PVC: All this talk about RPI, Williams, and Tufts...I reckon the individual champ won't be from any of these squads
PVC: All this talk about RPI, Williams, and Tufts...I reckon the individual champ won't be from any of these squads
Really.... stop trolling "Nescacynic". Serious Replies only. What other schools are even going to be there? Unless you are referring to Williams Alum that may be allowed to race, like Charlie Namiot, John Lucey, Elias Lindgren, Aiden Ryan (Pro, 7th at indoor US Mile Champs), Pat Theveny. In any case, Tufts has Jamie Norton, Coach Lopez's former protegè-turned-archrival. Give me the jumbos to sweep the Ephs. They are simply too strong up from the front - they might put 5 in front of Williams' 3.
Thoughts on the Maine State meet? Seamus McDonough from Bowdoin looked like he won pretty easily, could be a solid individual contender going forward. Times irrelevant since the course was >200m long. Bates guys maybe underperformed a bit. Can they turn their 3200m time trial prowess into a solid team cross country result in the future?
Is NESCAC men’s distance running making a return to NCAA level relevance?
Pretty surprised to see Wesleyan tie (possible beat by tie breaker?) MIT at the Cardinal Invite yesterday. This squad should probably be taken more seriously this season. Also a little concerned to see Wesleyan senior Calhoun lose to a random Wes sophomore? He seemed like a decent pick for a NESCAC individual win but maybe not anymore. Regardless, Wesleyan has beat Amherst and MIT now, could Williams be next? Tufts is still the clear favorite in my opinion, with Jonah Reisner taking the individual title.
Can we start the conversation around Paul Short? Amherst, Wesleyan, Bates, Middlebury, Hamilton, Conn, and Trinity are all going to be there. Besides the favorites who are skipping Paul Short, Tufts and Williams, could this be a race to foreshadow how the rest of the field will shake out at Nescacs? Amherst is looking beatable, Wes is looking to beat them for the 3rd time in a row. Bates is finally getting into the action against the rest of the Nescac teams not in Maine so that should be exciting to see how they shake out, watch out for an upset from them I think. Midd is also throwing their hat into competition agains the other Cac teams, they are seeming solid, but I wouldnt expect much from them at Paul Short. Conn, Hamilton and Trinity are looking to prove something, could be fun to see how those teams do against each other. Out of the Nescac teams who will be at PS, I think Wes wins it, Amherst in 2nd, Bates in 3rd, Middlebury in 4th, Conn, Hamilton, then Trinity.
On the other end of the Nescacs, Keane state invite should be a good first battle between the two juggernauts of the Cacs, I'd bet that if both teams run it for real, the winner of this will go on to win the Nescacs too.
2/10 ragebait
Dylan Cote was Wesleyan’s top runner at the regional meet last year and was the second fastest freshman overall so he’s not really a random. Also, it’s not like Calhoun ran a bad race, he still ran 24:42 and beat MIT’s top runner. Although Amherst didn’t race their whole squad, Cote and Calhoun both ran >15 seconds faster than Harrison Dow and Nick Edward-Levins did at the same course last year, both of whom were top 10 finishers at the 2024 Nescac meet. A better take is that Wesleyan just has two runners who are going to be at the front competing for an individual title.
Not on an individual level, and I do not see any of these teams top 10 at NCAA. Nescac has been on the decline. The only runner that was relevant on the national stage was Namiot, he is gone
Heard from reliable sources close to Coach Mayo that the Wes course was roughly 150m short this year. Times look impressive on TFRRS, but we’ll see how much truth they hold at Paul Short.
A little mid season prediction/update on how the NESCAC is shaping up.
Top Tier: Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan
Any of these teams could realistically win the NESCAC as of now. Tufts and Wesleyan seem to be the teams with great top end potential, while Williams has great depth. Tufts seems to still be the slight favorite, but both Wesleyan and Williams just need their 5-10 runners to step up. At the races this weekend, all three of these teams ran on short courses (looking at Strava). This means Wesleyan had the fastest average time of the day, which is pretty surprising. However, Tuft's top guys ran similar times to Wesleyan's. Of course, William's Alumni Namiot and Lucey dominated the race. Williams must feel defeated realizing that they are falling from their former glory as top dogs in the CAC.
Tier 2: Amherst
Amherst has lost to Wesleyan 2 races in a row, so it seems that the Mammoths will be out of the top 3 at Nescacs this year. Unfortunately, most of the team is past their prime. Their young prospects have fallen off, and they are not at the level as they were last year. Despite this, Amherst seems to have a lock on fourth place and will probably go to nationals anyway.
Tier 3: Middlebury, Colby, Bates
Middlebury is another team that you'd expect to be in the running for the win, but they just aren't reaching their potential. They will likely beat Bates, but if Bates can pull something together, they would have a solid chance to take that 5th spot. On the same course as last year's NESCAC race, Bates is about 35 seconds slower this year. This is not a great spot to be in, especially on a course very familiar to them. However, Bates will probably move up a spot in the NESCAC from last year because of the fall of Bowdoin. Colby is also on the come up, putting together a solid early season performance at the CBB Tri Meet then putting 3 guys under 26 at the poorly attended pre-nats meet. They will likely not beat Middlebury, but they have the chance to move uo in the CAC.
