MIAC Track 2024

Do I know you are being satirical? Absolutely. Do I care? Not at all.

Literally the worst take I have heard in three years. Bethel sweeps again, losing hardly any athletes other than 6th years who will be available for outdoor, as well as probably the second or third strongest overall recruiting class. Also completely missing the sprint events as well as hurdles, jumps, throws, and multis.

400: Parent, and it won't be close

200: Liu (with another conference record), also Cam McConnell is better than your favorite athlete, Simon with a strong race at the conference meet could easily complete a podium sweep

60: Liu (ditto), McConnell (nobody is surprised), Simon again

Hurdles: Ekiyor, Sampson, Myres

Throws, jumps, multis: not my specialty either, just felt like pointing out your inconsiderate incompetencies

Also distance wise, a healthy Lelinga will dust the field in the 800. Including Bocovich on the 5k list is idiotic and frankly makes me wonder why you bother posting in the first place. Forgetting about Roy is like forgetting about Dre, and you don't want to know what happens when your sorry butt gets triple lapped in the mile by a freshman who still calls his parents mommy and daddy (and might be calling yours tonight).

The lack of respect on Reece McKee's name is astonishing and tells me you didn't pay attention to the last year of running in Minnesota with what he did for Macalester both indoor/outdoor last year, as well as his efforts bringing him just shy of the national meet in XC.

Lastly, Gustavus going from 5th to 3rd at the conference meet passing up both Northfield schools tells me you don't know ball track.

WHOS RACING THIS WEEKEND RAHHHH WERE SO BACK

My sources say Bati chose to race the mile over 3k at the St of Thomases this weekend. That is the extent of my maybe knowledge

Bati has recovered.

It's going to take sub 8:40 to make the fast heat in the 3K.

I think Bethel will defend their crown. The Johnnies will likely win outdoor. Given the poor recruiting class from St. Olaf, I do expect Gustavus to surpass them. Carleton seems to have decided any freshman they recruit will become a multi. Including their 3200m state qualifier. Interesting strategy.

The Gusties have a freshman sprinter that will score if not challenge for a win. Parenr will be untouchable in whatever he enters. I’m hoping a healthy Liu will join him in national dominance.

The field events are where we’ll see a lot of variety. Scholastica and Concordia have some monsters. Word is the Ole throwers have transferred because Power put such an emphasis on poorly coaching distance and
making reels of Kramarczuk. Jumps will be mainly Johnnies wirh a random Hamline or St. Mary’s athlete.

Carleton has three stud Multis and St. John’s/Olaf have a couple decent ones. The Cobber multi is national level, so he’ll likely be in the mix too.

Love to see McKee get some appreciation, because his improvement arc is amazing. But to predict him to win an event would be disregarding the accomplishments of most of the top Carls and Oles last Fall. I’ll say he is a dark horse for a third place finish in rhe 5K.

Interesting quote attributed to Coach Wareham too: "Work hard, but cheat when you can."

Ben was the man during the glory days of the MIAC. The super shows may make everyone’s 3K times faster but I don’t see a current athlete that has a chance at winning a title. Maybe Bati when he’s older, but think about how many studs we saw in that era. The Carls, Monson, the Oles, so many national champs and top 3 finishers. I’d love to see the MIAC get back to the glory days of national success rather than crowing about their outstanding depth. I don’t care if you have 15 guys under 8:40 if they can’t run sub 8:15 or 4:08 without super shoes.

Meets this weekend, what are we thinking?

Predictions, posters, post-race interviews, all of it

Lars, Cal, and Roy about to move to the front of the 3000m lists.

From the Seljeskog meet, three under 9 minutes (Bati, McKee, Edwards), two listed as nationally ranked (Bati #31, McKee #57) and a wonderfully competitive battle of mid with a fair number of Scots/Gusties running alright (but not great) in the 9 and ups with a few randoms mixed in. Haven't seen results from the other meets this weekend yet, but this 3K title is anybody's game a month from now, as I'm sure that Lloyd, Roy, Gabe, and others are twiddling their thumbs waiting for things to get interesting while the rest of the meet spectators find a comfortable place to sit and nap until the 4x4 starts.

Boone 8:22 and Lars 8:28. That’s three in the MIAC 8:28 and under. Bati runs 8:40 after winning the mile. Oles had two more 8:40 guys today. No Gabe so far.

Scholastica looked strong in the 1000 too. Too bad their sprinter graduated. With their throws depth they could challenge Gustavus for 3rd.

The Oles now have had 6 different guys run 8:38-8:43 (plus Kelly at 8:28). Too bad for them that the 3k isn't scored like cross country. Still, it looks like half of the fast heat might be Oles, which is definitely a big blow for those with an agenda against their coach.

Meanwhile Lacrosse has 6 guys under 8:13 and 6 under 8:20 in one race. MIAC needs to raise their standards.

Will be interesting to see what they can do Friday with most of the top guys shooting for a fast 5k at Olaf

Cote, Lynn, & Skemp haven’t races yet either. They must be off campus for J-term. All likely can run in the 8:30s. And that means one of the guys listed above won’t qualify in the 3K.

Bati’s double is pretty impressive Could Boone and Gabe push him enough to set two conference records?

UWL has the best overall track team in the country and should have won XC too if they didn’t choke. They stomp the WIAC every year for good reason. I don’t think it’s exactly fair to the Oles (or anyone in the MIAC) to hold them to that standard tbh. That said, at this rate lax might put 6 guys on the line for the 3k at nationals. Has that ever been done before?

What a weekend to see most squads opening up! Distance seems pretty well covered, so I'll skip over that.

Landon Liu is back. It's great to see him healthy again. He just missed a PR in his opener!

Chris Bulwa continues to make his case as the top sprinter in the conference nobody talks about.

Gustavus needs to turn their Mid D U title over to Scholastica. Although yet another Lelinga brother may help Bethel's cause. And how about Nelson with the ridiculous debut of 1:21? He's also a favorite to win long jump.

The men's 600 is hot right now with the Johnnies still waiting to open!

Bethel's hurdle crew is the top in the country and will likely sweep 1-4 with two others capable of scoring. They may outscore some schools in the hurdles alone!

The jumps haven't warmed up yet, but the throws are hot! Cobber big man Folkestad has returned to eligibility and ranks 11th in the country. Scholastica's Beseth is close behind in 14th. It appears reigning champion Cade Feist of Olaf has transferred. Both men have already thrown a meter more than Feist did last year.

Bethel's two weight men notched nice PR's to lead the conference with marks only one thrower topped in 2022.

Bethel, Gustavus, Macalester, Saint Mary's, and St. Scholastica all head to Olaf next weekend while St. John's welcomes their alumni for the season opener.

This did not happen. Roy got clapped

Lars and Cal dawgs tho

Can't deny they are great. But LAX is a 10,000-student public school with their deepest roster ever, possibly their best roster ever (?) and they ran a pure time trial (no other racers in their heat, on their home track, pacers through 2k). To say that St Olaf or any MIAC school should hold themselves to that standard is ridiculous. Even LAX doesnt hold themselves to that standard most years.

Oles will peak early like they do every year. Coaching and hubris always catch up.

Carleton, Gustavus, and Macalester had way better indoor seasons. For as good of an Outdoor season that Bocovich and Kelly had they were pretty terrible in relation indoor.