MIAC 2025 XC

Mo makes it look so easy that I don't think we realize how great he is. His last K was so fast they couldn't get a split. Turlington ran sub 3 for his last K and he put ten seconds on him. Interesting to see that was a season-best for Mo on a course that wasn't that fast. I can't wait to see what he does at Nationals.

What a race by Stencel too. His improvement to being a national caliber runner might be one of the top coaching jobs in the MIAC. Too bad some of the top Johnnie scorers from last year were derailed by injuries.

Injuries also hindered the Carls, but they closed the gap on the Oles in an impressive way. Although if the Mac freshman ran at his usual level they finish second and likely only 40 points away. Edwards seems to be such a clutch MIAC performer.

Congrats to Hamline on running an excellent meet in a tremendously neutral course. Shame on the Oles for singing their fight song at the Carls during the awards. That seemed pretty classless to me. But that's what's expected from their coach. Hope the other coaches recognize that and don't reward Chunko with coach of the year. He didn't improve them in any manner, maybe due to not having seen the course before. Carleton moving from fourth to second or Gustavus scoring 50 less points and moving into the top 5 deserves some acknowledgement.

Tonight BUFFALO NICKEL will sure meet his fate! UM YA YA!

How many victories would the Oles have if the Tommies never left?

I know it is not a fast course and the top two guys are good. But wholly cow the rest of the field doesnt look very good. It looks like a very weak conference. St Olaf seems at best about a 20-25th best team- at best. The rest, there is no other way to say it but those teams ate not that good. What heppened to this league that legitimately put 2-3 teams into the championship in previous years. No one after St Olaf has a prayer.

To quote the best running movie of all-time, "IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!"

I don’t think they’d won a title in the 2000’s, so seems like the answer would be zero. But it is also fair to say Power’s arrival (and success) has been during a down period for MIAC distance running. Just too many injuries to Carleton/St. John’s and even a potential qualifier in Edwards.

And unless the Oles close their spread and Turlington improves, they may not even make the national meet for the first time in quite a long time.

Well there was the time in '14 where they nearly perfect scored the MIAC when St Thomas was still in the league, plus a number of other examples that you youngin's can't seem to recall. Keep it up though.

It just feels like the league is not what it has been. Less quality it is one thing when the oles dominated but that was when they were top 10, 5 and even ncaa champs. Now they dominate and arent close to that. The problem is the rest of the league.

“Tempo-ing” races gets you 5th in the league. Injuries are not an excuse for the entire league of individuals to be this average.

Carleton is a top acadmenic institution like NYU, johns hopkins, williams, carnegie mellon, Pomona, U of Chicago, Wash U, Williams,MIT……. those schools and the cheap syaye schools should always rule this sport. Right now and recently Carleton isnt close to them…….or the Oles.

Oles were 8th last year, 13th the year before, 14th the year before, and 17th before that. Looks like they're nationally competitive to me, but maybe you're using a different metric.

A healthier Carleton team could conceivably be a top 30 team this year.

But if we look at recent history of National qualifying squads in the last 15 years, I think you're overreacting to a stronger Region and a very slow course.

Saint John's (27 appearances) - not since 2008

St. Thomas (26 appearances) - 2014, 2018, 2019 (two championships)

St. Olaf (19 appearances) - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 (one championship)

Carleton (10 appearances)- 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023 - add in a warmer day to not trigger Lavey's asthma and they add one more appearance.

Hamline (9 appearances) - not since 2011

You can't forget some of the non-Ole individuals that have All-American accolades in distance events in the last few years - Boone, DeWall, Nichols, Bati, Munir, Young, I'm guessing Carter Grove was too. Then add Kelly, Bocovich, Skemp, Turlington, and Heartney. That's a group to be proud of considering how hard it is to make Nationals in XC or Track from the North Region.

https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/pomapitzer.sidearmsports.com/documents/2024/12/16/Men-team-history.pdf

here is the link. Ust 27 appearances, st johns 24, carleton 23, st olaf 21

only st thomas (now gone), st olaf and carleton have qualified from miac since 2011. St johns hasnt done it for 17 years and hamline since 2011 and now they struggle.

So the point is the league is down with only st olaf likely advancing when there have often been two or more teams from the league. This year the gap between olaf and the rest puts them in a total different class.

What a phenomenal conference meet! I'm disappointed that I was unable to watch, but following on the live results was very fun. Because I happen to be the Colin Cowherd of the MIAC and am the only person on this thread who has the guts to post under their own name, it is my duty and honor to provide an in depth breakdown of the results:

1. Mohammed Bati might challenge Wilky for the greatest MIAC XC runner ever. To preface this I do not mean on the track nor post collegiate. If Bati wins a title in three weeks, he might have it. It is yet to be determined, but 4 MIAC championships is really impressive consistency. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do over the next three weeks, and he's so damn nice its hard not to love the guy (same with Wilky though). We could probably debate this all day, but all together he is a very impressive runner.