Tier 4: Hamilton, Bowdoin, Conn
Bowdoin, has fallen from last year, but they put up a decent showing to win the Maine State Meet. McDonough will need to run a bit faster to be a solid low stick for the team and put them in contention. Otherwise, they will be way at the back of the pack, potentially being one of the biggest drop-offs of the year. On the other hand, Hamilton put together a very consistent race this weekend at Yellowjacket. While they lacked a low stick, their average of 26:13 is a very promising statistic, putting them even a bit ahead of Bowdoin's 26:30. If any of the historically low teams is going to jump toward the middle, it will be Hamilton. They just need a low stick and to use their small spread to advantage them. Conn College is doing decently well this year, after their loss of Scardigno. While UMASS Dartmouth is very fast course, having a low 25s guy is hopeful for them. Let's see if they can put anything together to beat some better teams this year.
Tier 6:Trinity
After being beat by Tuft's B team and running slowly at UMASS Dartmouth, Trinity is not shaping up to be great. Not too much else to say about them.
Rumor has it William’s premier waterboy AA forgot to put the electrolytes in the team water supply, leading to their subpar performance this weekend
none of these teams in the top 10 at NCAA??? Tufts and Williams are looking to be top of their respective regions, I predict these two teams in the top 7 and one on the podium.
Anonymous Nescac Runner wrote:
A little mid season prediction/update on how the NESCAC is shaping up.
Top Tier: Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan
Any of these teams could realistically win the NESCAC as of now. Tufts and Wesleyan seem to be the teams with great top end potential, while Williams has great depth. Tufts seems to still be the slight favorite, but both Wesleyan and Williams just need their 5-10 runners to step up. At the races this weekend, all three of these teams ran on short courses (looking at Strava). This means Wesleyan had the fastest average time of the day, which is pretty surprising. However, Tuft's top guys ran similar times to Wesleyan's. Of course, William's Alumni Namiot and Lucey dominated the race. Williams must feel defeated realizing that they are falling from their former glory as top dogs in the CAC.
Tier 2: Amherst
Amherst has lost to Wesleyan 2 races in a row, so it seems that the Mammoths will be out of the top 3 at Nescacs this year. Unfortunately, most of the team is past their prime. Their young prospects have fallen off, and they are not at the level as they were last year. Despite this, Amherst seems to have a lock on fourth place and will probably go to nationals anyway.
Tier 3: Middlebury, Colby, Bates
Middlebury is another team that you'd expect to be in the running for the win, but they just aren't reaching their potential. They will likely beat Bates, but if Bates can pull something together, they would have a solid chance to take that 5th spot. On the same course as last year's NESCAC race, Bates is about 35 seconds slower this year. This is not a great spot to be in, especially on a course very familiar to them. However, Bates will probably move up a spot in the NESCAC from last year because of the fall of Bowdoin. Colby is also on the come up, putting together a solid early season performance at the CBB Tri Meet then putting 3 guys under 26 at the poorly attended pre-nats meet. They will likely not beat Middlebury, but they have the chance to move uo in the CAC.
Tier 4: Hamilton, Bowdoin, Conn
Bowdoin, has fallen from last year, but they put up a decent showing to win the Maine State Meet. McDonough will need to run a bit faster to be a solid low stick for the team and put them in contention. Otherwise, they will be way at the back of the pack, potentially being one of the biggest drop-offs of the year. On the other hand, Hamilton put together a very consistent race this weekend at Yellowjacket. While they lacked a low stick, their average of 26:13 is a very promising statistic, putting them even a bit ahead of Bowdoin's 26:30. If any of the historically low teams is going to jump toward the middle, it will be Hamilton. They just need a low stick and to use their small spread to advantage them. Conn College is doing decently well this year, after their loss of Scardigno. While UMASS Dartmouth is very fast course, having a low 25s guy is hopeful for them. Let's see if they can put anything together to beat some better teams this year.
Tier 6:Trinity
After being beat by Tuft's B team and running slowly at UMASS Dartmouth, Trinity is not shaping up to be great. Not too much else to say about them.
with this offensive apostrophe abuse and homerism this poster has outed themself as a Wesleyan alum
Frightening results for Middlebury, given their history of starting the season strong but struggling to maintain that fitness through championship races. Perhaps a little extra maple syrup will help?
Least obvious Williams poster go ask the jumbos if they need more water once they win nescacs
Jack Crum (Bates) should be the clear favorite for the individual crown.
3rd in the NED3 5k outdoors last year and an EASY 4th place at Maine states last weekend. He was in Flagstaff all summer and is incredibly fit. He will sharpen up well at the end of the season and should be in the conversation for a top 10 -15 finish at D3 nationals.
Anonymous Nescac Runner wrote:
A little mid season prediction/update on how the NESCAC is shaping up.
Tier 4: Hamilton, Bowdoin, Conn
Bowdoin, has fallen from last year, but they put up a decent showing to win the Maine State Meet. McDonough will need to run a bit faster to be a solid low stick for the team and put them in contention.
Bowdoin men didn't win the Maine State Meet, that was Bates. Bowdoin women did win it though.
Anyone else see how graceful Bates runner JJ Rocha looked at Maine States this weekend? His stride has me salivating and fantasizing about what he will do at NESCACs this year. Does anyone know what his snap is?
Bates just needs to place Max in the pocket and it’s gonna be a three crown.