University that SHOULD have successful XC programs

Indiana

irun wrote:

san diego state

yeah state and USD. for D1 schools in a place with great weather, i'd imagine that we'd have a better team. i'm on USD's team and i'm surprised that we can't get the runners we need. (although it could come from a high tuition.)

nvjsdjkdslkjgfnlkjdsfnl wrote:

orelserte wrote:

If it is the coach, then why is George Mason so bad?

They have the X-stanford coach (scored like 20 points at nationals with Stanford the year they won) and Julie Henner who coaches tons of litle level runners. Why are they bad?

George Mason men will be fine in a matter of time. They have some solid youngsters. Years of mediocrity and crappiness must be dealt with first, before the program can be turned around.

George Mason women will never be fine as long as they have the current head coach.

James Robinson High School Girls' XC Team, which is about 1 mile from the George Mason Campus, could kick the crap out of the George Mason girls team.

One Robinson's better runners just told me that she was up visiting Boston College last week and, while she loved the campus, she was shocked that BC had no track and the team had to practice at Harvard. Yet, George Mason has both an excellent Indoor and Outdoor track facility. Plus, George Mason is sitting right in the middle of Fairfax County, a talent rich area for HS running. Does Henner even try to recruit any of these girls? Does GMU put any scholarship money towards distance?

The GMU swim team is coming along. Running should be no different. All it takes is the right coach, and a funding commitement from the athletic department.

Anybody mention Ole Miss yet?

Northwestern women.

Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. Both have good history what has happen to these programs? Would I be right in saying neither one has competed in the NCCA national championships since finishing 4th and 9th a few years back?

va tech men, great area to run, and their recruits tend to underachieve

Once again, if you paid attention and did a little research, you would realize that Henner/Gerard have no coaching duties on the women's side. They are strictly men's program.

Angie Taylor is the head coach of the women. She has had a revolving door of assistant coaches since she arrived. Most recently Alisa Harvey then Burke Binning then some guy who was part-time and coached via e-mail.

You could blame the distance coaches, but it starts at the top of the program. Taylor has alienated the local high schools so much that even strong attempts by both Harvey and Binning to recruit Fairfax and the surrounding communities resulted in nothing. They have a lot of money to give out, too, but for some reason are not able to part with it.

Hope that helps.

Hwy 6 wrote:

Anybody mention Ole Miss yet?

You beat me to it.

ole missian wrote:

[quote]Hwy 6 wrote:

Anybody mention Ole Miss yet?

uh, maybe because we are the fattest, poorest and dumbest state in the Union? Maybe the fact that 95 degrees and 90 % humidity makes our summers miserable? Nobody cares about distance running here. Go away you Yankee carpetbaggers.

vermonter wrote:

UVM. they got a good amount of money, a ton on the womens side and you can't ask for a much better place to train and they are really horrible.

Really? They get scholarships there? How many, and who's on it? Does that really overcome the burden of having to travel several hundred miles to get halfway decent weather? What about the worn out outdoor track on a windy hill? What about the dingy indoor facility, which they probably have to train on until mid-April?

university of NAIROBI

shepard smith. wrote:

ole missian wrote:

[quote]Hwy 6 wrote:

Anybody mention Ole Miss yet?

uh, maybe because we are the fattest, poorest and dumbest state in the Union? Maybe the fact that 95 degrees and 90 % humidity makes our summers miserable? Nobody cares about distance running here. Go away you Yankee carpetbaggers.

And Arkansas isn't nearly as fat and almost as humid?

not in Fayetville at the University; unlike Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Mississippi Valley puts out better track teams.

NoVa HS Coach wrote:

Once again, if you paid attention and did a little research, you would realize that Henner/Gerard have no coaching duties on the women's side. They are strictly men's program.

Angie Taylor is the head coach of the women. She has had a revolving door of assistant coaches since she arrived. Most recently Alisa Harvey then Burke Binning then some guy who was part-time and coached via e-mail.

You could blame the distance coaches, but it starts at the top of the program. Taylor has alienated the local high schools so much that even strong attempts by both Harvey and Binning to recruit Fairfax and the surrounding communities resulted in nothing. They have a lot of money to give out, too, but for some reason are not able to part with it.

Hope that helps.

OK...my mistake. Why has Taylor alienated the local schools so much?

I would not expect GMU to be signing some of the very best talent in Fairfax County each year. If these girls choose to stay in Virginia, they almost all end up at Tech, UVA, W&M or Madison. But, there is a lot of 2nd tier talent out there - girls running around 20 minutes or even better for 5K. What surprises me is that Mason doesn't seem to be signing any of those runners either.

Boise State!

NVA Runner wrote:

OK...my mistake. Why has Taylor alienated the local schools so much?

I would not expect GMU to be signing some of the very best talent in Fairfax County each year. If these girls choose to stay in Virginia, they almost all end up at Tech, UVA, W&M or Madison. But, there is a lot of 2nd tier talent out there - girls running around 20 minutes or even better for 5K. What surprises me is that Mason doesn't seem to be signing any of those runners either.

From my time here it stems from a number of factors:

1. The former HC, Norm Gordon, was very good at keeping up with the local talent and staying on good terms with the HS coaches that could feed his program. Taylor probably could not tell you more than 1 or 2 names of local HS coaches, and probably no distance coaches.

2. Poor mismanagement of HS meets run by her program - poor communications, high entry fees, limited fields.

3. Failure to recruit local talent when the athlete is dropped in her lap. She could have a strong group of walk-on athletes, but restricts them so much on her team that they are discouraged from attending GMU. Not all athletes should be able to walk-on, but ones that are faster than the current GMU roster should have a shot. Also, low cost quality athletes are readily available, but are neglected to keep numbers low.

4. Program instability - The HS coaches in the area notice the trend of a distance coach being there for a year or two and leaving. They just cannot deal with no scholarship help, and a limited roster. Why should I send my athletes to GMU if they are going to be coached by 3-4 coaches and possibly 3-4 differing philosophies. I'm sure Harvey, Binning, and Freeman (I think that was the last guy's name) are capable coaches, but they were fighting a losing a battle from the beginning.

a1qt wrote:

Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. Both have good history what has happen to these programs? Would I be right in saying neither one has competed in the NCCA national championships since finishing 4th and 9th a few years back?

3rd and 9th. Yes, CMU has competed at NCAAs since then. EMU has had individuals compete since then, and maybe a team. At mid-majors like that you are going to have some ups and downs because they consistently don't get the same flow of quality athletes year after year. Both are good programs, just not always going to show up on the radar. The MAC has consistently produced some top notch distance guys, and lately has been no difference with the likes of Huling, Nowitzke (EMU, spelling?), Powers.

just wanted to agree with whoever said florida. they have one of the best athletic departments in the country but their xc team is terrible! look at their recruiting class coming in. not one distance runner! why does all the in state talent go to FSU or elsewhere when the UF is great academically? it makes no sense to me. but they did fair at sec xc's this past year. and with a couple of good distance runners scoring points at sec's in track they could be beating lsu and arkansas. shane stroup helped them out a couple of years ago but now they have nothing.