rio's back half of their top 7 is mostly freshman so they picked up some solid recruits, kasy science was their #3 and he's obviously stepped up but it was a reasonable progression to get into the 25:40s on a fast course. tyler jenkins is a known quantity and a returning XC all american so no surprise seeing him at the front. but where the hell did their #2 runner come from?! his jump from last cross to this one is crazy. made a large improvement during the spring, switching from 800/1500 to a more distance focus (31:3x 10k) but even then, his best 5k was 15:39. just looking week to week this season, he ran 15:36 for an XC 5k then 25:11 for 8k his next race. where does that come from?
According to their website their coach is in his first year at Rio.
My guess would be 1 of 2 things.
1. The old coach was clueless and the new one knows what he’s doing (explains Science having a breakout as well)
2. Persinger had injuries or something else effecting him before this season
I genuinely don’t understand how the guy on Instagram predicted them getting good before everyone else did because without having Persinger and Science breaking out like this they’d be around 20-25
If he’s gone 31:30’s in the 10k then he can clearly go faster than 15:39. It’s also not a shock that he can run 25:11 on blazing fast course after a good summer.
The guy on Instagram is definitely from Rio, Shawnee, or Cumberlands. Just from the posts and how much these schools are brought up in the posts.
The old coach is to be respected because he coached good amount of distance all-americans and had some legit teams. New coach knows how to really recruit and works around the clock.. Persinger is a hard worker and is clearly gaining some confidence and surrounded by athletes like Jenkins who push him along. Rio on paper right now is very legit. It is also very early in the season and they have clearly came into the season very fit. If they find a way to carry that until November they will be an exciting team to watch.
Compare Cumberlands instagram and this one. Definitely not them with quality difference in content. No offense to who’s doing it because it’s great coverage.
The guy who runs the page is an athlete. Cumberlands instagram is run by coaches and has help from an SID. I don’t think it’s a coach from Cumberlands but it could be an athlete
Now let’s do a little bit of thinking. The person is the same person who started this thread. This thread has been going for how many years (3-4 years). How many years has Cumberlands been a part of the conversation (two years now maybe) so probably not from Cumberlands. Plus those guys aren’t very smart, right? So no way they can rank teams, let alone work a social media platform.
Now let’s do a little bit of thinking. The person is the same person who started this thread. This thread has been going for how many years (3-4 years). How many years has Cumberlands been a part of the conversation (two years now maybe) so probably not from Cumberlands. Plus those guys aren’t very smart, right? So no way they can rank teams, let alone work a social media platform.
Cumberlands will compete against really big teams in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday. I'm curious to see if they run with their top guys, or if they are injured or ineligible. They will be the best and most arrogant NAIA team there, but only because Milligan, St. Mary, OKC and Indiana Wesleyan are not there.
Now let’s do a little bit of thinking. The person is the same person who started this thread. This thread has been going for how many years (3-4 years). How many years has Cumberlands been a part of the conversation (two years now maybe) so probably not from Cumberlands. Plus those guys aren’t very smart, right? So no way they can rank teams, let alone work a social media platform.
Its Mike Reif from St. Francis (IL)
Detective time
First, NAIARunner didn’t start the 2022 thread and that name didn’t really pop up until the end of the thread. The username that started the thread was someNAIAnarp.
Still this is likely a junior or senior/5th year
I don’t doubt that someone like Overholser or McClellan (or even Bennett) from Cumberlands could run the account.
Some of the information I noticed the account posted before it was known to most people included some of Milligan transfers as well as being the first to know about Kipkurui leaving Cumberlands.
They also knew about Summer Rempe and Charles Leedke transferring to Marian which would support the idea of it being Hipkiss (that along with the Milligan information makes this the most likely to me).
They also knew about about Duncan Kogei and his PRs and I can’t find those anywhere so that could support the Rio Grande theories.
They knew about some injuries to St. Francis as well which does make me believe it could be Reif.
The Stade and Klukas transfers to Montreat also came out there before anywhere else which makes me believe it could be one of them.