2. St. Olaf's dominance over this conference on the team side remains stable. I just don't know what any other team can do. Four straight, all with less than 35 total points. How can you argue with dominance. For the whole regular season, I really thought they were vulnerable, but Dr. P's plan never ceases to impress me come November. I expect them to make another bid to nationals and look forward to seeing how they match up against a great region and great national field.

3. Kevin Turlington is a quiet top 10 nationals finisher. Torty had a great race out there today regardless of seeing Mo pull away in the last k. I have seen this before though. His year has been looking like a prime Brockovic and I think he has a real chance to get a little trophy in three weeks. His greatness might be getting overlooked due to the Bati-mania, but let's not forget about how far this dude has came from his first season with the Oles.

4. Cole Stencel and Gabe Nichols have All-American potential, I think. Are they locks to get the ever so covetted medal? Definitely not, but I do think that if they get to Nats that they have the potential to be there. I also could see them missing out on the Big Dance. Who really knows, but their third and fourth place finishes were definitely bright sides for both programs. Especially since the MIAC has had three all americans each year for the past three years, we will see if this trend continues.

5. The MIAC seems to be in a downtrend, and it could be even weaker in coming years. Like all conferences, competetiveness ebs and flows. Look no further than the NESCAC for the past three years. But looking at the amount of top 15 runners who were seniors, man is it open for next year. Yes, experience wins in XC, but there is oppurtunity for those are hoping for one. Who knows, I could be totally wrong and next year could be way better. There is just no way of knowing (look at Platteville, if anyone saw them being a contender for a top 10 team nationally, you did not).

6. Cooper Gundersen is a dawg. Man, if you would have told me yesterday that C-Gundy was to finish 11th in the MIAC, not a chance I would have said it was likely. But the sophomore had a great race, and I shouldn't be surprised given the dawg I saw in him when Torty and I paced in on the back half of his conference 10k last year. Outstanding performance by the youngin, and looking forward, it still seems like the Oles will return another strong group for next year, even with graduating so many seniors.

Again, these are the big takeaways I took for the results. I am aware that there can be more validity in analysis of viewing the results. I also want to shout out Mac for showing up pretty well, and for Hootie Hage on a great race. Being a fan in general, it's great to watch the up and comers run well. Finally shout out to Conner Hitchcock for his freshman of the year performance. Congrats to everyone that ran today, I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I always did. Cross country is a beautiful sport, and if you aren't out there having fun in the suffering, then what is the point. Stay healthy in preparation for the regional meet, and I am looking forward to seeing what the MIAC can do against the WIAC schools. Goodluck, Goodtraining and Goodnight!

I don’t think St. Thomas was ever dominant in the MIAC, were they? Maybe in the early 80s? I would say they might have had more conference wins than any other team, but not by a huge number. So I’d say St. Olaf would have won… two fewer titles?

I ran in the MIAC in the 1990s, and started paying attention again when my son was looking at schools. I’ve really liked watching the team races over the last couple of years. Besides St. Olaf seeming basically untouchable, I think the next four teams at this year’s meet all have interesting storylines going. Carleton and Macalester have the advantage of being able to offer admissions help at nationally renowned colleges. Carleton has had the upper hand for a long time, and recently Schofer— a Carleton grad— has been chipping away at that advantage. I can’t wait to see how that goes over the next few years. St. John’s used to be the program of the blue collar runner; a place where a motivated runner felt he could transform himself through four years of mileage. There appeared to be a lull toward the end of Tim Miles career, but now things are moving forward again under one of his old athletes. Can they get back to the top? And Gustavus seems like the ambitious program that just needs one or two good years of results to jump start recruiting. I know Huber really wants to make the jump into the next tier, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. As a lifelong Minnesota resident and a fan, I’m watching with a lot of interest.

It’s looking like 2026 is shaping up to be much more interesting.

1) Olaf still appears to be the favorite, but 5 of their top 6 are listed as Seniors.

2) Macalester has been aggressively improving the last few years with their new coach and are a younger team. Could they catch Olaf by ~’27?

3) Top tier talent is all gone. Can Hootie or Ihrke or someone else make that jump? Bati had Boco, Kelly, Lars and Turlington to push him but no clear next man up, maybe someone will emerge at regions or nationals. Or maybe there’s a new hot recruit.

4) Highland is a way more spectator friendly course than either Northfield college. I still prefer Como, but Highland should host more often than not.

5) I’d love a MIAC conference thread that shut the f up about coaches people don’t like. As a non Olaf MIAC alum I’d love to see someone beat them, but idgaf about the coaches.

Now that conference is over and they sadly did win, I’m now 100% behind Olaf. The more MIAC representation at nationals the better so good luck everyone!

As a runner I didn’t love the course. It weirdly narrowed early in the race on an uphill and the turns kinda sucked. It was hard to pass people in bounds because of the narrowness. I don’t think the start line is angled the same for every team and they really need bigger boxes. Or even starting boxes the same size for every team. And can we do something about the manholes and holes? I’m no Olaf fan, but I saw there coaching staff laying dirt on their soggy corner between races at their home meet.

I know that Hamline doesn’t have any resources, but can the MIAC step up to provide actual course markers? I’d rather not have markers than crumpled pieces of paper. Even some MIAC branded yard signs would work. If three schools are the host can they pool resources to create an event that doesn’t feel like the Highland Park vs. Moundsview JV invitational?

