MIAC XC 2023

Enough sucking off of the 5th-9th place men’s teams. Two of the strongest women’s xc teams in the country are in this conference and we need to get the discussion rolling on them as this season will be a battle for the ages.

Individually, not going to be the most interesting and Fiona wins while jogging the last mile backwards. Moving on.

Top 5 Individuals Prediction:

1. Fiona Smith

2. Alison Bode

3. Hannah Preisser

4. Helen Cross

5. Somebody with the name Sofia/Sophie, of which there is no shortage in this conference.

Team-wise, this is going to be an absolute bloodbath between Carleton and St.Olaf. Both teams seem to only be losing one runner from the previous season with Mayfield and Albrecht abandoning their division 3 roots to clout chase. Unsure on the recruiting classes for these teams yet, but with only one loss on either side it makes the most sense to focus on returners.

St. Olaf will surely be dangerous this year with the duo of Bode and Carlson up front, each of whom grabbed an all-american award this track season. They’ve got more depth than that submarine, making them quite dangerous if the Carls can’t rally everybody on a certain day. However, with something seeming to go hugely wrong for this team every season, I’m hesitant to say this team will for sure come out on top.

Sure, losing Mayfield is going to hurt very bad, but barring a wrong turn on the course–which should be hard to do considering conference will be at home for the Knights–last years 4th place team at nationals looks like they’ll be hard to beat. Although they lack depth past their 7th/8th runner, this team has consistent and experienced scorers. Their outdoor track campaign seemed a little all over the place with some breakthroughs, some extremely underwhelming performances, and some absences (Cross?), but with this team being historically stronger on the grass than the oval, I wouldn’t take any of their pitfalls outdoors too seriously.

In the race for third I have St. Ben’s, Mac, and Gustavus. I genuinely think that with a good performance at regionals, St. Ben’s will get an at large bid to nationals this year. Heck, if Olaf or Carleton slips up at conference they could find themselves in second. They’ve got a lot of talent flying under the radar and while it might not look like it when stacked up against the giants of Olaf/Carleton, they are to be taken seriously. Macalester is a mixed bag, but with the rise of Sky during track and the potential return of Blaesing, they will be up there. Gustavus has a very solid individual in Villalobos but unless they can find four others in their 200 person roster to back her up they are likely doomed for another fifth place finish.

Team Predictions:

1. St. Olaf

2. Carleton (but gets the W at regionals)

3. St. Ben’s

4. Macalester

5. Gustavus

I have to go with Concordia's coach, their assistant coach Munir, former miac champion should be considered to win or at least give Bati a run for his money

Adding Munir and Maddie to the squad puts them in competition with Mac and St. Olaf for fourth.

Bocovich told me he has two more years of racing. Is he not finishing with the Oles? I’ve heard Will Kelly is entering the transfer portal too. Could make a big impact on the Oles.

Kelly will run 4 years at st Olaf, he literally has an ‘O’ tattoo that takes up his entire thigh. He is likely looking at grad school options

An inside source has mentioned that Bati wont be running for Augsburg this season and that he has transferred to Concordia St. Paul. This could open the competition and give St. Olaf a good chance at wining

That would be quite a big surprise, not sure on your source but maybe that huge coup could propel Concordia into the MIAC top 10... and/or maybe help them beat Augsburg at next years Jim Drews invite in LaCrosse.

Obviously, if he's switching for some academic/financial reason, best of luck, but it'd be nice to see him go somewhere with a better running program.

cspbears.com

2022 MXC Jim Drews (PDF)

2022 MXC Jim Drews (PDF)

Link:cspbears.com/documents/2022/10/16/coll...

Heard about a big time commit for Carleton yesterday. I’d expect them to easily win the MIAC now. I do expect Gabe to be conference champ. I don’t think Kelly can hang with him at that distance and he has a touch more leg speed than H-Bo

Not sure I’m buying this. Bati still odds on favorite to win.

Two words. Jonah. Herzog.

We can confirm this in two months time when the season starts

I think sometimes people talk to a guy who doesn’t speak perfect English and think he’s not capable of understanding/utilizing things like sarcasm. I can picture Mohammed being asked about what he’s doing next year and saying something sarcastic that gets misinterpreted.

If he leaves Augsburg it’ll probably be for Wisconsin, U of MN or one of the big Iowa schools… Maybe an outside chance a WIAC school could convince him to move next year.

Suppose it’s possible Concordia St. Paul could make a fantastic offer with full scholarship and some NIL money to get him to move, but I doubt they’re that committed to running.

I’m sure rolling out a 64:22 half got the attention of at least a few D1 schools.

you really think Concordia St. Paul has NIL money? bro its d3 money, it aint hitting like that

Biggest transfer in the history of the MIAC inbound

I don't think he's leaving Augsburg. He staying

Jake Brown would like a word

Congrats to the Academic All-Americans Carter & Lloyd. And Fong from Carleton. Thought we might see a few more of the vaunted Northfield scholars, but I guess they won't be able to talk trash about St. John's academics now.

Princeton to Olaf was big time. Pac 12 to Olaf though... we will see how it pans out.

With the current coach likely terrible. Maybe they’ll hire a real distance coach since they’re now able to bring in this kind of talent.