good post...Rauber did a great job, as did Quarzo and Mareno.
Many people on this site have pointed out that NC STate is not a lock to win, as so many other teams now have a very strong top 3 or 4. But NC State showed why they are ranked number 1...they have low sticks, and they have depth. With one of their top 5 out, and another top 5 having an off race, they still won the ACC...which other team could lose 2 of their top 5 and still win their conference?
The gap from 1st to 5th is also being looked at incorrectly...the gap from 1st to 5th is larger than last year, and the main factor to that is Tuohy. Chmiel ran a good race today, and Tuohy blew her away at the end. Tuohy has added 10 seconds to the gap by lowering her time. There are two ways the Gap from from 1st to 5th increase...one is good (1st goes faster) and one is bad (5th goes slower) ....NC States is the good.
Last point is the hills...I believe it is silly to think NC State is not preparing for the hills because of one comment made by Bush....of course they are. 3 or 4 of their top 5 have run Stillwater before, and as mentioned several times, have been running fairly hilly courses all year. This last course looked to have some good hills, and a fairly large one at the end. Tuohy looked pretty tired at the end...but she also looked like she ran that last km pretty hard (I would say because she knew that Stillwater has a similar finish). Both her and Chmiel broke the old course record I believe. Bush came in 5th, right behind Maatoug (who deserves more attention)...on a hilly course. Bush's splits indicate she was running a very controlled pace right through the race...this is what she said she needed to do during the interview.
Obviously NCS needs Starliper and Seymour if they are going to win Nationals...But that has nothing to do with a lack of depth....only that other teams have improved drastically by adding or developing runners. Should be a great race!!