Frankly there's not a whole lot of serious college XC discussion on this site generally. Lotta sh*tposting that reminds me of college football message boards circa 2002 and talk about doping at the professional level. Personally my day has kinda sucked because my hopes for the women were dashed by BYU. As a WYO and NAU fan I'd rather lose to about anyone else than BYU
Straight talk. This was a gauntlet of a meet with the top 5 teams on the women’s side, and the reaction/discussion has been meh.
And let’s be honest, anytime BYU wins it’s a bit deflating for the boards. Seeing BYU win does not incite a lot of giddiness. Considering how disliked they are on these boards, though the men get most of the flak.
As we saw last year where BYU who looked like a contender and top 3 team blew up at nationals, anything can happen. NAU still has some pieces to add I would say it’s still anyone’s game but BYU showed today they could certainly win it all.
I understand it’s tough to lose to BYU from a rivalry perspective, but NAU and BYU on the women’s side don’t have much history being top ranked rivals, apart from last year when NAU saw a big jump. On the men’s side they’ve consistently had top teams for around a decade now I think. Is that it? Or something else that makes it such a bitter pill to swallow?
lets face it - it's pre nats. its basically a dress rehearsal for the real thing next month. the top 5 teams on the women's side are all but assured a spot at nationals so their goal today was to not get anyone hurt. plus NAU women rested their top 2 runners.
today was about the bubble teams, the real drama were the teams in the middle of the pack.
the only thing that happened today is that when the latest polls come out BYU and NAU will have switched spots, but it won't make a difference who's ranked where come November.
Straight talk. This was a gauntlet of a meet with the top 5 teams on the women’s side, and the reaction/discussion has been meh.
And let’s be honest, anytime BYU wins it’s a bit deflating for the boards. Seeing BYU win does not incite a lot of giddiness. Considering how disliked they are on these boards, though the men get most of the flak.
As we saw last year where BYU who looked like a contender and top 3 team blew up at nationals, anything can happen. NAU still has some pieces to add I would say it’s still anyone’s game but BYU showed today they could certainly win it all.
I understand it’s tough to lose to BYU from a rivalry perspective, but NAU and BYU on the women’s side don’t have much history being top ranked rivals, apart from last year when NAU saw a big jump. On the men’s side they’ve consistently had top teams for around a decade now I think. Is that it? Or something else that makes it such a bitter pill to swallow?
lets face it - it's pre nats. its basically a dress rehearsal for the real thing next month. the top 5 teams on the women's side are all but assured a spot at nationals so their goal today was to not get anyone hurt. plus NAU women rested their top 2 runners.
today was about the bubble teams, the real drama were the teams in the middle of the pack.
the only thing that happened today is that when the latest polls come out BYU and NAU will have switched spots, but it won't make a difference who's ranked where come November.
Wait a minute. Who the heck are you, speaking common sense and truth. You know too much about the sport to be on this site.
I didn't take the time to read any other posts for this thread. I did watch both men's and women's top seeded races though. As good as Arkansas men looked against the field on what I would say not their best day, they have no chance in Hades against Ok St or BYU.
Frankly there's not a whole lot of serious college XC discussion on this site generally. Lotta sh*tposting that reminds me of college football message boards circa 2002 and talk about doping at the professional level. Personally my day has kinda sucked because my hopes for the women were dashed by BYU. As a WYO and NAU fan I'd rather lose to about anyone else than BYU
Straight talk. This was a gauntlet of a meet with the top 5 teams on the women’s side, and the reaction/discussion has been meh.
And let’s be honest, anytime BYU wins it’s a bit deflating for the boards. Seeing BYU win does not incite a lot of giddiness. Considering how disliked they are on these boards, though the men get most of the flak.
As we saw last year where BYU who looked like a contender and top 3 team blew up at nationals, anything can happen. NAU still has some pieces to add I would say it’s still anyone’s game but BYU showed today they could certainly win it all.
I understand it’s tough to lose to BYU from a rivalry perspective, but NAU and BYU on the women’s side don’t have much history being top ranked rivals, apart from last year when NAU saw a big jump. On the men’s side they’ve consistently had top teams for around a decade now I think. Is that it? Or something else that makes it such a bitter pill to swallow?
