I'm going to agree with you until your last line. They were good. They are good. They ate up everyone but CSM at RMAC champs. The big boy pants were on there....perhaps they just took them off for regionals because there is really no incentive to win (opposed to RMAC where there is).
Couldn't have been the shoes. Could be poor team culture that lead to an improper mindset for the race. Also, don't get me confused for defending their performance either. As a fellow D2 runner who is racing in Seattle in 2 weeks, I am thrilled to have Adams be absent. Part of being good is racing well when you need to...they must be missing that piece. They have the rest. They would be the runners up had they qualified (perhaps the winner if CSM forgets to show up to nationals again).