Atlantic Region XC 2008

Kentucky Style!

Men's Regional release:

Nov. 10: The Cortland State Red Dragons, who come into this weekend’s Atlantic Regional as the No. 1 team in the nation and a unanimous choice for the region’s top team, look to earn an automatic bid into the 2008 NCAA Championships this weekend. However, they will be challenged by the defending national champions, NYU, who come into the weekend ranked 7th in the nation.

This weekend’s men’s race on the 8k course will begin at 11:00am on Saturday, November 15th with the top two teams receiving automatic berths into the national championships to be held on November 22nd at Hanover College in Hanover IN. Teams that finish in third, fourth or fifth place are eligible for an at-large bid, while the top-seven individuals on non-qualifying teams will earn automatic bids as well.

The Red Dragons have been the top-ranked team in the country all season long after finishing third at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Along with NYU, Geneseo State, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and the host team, St. Lawrence University, have consistently been in the top-five in the regional rankings and hope to vie for an automatic or at-large berth. Meanwhile, Ithaca, Plattsburgh State, Rochester, Fredonia, Rensselaer and Rowan have rounded out the top-10 in the Atlantic region.

“Obviously our region has some of the deepest and most talented teams in the nation, which makes earning a team bid that much more prestigious for the two teams who receive them,” said St. Lawrence University men’s cross country coach John Newman. “We’ll be looking for a strong push from our front-runners as we try to earn one of the two slots.”

Hamilton’s Peter Kosgei, the runner-up at the 2007 NCAA Championship and the 2008 state and NESCAC champion, comes into this weekend’s race unbeaten this season in cross country. He is certainly the odds-on favorite to win the event, though Chris Guerriero of TCNJ and Shamus Nally of Cortland State hope to pull off the upset. Guerriero was sixth at Regionals last year and is a consistent front runner for the Lions, while Nally and teammate Seth Dubois were each impressive at the 2008 Pre-Regional in Canton, NY on September 27.

Travis Stewart of Rutgers-Camden, a 2007 individual qualifier, looks to return to the NCAA Championships this season, while NYU is led by Jesse Schneider, the top returning runner from last year’s national title squad. Other runners to watch this weekend include Plattsburgh State’s Mike Heymann, Fredonia’s Tom Williams, St. Lawrence’s Dan Ramsey and Geneseo’s Tim Chichester.

“We will have an experienced group of runners racing this weekend, led by Dan (Ramsey) and Terrence (Fox),” added Coach Newman. “We’ve established our pack running in recent and will look to build on our third place finish at the Pre-Regional earlier this fall.”

Also competing for Coach Newman’s team alongside Ramsey and Fox this weekend will be Mark Burnham, Jacob Malcomb, Steve Kiplagat, Geoff Millard and Jeremy Beaudette.

Geneseo State won the 2008 Pre-Regional with a team total of 64 points, while Kosgei won the meet with a time of 25:03. The Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country course record is currently held by Geneseo’s Ted Turner, who raced the 2004 Atlantic Regional in a time of 24:52.

Women's Regional release:

Nov. 10: When the gun sounds to begin the NCAA Atlantic Regional race on Saturday afternoon at the Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country course, the defending regional champions from Geneseo State will once again be the favorites to claim the title in 2008. However, several teams including Cortland State and St. Lawrence University will be in hot pursuit of the Blue Knights as two teams will earn automatic bids into the 2008 National Championship field.

This weekend’s race on the 6k course will begin at 12:00pm on Saturday, November 15th with the top two teams receiving automatic berths into the national championships to be held on November 22nd at Hanover College in Hanover IN. Teams that finish in third, fourth or fifth place are eligible for an at-large bid, while the top-seven individuals on non-qualifying teams will earn automatic bids as well.

Geneseo, Cortland and St. Lawrence have been ranked 1-2-3 in the Atlantic region since the Hoffmann Invitational/Pre-Regional on September 27. Geneseo claimed the SUNYAC Championship on November 1st with an impressive total of 26 points, with less than one minute separating their top-five runners.

St. Lawrence, meanwhile, won the 2008 Liberty League championship, led by their trio of top runners including sophomore Wendy Pavlus, junior Johannah Ludington and rookie Jenna Hulton.

