So, the next big question: Who goes to Nationals?
If the Princeton men perform as they did on Saturday, I'd say they're pretty much a lock. But who else?
Do the Cornell men have a shot? Princeton is in a different Region, of course, but obviously there are some very tough teams in CU's...
And what about women's teams?
Ivyguy wrote:
So, the next big question: Who goes to Nationals?
If the Princeton men perform as they did on Saturday, I'd say they're pretty much a lock. But who else?
Do the Cornell men have a shot? Princeton is in a different Region, of course, but obviously there are some very tough teams in CU's...
And what about women's teams?
The Princeton men have a tough road ahead- only two teams will probably go from the Mid-Atlantic region, so they will have to get past either Villanova or Georgetown. Before this weekend the NCAAs looked out of reach, but after the Heps performance they're definitely back in contention to challenge Georgetown for the 2nd mid-Atlantic spot. If they do beat G-town then maybe 3 teams go from the Mid-Atlantic region based on G-town's 3rd at Prenats and beating Providence on Friday at Big East. But Princeton definitely needs to finish in the top 2.
Northeast automatic qualifiers will most likely be Syracuse and Iona, with Providence getting an at-large bid. So Cornell needs to beat Providence (16th ranked team).
Ivyguy wrote:
Do the Cornell men have a shot?
They certainly have their work cut out for them, but Big Red fans have reason to hold out hope: although Cornell exceeded expectations by placing second this weekend, they did so without their 4th man from Beantown and Pre-Nats, Tyler Eustance, on the starting line (is he out for the season? If so this is something of a moot point). And their replacement #4, Ben Rainero, fell twice en route to his eventual 24th place finish. Cornell's 6 and 7 also have solid, if a bit outdated, credentials-- Gowans (SO) ran 3:47 in the 1500 as a freshman last year and Herr (JR) ran 8:55 in the 3k steeple his freshman year. So there's certainly room for improvement beyond the top 3-- which the Big Red will definitely need if they are to have any chance of taking on Providence.
Is it a long shot? Definitely. But if this weekend proves anything, it's that anything can happen.
I think at most 3 teams will make it NCAAs: Princeton men and Dartmouth women are favorites, while Princeton women are my dark horse teams (although I think the last time I checked, they would be the first women's team out based on KOLA points if they don't earn top 2 in their region... not sure if that changes at all with this past conference weekend).
As for individuals, I think Awad (P) and Spillane (Cor) are strong contenders, while Garry (Y) or Sadler (Col) have lower odds. I don't think frosh Deluca (Cor) will get a berth this year. Dooney (Y) needs to get a strong race in there to qualify again. Purnell (H) always seems to go out hard and dies - I think he's better suited for a 5k rather than 8k or 10k.
Just my thoughts...
so the NE men:
1) Iona
2) Providence
3) Dartmouth
4) Syracuse
5) BC
what the heck happened to Syracuse?
I'm clueless at this - does Dartmouth go to nationals now?
Those are the places for the women. The men's race hadn't even gone off yet when you wrote that...
Some interesting regional results.
Columbia is sending two men to NCAAs and they got the best of Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Brown and Darmtouth today, turning the tables on Cornell, Yale and Dartmouth whom they lost to at Heps.
It was clear if Danny Everett had run well at Heps, Columbia would have been third, well he ran well today and they were the best ivy team in the NE.
How about Brown? Brown beat Dartmouth. That shows you how competitive the Ivy League is. Brown, the team we all knew was going to last at Heps, beat Dartmouth, the team I picked to upset Princeton at Heps.
Harvard also turned the tables on Yale today.
Looks like the Cornell frosh Deluca is the first individual out of NCAAs unless he gets an at large bid. But it's hard to get an at large at #19. I was saying to Jon Gault - that's probably best for him in the long term. Makes him realize he's got a lot of work to do.
In running, people often just assume the future is better and forget that when they have the big breathrough they hit a home run which is hard to replicate. He his a homer at Heps. A double today.
Hey rojo - saw that neither Margaret Connolly (Brown-Iowa State) or Waverly Neer ran yesterday. What are their chances of running NCAA XC next Saturday? Any idea? Just wondering if we should keep an eye out for her.