Even though sam bush said they prepare on hills mentally, i still think they do hill training, i mean she and brooke ran well yesterday and that course was hilly
also, they have been running hilly courses for their past 2 races, thats added hill training
Can you explain how you are using the gap between Bush and Tuohy is a negative for NC State and then saying Alabama will beat them? Dont get me wrong i get New Mexico, but just today Alabamas 2nd Olemomoi was over 20 seconds behind Chelangat and then Tyynismaa in 3rd was 34 seconds back. When most people have Tuohy and possible Chmiel over Chelangat, how is Bama's scoring supposed to be better? Rauber for NC state was 13 seconds behind their 3rd Bush, and Bama's 4th Asekol was 18 seconds behind Bama's 3rd Tyynismaa. Alabama's 5th was over a minute back over their 4th....There's no way you think they beat NC State, even with this roster. You're calling Rauber's race zero impact at the national meet when Bama's 5th won't be in the top 100
Honestly, Alabama may be a stretch on my part, it is a gut feeling that they are going to run well at OK. Plus I think except for Tuohy and Chmiel, the rest of the team is going to have a very bad day because I think the Pack not being prepared for hills on that course is going to kill them the last 1k of the race, just like me it did the last time they were there. They were winning practically the whole race through 5k and there 5th died and they got killed by BYU.
When they won last year I believe they had a 24 second between their 1st (Kelsey) and 5th (Sam). Their gap now is about a minute. So maybe not Alabama but NM will blow them up if Starliper is not healthy ( which she is not)
AL's 5th was almost 2 minutes back of Chelangat. That alone will be more points than NC St top 5.
the course is actually really crazy, its a classic cross country course, so many turns, so many hills, the stillwater course has more flats than panorama farms course if you compare it
i was not able to record the entire race, only the part and interview but heres a vid acc posted on twitter
There is going to be a big gap with the very front this year. It will be a fast race. New Mexico has no true low sticks so the gap from the top group will be big for everyone.
"Haha the ones in the videos were easy, just gradual slopes. There was a crazy hill in the back loop of the course that you hit 2-3 times, and then the finishing hill was next toughest. Crazy how fast it ran for the amount of undulations.."
heres a vid of katelyn tapping and consoling syd ~ katelyn gets the best teammate award
also when katelyn saw brooke, she was so excited and shouted her name and hugged her so proudly, its amazing to see such talented runner be this amazing of a teammate (coach henes talked about it too), shes just always so genuinely happy for her teammates' success and cares for them and always wants to help them be better
Apparently at nuttycombe she got kicked on knee and it swelled up afterward so she missed a few days and they decided not to run her at acc. Supposedly ok for regional and ncaa
good post...Rauber did a great job, as did Quarzo and Mareno.
Many people on this site have pointed out that NC STate is not a lock to win, as so many other teams now have a very strong top 3 or 4. But NC State showed why they are ranked number 1...they have low sticks, and they have depth. With one of their top 5 out, and another top 5 having an off race, they still won the ACC...which other team could lose 2 of their top 5 and still win their conference?
The gap from 1st to 5th is also being looked at incorrectly...the gap from 1st to 5th is larger than last year, and the main factor to that is Tuohy. Chmiel ran a good race today, and Tuohy blew her away at the end. Tuohy has added 10 seconds to the gap by lowering her time. There are two ways the Gap from from 1st to 5th increase...one is good (1st goes faster) and one is bad (5th goes slower) ....NC States is the good.
Last point is the hills...I believe it is silly to think NC State is not preparing for the hills because of one comment made by Bush....of course they are. 3 or 4 of their top 5 have run Stillwater before, and as mentioned several times, have been running fairly hilly courses all year. This last course looked to have some good hills, and a fairly large one at the end. Tuohy looked pretty tired at the end...but she also looked like she ran that last km pretty hard (I would say because she knew that Stillwater has a similar finish). Both her and Chmiel broke the old course record I believe. Bush came in 5th, right behind Maatoug (who deserves more attention)...on a hilly course. Bush's splits indicate she was running a very controlled pace right through the race...this is what she said she needed to do during the interview.
Obviously NCS needs Starliper and Seymour if they are going to win Nationals...But that has nothing to do with a lack of depth....only that other teams have improved drastically by adding or developing runners. Should be a great race!!
heres a vid of katelyn tapping and consoling syd ~ katelyn gets the best teammate award
also when katelyn saw brooke, she was so excited and shouted her name and hugged her so proudly, its amazing to see such talented runner be this amazing of a teammate (coach henes talked about it too), shes just always so genuinely happy for her teammates' success and cares for them and always wants to help them be better
the course is actually really crazy, its a classic cross country course, so many turns, so many hills, the stillwater course has more flats than panorama farms course if you compare it
i was not able to record the entire race, only the part and interview but heres a vid acc posted on twitter
I went to the race. This course in Virginia is VERY hilly. I don't know exactly how it will compare to Stillwater, but is has to be very close/similar. So NC State is certainly going to be prepared to run hills. I suspected before coming into this season that Seymour struggled on hilly courses, and is more of a track runner. That is being confirmed by her results so far. But she didn't run that bad at Nuttycombe, only a few seconds behind Bush. So there is still some hope that she could perform well at Stillwater. But even if she doesn't, the emergence of Brooke Rauber is huge and could replace the "need" for Seymour. I saw an interview with Rauber where she has stated that she loves running hilly courses (coming out of upstate NY where she ran them all the time in high school). Even if Starliper does not run at nationals, I believe that between Rauber, Quarzo, and Mareno, you will have 4th and 5th runners of the caliber to win the title. It could be close, but having those low sticks from Tuohy and Chmiel could be huge for the team score.
National teams from North, South, Central America and the Caribbean will battle for top spot on the challenging Bear Mountain Resort course in Langford, Brit...
Seymour struggled on hilly courses, and is more of a track runner. That is being confirmed by her results so far. But she didn't run that bad at Nuttycombe, only a few seconds behind Bush.
hopefully she toughens it up, im concerned for her too
but that nuttycombe race was a bad day/race for sam bush