“This meet will certainly have some of the toughest competitors in the country, and we’re very excited to host what will surely be a great race,” said St. Lawrence University women’s head coach Mike Howard. “I think our team is ready to make a push for an automatic bid having seen our confidence grow with both a conference and state championship this season.”

Other teams to watch this week will include Plattsburgh State, the 2007 NCAA and Regional runner-up, Brockport State and the University of Rochester.

The individual chase will also be an intriguing one, as the top returning runner from 2007, Lindsay Nadolski from Ithaca, will be challenged by Pavlus of

St. Lawrence, who beat Nadolski both at the Saratoga Invitational in October and at last weekend’s NYSCTC meet. Martine McGrath of The College of New Jersey, Andi Palen from Cortland State and Laura Iafrati of Geneseo may also be in the mix for the individual title.

“We will be looking for solid races from our front-runners, including Wendy (Pavlus), Johannah (Ludington) and Jenna (Hulton), who each landed in the top-four at the state championship last weekend,” added Coach Howard. “They’ll be facing some of the most talented runners in the country, and though we’re confident in our resume this season, we’d obviously prefer to earn an automatic bid.”

Geneseo State won the 2008 Pre-Regional with a team total of 60 points, while Pavlus was the top collegiate runner with a time of 22:02. The Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country course record is currently held by Potsdam State’s Jodi Schoppmann, who raced the 2005 Hoffmann Invitational in a time of 21:17.

top individual predictions of the races?

As a member of many "Transition Team" roadtrips to the SLU/Potsdam area, I can give my thumbs up to the Hoot Owl. The townie presence is minimal, and the "this is a bar in the middle of f***ing nowhere" decor is definitely charming. However, watch out for any middle-aged men who would challenge you to a "friendly game" of foosball. You'll get hustled worse than Wesley Snipes.

After taking in a few brews with your bros, don't forget to stop by Sergi's downtown and pick up a Fat Bag. It's the perfect artery-clogging drunk snack for a B-teamer who doesn't have to run another race until January. Just make sure to give yourself a little time before climbing into your car for the night, as Sergi's Famous Pizza Rolls come to f***ing party, and will not be held down without a fight.

As for the pre-race the following morning, those of you more hungover than others will want to avoid the start/finish area until the race begins, as the "travel-teams" from NYU and Geneseo (among others) will be getting rowdy as f*** all over that shit, which could worsen your headache. Head up to the Bookstore, a short walk from the course, and grab a piece of coffee cake and a coke to bring your electrolytes back into balance. You'll need the strength for the race.

I'll refrain from making any predictions on the race itself, as all of you professional Atlantic Region fanboys have beaten that horse until it turned into f***ing vapor and blew away. But I will say that Kosgei could win this race doing the electric slide, and Cortland better run smart and hold its shit together these last few weeks, because we're all counting on them to rep the AR when it counts. Not that I'm anticipating any difficulty.

Good luck to everybody running. And to those of you making the trip on your own, get f***ed up and enjoy the only time of year when it pays to suck - Transition Season.

wow you make haveing a hangover sound great. coffee cake n coke! cound me in!

Bravo sir.

Oh snap, fat bags are legendary!

This year is probably the toughest year to pick.

Men

1 Cortland duh

2 NYU duh?

3 Geneseo nice pack

4 SLU

5 Plattsburgh the sexy pic

6 TCNJ they may be as high as 3 depends entirely on Guirero

7 Ithaca huge questionmark after states

8 Rochester may be pretty good this weekend

9 Fredonia looking better

10 Hamilton big ole 1 spot helps this team out

Women

1 Geneseo

2 Cortland

3 SLU may beat Cortland

4 TCNJ

5 Plattsburgh if they can peak like they did last year

6 Ithaca

7 Brockport could be a spoiler

8 Hamilton

9 Rochester

10 Rowan

B-Team, I don't go to SLU so I wont be hosting a party. Having a party in the parking lot is a bad idea. Go to the bar, and by all means, have fun. Is boarder patrol really that hard to figure out when the school is so close to Canada? I don't think one would have to be educated at a fine institution such as St. Lawerence to understand that. In addition, the only "knowledge" my "brain" has recieved has been from your mother/sister.

i dont know about this.

i think geneseo will be closer to nyu. maybe not a duh. just close. geneseo's top 5 could all be in the 10-25 range. there is nothing sexy about p-burgh. nothing. where tcnj ends up will have little to do with guirrero. he will be 2-7. their 3,4,5 guys will decide whether they're 3rd or 6th. ithaca will be more than ok and will finish a respectable 6th.

