What was Oregon thinking??

Syracuse has tons of talent as a TEAM. They put their top 5 into the top 10, winning regionals. Came in 2nd at ACCs and were ranked 4th overall. Next time pay attention

Last I checked Cuse was ranked 4th and Ducks 6th. Why is this a surprise to you

That’s one way to look at it. Another is that Oregon got 14th last year and has improved tremendously since.

Maybe Oregon had bigger dreams than finishing in 4th place.

Well everyone dreams to be on podium. But then reality hits, doesn’t it

The result is less of a shock, rather the way in which they ran. Out straight to the front, followed by fading, Burns back over 100 spots. Just very clear the race plan wasn't given much thought.

Burns maybe got a nice photo of him leading 2 mins in tho...

Much like a 64 lap in the mile, it can be hard not to be in front. It might have looked better to be 2 seconds slower at 1K and 50 places back to avoid arm chair critics.

But the rankings don’t mean much of anything, Syracuse isn’t more talented than Oregon. They don’t have anyone who can run under 1330 if I’m not mistaken they had no one who placed above 30th today, Oregon just didn’t have Evan Bishop and has some inconsistent pieces, they also lost Harrison Reinhardt, But fifth place is pretty good and they did beat some of the people they weren’t supposed to

I bet they had a race plan. Get out fast, hang on, let's see if we can win this thing.

Then that’s a coaching issue. Any good coach would know their ceiling is 4th. Running for more cost them if that’s what happened.

Syracuse ran the most tactically sound race of the day. they don't have any frontrunners and knew if they went out with the Kenyans they'd die so they held back and watched as teams like Oregon, Alabama, and BYU slowly faded - then they pounced. a smart, measured team race.

and yes, I was surprised so many Ducks went to the lead early. I understand their plan but they don't have the distance legs to hang for 10K.

Not a thinking type of program, but very successful non the less!

Only if you consider the podium more than the top 3, which I realize the NCAA does, but that is just snowflake nonsense. Ducks would have had a tough time knocking Iowa out of the #3 spot today, although if they improve just a bit next year they have a shot.

They had the same strategy in both races: get to the front and hang on

Continuing to reference Iowa State as Iowa is an insult to both. Which is actually hilarious considering their rivalry and the fact nobody outside their border gives two corny turd$ about it. And the fact that there is no rivalry between their xc teams since Iowa's is nonexistent.

That pretty much describes everything at the school as a whole

Iowa, non existent? Actually they're pretty decent.

Some stats about Iowa: Just choosing a few on their team.

Will Ryan - 8:13.73/14:05.99/29:38.85

Hayden Kuhn - 4:10.91 (mile), 8:10.12

Carson Houg - 1:54.39/3:50.08/25:17.9 (8k cc)

Brayden Burnett - 8:13.93/14:06.81/29:35.19

Miles Wilson - 4:12.37/8:17.08/14:15.42

Those Iowa guys could make over 90% of scoring D1 teams in the USA, I think. Not world class, but very solid. A few top Americans from other teams with similar track stats made top 50 in the NCAA a few days ago.

If my assessment is way off - I stand corrected. Thank you for your input.