Seems like it's about time to start this up. Place your early predictions for the most average D1 mid-major conference.
This championship is basically a race for 2nd place with Navy's dominance. Will Lehigh or American break into the top 4? Will Lafayette have enough members on its roster to score as a team? Who will challenge Murphy Smith for the individual win? Will BU fold after a few great early season performances?
I totally forgot Boston University got 3rd last year, that's pretty embarrassing. Navy had a strong team but losing to Army last year? Wow. Boston should win every year.
1. Navy - They should score under 30 points at the championship. Murphy Smith, Kirkland, Mumford, Nester ran 3:44 and should be top 10, then a bunch of other guys to make up for only graduating Keeny
2. Army - last year was 2nd with a young team, they aren't extremely talented but they have depth and are just way more gritty than Boston
3. Boston - They will look great early in the season and then choke at Patriot Leagues. Not tough enough for XC, especially on Lafayette's course.
4. Bucknell - 11 guys returning who broke 15 in the 5k (Their 3:48/14:20 freshman transferred to BC). The teams below them aren't leaving sub 15 runners home out of their top 10.
5. Lehigh - If Smigo gets back to normal, Lehigh is 5th w/ Harvey and Lynch. They also have the potential to be 8th because they are so inconsistent
6. American - Kluth was 12th last year and probably can't place much higher than that so they are going to have to find big point improvements other places. Stuck can't stay healthy, Counsel is inconsistent. Can Michaud or Morgan break 25?
7. Colgate - They were 7th last year by a wide margin but their strong milers are being trained as middle distance specialists and they will struggle to move up to the 8k.
8. Lafayette - Only Lafayette can get 9th place in 2023 w/ people having PRs of 24:59, 25:19, 25:24, a soph who ran 14:49 as a freshman, and a sophomore who ran 1:52, 4:08 (1600), and 9:15 in high school. Abysmal coaching.
9. Holy Cross - Lyons has run 3:46 and Mahon ran 3:50 as a freshman. If they are both top 20 Loyola can't catch them with #3-5 runners.
10. Loyola - Not a bad team by Loyola's standards but their only hope is another team having a complete meltdown. Can lightning strike twice and Loyola snipes 2 teams to grab 8th?
I totally forgot Boston University got 3rd last year, that's pretty embarrassing. Navy had a strong team but losing to Army last year? Wow. Boston should win every year.
Why didn't Carpenter get promoted to Director of TF/XC? He has more experience than the throws coach that got elevated.
There has to be more to the story. Anyone with ties to BU have any inside info?
1. Navy - They should score under 30 points at the championship. Murphy Smith, Kirkland, Mumford, Nester ran 3:44 and should be top 10, then a bunch of other guys to make up for only graduating Keeny
2. Army - last year was 2nd with a young team, they aren't extremely talented but they have depth and are just way more gritty than Boston
3. Boston - They will look great early in the season and then choke at Patriot Leagues. Not tough enough for XC, especially on Lafayette's course.
4. Bucknell - 11 guys returning who broke 15 in the 5k (Their 3:48/14:20 freshman transferred to BC). The teams below them aren't leaving sub 15 runners home out of their top 10.
5. Lehigh - If Smigo gets back to normal, Lehigh is 5th w/ Harvey and Lynch. They also have the potential to be 8th because they are so inconsistent
6. American - Kluth was 12th last year and probably can't place much higher than that so they are going to have to find big point improvements other places. Stuck can't stay healthy, Counsel is inconsistent. Can Michaud or Morgan break 25?
7. Colgate - They were 7th last year by a wide margin but their strong milers are being trained as middle distance specialists and they will struggle to move up to the 8k.
8. Lafayette - Only Lafayette can get 9th place in 2023 w/ people having PRs of 24:59, 25:19, 25:24, a soph who ran 14:49 as a freshman, and a sophomore who ran 1:52, 4:08 (1600), and 9:15 in high school. Abysmal coaching.
9. Holy Cross - Lyons has run 3:46 and Mahon ran 3:50 as a freshman. If they are both top 20 Loyola can't catch them with #3-5 runners.
10. Loyola - Not a bad team by Loyola's standards but their only hope is another team having a complete meltdown. Can lightning strike twice and Loyola snipes 2 teams to grab 8th?
Spot on. Lanzel with the easiest job in the world now that the Navy train is rolling full steam ahead.
Boston might have the edge this year over Army for 2nd with the NCAA rolling back Cannabis punishments.
1. Navy - They should score under 30 points at the championship. Murphy Smith, Kirkland, Mumford, Nester ran 3:44 and should be top 10, then a bunch of other guys to make up for only graduating Keeny
2. Army - last year was 2nd with a young team, they aren't extremely talented but they have depth and are just way more gritty than Boston
3. Boston - They will look great early in the season and then choke at Patriot Leagues. Not tough enough for XC, especially on Lafayette's course.
4. Bucknell - 11 guys returning who broke 15 in the 5k (Their 3:48/14:20 freshman transferred to BC). The teams below them aren't leaving sub 15 runners home out of their top 10.
5. Lehigh - If Smigo gets back to normal, Lehigh is 5th w/ Harvey and Lynch. They also have the potential to be 8th because they are so inconsistent
6. American - Kluth was 12th last year and probably can't place much higher than that so they are going to have to find big point improvements other places. Stuck can't stay healthy, Counsel is inconsistent. Can Michaud or Morgan break 25?
7. Colgate - They were 7th last year by a wide margin but their strong milers are being trained as middle distance specialists and they will struggle to move up to the 8k.
