MIAC Cross-Country 2009

Women-

Individuals:

1. Borner

2. Childs-Walker

3. Kraayenbrink

4. Spelts

5. Keller

6. Sutter

7. Branigan

8. Ellingson

9. Sieve

10. Meger

Teams:

1. Nebraska Wesleyan

2. Bethel

3. Carleton

4. Wartburg

5. Luther

6. St. Thomas

5 teams go, St. Thomas misses out, but not by much

Individual Qualifiers:

-Keller

-Branigan

-Ellingson

-Sieve

-Meger

-Berry

-Lowrey

Unless runners 2-12 finish within 6 seconds of one another, these aren't great predictions.

Two inconsistencies based on how the season has gone thus far. I could probably find more, but these are the most obvious:

1) I like the Ruon pick, but putting Marotz so far back? Suspicious. Ruon's been coming on strong the last two meets, but I would be surprised if he were more than 5 seconds ahead of Marotz tomorrow, which probably corresponds to a placement differential of closer to 3 spots rather than 9.

2) If Tobben is that high up, the margin between spots 6 and 11 is about 13 seconds, which seems a bit large but is feasible. On the other hand, the gap between spots 12 and 15 would be about 25 seconds, which is the gap from Grinnell's Osh Kosh performance. That's just silly.

Of course, these are only predictions and anything can happen tomorrow so your picks, despite being fairly off-the-wall by my books, might turn out to be exactly how the race plays out. But given how things have gone thus far, it seems unlikely.

My picks:

1. Wesleyan - Hard to argue with their solid 1-2 and tight spread. To beat them, someone will need to have four in ahead of their third and have a fifth right with their 5-6-7.

2. Grinnell - Tough to compare them to the region because of their schedule, but if Oshkosh is a fair indicator, they're the only team with four guys that can match up with Wesleyan. Find a fifth and they could upset.

3. Luther/Olaf - Toss up between these two. With the best 1-2 in the field, Olaf needs a strong performance from their top 2 and then 5th. If they pull that off, they'll be in contention. With the larger field and faster pace, Luther's pack won't be able to hold together as well as it did at IIACs, but the spread won't be more than 40 seconds. Depending on where their 2-3 lands, they could challenge.

4. Luther/Olaf - see above.

5. Hamline - The MIAC performance won't repeat itself and even if it does, the best they'll end up is third. Too many seconds in the gaps and not enough firepower upfront, though expect Bauer to end up in the top 5.

Individuals

1. Greeno 24:40

2. Bauer 25:05

3. Krauss 25:10

4. Watley 25:10

5. Haglund 25:13

6. Ruon 25:15

7. Tobben 25:20

8. Sathre 25:20

9-15. 25:20-25:30

I know everyone hates STU on here, BUT I would not count them out of the top four. They had a decent fifth man in that meet they ran in Ohio. This guy blew up at MIACs for some reason, but if he can get back to the form he was two weeks prior to conference, STU will be right in it with STO, HAM, Luther, etc.

Results are up on Raceberry:

1) 116 St. Thomas

2) 116 Neb. Wesleyan

3) 117 St. Olaf

4) 121 Hamline

5) 147 Grinnell

Overall:

1) Greeno 24:49

2) Ruon 24:58

3) Sathre 25:00

4) Bauer 25:00

5) Haglund 25:11

Sparks wrote:

I know everyone hates STU on here, BUT I would not count them out of the top four. They had a decent fifth man in that meet they ran in Ohio. This guy blew up at MIACs for some reason, but if he can get back to the form he was two weeks prior to conference, STU will be right in it with STO, HAM, Luther, etc.

Wow I'll be honest I blew you off as a moron after reading this; good call. Likewise to everybody who predicted the breakout race by Ruon. Congrats to all the MIAC runners on their way to Ohio; should be a good showing.

Great races from a bunch of MIAC guys. Greeno could be top 10 next week and Ruon could be right behind. Big races by Franta and Gamble to qualify. Looks like Marotz cratered in the second half.

Entries are up-MIAC runners/teams going to nationals:

Men-

St. Thomas

Hamline

St. Olaf

Greeno

Haglund

Franta

Eckstrom

Gamble

Women-

Carleton

St. Olaf

Borner

Branigan

Sieve

Jelen

diii women wrote:

5 teams go, St. Thomas misses out, but not by much

Well you were definitely right about one thing...they missed out on a tie, that sucks.

How do you think the MIAC guys will stack up at Nationals?

Tommies over the Oles? Greeno the top MIAC runner again?

What is the tiebreaker? UST's 6th man was further back...

they compare 1st runners to 1st runners, 2nd to 2nd, etc. and whoever comes out with more head-to-head wins, wins.

name wrote:

What is the tiebreaker? UST's 6th man was further back...

They were referring to the St Thomas women missing out on a tiebreaker, not the men. The men tied for first, as much as I hate to actually say those words...

Thought I would give this thread a bump to close out the season.

Congrats to everyone in the MIAC that competed at Nationals.