U of Oregon XC fans and prognisticators

Back to the actual question

1. Kiptoo

2. Rupp

3. Werhane

4. Acosta

5. Winter

6. Klotz

7. Stern

I agree with those that have Chris Winter in their lists, he should not be left off.

If you say that he didn't massage a few papers to get his guys money in Stanford then your blind. Either way it'll take a few years to knock of Wisconsin.

1)Keska

2)Dalton

3)Hollister

4)Cantwell

5)Dimoff

6)Nicholas

7)Julian

Any school that wants a student to attend, athlete or not, will find the money somewhere to get that student to attend. It may be financial aid, scholarships (Academic or athletic), minority grants or any other means that it takes to get the student. It's not illegal. If Harvard or Princeton want a great athlete, though they can't give an 'athletic' scholarship, they will find the money somewhere else.

exactly. its very neocon. you cannot stoop too low as long as it is technically legal. remember legality trumps morality.

vin is smart. he got in some trouble at stanford. so he decided to learn a bit more by goin at it as an AD. he has probably learned from his mistakes.

rule #1 dont get caught.

rule #2 be good, or be good at it.

I'm sorry, what I said was mean, i was drunk at the time, and just don't like prefontaine.

Sorry but it is illegal what they have been doing.

I had held off on posting my predictions for my own thread because I was curious to see what direction it would take. I'm happy to see the many of you who took up the challenge. In coming up with my own prediction, I've weighed Vin's past movements at Stanford (redhsirting talented freshmen and so on) versus the desire to put an extremely talented/balanced team on the start line at Nats.

I could easily see a few or more of the young bucks (Klotz, Stoutenburgh, Acosta, or Mercados) getting redshirted to allow for the veterans to close out their Duck careers. At the same time, I could also see Vin wanting to put forth a stellar team regardless of experience in order to display the Ducks strength now and for the future.

Weighing these factors:

1. Rupp (Kiptoo)

2. Kiptoo (Rupp)

3. Winter

4. Acosta

5. Klotz

6. Werhane

7. McGrath

The #1 spot is too close to call. If Galen ahs rebounded from his spring ailments, I'd give the nod to him as the Ducks' first runner. A less than 100% fall would move him back a notch behind Kiptoo.

I would love to see Isaac S., Acosta and Kenny K. all on the line in Indiana, but there are too many ifs surrounding freshmen, and given Vin's past tendencies I don't expect too many true freshmen will be there. I would swap Acosta for Stoutenburgh if AJ's China experience leaves him flat. But Vin did attempt to get the PAC-10 coaches to allow Gabe J. and Micahel S. an extra XC season after their Olympic summer.

That was a blast from the past- 2 foreigners and 5 Oregonians - 1993 NCAA Team?

No, but not far off. Dalton's last XC season was '91. Julian's was '92. The five other guys ran on the '93 team.

A lot of people say Dellinger was losing it during his last few years but how about some of the mid-90's teams? This was a great team by any standard:

Karl Keska

Matt Davis

Nick Rogers

Daniel das Neves

Micah Davis

Greg James

Rob Aubrey

'96 Tucson team had a similar team to the one posted...4th at NCAA's, a great team effort by them that day. Not sure if Des Neves or James were on there, but Oliver Wirz and Konrad Knudson were. Karl Keska absolutely murdered everybody at regionals (Meb, Stanford guys, Belz, Gilmore, etc.) and went on to run "only" 34th or so. Matt Davis reportedly had a fracture in the femur, didn't race all year until regionals, ran 9th there with a noticeable limp, then finished 5th at NCAAs. That guy was tough. Oliver Wirz who still held the Portland school records at the time from 1500, 3k, 5k...had DROPPED OUT of regionals the prior year for the Pilots, transferred right after that, and ran for the Ducks finsihing around 18th and securing a sound beating for his former school, which finished 10th, but at least had a WCC Conference title sweep to fall back on...

Grote

I agree.....J. Thomas will be in the mix.

What about the Oregon girls?

Not a bad group....

1. Bria Wetsch

2. Keara Sammons

3. Katie Leary (is she still running??)

4. Zoe Nelson

5. Dana Buchanan

6. Sarah Pearson

7. Nicole Blood

You've got to put Rebekah Noble in that mix (near the top 3). She is going to be the next Leanne Warren for the Ducks (or in the words of AJ, "The first Rebekah Noble").

She didn't do as well in XC last year (was like their 6th or 7th) but hey more power to her. If she is their 3rd then Nicole Blood might not even make varsity that would be deep.(Although I'm sure Lanana had Stanford squads where girls who were FL finalists could't make top 7)

How about

1.Bria Wetsch

2.Keara Sammons

3.Katie Leary (does anyone know if she's still running)

4.Bekah Noble

5.Zoe Nelson

6.Dana Buchanan

7.Sarah Pearson (?maybe Nicole Blood)

The reason I mention Noble is the breakout track season she had. She is quite similar to Warren, who had XC success and eventually moved up to the 1500 as well.

My understanding is Leary's injury from last fall slowed her down for quite some time. Hopefully we'll see her out competing for Oregon this fall. She is listed in the xc preview for this year.

Blood not even make varsity, lick your wounds and let them heal you complete loser.