8. Lafayette - Only Lafayette can get 9th place in 2023 w/ people having PRs of 24:59, 25:19, 25:24, a soph who ran 14:49 as a freshman, and a sophomore who ran 1:52, 4:08 (1600), and 9:15 in high school. Abysmal coaching.
9. Holy Cross - Lyons has run 3:46 and Mahon ran 3:50 as a freshman. If they are both top 20 Loyola can't catch them with #3-5 runners.
10. Loyola - Not a bad team by Loyola's standards but their only hope is another team having a complete meltdown. Can lightning strike twice and Loyola snipes 2 teams to grab 8th?
Spot on. Lanzel with the easiest job in the world now that the Navy train is rolling full steam ahead.
Boston might have the edge this year over Army for 2nd with the NCAA rolling back Cannabis punishments.
Why is Navy still in the Patriot League? Patriot League is a joke
Threads like this are legitimately meaningless. Almost as useless as the United States Secret Service (20 year old is so radicalized that he makes an attempt on the President's life, yet has no social media or online presence? Give me a damn break). The corruption in this country is absolutely mind-boggling.
I let out a nice guttural laugh when I read "Will Lafayette have enough members on its roster to score as a team?" This might be even more ridiculous than the mask mandates that shut down all the campuses and meets during the 2020 season. This team is hands-down better than American, though I will admit Lehigh is starting to close in on them this summer. Maybe it's because I'm an alum, but the new annoying training trends I've seen from Patriot League schools is starting to drive me bonkers. It is pretty clear and well-supported int he literature that runners have to supplement their running with cryogenics. This specialized form of cold therapy involves exposing the body to extremely low temperatures, typically below -100 degrees Celsius (-148 degrees Fahrenheit), for a short duration, usually 2 to 3 minutes. While initially daunting, the benefits derived from this practice are significant and tailored specifically to the demands of long-distance running. I have a feeling Lafayette may start doing this- good luck to those Hawks over in ugly, run-down Democrat Bethlehem because they're going to need it. No amount of washed-up former PA HS state champs will help them beat Lafayette this year.
Also, to be clear, I hate Lafayette. My daughter applied there, was accepted, and decided against going. The price tag is absolutely exorbitant. The liberals run wild there, unchecked by an insane administration who care more about pushing mail-in voting than they do about showing our kids how terrible Biden has been. The scamdemic was my last straw. I will never vote for a Democrat in my life, ever again. It's really a sad story- In 2016, I was dating the woman of my dreams (well, the second woman of my dreams- the mother of my daughter was great until the incontinence set in and we eventually separated). As a single dad, I really needed to find a way to connect with women because my daughter said that unless I change my ways, she will permanently live with her mother. This new woman was an absolute treat, and let's just say, we were very compatible ;). Once the summer came around and it became clear that Trump would be the nominee, I told her. She was furious, as women tend to be, and told me that the snatch was going away forever unless I voted for Killary. So I did. I am ashamed, and would love to hear new suggestions on how I can redeem myself. Regardless, she left me soon after the election.
At some point, Lafayette will break through. I've never been more sure about anything. Just like one day we will find out what happened to Madeline McCann (look up the connection to the Maxwell family/Epstein ties- it is right under our noses), Laf will win a Patriot League Championship. While I object to it being called the "Patriot League" since I haven't heard anything but crickets from them regarding the attempt on Trump's life, I will still be tuning in. Roll 'Pards.
Lafayette had an incredible rise after getting last place in the Patriot League in 2016. They got a new distance coach in 2017 and rose up to 3rd in the 2020 season (March of 2021 when Navy couldn't run).
Yes, Navy would have won that year but Lafayette SHOWED UP and was only 32 points away from Army in first. By the way - the Lafayette women got 5th that year ahead of Lehigh too. A resounding team success.
In the true 2021 XC season (in the fall) Lafayette's men placed 4th behind Navy, Army and Boston. 2 years of great results and then their distance coach got a better job offer and left.
They graduated a lot from that team but returned their top runner who was 9th and had some great young runners coming up. The head coach Curcio decided to go the entire 2022 XC season without a distance coach before hiring a high school coach. If you were going to hire someone with no experience, then why wait?
That 6 months with no distance coach (and no recruiting) followed by hiring a horrendously unqualified distance coach was the death sentence on that program. 9th place in 2023, only 14 points ahead of last place. A really sad way to end the era of their incredible rise.
American actually has a strong recruiting class of long distance runners. If Kluth can get top 10 (he was 12th last year) they might be able to get 4th because Bucknell hasn't had a low stick in years.
When this recruiting class are seniors, American is going to be a really strong team.
American is recruiting all that just to lose to half of the Patriot League lmao
Army, Navy, and Boston clearly have massive advantages over American though.
What are Army and Navy going to do when they have to cut over half their roster because of this new NCAA rule?
As someone who was “on” the Navy team but had no business actually being on a D1 XC team, I think this will actually help. Part of Cantello’s program was about keeping a “full variety AND JV team,” at least that’s how he sold it to me when I emailed him in high school.
Now with Lanzel at the helm, and the potential for a much smaller roster, we will see the team flourish.
We are already seeing much faster times. With a smaller, more legitimate D1 roster, we will only see things get more and more efficient and successful.
Unfortunately for the rest of the patriot league, the roster limits only and scholarship limits only apply to schools that participate in revenue sharing and in no way would army or navy be allowed to do that, they can’t even do NIL, so if anything this may help even more.