Anyone who whines about the course is soft. This is a far superior experience to any Northfield for fans and spectators. If the State meet wasn't at the same time, I'd expect even bigger crows.

Injuries were very impactful for the three teams fighting for second. Hopefully the coaches or trainers figure some things out. It was terrible to see all-MIAC level runners not competing or competing off delayed training.

While Olaf may appear to be the favorite, but they have too many question marks graduating so many seniors that wouldn't have been top 15 in previous years. It pains me to say it, but I think the Johnnies are your actual favorites. If Kaluza, Malecha, and St. Peter are running at full force with conference champion favorite Cole, I could see them scoring in the high 30s. Carleton has a great freshman class and will surely want to have a good year ahead of hosting Nationals, but they graduate their big three. Mac recruits and develops at a high level, but haven't had the MIAC meet we'd hope to see yet. Gustavus also graduates a lot, but return Brauer, who had a rare off day. I remain impressed with Brendo's positivity and how much love he has for the MIAC teams and competitors.

The so-called Ole dominance has hurt the conference. I think some schools are okay not winning and view them as unbeatable. If you read the Stravas of the competitors, few seemed upset about not winning. Except the Johnnies, they really hate losing and maybe that's more of a blue-collar vs. white-collar school sort of thing.

Also, the Chunko detractors seemed to be getting to him. The man seemed to be on a PR campaign yesterday. I saw him to talk to athletes from several schools and some of the coaches. The interactions with Maxwell and the Johnnies was hilarious. They clearly don't like him and hate losing to him.

First off - very validating to hear you call yourself soft, after years of whining about courses

As predictable as the changing of the leaves, right on time, here is Buffalo Nickel’s yearly cursing that the Oles graduate too many to win next year. I do agree next year is a lot more wide open, and the winning score will be closer to 50. But it is dank how you already insist the Johnnies are the favorite, versus anyone else. Removing the seniors from yesterday’s results, 4 from St. Olaf are in front of St. John’s 2nd, and 9 in front of their 3rd. You’ll probably say that’s because of the Johnnies injuries, so you must then indirectly be admitting that Power is the better coach that had his guys ready when it mattered, at the right time, right.

St. John’s has a great opportunity next year, as close as they’ve had in many years. But to deny the facts where they stand after this weekend and what they’d need to surmount would be a major disservice to them.

Also - very funny for you to say St. Olaf is to blame for the rest of the conference being mediocre recently. I’d love to see another nationally competitive MIAC team win conference, but that hasn’t been even close to a possibility since Matt Wilkinson was a Carl. There are a lot of coaches with the right spirit in the MIAC, but I’m of the opinion that you need to get your team to nats to even start to be considered for coach of the year. It seems like you have been entirely focused on yelling what you want the result to be these years, versus being process / work ethic oriented.

If I cared more I’d go through to see how many times Buffalo Nickel directly contradicts himself in his various posts. He’s a professional troll. Move on.

Andrew, I appreciate that you’re a recent grad, but you need to learn MIAC history. Wilkinson’s post MIAC career has earned him the postgrad GOAT title, but he never won a national championship in cross country. He was runner-up which is certainly impressive. Your beloved Ole, Grant Wintheiser won a national title as did Ben Sathre and the true MIAC GOAT Nic Maniciu. Nic had many MIAC Track pre-super shoes records. Ben was also second. Coach Wareham also finished second and third. Mac even had a guy match Wareham. The Johnnies had a few runner ups way back and I believe Palmquist of Olaf was second or third. Mo certainly seems poised to enter the conversation.

As for injuries, impacting teams, Iggy has barely raced this year due to injuries. I think it’s safe to say a fully healthy 3:48 runner would make a bigger impact if he’s healthy. Every team has injuries. Some teams are deeper than others and that pays off. Some of these coaches need to quit complaining at practices and recruit harder. Clearly their current model doesn’t work.

Instead of debating a race that has already happened and one that is a year away while still competing in the current season, I’d be very curious to hear what each program does training wise. How has Maxwell changed Tim’s training? What exactly does Mac do? Why do we think Olaf’s training is so unique. What did Gustsvus do differently this year? Does Carleton still follow the Daniels book? Interestingly, I believe the Ole assistant ran for Daniels. I’m surprised they haven’t shifted to that, knowing his first hand expertise. Let’s move the message board back to constructive conversation by starting a dialogue about theee pertinent questions.

Many of the Oles from Phil’s era don’t engage with the new regime, so it’s probable a new grad wouldn’t know much about the past.

I’ve just assumed the new assistant at Gustavus has greatly influenced the new training at Gustavus. I believe she comes from one of the strong Iowa programs.

An Ole assistant told me that the current training is Feed the Cats for distance runners. After googling more about that training program, I take that to mean lots of fast stuff and low volume. That makes sense given Power’s sprints background. I’d be curious to learn more about how they apply it, because it certainly works. Also, can Lars or Calvin tell us more about how your coach’s ski background influences the double threshold work you did?