After I sit down at my other restaurant and eat extra large order of delicious Takoyaki Octopus In Fried Balls, I make simulation on lacctic website: Marquette men vs WIAC. Very interesting, results say Marquette fourth about equal to Whitewater which make sense if think about.
I pulled up letsrun's favorite d1 school to criticize (one that, although having respectable results, does underperform by a pretty big amount relative to the caliber of athlete they bring in). and then I searched a certain California (also d1) for good measure as I've also seen it criticized a fair amount as well, for pretty similar reasons (underperforming and a certain former coach). Both handily were better than La Crosse in track. And they're ranked both about #60 for xc in knockout. I think they'd beat La Crosse in xc
2025 outdoor school leading times (the d1 vs La Crosse vs the Cali d1):
800: 1:46.99 vs 1:49.11 vs 1:47.60
1500: 3:38.08 vs 3:47.31 vs 3:40.96
5000: 13:53.13 vs 13:56.79 vs 13:37.12
10000: 29:34.58 vs 28:53.93 vs None
3000SC: 9:32.01 vs 8:49.74 vs 9:29.26
hint: both of these are around the 60 ish rank in team knockout. And conferences are ACC and Big 10
This is an anonymous message board just name the other schools.
I didn't see anyone link to the overall men's rankings in LAACTiC. I spy 1x NJCAA, 3x DIII, 8x DII in the top 100 teams. Surprisingly, for individuals, the entire top 100 is DI - I don't think that is true most years.
Only one thing seerstes D3 from D2, scholarships. Nothing else matters.
Yup. Well, and because of those scholarships D1 generally has better runners. So does D2, to a degree.
To be fair, the WIAC schools do have advantages over many D3 schools in being well funded, having great facilities, and having a deep talent pool because, even without scholarships, the affordability of the public universities can often offset the paltry scholarships offered in most running programs at D1 or D2.
Or, to put it another way, a kid can go to a WIAC school and spend less money doing so with no scholarship than some kids can go to D1 or D2 schools on scholarship.
This may change with the House Settlement as to D1. I think it still holds as to D2.
But that doesn't mean La Crosse itself dominates the WIAC—the WIAC schools are all similarly situated (although each has their own better sports programs, and UWL is definitely one of the better running ones right now).
Also, while the WIAC schools do have those advantages above, it also doesn't mean those schools dominate the D3 sports landscape.
They do quite well—look at UW-L in running, UW-W in football (and baseball and basketball), UW-O in track in the past, and others. The WIAC schools' athletic programs are generally broadly supported and well-rounded.
At the same time, look at the championships. There are plenty of other schools out there that do just fine. How many XC championships has UW-L won recently? Fewer than you'd think based on this thread's original post.
After I sit down at my other restaurant and eat extra large order of delicious Takoyaki Octopus In Fried Balls, I make simulation on lacctic website: Marquette men vs WIAC. Very interesting, results say Marquette fourth about equal to Whitewater which make sense if think about.