For me BYU is probably my number one team to cheer against besides like Kentucky/Duke basketball and Bama/Ohio St football because I spent a long time living in Laramie. I moved there right at the end of the LaVell Edwards era. And while Colorado St is the big rival these days I think most WYO fans my age or older would cite BYU as the big rival. And I'll never get over how frequently BYU fans would throw around that old Edwards quote about how they'd rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie
Then BYU bailed on the MWC to go independent and the conference just hasn't been the same. I hate conference realignment so much and that was one of the first dominoes that really impacted the leagues I care about
And now I'm very invested in NAU, especially their women's sports programs. I'm at almost all their WBB, women's tennis, soccer and VB matches. And to see the women's XC program come so close to a national title last year was painful because we just flat out blew it with Stearns running so poorly relative to her season results (and I believe Smee checking her watch instead of going all the way through the finish line). And for the past 11 months I've been so hyped about the possibility of celebrating a NAU women's XC title because of all the portal additions and returning talent. But now BYU is standing in our way? Lol it's like their athletic programs exist just to make my life miserable. Granted NAU could definitely still win the title and there's no shame in simply being a top 3-5 program instead of the title winners. But man I want to see them win so badly
Basically I have a serious inferiority complex after decades of seeing BYU be more successful, have more resources and just generally operate in a more competent manner as a university
For me BYU is probably my number one team to cheer against besides like Kentucky/Duke basketball and Bama/Ohio St football because I spent a long time living in Laramie. I moved there right at the end of the LaVell Edwards era. And while Colorado St is the big rival these days I think most WYO fans my age or older would cite BYU as the big rival. And I'll never get over how frequently BYU fans would throw around that old Edwards quote about how they'd rather lose and live in Provo than win and live in Laramie
Then BYU bailed on the MWC to go independent and the conference just hasn't been the same. I hate conference realignment so much and that was one of the first dominoes that really impacted the leagues I care about
And now I'm very invested in NAU, especially their women's sports programs. I'm at almost all their WBB, women's tennis, soccer and VB matches. And to see the women's XC program come so close to a national title last year was painful because we just flat out blew it with Stearns running so poorly relative to her season results (and I believe Smee checking her watch instead of going all the way through the finish line). And for the past 11 months I've been so hyped about the possibility of celebrating a NAU women's XC title because of all the portal additions and returning talent. But now BYU is standing in our way? Lol it's like their athletic programs exist just to make my life miserable. Granted NAU could definitely still win the title and there's no shame in simply being a top 3-5 program instead of the title winners. But man I want to see them win so badly
Basically I have a serious inferiority complex after decades of seeing BYU be more successful, have more resources and just generally operate in a more competent manner as a university
That makes sense, thanks for the insight.
BYU W, hit a home run with the diljeet hire, they are lucky to have her.
Looking forward to an exciting race come nationals. Good luck to you and your team!
Colorado has been a disappointment this year. I get that it's Carlson's first year there, but this year's results do not look good. 8th at Nuttycombe and 14th at Pre-Nats. Is it possible that Colorado will finish 7th in the Mountain region?
BYU, NAU, and New Mexico seem to be locks to beat them. Texas Tech has a very strong 1-2 punch and will likely beat them. Both Wyoming and Utah State beat Colorado today at Pre-Nats.
Stanford should jump at least a couple spots in the rankings. They're currently ranked #9, but they beat #5 Notre Dame, #6 NAU, #8 New Mexico, and #10 Wisconsin today.
Tulane beat Texas by about 180 points at pre-nats. That'll be an interesting battle to watch to see which team grabs the 2nd auto Q at South Central. Don't remember Tulane ever being that good.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Stanford should jump at least a couple spots in the rankings. They're currently ranked #9, but they beat #5 Notre Dame, #6 NAU, #8 New Mexico, and #10 Wisconsin today.
Glad you noticed.
Looks like it will be OK State - BYU - AR - IO St for the top-4 spots in next week's poll.
Looks like 5th - 7th will be NC, Stanford, Wake Forest in some order. Syracuse likely in top-15.
Stanford was actually well ahead of IO St at 6k but IO St pack guys really charged at the end.
As well as Stanford ran today, should be even better if/when Leo gets back up there with Cole as the team's #1 runner (which he was at Gans Creek Classic last month) and DiDonato keeps improving.
Wonderful ACCs to look forward to in 13 days with Notre Dame vs NC vs WF vs Syracuse vs Stanford.
Wait a minute. Who the heck are you, speaking common sense and truth. You know too much about the sport to be on this site.
