Meant to say. I never think about Carleton or St. Olaf in track. Given how nice their Indoor facilities are, that's absurd. A full-time dedicated track coach could change that, but both have a long way to go.
I honestly never think about St. Olaf in track. That's absurd given the massive indoor facility and their strength in cross country. I would think a dedicated Track coach could change that.
Trying to compete with Bethel/St John’s would be tough from an enrollment/academics issue. Carleton and Olaf are pretty small and academically tougher to get into. Not sure ‘track’ has enough pull to affect admissions.
Olaf is pretty consistently top 3 the past 3 years. That pretty good considering I can’t name a non-distance scorer. They just have so many distance guys and that’s a huge advantage Indoor. The Johnnies not taking Indoor seriously also helps.
Olaf is pretty consistently top 3 the past 3 years. That pretty good considering I can’t name a non-distance scorer. They just have so many distance guys and that’s a huge advantage Indoor. The Johnnies not taking Indoor seriously also helps.
How dare you forget Andrew Cogley. The kind of distance runner only Power would make a decathlon.
It has been interesting to hear chatter about improvement in cross country. In almost every case I've seen where someone makes a big leap in improvement, it cannot be fully attributed to a workout regime within a season. Everyone does tempos and speed work when they are at school. In almost every case, a big improvement in running times comes from increasing summer (and thus fall) mileage, or inclusion of some other crucial training method. This is not something that coaches can make athletes do within practice time.
It is true that good coaches put together training plans that tune up their athletes and make them ready for championship season, but that only goes so far. Great coaches have the capability to inspire their athletes to go the extra mile (pun intended), and level up their training regimes.
This is where Donna Ricks and Huber excel.
Skemp. Im curious wether or not you feel the improvements you (and other oles) have made has come from Power, or if it is intrinsic motivation of the athlete within a student culture that somehow encourages that behaviour.
I’d guess it’s mainly intrinsic motivation of talented athletes and maybe the influences of the other coaches on the staff. It’s no secret the team had its best year in 2024 when he brought in a new assistant with years of experience. And if you look at the 800 successes, those athletes are all coached by a different assistant. So I’d guess those two are extraordinary motivators and great tacticians. I have heard both would run the program much differently if they were in charge.
Ok Bud, you really got no clue what you are talking about. Yes, the good head coach hired good assistant coaches. Are you surprised at all? It is part of his job. But you clearly don't know what you are talking about because, and you can ask anyone in the program, Power writes the training for the XC and the long distance guys on the track side. I don't get how you can really say that not being in the program number one and number two, knowing neither of them really have any say really in the training for XC and distance. But you are right to point out how good they have both done with their respective groups. HMMMMM, could it be that they have a good head coach who lets them take control of their discipline and write good training to increase the level of a rising tracka and field program. I would bet on yes. So good of you to give those Luke and Hartpence their flowers. I agree, they are very good coaches along with Power!
As for the initial post, I would love to answer this from my perspective. I'll start off by asking what you mean by motivating. If you mean is Power going to give a rah rah speech before the Oles go out and win the MIAC meet by ~50 points on the grass, yea that won't happen. More likely what will happen is he will be calm, say something about how we just got to do what we do and nothing more. This works well for the athletes Power has. He has this quiet confidence that he will put off, and I think that it resonated well with the runners he recruits. There is a standard at St. Olaf, and that standard will be met, and I think that is very motivating. I know Phil was really the same way in that there was just a standard that was expected. In fact I remember Phil reiterating something at the only MIAC meet I had to watch from the sidlines that Power told me a lot during college: You need to be consistent. A lot of runners go up and down and have these high highs and low lows, but the great ones are just level headed acoss the board. You have to be able to train and recover consistently, every day, over the years. The years I didn't have success, I probably overtrained when Power told me to take the foot off the gas. The ones I did, I listened, and found success. I think that the eagerness to get good gets lost in the beauty of simplicity, and not thinking you are smarter than the plan, because you probably aren't. Play a game that lasts four years, or even longer, and you will have success in the sport. Play the game that only lasts a season, and you will get burnt out and injured and likely end up in a cycle of frustration. I hate to say it, but too many guys play the short game in this conference. Yes you might only have four years, but I think the best runners at St. Olaf leave not feeling burnt out because they realized how fun it is to play the long game. And Power is really proud of that. You ask why Oles keep getting fast after St. Olaf, it isn't because they aren't doing Power's training, it's because Power is big on balance, which is something you can take with you when you are gone. Now you might say that oh Power stole that from Phil, but Phil probably got it from somewhere else. Your coach probably got their training and their coaching philosophy from somewhere else as well. That's how it works man. You learn from those before you. So my message for anyone in the MIAC that wants to be great. Trust your coach, follow the plan, and play the long game. Trust me, its a much more fun game to play...
Speaking of dumb things, I love how Mac refuses to call the Ole JV race by the stupid ACEMR name Chunko uses and instead just call it the Cannon River Closer in all their info, just like the women's program does. Naming a race in memorial after someone still living may be the most distasteful and disrespectful thing Chunko has done. Especially given that he pretty much tanked Arne's career.
I am out of the loop on this one. What happened to Arne? I remember racing him in my MIAC days and hope things are ok for him and his family. Someone fill me in if it's not uncouth to do so.
So was Arne. It's a shame to see Power treat him like that. I'd encourage his friends and family to contact Power's boss, the Ole strength coach and share their disgust. They'll add it to his already lengthy file.
Dave has a clear plan to build distance, Multis, and pole vault. They compete at the top of the MIAc and sometimes the country in all three years. They are actually not well funded despite the school’s wealth. That may be because he and Donna are so good at getting by with so little and they have done the for a long time. That could change when they retire but not before. Olaf has a big roster, which surely makes their admin happy they’re just not as competitive outside distance and a random event here and there.
Dave has a clear plan to build distance, Multis, and pole vault. They compete at the top of the MIAc and sometimes the country in all three years.
Always gotta defend Dave, he is a great distance coach and a good guy. But respectfully: you're talking about Carleton Track, 7th out of 11 at outdoor MIAC last year and 9th out of 11 at indoor MIAC last year?
The simple answer is if a tradition has been canceled that’s Power’s overreach. The longer answer is Power didn’t value the Rolex because of his precious sprinters and in turn Dave canceled the Karhu. It’s the same reason both schools hosted a large XC meet the same day two years ago. Power’s inability to get along with colleagues and utter disregard for tradition. It won’t be long before Macalester cancels the ACEMR. He can’t stand Power’s tactics either but gets along with the women’s coach enough to come to Northfield
We come from St. Olaf, we wear fancy sweaters We live on a hill to be closer to God. We don't smoke, we don't drink, At least that's what they think, But under the covers we screw-ya-ya-ya! Screw-ya-y Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya-ya My name is Jan Jansen, I come from Wisconsin, I'm big and I'm dumb and I can't spell my name. I don't know the rest of the words to this verse, So let's skip to the chorus and screw-ya-ya-ya! Screw-ya-y Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya Screw-ya-ya-ya
Congrats to Mo on another win. Looks like Turlington will be the only other MIAC runner joining him as an individual qualifier. As the Oles national qualifying streak ends, with the number of seniors they graduate, it seems they'll be out of the rotation for a few years. I'm not sure about the move to not race the MIAC Rookie of the Year. If you know you can't qualify, it seems like it would be good to get him some experience so your team doesn't drop off as much in the future.
Not sure what sort of race strategy Chunko employed yesterday. The Oles basically sat in fourth the whole time and never moved up from the gun. Him screaming at a clearly injured Iggy that they need points and to get ten guys was so obnoxious. This team is washed when these seniors graduate.