It’s Mike Reif from St Francis. Go look at the comments from the NAIA central post for the St Francis mens ranking. Reif himself commenting and someone else commenting about how the account knew all that. No other comments on any post about any other team are similar to those comments. That to me, along with confirmation from multiple people say its Reif.
Also, I’ve heard that the NAIA account DM’d a lot of people, hence is why he knows so much information that otherwise wouldn’t be known. He clearly puts a lot of time, thought, and research to these posts, so kudos to him.
I used to run with Mike at USF. There’s no way it is him. He only cares about himself. He is a clown and an embarrassment to the NAIA.
This is another Sam Mickelson post.
None of this proves or disproves that it’s Reif but I think that’s a solid theory.
Him, Blake Hipkiss, Colten Covington, Cole Bennett, or Tommy Baker would be my guesses.
If it’s none of them I think that they’re giving the account information.
All three of them know a lot of people from across the NAIA which would make sense why people assume it’s him.
I don’t get why anyone who would put all the work into running the account wouldn’t want credit for it.
Oddly enough I always kind of thought Reif was either Runnercoachn or one of the people making troll accounts saying that Olivet Nazarene was a title contender on here.
I used to run with Mike at USF. There’s no way it is him. He only cares about himself. He is a clown and an embarrassment to the NAIA.
This is another Sam Mickelson post.
None of this proves or disproves that it’s Reif but I think that’s a solid theory.
Him, Blake Hipkiss, Colten Covington, Cole Bennett, or Tommy Baker would be my guesses.
If it’s none of them I think that they’re giving the account information.
All three of them know a lot of people from across the NAIA which would make sense why people assume it’s him.
I don’t get why anyone who would put all the work into running the account wouldn’t want credit for it.
Oddly enough I always kind of thought Reif was either Runnercoachn or one of the people making troll accounts saying that Olivet Nazarene was a title contender on here.
That’s more than three people to begin with, but why has nobody been asking any of them about it individually if everyone knows them?
Probably better chances of finding out than asking on here or in front of their whole story
We can use common sense here too…
What information do they know about your team that they didn’t get from DMing you?
Is there any way of Reif/Hipkiss/Bennett/Baker/Covington knowing that information?
Specifically let’s look at Rio Grande…
He was able to predict Rio taking a huge step up which nobody else did meaning he likely had insider information. Did he DM anyone from Rio Grande? If not who else would know about people from Rio Grande?
The rumor I’ve been hearing is Hipkiss. I think it does make sense for it to be Reif given that he seemingly knows everyone in the NAIA, but the reasoning for Hipkiss makes a lot more sense to me. Also, consider that Hipkiss went to Marian with Ali Ray who would’ve likely given him information related to Stade and Klukas’s transfer. He also transferred to Milligan meaning he’d be more likely to know about what’s happening within the AAC.
If the account didn’t DM Montreat guys to find this out, then that helps limit it down.
What are the chances it’s someone more under the radar?
You’re getting solid coverage for the NAIA finally
If you go and blow the persons cover there’s a shot their coach or AD will make them stop posting
Half of you guys post on here talking down on each others teams and calling one another’s coaches “clueless”. Maybe we should be worried about those guys more than someone who’s putting together rankings!
For the past two years we’ve had everyone who posts in here saying a positive thing about another team get accused of being from that team… It seems like you guys don’t do the best job of being internet detectives
When the instagram account first started mass following people, I remember seeing a lot of Rio Grande kids and Cumberlands kids being followed. My sources say that it is Mike Reif but it could be one of those guys too. Also of note is the large amount of racewalkers that followed the page early on.
When the instagram account first started mass following people, I remember seeing a lot of Rio Grande kids and Cumberlands kids being followed. My sources say that it is Mike Reif but it could be one of those guys too. Also of note is the large amount of racewalkers that followed the page early on.
Had a lot of a Cumberlands followers from the get go
The logo was made by Ben Huftalin who was a former Grand View runner
Talked a lot about the race walkers at OTs and had a lot of racewalk followers
Talks a lot about the Heart in comparison to the quality of the conference
Been around for a few years
Guess who else obviously posts on here from time to time
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