DIII Cross Country: 2011

BabaGanoush wrote:

Flotrack has put up its preview for the West. I dont see any of them competing for the national title, either as teams or individuals.

http://www.flotrack.org/article/6747-D3-Cross-Country-Preview-West-Region-2011

If you mean on the men's side, sure. But Lydens (9th last year, 5k runner up) and Tave (7th last year) are definitely threats for the women's individual title.

Any input on the individual race? Top ten?

Gossels (5k/10k champ, xc runner-up, clear favorite)

Lydens (5k runner-up)

Cazzola (1500 champ, could win if course favors her speed)

I think one of those three will win.

Then, in no particular order:

Childs-Walker (gets top 5 always in track, bad race are xc nat's last year)

Tave (probably a solid pick for fifth-tenth)

Boots (track specialist could surprise)

Liberati (solid steepler/5ker, xc AA)

Del Piccolo (AA in 10k as a freshman)

Lee (top 10 at xc nat's last year)

Mattox (steeple runner-up, xc AA)

And, if they're healthy:

Mills (5th in xc, but no outdoor times--injured?)

Simeone (12th in xc, but no outdoor times--injured?)

Dear (fast track times, but injured at nat's? bad race in cross last year--254th at nat's)

Another update from Flotrack on the Great Lakes. Nothing too ground breaking, though it looks like they have a lot of good individuals who could challenge for the title.

Season should be kicking off in the next few weeks. Any notable meets coming up soon?

rcc wrote:

run10miles wrote:

I believe Pat Lesiewicz is transferring to Notre Dame...but don't expect NCC to miss a beat.

Is this for real?? Their other freshmen (now sophomores) are close to his 5k PRs now, but losing a 9:13 HS 2miler is certainly a hit. With NCC's depth though I doubt they take a substantial blow.

Indeed, he is listed on the roster at ND:

This came out a week or so ago but good stuff on probably the most powerful region in the country. As many as 10 teams on the men's side have a shot at the top 5, or so it seems each year. I wish flotrack had done more on the individual race, could be a good one... Where is this regional being raced this year?

Augustana is hosting again at Saukie Golf Course.

Pre-season rankings are out.

I think most teams are more-or-less where they should be. I am surprised to see St. Lawrence so high - they have two extremely high returners (Johnston and Kiplagat), but they did relatively poorly in track. They lost to Haverford in xc and like others have noted, Haverford also returns 2 XC all-americans plus a slew of sub-15s and the third place finisher in the 1500.

Also, WashU has Bernstein who will be solid, but how can they be ranked 5th, when they finished 9th last year and lose 3 from that team?

Also, I thought Williams was suspiciously high - they have done little in the past year to prove they are the 7th best team in the country...they have a history of success, but that really shouldn't boost you in the rankings.

It seems to me that Geneseo is probably a little low...also I think Wabash is a sleeper, they've quietly been churning out some good runners and finished 13th last year...seems like a program on the up and up.

Does anyone else have any other thoughts?

The pre-season rankings are terrible every year, and don't get much better. It's mostly just a reference to what the team did in the past couple years. I wouldn't put much stock in them.

I agreee with you guys that UW-Oshkosh will be the top XC Team in WIAC but I don't think La-Crosse will be the number 2 team in the WIAC cause of what happened to them last year with not able to run in 2-3 meet during the XC Season cause of their drinking but if they don't drink and focus on their running they will going to DIII Nationals with UW-Oshkosh but if they don't I think UW-Stevens Point will slide in as a team into DIII Nationals

The Midwest region has 8 teams ranked in the top 35, 7 in the top 20. That\'s compared to at most 4 in any other region. It seems like there is a gap at the fourth to the fifth team (assuming of course that 5 will be sent to nationals). Should be a real dog fight for that fifth spot for the last 4 teams. The rankings have Wheaton, SP, Auggie, and Platteville and there are sure to be a couple more by November. Any thoughts on which one of those teams might stand out come race time?

solinsky21 wrote:

I agreee with you guys that UW-Oshkosh will be the top XC Team in WIAC but I don't think La-Crosse will be the number 2 team in the WIAC cause of what happened to them last year with not able to run in 2-3 meet during the XC Season cause of their drinking but if they don't drink and focus on their running they will going to DIII Nationals with UW-Oshkosh but if they don't I think UW-Stevens Point will slide in as a team into DIII Nationals

Thanks Rube. You think La Crosse won't do well this fall because last fall they had an issue? They've probably cleaned it up a bit, and now they have David Stilin who has elevated his game to a different level from where he was last fall. La Crosse will push Oshkosh...Stymiest won't be more than 5 places ahead of Stilin and after that LAX might have the edge at every spot 2-5.

I was just trying to stir some conversation before, but I guess I was unsuccessful. I know preseason rankings don't mean much. Did any teams have any meets this weekend?

Ghost of Spike wrote:

Did any teams have any meets this weekend?

NYU men (6k) and women (4k) were at Monmouth, but kept out the top ten guys and a similar number of women.

The Violets have decent numbers (60+ total), which may be a good start toward the quality-in-depth that was the hallmark of their men's squads from a few years ago, when their "B" squad would have beaten most of the other teams in their Atlantic Region.

There was some question about whether the NYU women would indeed bring back their top six from last year (many NYU students spend time abroad), but all six are listed on the roster, as well as one or two who were MIA last year. They also seem to have a couple of frosh who could crack the top five.

is Jennifer Gossels running this year? she's not listed on their team roster.

please update!

fdkafjld;sjfklda wrote:

is Jennifer Gossels running this year? she's not listed on their team roster.

please update!

I thought she was at Williams...

No, she's not running. She's "saving eligibility" for some unannounced reason.

Is that even allowed in the NCAA, because there is no more red-shirtting?