Socon thread?

Individual predictions:

1. chris berry

2. phil mitchell

3. divinnie

4. desta

and morgan will finish anywhere from 5-8

team predictions:

1. App will dominate

2. Elon by a good margin

3. UTC (they'll be there)

4. Furman barely edging out 5. davidson

6. UNCG

7. Samford

Wofford will beat both the citadel and college of charleston

put it in the bank

i saw berry run at UTK... he would be top 3 for sure, but i believe he may be redshirting.

the kenyan for ut c is a top 10 for sure

morgan is a top three for sure.

the rest belongs to appy.... i hate appy but its the truth.

divinnie will find a way to hurt himself, not sure why people always list this guy...he NEVER does anything

Divinnie is a ton of talent and he has done something. Freshmen year he was 4th in the 10k and 2nd or 3rd in the 5k. Last year he came back from a stress fracture early and still finished 19th. He is healthy this year and running extremely well.

There is still a lot of time for teams to improve and anyone who knows this sport knows that anything could happen. 2 years ago at the Bend, UTC was a serious contender. If not for there 4th man having the worst race of his life, they might have won. Instead Furman grabbed runner-up after they were predicted to finish 5th. Crazy things have happened in this conference and if App is such a guarantee to win it all, then we should just hand them the award now. No need to have the race ladies and gentlemen. Apparently, App has already won the entire damn thing.

p.s.- It's not "put it in the bank" it's "take it to the bank"

you're absolutely correct. give them the damned trophy now!

taking three weeks off racing to get ready for meets would hurt anyone if anything, why would that help them? suuure their "fresh" but how many other teams race every weekend. their first meet was really freaking early in the season.......and you're right--there is time for other teams to improve, but if App is already at this point, wouldn't the improvement curve hold for them too...which would make their team at conference rather ridiculous. (and app guys have shown remarkable propensity towards NOT shitting the bed at conference)

conference predictions:

1. Mitchell

2. Morgan

3. Desta

4. Berry (if he doesn't redshirt)

5. Divininnie (if he doesn't hurt himself)

6. Houser

7. samford guy

8. Meyer (app)

9. O'keefe (app)

10. Mordecai (app)

11. Hammond

12. Soderman (app fresh)

this would give app 25 points. no one is going to beat that.

take that to the f***ing bank.

I agree with wow about app state, but I still hold to my own predictions.

ps. "There," "They're," and "Their" - 3 different words with three different uses.

pps. I don't need to take that Sh*t anywhere, it's already collecting interest.

You seem to have both agreed and disagreed to the previous comment in regards to taking three weeks off from racing. "hurt anyone if anything, why would that help them? suuure their "fresh" " I think that is exactly why they took the time off. To be fresh for Winthrop and Paul Short;two weekends of tough racing.

It really does not matter how teams run now. These races only serve as practice. The only thing I know is that conference is the only race that truly matters and I think it will not be a blowout at all. Should be fun to watch.

Seriously, the results for the majority of people at Winthrop are completely off. Let's not put too much stock into this race as far as times and places. A lot of people are out of order. App is still very good. UTC does not seem to have the depth, Davidson is much improved, UNCG has so much potential and talent, Elon is better than last year, but we'll have to wait and see, Furman has some talented freshmen and few upperclassmen this year, Wofford is still Wofford, and the Citadel has hit rock bottom. Samford should be a very solid team. C of C has fallen off the face of the Earth

Anyone on here who is saying App isn't going to destroy conference is either A) on another team in the conference or B) kidding themselves. Honesly, those are the only 2 ways I see people trying to say that App isn't going to win. They return 5 of the top 7 from last year, and one of the guys in front of them is redshirting. Apperantly they have a 25:30ish freshman and a few other upperclassmen returning who should be competing for all conference as well. It's natural for runners of other teams to not concede the race yet if ever, but anyone else who thinks that is just crazy. The next few years will be less of a race and more of a time trial for them with a few "stars" from other teams thrown in here and there. Expect a repeat of last year, if not more lopsided.

I'm impressed with the attitude of App's team this year. They're finally setting their sights on doing well at Regionals instead of solely focusing on SoCons. With their depth and talent this year, they could be 5th in the region. That said, I do not think they will be as dominant as they were last year at SoCons. It will still take a monumental upset (several of their runners getting hurt, choking, falling, etc. and another team running out of their mind) for them to lose, but they will not put 8 in the top 11 again. There are too many quality runners on other teams for that to happen.

I'm excited to see how App performs in a big meet like Paul Short. I hope they represent the SoCon well and take down some Ivies. Other SoCon teams will be at George Mason and Louisville, so we'll see who can step up and run fast times.

I don't think anyone has come out and said App is NOT going to win. The feeling I'm getting is that people do not believe it will be a blow out. Honestly, I think there are a handful of teams that come into the season with the same goal: win the conference. As runners, it would only be natural for us to make it a dog fight. Frosh from App ran 25:46 I believe, which is a phenomenal time. Does anyone know if Desta and O'Keefe are still on the team? I remember being a freshmen when they were freshmen and someone mentioned to me that they were still running. Are they 6th year seniors?

Desta is only in his 5th year because he came in the year after me and I just finished my 5th. I think O'keefe might actually be a true senior but who knows. I just know they are both pretty quick.

Desta and O'Keefe are 5th year seniors. Desta was Freshman of the Year in 2004. Phil Mitchell will be a 5th year senior next year. It really does help to have older guys on a team.

Speaking of freshman of the year this should be a great race within the race at the socon meet. Thompson from UNCG, Soderman from App, and Schefer from Elon are all very close. Furman has some good freshmen too. This could be very hard to win this year.

actually soderman from app 25:36 at winthrop, they screwed up the results the first time, and even posted screwed up results the second time around. word on the street is that the finish chute was a shit show

Davidson has a freshman who has looked very good up to this point. You might want to throw him into the mix.

berry ran 24:5 something last year and got 4th at conference.... wonder if anyfreshman will hit that again

that was pretty tough one to win last year too.

the point good freshman coming into to SOCON is good for everyone.

Berry was way better than any other freshman last year, so it wasn't a tough one. This year it will be tough because so many freshmen are packed so closely together.

I know a lot of Socon schools are headed to big meets in the next two weeks so there should be some fast times. Does anyone know who is going where? I think App and Davidson usually go to paul short and WCU and UTC go to Greater Louisville but does anyone know who else (like Elon, UNCG, Furman or Samford) is going where? I also know the most of the NC teams go to Boone right before Socon. Is that happening again this year.

Thanks guys

it was a tough one if you were not berry.. but i get your point.