I didn't take the time to read any other posts for this thread. I did watch both men's and women's top seeded races though. As good as Arkansas men looked against the field on what I would say not their best day, they have no chance in Hades against Ok St or BYU.
Yes to no chance against OK St. Appears nobody does.
However, not so sure about BYU.
At Nuttycombe, it was 1)BYU/44 to 2) IO St/108 = 64 point difference.
Today, it was 1) AR/89 to 2) IO St/128 = 39 point difference.
Which suggests BYU would have scored approx 64 points today FTW if they had raced, beating AR by 25 points and IO St by 64 points.
25 points is not much at all for those teams at the top level so AR would seemingly have a chance to upset BYU. Main concern is AR has a wonderful top-4 but drops off dramatically after that.
Also, will BYU be able to maintain it's incredibly tight 1-> 5/7 pack when it races teams like OK St, AR, TX Tech, IO St which have front-end lineups that may be even better that BYU's?
Even Stanford has a very strong top-7 that almost beat IO St today and had the best 5th, 6th and 7th men in the field with a 1-5 spread of 30 secs (tied w/NAU for teams in top-20) and a 1-7 spread of 40 secs (by far the best).
Big-12s will be so much fun to watch, with OK St vs BYU vs IO St vs TX Tech vs CO. We'll get some clarity then regarding how good BYU's front pack really is.
. . . Even Stanford has a very strong top-7 that almost beat IO St today and had the best 5th, 6th and 7th men in the field with a 1-5 spread of 30 secs (tied w/NAU for teams in top-20) and a 1-7 spread of 40 secs (by far the best) . . .
Correction: 1-5 spread of 28 seconds, best for team in top-10 and 2nd best overall to Lipscombe down in 29th.
Also, Paul Bergeron/Stanford was the top American true frosh in 23:30/48th as Stanford's 5th runner. Was expecting Drew Griffith/ND to top this race-within-the-race but he finished 84th in 23:44.8 as ND's 6th runner.
. . . Even Stanford has a very strong top-7 that almost beat IO St today and had the best 5th, 6th and 7th men in the field with a 1-5 spread of 30 secs (tied w/NAU for teams in top-20) and a 1-7 spread of 40 secs (by far the best) . . .
Correction: 1-5 spread of 28 seconds, best for team in top-10 and 2nd best overall to Lipscombe down in 29th.
Also, Paul Bergeron/Stanford was the top American true frosh in 23:30/48th as Stanford's 5th runner. Was expecting Drew Griffith/ND to top this race-within-the-race but he finished 84th in 23:44.8 as ND's 6th runner.
Stanford has a crazy underclassmen group this year. Sophomores Leo and Lex, plus true freshmen Paul Bergeron, Patrick Koon, and James Dargan. I was shocked by how well the last 3 did at Gans Creek.
Stanford has a crazy underclassmen group this year. Sophomores Leo and Lex, plus true freshmen Paul Bergeron, Patrick Koon, and James Dargan. I was shocked by how well the last 3 did at Gans Creek.
And, Josh Bell, who almost won the Pre-Nats Open race and looks to now be Stanford's 8th guy, meaning he'll race ACCs a couple weeks from now.
Stanford also has a 5th star frosh, Byron Grevious -- well known New Englander the last couple years -- who is being stashed away in a redshirt this fall.
And, already have a 9-flat Aussie steeplechaser as well as WA prep star Vince Recupero signed up for next year.
Ricardo & JJ look to be going all-in on reviving Stanford's past distance glory.
Crazy to find myself rooting for Stanford - not exactly an underdog, historically speaking - but seems like their assemblage of talent makes them the best shot for a homegrown, no-transfer, under 23yo top 5 to podium. Not that there's anything wrong with int'l runners, older runners, grad transfers...just kinda nice to see an "organic" team with a puncher's chance in today's NCAA
Great stuff from Utah St and Wyoming, those are some real blue collar squads taking a few big-time scalps
UW at 24 is disappointing, but no Gorze or Green - hopefully they're good to go for the stretch run. Texas going from 7 @ nats last year to 27 yesterday is tough. A couple B1G teams looking surprisingly game: MSU, IU, Mich in what looked like a rebuilding year with Brady and Foster graduated. Gonna be a dogfight between those 3, UW, and Oregon for second behind Wisco
Tulane beat Texas by about 180 points at pre-nats. That'll be an interesting battle to watch to see which team grabs the 2nd auto Q at South Central. Don't remember Tulane ever being that good.
perhaps training below sea level will be the new trend in running.
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