Ranch D. wrote:

Is boarder patrol really that hard to figure out when the school is so close to Canada?

I think the poster may have been quibbling with your spelling. A "boarder" patrol would be someone who keeps an eye on guys that rent rooms, I think.

Men

1. Cortland - I have them at about 50 pts.

2. NYU - Look for Maher's top ten finish to create too big a deficit for Geneseo or SLU to over come late in the race. NYU will hang with cortland through three runners but end up losing by 15.

3. SLU - They have the talent to beat Geneseo and I think they'll do it by a slim margin.

4. Geneseo - I really like their team but the best Chichester can do, in my estimation, is thirteenth. Unless someone can pop a race for the Blue Knights (which could happen; maybe Dolan, Ruebens or Chichester himself) their pack will get broken up but Fox and other Saint runners. <5 points.

5. TCNJ - Gurriero and Bocachino will finish high enough to negate Heymann and Bell/Hodge while creating a lead after too runners. I see Rodkawitz as their third runner and Kopniki is the Jon Phillips of '08 as he sneaks onto All-Region team. My big prediction is that they will finish too far behind Geneseo to ride the reputation of a strong Atlantic region to nationals.

6. Ithaca - It makes sense to me that Hodge struggled at Hamilton. He likes to run from behind and the consensus was that if you didn't get out to the front on that day it was impossible to make up ground. I'm a fan of Shea. I'm glad to see him racing well again.

7. Plattsburgh - They won't be as close to Ithaca as they would like but they'll prove me wrong and finish out the season solidly, poised for a run at the top five next year.

8. Rochester - Ithaca and SLU will get their revenge despite a good effort by a blue collar team.

9. Fredonia - I don't know much about them but I do know a lot about the other teams left and they all look about the same as the Blue Devils sans a runner like Tom Williams.

10. Rowan - They'll be motivated to make the long trip worth while.

Individuals(* denotes individual qualifier)

1. Kosgei*

2. Schneider

3. Nally

4. Gurriero*

5. Debois

6. Ramsey

7. Heymann*

8. Maher

9. Wager

10. Williams*

11. Henry

12. Stewart*

13. Turlip

14. Hodge*

15. Chichester

(last qualifier: Stenuf)

Women

1. Geneseo

2. SLU - About 5-10 points back

3. Cortland

4. TCNJ

5. Plattsburgh

Individuals

1. Pavlus

2. Palen

3. Ludington

4. Iafratie

5. McGrath (TCNJ)

6. Smith

7. Shuffhousen

8. Nadolski

9. Houlton

10. Hunt

Roll 'em like a burrito...

so will there be any type of regional party the night before involing lots of drinking???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111

cause if there is i will be there, me and my whole crew!!!!1111!

Yeah I think its possible for Geneseo to be close to NYU thats why I posed duh with a question mark. The P'burgh "sexy" pic just means that its trendy to pick them as the upset for whatever reason. You're totally right about Guirerro I have to admit. I actually was talking about Kopnicki. I could have sworn he raced just recently and ran 27:something but I cant find it anywhere now. I must be losing it. Am I totally insane or did Kopnicki race within the last couple weeks?

Not bad

Men

Cortland 33

NYU 110

Geneseo 111

SLU 121

Plattsburgh 196

TCNJ 206

Ithaca 219

Fredonia 252

Rochester 293

RPI 343

Peter Kosgei

Christopher Guerrie

Mike Heymann

Shamus Nally

Josh Henr

Jesse S Schneider

Seth Dubois

Justin Wager

Josh Henry

Tom Williams

Cortland's 5-7 guys are interchangable and it doesn't matter who races, the score will remain the same. I think our region is going to be hurt by TCNJ's performance this weekend and by SLU's performance last weekend and we will only receive 2 at large bids. Too bad, next year Plattsburgh.

Kopnicki ran at ECACs with TCNJ's JV squad

ah Thanks that was driving me crazy.