DIII Regionals in Midwest

Central Region gets 5 teams

Nebraska Weslyan, Wartburg, and Hamline are all pretty much locks, next two spots open

Tyler Sigl will win the MW Region and UW-LAX will win the team title easily. The only questions to ask are, how hard will Sigl have to run to win and how many points will UW-LAX win by?

I think Wartburg is ready to roll. They will beat Nebraska Wesleyan this year.

LaCrosse will obviously win easily in the MW.

HAHA YEAH RIGHT.. Wartburg will NOT beat Nebraska Weslyan. Did you see results from NW's conference meet?

Oshkosh is usually a top team in this region, well coached and only had one bad year in 2003 when I thought they would win and didn't get close.

Mean Gene The Dancing Machine wrote:

Oshkosh is usually a top team in this region, well coached and only had one bad year in 2003 when I thought they would win and didn't get close.

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Was that the season when it was very hot at nationals and those who went out fast died?

Yeah I saw Nebraska Wes. conference meet. And I'd hate to break it to you, but they run in an NAIA conference. Wartburg runs in a much, much more competitive conference. That's not saying that NW will lose to Wartburg, just don't compare off their conference performance because that's a joke.

Both of you are uneducated but claiming to know what you are talking about.

First never underestimate NW Dr. Ted is a tremendous coach. The competition for NW is adequate.

Wartburg is in the IIAC not what I would call a CC powerhouse conference presently. Historically yes. Luther was strong back in the day. Asside from Loras's great stretch there the IIAC is nothing to brag about in strength and depth. Come on Central, Simpson, Cornell, Coe, Dubuque?

It is not as weak as the Midwest in which Grinnell beats the piss out of teams most years and then fails to qualify for nats behind numerous MIAC schools, Neb. Wes. and the Warthogs.

One final point Coach Johnson had put out many great performers but has missed his calling as a "slick" used car salesman!

Good luck to all in the Central Region

The conference NW runs in actually usually pretty good. They seem to always win it but the other teams are powers in the NAIA (Doane-more in track, Concordia). As far as the region goes, wesleyan always seems to run their best at the end of the year.

I don't think it would be that far-fetched for Wartburg to win the region over NWU. I think NWU is the favorite, but it would not be a total shock to see Wartburg win.

individuals

1-Solverson Wartburg

2-Craig Dye NWU

3-Levi Ashley NWU

4-Adam Bohach Luther

5-Chris Dunker NWU

Those are my indi picks. Teams something like NWU, Wartburg, Hamline, Luther, and Carleton.

La Crosse will no doubt win the Midwest region but I don't think they will do so by a large margin. If they are going to attempt to win the National meet, and I think they are capable of such (or at least thinking they've got a chance and therefore going for it), they might be better served by packing it up and putting 7 guys in the between 10 and 20. Then again, tactics like that don't seem to be utilized by DIII teams as much as other divisions, so who knows.

Sigl will win for sure.

Whether or not Kaul can bounce back after a terrible WIAC race will be interesting, but Oshkosh should qualify either way.

La Crosse, North Central, and Oshkosh are probably locks. The other two spots will go to either Wheaton, Augustana, Chicago, Platteville, Stevens Point, or Whitewater.

As for individs, look for Sigl, Garcia, White, Greenville guy, Nechuta, Meyer, Stangel, Wheaton's top three (all close), top Augustana guy, Butzler... all depends on the teams of course.

abcdefghijklmnop wrote:

I don't think it would be that far-fetched for Wartburg to win the region over NWU. I think NWU is the favorite, but it would not be a total shock to see Wartburg win.

individuals

1-Solverson Wartburg

2-Craig Dye NWU

3-Levi Ashley NWU

4-Adam Bohach Luther

5-Chris Dunker NWU

Those are my indi picks. Teams something like NWU, Wartburg, Hamline, Luther, and Carleton.

Don't forget Sam Hauck in those individual predictions. He barely lost to Bonach earlier in the season, and is coming off a convincing MIAC win.

How about St. Johns? They started off the season really well with a win over Wartburg... Are they completely written off the list after the MIAC meet?

Do they have any top runners that could qualify individually?

With regard to the Central region I think Wartburg, NWU, and Hamline are essentially locks to qualify. The last two teams are definitely a toss-up. Olaf, Carleton, Grinnell, Luther, and SJU should expect to challenge. Luther, if they move up their pack up to near Bohach can qualify, but they probably have the slimmest chance. Olaf always seems to run well at Regionals so you can't ever count them out. Carleton may have too large a spread to get top 5, but if they move up their 5th their in. I have no clue about SJU. Did they peak too early? Grinnell needs to have their two top guys near each other, unlike the ~50 second gap between 1 and 2. Their 3-7 pack needs to be no more than 40 seconds behind their one to qualify. They have the most cohesive pack outside of Hamline, so if they all hit it on Saturday, they may surprise some team. I'm biased, but I think they'll eek it out.

Luther's 2 and 3 are going to be their strengths. I could see both of them around 15-20. They both run smart races and run very well together. They beat St. Olaf earlier in the season, but so did Central (IA), so that doesn't mean too much.

The real Grinnell team didn't run at their conference. They will be way better than they indicated. Honig will challenge individually if he is healthy, and Riley will be running about a 9:45 for his last two miles.

If Ellingson for St. Olaf is healthy, that could be huge for them. He was in the top 25 at Regionals last year I think.

Here's how it's going to go:

NW

Wartburg

Hamline

Luther

Carelton (by one point over Olaf)

St. Johns is the most overrated team this year; they were ranked and didn't even go top 3 at their conference meet. I'd be surprised if they crack top 8.

Yes Tinman, that was the year. They just were off, as Calvin seemed to work through the heat okay.

Honig will not contend for the individual title. A few NWU guys and Solverson from Wartburg will be the only ones contending for that, unless they decided to back off because their teams will qualify. Luther will not have 3 guys in the top 20.

How about the women's race?

I gotta go with Harren from Gustavus.. Jen Wendt from Simpson should be top 5