NAIA 2023

I wonder if we’ll see Santorum run a 5k outdoor. I’m curious to see if he’s progressed a lot since xc in anything longer or if he’s just solely a mid distance runner.

The steeple looks very weak the year. Does anyone know of any fast guys that might contend? I would think that somebody from the Cumberlands could run it and win. Other than Shippey, I don’t know of many others who could even run sub 9:05 this year.

Based off of past IWU athletes coming back from injuries I’d assume Sweet wouldn’t be racing yet if he wasn’t ready and in shape.

Ott last year at indoor is a perfect example. He didn’t race at all until nationals but came back and was the 1200 leg on their 5th place DMR and ran on their 2nd place 4x8. While he didn’t look as strong as he was at the end of outdoor the year before he was ready to go his first race back.

Something else I’d like to point out is that Sweet not racing indoor means he’ll have a full 5th year of eligibility (he’s now technically redshirted indoor, outdoor, and xc). So there is a chance that he was ready to race earlier but IWU wanted to save his eligibility up.
It’s really hard to guess what Sweet will run even with having Ott to compare him to. Nobody’s going to come back from injury the exact same way and we don’t know how long he’s been back training for. I doubt Foss would hold out his #1 runner from his last chance to win nationals unless his injury was something severe enough to require time off to recover from. This will be his first race in 6 months now. If I had to guess a time I’d guess somewhere in the 4:12-4:15 range this weekend for a full mile. I could see Sweet running 3:51 or faster by the end of outdoor again.

I could be completely off in either direction both with this meet and overall for the season. Based on Sweet’s progression I’d assume he’s one of the most talented distance runners in the NAIA. One way or another Sweet being healthy already is huge for IWU next year and him possibly having another year to compete can help keep IWU a power house.

From what I’ve heard I believe they were without Ott until indoor nationals last year because of some sort of eligibility type issue similar to Silva this year. Nonetheless, I agree with your point. I doubt Foss would be racing him this early if he expected him to drop a 4:25.

I certainly agree that he’s extremely talented and was just scratching the surface of what he could do last spring. I would expect him to be pretty impactful at every national meet the next couple years.

Holam done after this season. Will be interesting to see if they promote internally or do a national search

muknights.com

Marian's Mike Holman Announces Retirement At Conclusion of the 2024 Season - Marian University Ind.

@MarianTrackXC

INDIANAPOLIS - One of the greatest coaching eras at Marian University will see it's conclusion at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, as the Marian men's and

Link:muknights.com/news/2024/4/4/tfcc-maria...

British Columbia will probably have some guys run it. Uhrich is back and he's run 8:52 before.
Robin Aguilar-Gonzalez ran 9:03 last year in the final but has been more like a 9:20 guy outside of that. He has as much upside as anyone in it.

Kiprop has run 8:53 before but it seems like he's been in a slump. He's a bit behind where he was when he ran that for Louisville.

Thaniel Schroeder is back and he ran 9:10 last year. He had a fantastic indoor season, I wouldn't count him out as a contender.

Ash ran 9:11 last year and was much better this year in indoor and cross than he was the year before. He probably could've been an All-American in the 3k if Eastern Oregon didn't attempt to double him in the 3k/5k.

A big time sleeper runner to watch is Matthew Keitany. His PR might only be 9:18 but this was from last year while he was at Vincennes. He ran massive PRs this year since transferring to Goshen. He went from 4:17 to 4:08 in the mile and 8:48 to 8:25 in the 3k. He's bound for a big breakout in steeple.

Serhiy Shevchenko has run 8:52 before. That was a few years ago though so we'll have to wait and see if he gets back to that.

It should be faster than last year.

Uhrich from UBC (8:45 last summer) is the favourite

Last year Miller, Uhrich, and Baldauf who were all contenders missed the check-in which was allegedly due to IWU's meet staff making a mistake.

Steeple last year was probably the most open it will ever be because of that. It should be a lot more competitive this year.

Well Sweet didn’t run 4:25. But he did run 4:28.

On the bright side Wasnich ran a 31:07. Even thought that’s not going to be a contender by any means for the 10k this year he’ll still be a really solid piece for IWU in xc next year.

Bendsen’s mile is going to convert down to 3:49 in the 1500.

Asslouj DNFed but I wish we could’ve seen how fast that would’ve been.

looked like he dropped off then dropped out looking at splits. Didn't start the 800 today either so maybe got hurt.

Michael Long from Ave Maria just ran 1:48 as a freshman

2018 high school grad so as much of a FR as the Cumberlands dudes but still good for him

Let's amend it to the first-year student then if that makes you feel better. Lol

He graduated in 2023 you brainlet

been dead lately...someone spice things up.

I've heard rumors that Blake Hipkiss will be transferring to Milligan next season.

Multnomah is closing and there's also rumors that all of their sprinters are considering going to Madonna for next year.

Any word on the IWU job? That could have major implications on next season.

Any news in terms of big recruits?

Incoming freshmen, internationals, transfers etc.

Generally not going to be as much conversation going on mid track season. There was a lot during xc even mid week because of the importance of the polls for determining the national field, and the team race being more towards the front of everyone's minds.

Taylor's women got a girl who took 7th at footlocker in xc.

Olivet Nazarene has a 4:12 HS miler coming in.

Marian might not be a distance powerhouse, but it'll be interesting to see if Trevino stays around with Holman retiring.

Looking forward to xc season next year Cumberlands men have to be looking like the big time early favorites even if they do have a few guys transfer out.

It looks like we're looking to a change of a the guard from the past few years of top teams towards new ones. For the past few years it always seemed to be a safe bet that Milligan, St. Francis, IWU, Dordt, and St. Mary would be some of the top few teams and that doesn't look too likely for next year.

IWU vs. Taylor's men within Crossroads should be a really close one. Even Goshen and Spring Arbor right behind should make that team race really close. After that it looks like we'll see a big drop off within Crossroads...Possibly only five teams qualifying next year?

Ave Maria is a team I'd watch. While they aren't anything remarkable right now I have a hard time seeing them not bring in a ton of talent with Alan Webb as their coach. They could provide a little more balance in the future with automatic bids and dominate the Sun Conferece.

College of Idaho's women return four of their top five if I am correct. But their lack of depth does make them vulnerable to a team like St. Mary who has a ton of depth and some solid front runners.

I'd be surprised if Sowder doesn't bring in a ton of talent to Cumberlands on the women's side this year after seeing what he did with the men's side. Cumberlands already has a few key pieces towards contending next year.

Milligan and St. Francis have been threats for the past few years on the women's side, but next year they both lose a good chunk of their scorers. Unless they bring in a ton of talent I don't see either being a contender.