Pouliot
returned to the lineup to give the Gusties some much needed depth and appears close to his 2023 form.
MA
8. Concordia-Moorhead – 14th at Jim Drews. The Cobbers ventured South again and the Future left with a shiny new PR. Brother Tyler ran close to a PR, but a large gap to a 3rd runner gives the Saint Mary squad something to target. A strong day from the Future, who has proven to be a big meet performer could put them as high as 6th or 7th
9. Saint Mary’s – 39th in the White Race at Auggie. Fitzgerald again run sub 27 and all three scorers finish under 30.
10. Hamline – 20th in the Blue Race at Auggie. They ran considerably faster, with LiBraaten hitting a massive PR. The gap of over a minute to the next scorer will be hard to overcome.
11. Augsburg - – Mo Bati continues to amaze. The only question at this point is can he break
Patzka’s course record and run sub 24 at St. Olaf. Maybe we’ll see a brave Ole lead him through a fast mile or so, but he should be solo after 4K, if not earlier.
I am so interested in learning more about how his coach balances training such a talent and the rest of his athletes who appear to be a group that enjoys running and being part of a team. He seems to be a master at striking the D3 balance of competition and fun. He and Schofer are my top two choices for Coach of the Year with a strong argument to be made for the Bethel coach and his rapidly improving squad.
MIAC Top 20 -
Bati, Turlington, Gabe, Roy, Hartney, Edwards, Boone, Kaluza, McKee, Graber. Cavanaugh, Smith, Max, Hage, Fitzgerald, Deaver, an Ihrke, Cote, Galloway, Stencel.