Top five next year pre-season poll...

That coach is completely delusional

You are right though. Baumgartner seems like a decent guy who doesn't just spit random numbers out like "$100,000" or "we added it up and we would have been 8th"... added what up?

He took his next 6 guys, took their 5k track PRs and then doubled them to get their 10k time at Nationals. With these times he then put them into the scoring mix along with Jesse and they got 8th.

Actually, plugging in their spread behind Rohatinsky, I got them at roughly 300 points, 8th place was 292. So yes, it's POSSIBLE, but very unlikely, considering BYU got 12th and they soundly beat SUU at regionals. Possible, but again, unlikely.

What an idiot, this is a huge FOOT IN MOUTH moment. The coach got carried away, no doubting this guy, but wait until him and his team start putting up consistent good times before we start talking about contracts, olympics, and national titles.

Anyone know who the guy from Nevada he is talking about? I know he didn't get the top guy from Nevada, so who could it be?

I grew up in Cedar City, UT and actually know Coach Houle pretty well. I can tell you this.......he is a pretty good coach when it comes to running, but he has always been arrogant. I read the comment about taking 8th in the local paper while I was home for thanksgiving and about died laughing. He is in dreamland. The team is good......not even close to that good though.

I will say that some of the Western Region teams that went shouldn't have though. I was in that race and I was surprised they took the teams they did.

That is flippin' hilarious! That coach talks up a friggin storm!

If SUU makes it to nat's at all as a team, I'll be surprised. I helped coach a D-5 team in Cali and had a good team FOR D5! I would never say things like how I could win in D1. Basically that's what this guy is saying.

SUU had one good race in 1999. And they are still partying like it is 1999. They did not even run well at nationals just regionals. They beat a weaken CU team. CU chose not to run a pair of freshmen twins in the race. (torres).

Baumgartner is good but as of now he has had one good race. I sure hope that he continues to improve. BUt talk of shoe contracts with six figures is a bit premature.

Let's remember that The suu coach probably just thought that he was going to be talking to people that knew knothing about the sport and wanted to sound cool. But to people that know something he sounded .......not totally cool. (white coats please)

One more point he does not give BYU credit for ever winning the regional qualifying meet. BYU has won it 3 times.

Oh, I did some calculating and based on how SUU ran at Griak and Pre-nats. Snicker, snicker snicher.

The scoring he figured was based on the teams splits from regionals one week before. The team did not even run well at regionals, with the number two being third and way off of his normal split from Jess. Also SUU had two of the top three freshman in the region. Both true freshman and not foreigners. With everyone back next year and with who they have signed it will definitely be a team among the best in the country. Just because most of you have not heard of SUU does not make it outlandish that they can be good. As for Coach Houle he is a great distance coach. Turning athletes that a lot of other schools did not want into all-americans like Jess. You may think he is crazy but please reserve your judgement until next November when you see if he speaks the truth.

^^ Fair enough, I will say that top 5 is a bit premature but top ten is very realistic next year.

hey, how about they qualify first, and then we can talk about top ten next year...

its not like they got screwed out of an at-large bid, i think we should all just chill out on SUU for a bit, at least until they race like a top ten team

[quote]Jeramie wrote:

As for Coach Houle he is a great distance coach. Turning athletes that a lot of other schools did not want into all-americans like Jess. quote]

Name one other distance all-american from SUU........ Come on name one..... you could try Merkley He was an all-american for Utah after leaving SUU. 15 years name one all-american besides Jess..... waiting....... still waiting.....

How many all-americans do you need to coach before you are considered a good coach. If you sign athletes that are already fast enough to be all-americans does that make you a great coach or does that make you a good recruiter with a well funded program? Merkley was at SUU and left because he thought the program was not proressing(oops!) He finished 6th the year SUU won the region, that would have been a team to reckon with. Also Ted Hansen went from an afterthought at Wisconsin to a finalist in the Steeple for SUU. By the way SUU has had 10 all-american distance runners in its history, granted most of those came when the school was an NAIA school, but it is true none the less. Also for a school of only 7,000 students and a minimal budget it is funny to watch people be so afraid of them. As for Love the Humor's post when was the last time BYU won the Region Championship? Not in the last ten years only CU 8 times, NAU, and SUU have won it, and if SUU only won because CU was resting how come no one else beat them or was really even close for that matter? SUU 57, CU 61, BYU 90, NAU 124. Also Love the Humor there is something to be said for a team training for the 10K and racing 8k all season. SUU's results at Griak, and Pre-Nats admittedly were not very good, but look at the teams they beat at Regionals in a 10K that beat them at those two earlier 8k races. Also Jess was nursing an injury from early in the season at that point, and almost did not run that weekend. If any thing else I am sure that SUU loves the exposure it sure is not hurting them in their recruiting. See you all next year at Nationals.

