Entries are online for the race in Chicago this week. Still no Hartman or Napoleon which might not be the worst thing of course. Engelhardt and Scheffler listed for "NC State" and Rauber as well this week. There are "unattached" entries but none for NC State. Seems like a good sign for the fitness of Scheffler and Engelhardt. Similar cast for UNC as in Cary a week or so ago, Blade and Schipperen of Fl State, and some of the top WA runners are entered. I wonder if Gapes will run, and if so how hard?
Hartman raced a lot over the last year. Probably better for her to wait. Gapes looked good last week. She probably doesn’t need to race.
Hartman will probably open at Nuttycombe and Gapes will probably not race again until then. Maybe Napoleon, Templier, and Armitage will also open then.
Nuttycombe might give the first glance at what the top 7 will be. If I were to guess now I would bet it will be, in no particular order, Hartman, Gapes, Templier, Putnam, Michalak, Napoleon, and between Armitage, Rauber, and one of the newbies.
Probably because Gieger is 145 years old and Chad Pearson the main recruiter is useless. I heard he had no idea what he was doing at UNC-G. One of my buddy's teammates runs there now and said Ryan Hill is just in name only. He's rarely at practice and only focuses on certain guys. Now that Brett Gardner is gone, he's basically uninterested in the guys team.
Probably because Gieger is 145 years old and Chad Pearson the main recruiter is useless. I heard he had no idea what he was doing at UNC-G. One of my buddy's teammates runs there now and said Ryan Hill is just in name only. He's rarely at practice and only focuses on certain guys. Now that Brett Gardner is gone, he's basically uninterested in the guys team.
Geiger is certainly ancient and i'd believe that about Pearson. I think Hill also does a lot of stuff with the pro women under Henes. Whenever they do altitude camps it looks like he goes with them so Henes can focus on the college team. But he does seem to be decently involved with the guys team still, he went on their team bonding trip to Asheville a few weeks ago.
Calling it now, NCState’s podium fortunes this season pivot on Napoleon; as Napoleon goes, so goes NCState. 😎
Yes, the question "to what extent will Napoleon's huge breakthrough in the steeple carry over to XC?" is probably the single greatest variable for them, though far from their only major one (cf. Hartman's plantar and their backend scorers).
It must be said, we don't yet have any objective evidence re: Napoleon. Even her reported 4:09 1500 mainly reinforces that she's more native to the mid-D than true-D world. Remember that her secondary event in HS was the 800 (and her tertiary event was high jump, so sprint-based!). And this is completely apart from the question of how much her whole 2025 will have taken a toll, which even in Tokyo it seemed have to a small degree.
I'm actually rooting for her and them, I just think we need to be temper our expectations somewhat. It's better to be pleasantly surprised anyway.
Calling it now, NCState’s podium fortunes this season pivot on Napoleon; as Napoleon goes, so goes NCState. 😎
Yes, the question "to what extent will Napoleon's huge breakthrough in the steeple carry over to XC?" is probably the single greatest variable for them, though far from their only major one (cf. Hartman's plantar and their backend scorers).
It must be said, we don't yet have any objective evidence re: Napoleon. Even her reported 4:09 1500 mainly reinforces that she's more native to the mid-D than true-D world. Remember that her secondary event in HS was the 800 (and her tertiary event was high jump, so sprint-based!). And this is completely apart from the question of how much her whole 2025 will have taken a toll, which even in Tokyo it seemed have to a small degree.
I'm actually rooting for her and them, I just think we need to be temper our expectations somewhat. It's better to be pleasantly surprised anyway.
yes, but back in the Spring the day after winning the ACC Championship steeple in 9:27 she ran 15:40 in the 5000 with the fastest final 400/800/1200 in the field (0:67/2:19/3.34) which was won by Hartman in 15:12. The Nationals course not having large hills will play to her strength.
Yes, the question "to what extent will Napoleon's huge breakthrough in the steeple carry over to XC?" is probably the single greatest variable for them, though far from their only major one (cf. Hartman's plantar and their backend scorers).
It must be said, we don't yet have any objective evidence re: Napoleon. Even her reported 4:09 1500 mainly reinforces that she's more native to the mid-D than true-D world. Remember that her secondary event in HS was the 800 (and her tertiary event was high jump, so sprint-based!). And this is completely apart from the question of how much her whole 2025 will have taken a toll, which even in Tokyo it seemed have to a small degree.
I'm actually rooting for her and them, I just think we need to be temper our expectations somewhat. It's better to be pleasantly surprised anyway.
Fortunately in high school Napoleon's primary event in cross country was...cross country. She was nationally ranked and right at the front in NY State meets. (As was Putman)
3000 SC has about a 99% correlation with xc, especially at only 6k xc. Can you think of a 9:10 steepler who was not useful in xc?
Both Napoleon and Putman will be fine. Top 50 at nats is enough, they do not need to be stars. (Of course better is welcome)
Michalak and a healthy Rauber also quite helpful.
If State puts 2 in top 15, and 5 in top 60, and they still lose, they can live with that. Another team was just too good.
re Napoleon I will repeat what I posted somewhere earlier. I looked high and low to find a steeplechase runner who could not run a 5000 at or faster than their 3000 s pace (for example a 9:00 runner who could not run 15:00 or faster) and found noone. Napoleon may turn out to be an exception, as she has some fairly unique steeplechase skills (height, jumping) but I'd guess right now worst case she could run 15:2x for 5000 and I think will do well in XC.
Do we actually know if Grace has resumed training following the plantar fasciitis problem which forced her out of USAs last month?
Well I have not personally seen her running but she just posted on IG on Sunday I believe on the importance of the rest day. And on Saturday this post where she said (referring to her shoes) "They made it through many long weeks of training, and today’s long run finally did them in."
She actually may not be aware that excessively worn shoes might sometimes contribute to ‘niggles’ and injuries, in some way. Thought I’d mention this since she did suffer from a plantar issue this past summer.
Why does nobody believe that Templier is going to be one the top 7? Is she hurt or something?
I believe she was injured in the Spring.
Well that sucks. They are still deep but if she’s not running then the depth I thought they had isn’t there. If she’s was injured in the spring that must have happened when she was at Portland.
Well that sucks. They are still deep but if she’s not running then the depth I thought they had isn’t there. If she’s was injured in the spring that must have happened when she was at Portland.
They can only run 7 at ncaa, so as long as current group stays healthy their depth at 5-6-7 will still be very good.
Hopefully, Templier still runs and well. If she can displace someone in current 7 with good results, that can only help.
Well that sucks. They are still deep but if she’s not running then the depth I thought they had isn’t there. If she’s was injured in the spring that must have happened when she was at Portland.
She was injured in the winter and ended her indoor season in mid-february and missed all of outdoors. However she ran a couple of 5k's in france in late june and she has been shown running in a few of the team's social media video's of practices. I haven't seen anything to suggest she is still injured but maybe just not back to full fitness yet. I have more faith in Templier running than I do Armitage who i haven't seen running in any photo's or video's on the team account
