I remember the race at (I think) Minnesota when they went something like 1/2/3/4/6/7/8/9, and there were a couple of pretty good runners from other schools in that race.[/quote]
That was the championship year-2005. They 6 All Americans that year. All in the top 25-I think.
You picking IU to win? I'd say that it's about time this team shows up at Big 10's. Give the Badgers a challenge for once when it counts! What a shocking prediction, thinking that they will perform to their abilities and not outsmart themselves once again.
Message:
IU wins
Wisconsin getting way too cute and blasted last 1000 meters
Michigan - gibby is god
Minnesota - mead wins. They qualify for nationals too
OSU - returns to his home, but not good enough up front
Illinois - at home is worth 2-3 places
MSU - pack runs faster
PSU - miss borc hers on cc team???
Iowa - track only
Purdue - jack stoked for Nebraska
Nebraska - better get some foreigners
What are your thoughts:
Does Mead get the win by default if the Badgers continue with pack running for the team title? Or will the Wisco coach let the guys run hard for the individual title as well as go after team title?
Doesnt matter what Wisconsin coach wants.
Mead wins.
Like he always does when healthy.
Are you guys really serious when you think that IU can defeat the Badgers? If so you didn't watch the race at home last weekend when they put on a clinic doing a tempo run on the entire field during the heart of their hard training. Barring an injury or sickness they will win the meet. And at the nationals IU will flirt with top 6 at best as the Badgers run for the title. I can't believe how many times we've had to hear how IU is going to win the Big Ten meet and then nothing. This has been going on since the mid 90's when are people going to learn.
Nobody thought in the mid-90's, IU would scare Wisconsin at all. It isn't until IU's track times have dominated Wisconsin's that they thought it possible. Also, as great as that "tempo run" was last weekend, the IU guys all ran that fast the year before on came course.
Wisconsin also only has 5 guys for all these great projections to come through.
Truth is, Wisconsin has as much (or more) hs distance talent as any team in the country; they should be this good finally.
Everyone always overlooks Drew Shields. Hi has a great shot at top 15.
Shields is one of only three runners from Footlocker 2008 having any impact on college. He probably finished so high (4th) because it was a weak year; see the thread on 2008 Footlocker, won by Haile w/ Dunbar 2nd, and almost all the higher placings by seniors. Surprising year, no wonder there was more interest in the Girls race then the Boys.
Van Voorhis and Knurr are both walk-ons from the Wisconsin Track Club. Van Voorhis is a sophomore and I think Knurr is a junior, maybe a sophomore for eligibility. Both great athletes and we (Illinois Cross Country Club) will miss competing against them. They've definitely earned this.
Van Voorhis is from Minnesota, I think. Walk-ons at Wisconsin are rather unusual because the standard for the team is so high on the men's side. On the women's side it is easier, but placing that high is surprising.
Of course, one thing it indicates is that in general the level of athletes on the teams is so high that the Wisconsin Track Club has a bunch of really high-quality runners on it and it quite an organization itself. That level of quality means that there is competition that raises the level of some of the runners. Plus, it speaks to the motivation that those runners that made the move up must have had.
Where is Hatz? He was a stud and MIA.
Btmdwels wrote:
Ohio state women are terrible. the are average runners with an average coach and average just doesn't cut it in the big ten. Karen Dennis will likely not give two s**ts about it though. She has already proved she can wing big ten titles without a single distance point. She will probably just phase out distance $ altogether now that Neal has shown he can do nothing with it.
I think ohio state women could be better. to say they are average runners with an average coach is ignorant. looking at what some of these runners have accomplished, particularly since high school is exceptional to say the least.
also, out of the two squad's top 5 last weekend they graduate one, jordan jennewine, which is unfortunate since she's battled some injuries and could be quite a leading runner if she was back to 2009 form.
they've had some injuries and set backs. this is not to say they are average or their coach is average. they have a young team. in a couple years they will have a strong team showing.
follows up wrote:
Where is Hatz? He was a stud and MIA.
Well, I think of Hatz as more of a miler than a 10,000 guy. Thus, he might make an impact on XC after several years but on this team at this point in time, he is clearly not going to touch the top 5 and would be in difficulty versus the next several. Look at Mudd as well; he is not a prime candidate for XC at this stage in his career, although arguably he is even more of a shorter-distance (1:47?) guy than Hatz. [I am a bit ignorant on Hatz's distance/mid-distance abilities but it was my impression that is mid-distance success was stronger].
I would say that the word "average" is beyond nice. The OSU women have had one good race in 3 years when they beat a terrible Great Lakes Regional in 2009 to get 2nd and qualify for nats. Lately, they scored 0 points at the Big 10 meet indoors or outdoors last year when the track team was dominating the conference in winning.
They should beat Illinois and Purdue and that's it.
That is below "average" for sure.
A better target would be Illinpois womens coach. They're terrible. At least OSU has always sucked, Illinois women were a top 10 nationally cross country team a couple years ago and their current coach has led it into the cellar!
rank those copsches wrote:
A better target would be Illinois womens coach. They're terrible. At least OSU has always sucked, Illinois women were a top 10 nationally cross country team a couple years ago and their current coach has led it into the cellar!
Maybe the cupboard was bare, with Bizzarri leaving a very big hole (helps to get just one point when team scores are in the 300s or more).
Ohio State in the past was horrible due to the Director of the program not caring. Was not the cross country coaches fault. Coach Neal came in, and they got better, with them qualifying for the NCAA's with a solid team without any superstars. Nice job. They have fallen off after that. Word that I have heard is that the head women's cross country coach negative recruits a lot. Maybe that is hurting the program.
The OSU women's CC team has had more recruiting success over the past two seasons than it has in a long long time. Wagner, Hilton, and Thomas were all very good high school runners, and Wagner had a solid freshman CC campaign. Why they are running so terrible this year is unknown to me, but the talent appears to be better than ever.
Looks like the weather will be ideal for a cross country meet on Sunday. Does anyone know what the course is like?
This is how I see the race playing out. It goes out slow, around 5 min for the first mile. Then around 4k or 5k the Wisconsin pack makes a strong move, and they drop two of the Indiana guys over the next 2k. Race over. 5 Wisconsin guys in the top 10, Mead wins, and 3 Indiana guys also in the top 10.
Wisconsin is known for completely dominating the Big Ten with several runners in the top ten every year
2010 - 4 in the top ten
2009 - 5
2008 - 3
2007 - 4
2006 - 5
2005 - 8
This year will not be any different than any other year.