possibly, but my money is on them at nationals still. Men's side anyway as we all would take a regular season loss but still win a title.
Just curious why would your money be on them? Sowdar is a great recruiter but has seemed to under achieve peaking wise and they don't have a lot of kids with XC chops.
I think they have the roster to do it. Sure track team looks stronger with a variety of events covered. They caught most of you off guard last XC season. Those of us near them in the conference weren't surprised at all they were 3rd. Yes, they have to prove it and I understand the doubt right now because it hasn't been impressive but talent is there.
7 out of 14 runners last cross were All-American, both teams made the biggest jump at the national meet finishing within the top 10
National Champion in the 1k, mile, 3k indoors
National Runner-up men's DMR, womens 5k indoors
Third place 3k, 5k indoors
National Champion in the 1500, womens 10k outdoor
National Runner-up 5k, 800, 1500
A ton of all-americans, and none of this is counting the race walk. Sure a couple guys didn't perform well, yet does any team have everything go perfect? Hard time seeing that Sowder doesn't have them ready for major meets......
7 out of 14 runners last cross were All-American, both teams made the biggest jump at the national meet finishing within the top 10
National Champion in the 1k, mile, 3k indoors
National Runner-up men's DMR, womens 5k indoors
Third place 3k, 5k indoors
National Champion in the 1500, womens 10k outdoor
National Runner-up 5k, 800, 1500
A ton of all-americans, and none of this is counting the race walk. Sure a couple guys didn't perform well, yet does any team have everything go perfect? Hard time seeing that Sowder doesn't have them ready for major meets......
The majority of that came from 3 guys. Their team absolutely underperformed during the championship season compared to rankings going in especially at the outdoor meet.
7 out of 14 runners last cross were All-American, both teams made the biggest jump at the national meet finishing within the top 10
National Champion in the 1k, mile, 3k indoors
National Runner-up men's DMR, womens 5k indoors
Third place 3k, 5k indoors
National Champion in the 1500, womens 10k outdoor
National Runner-up 5k, 800, 1500
A ton of all-americans, and none of this is counting the race walk. Sure a couple guys didn't perform well, yet does any team have everything go perfect? Hard time seeing that Sowder doesn't have them ready for major meets......
The majority of that came from 3 guys. Their team absolutely underperformed during the championship season compared to rankings going in especially at the outdoor meet.
who under performed in your mind?
Gustav Bendsen, I totally agree.
Dennis Kipkurui, the most inconsistent runner I think we all can say we have ever seen.
The majority of that came from 3 guys. Their team absolutely underperformed during the championship season compared to rankings going in especially at the outdoor meet.
who under performed in your mind?
Gustav Bendsen, I totally agree.
Dennis Kipkurui, the most inconsistent runner I think we all can say we have ever seen.
Who else?
In outdoor? Shevchenko, Trost, Carpeggiani, Vaccari
Madeo, Asslouj and Santorum were the only ones to run up to the hype by the time they got to outdoor nats.
Was it was training, sickness, or just bombed the biggest meet of the year?
As a side note: Are we to holding other teams to the same standard as we are holding Cumberlands and Sowder? If so do we criticize the performance of IWU? Had four guys in the top 10 going into the 10k final and only have two in the top 10 at nationals. Was it the coach? Do they suck? Or they just didn't have it that day?
Fair enough but Two of them didn't run outdoors at all. The double 10 and 5 is pretty difficult lol
Is that not a massive issue? At the very least you need to be getting your kids to the starting line. Remember Noah Loser? Forgot he existed and the dude opened indoor last year with a 14:45.
If you're that talented the 5/10 double should not be that hard. Emed is far less talented then any of the Cumberlands kids and he handled the double impeccably
Was it was training, sickness, or just bombed the biggest meet of the year?
As a side note: Are we to holding other teams to the same standard as we are holding Cumberlands and Sowder? If so do we criticize the performance of IWU? Had four guys in the top 10 going into the 10k final and only have two in the top 10 at nationals. Was it the coach? Do they suck? Or they just didn't have it that day?
Injuries happen. Athletes have bad races or seasons for a variety of reasons (sickness, school stress, injuries, mental health, lack of commitment, etc). It could or could not be the coach’s fault. I don’t think it’s fair to automatically pin the failure of a small number of athletes on a coach, especially when you could look at many other top programs in the NAIA and find similar examples. 2-3 athletes underperforming over 1 track season doesn’t exactly mean he sucks at coaching.
Every coach with an ego thinks they can do a better job with the same resources. Every athlete wants to find a reason to hate on a program that is able to spend their way to the top. I’m not a Sowder apologist but I think it’s too early to tell whether he is able to develop athletes or if he’s simply able to recruit well.
Emad was ridiculously talented. Probably more talented than Luca Madeo.
The kid's running sub 29 10ks now and hadn't been running long before he got to Friends.
That being said St. Mary's coaches definitely prepared him better and he ran the race smarter.
I don't know if you missed it, but it's also well-known and accepted on this forum that IWU's guys choke and a lot of people criticize Foss and their athletes for it, so maybe not the best example.
Out of the schools I listed I thought that would be the least likely for anyone to disagree with.
The old coach left USF while the men’s and women’s teams were trophy or championship contenders every year to go to Mount Mercy which hasn’t been a competitive school in years. I’d assume that had to do with a lack of resources or mount mercy being willing to pay him more (which would signal them having more money
I’ve never seen their recruiting classes being talked about on the thread so I looked at some of their top runners high school times and outside of Wright and Anderson their top guys were around 4:40/10:00 hs runners. It doesn’t look like they have much in terms of scholarship money if that’s what they bring in
I’ve been to those park district facilities they have for their last chance meet they aren’t close to IWU or Taylor’s facilities. I’m not sure if they had an indoor track but that stadium/track looks really old and if it’s a community one they have to share it with high schools and other groups.
Both of those guys ran 9:30/9:35 their senior year and their freshman woman that is running 18:22 already in the 5k?
also, if that facility is so bad, why do distance people flock there for last chance?
I'd say that facility is great for meets. It's a really fast track but it's like running on concrete I couldn't imagine training on it.
USF's campus is also one of the smallest and oldest campus's I've ever seen. We drove past it on the way to the last chance meet and on the way there I didn't even think it was a college. I didn't notice it at all till the way back from the meet. Area is even sketchier than the one Marian is in too
I don't see how Grace makes the list. They don't have an indoor facility but they have a nice outdoor one and recruit better than the other teams you guys mentioned especially in recent years. The campus and the area around it are beautiful.
Not sure about Kansas Wesleyan, but right on the money with St. Mary. They get a handful of good high schoolers and just develop everyone else.
Men's - Campbellsville did not jump as much as I thought they would.
Women's - no big surprises as far as I could tell other than I thought Mt. Mercy would be closer to Huntington seeing as they only lost by a handful of points.
Nobody really got punished for poor season racing, and the women’s rankings from 15 to 25 are pretty much interchangeable. So much can change between now and the challenge meets.
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