you said that your Coach turned people that others did not want into all-americans. Yet you cannot name any.. the reason is that there has not been any.

BYU won it in 84,85, 89 BYu has placed as high as second in the nation. SUU has NEVER broken into the top 20 NEver broken into the top 20 and now you are talking smack about being ranked in the top 5 at the beginning of next cross season.

I did not know why Merkly left. I thought it was because of marriage. I did not know it was so he could run better. He certainly rtan al ot better didn't he? No oopes there. Looks like he made the correct desicion doesn't it?

SUU ran well at regionals. They ran well good job. Baumgartner ran well at nationals. Fantastic job. [quote]Jeramie wrote:

? Merkley was at SUU and left because he thought the program was not proressing(oops!) He finished 6th the year SUU won the region. if SUU only won because CU was resting how come no one else beat them or was really even close for that matter? SUU 57, CU 61, BYU 90, NAU 124. quote]

You have made a big deal about how only 2 teams have beaten CU at regionals in the last 10 years. Yet you seem to think that it is not relevant that CU rested the 2 freshmen Torres brothers.

How many times in that last 15 years has SUU beaten BYU?

I can only come up with 1999.

Please go back and listen to the Podcast. That was way over the top. It was worthy of a saturday night live skit (if SNL cared about Cross country).

SUU is not a top 5 team. that is just beggging for the white coats to come in and restain you.

Oh by the way I am still waiting....... name all those all-americans of the houle era.......waiting.

Jeramie wrote:

The team did not even run well at regionals, with the number two being third and way off of his normal split from Jess. You may think he is crazy but please reserve your judgement until next November when you see if he speaks the truth.

Has it even dawned on you that maybe Jess ran better and that is why the splitt increased? No really, there are some people that think that Jess ran better at regionals than any time of the year. And then he ran even better at nationals. Really there are some people out there that think he ran well those last 2 races.

Here is a November truth for you. SUU will not even be in the top 2 teams from Utah at regionals next year. Even if they have a healthy Jess.

BYU will destroy them as usual. Shoot, BYU doesn't even notice that SUU was in the race when they compete against them.

WSU and USU beat them more often than not so I am playing the odds here. My prediction has a much stronger basis in historical fact than SUU's coach's prediction.

Apparently you have something against either SUU or Houle or perhaps both. As for Merkley he was a great athlete at both schools but he was ahead of both of the guys at SUU that beat him in 1999 before he left. Also he ran a 4:06 as a sophomore at SUU, he didn't beat that time while running for the U. Finishing 6th while running for the U was a great accomplishment but he should have been ahead of the SUU guys that took 2nd and 3rd. I never said it wasn't relevant that CU rested the twins only that still no other schools could beat them that year. Also BYU should be ashamed of a school of 7,000 students and two thirds the scholarship money ever beating them even if it is one time. I am not saying that SUU will be a top five team only that they will be a very good team and should qualify for nationals. As for the All-Americans Jess is the first but it still proves my point that Houle is taking kids that no other teams wanted(Jess was a walk-on) and turning them into All-americans, SUU gets kids all the time that BYU won't even talk to (ask Rex Shields who had signed with SUU before even receiving a call from BYU) and they are competititive every year. I know that Houle sounds over the top believe me I know I ran for him, but he is not afraid to dream big. He was telling people for a couple of years that the team was going to win Regionals and no one would believe him except his team. So I am sure that he doesn't care if you believe him now as long as his team does and I can assure you that they do and so do the guys that he has signed. Quit hating on a small school that isn't afraid to mix it up. SUU will have its down years and its up years. Well there are about to be some more up years so deal with it.

SUU 4 you I guess we shall see. Let the games begin.