Roy Griak invitational turns down Western State

Sounds pretty pussys*** to me. I guess they don't want to see the marquee East Coast (cough) teams get their a$$es handed to them by Western State. But then again, Western has a bunch of 25-year-old foreigners and locals running under Division II eligibility rules and regs, so the fact that the playing field isn't really level could have something to do with it.

they are closer to 30, than 25......get your facts right

sorry, buddy. I have to agree that the playing field should be level. Why should 18-21 year-olds be racing a bunch of old mercenaries? It's college.

The reason why Western State got rejected was because they used to run all divisions together, but at some point they decided to switch it...some thought because DII & DIII teams were giving too many of the DI teams a run (i.e. La Crosse, Mankato, etc.). If you read the information on the race they make the DII/DIII race sound like a fun run. The organizers could really care less about non-DI teams, they just want to put on a top notch DI meet.

I don't think that Western should be allowed. The reason is that Griak is one of 2 important meets that DI schools who are trying to get "points" for at-large births. If Western was allowed in then a DI school that is trying to get points may be denied. So under the current system western should not be allowed in the meet.

This is a shame because they would certainly add some high claibre competition to the meet.

Lets set some things straight. Yes, Western does have some older guys on the team...but its only two guys (McRae brothers). But that aside, they would still give ANY DI school a run for their money, and only a few, if any, would be able to beat them. It's a shame that a meet of this stature wouldn't want the best teams available to compete.

The whole point is that it is a Division I competition. If it was supposed to showcase the best teams Western would be allowed in, as well as many others teams at the DII, DIII, and club level. Unfortunately, competitively speaking, the meet is designed as a Division I showcase...It would be nice if the format were different to allow elite runners not in Division I.

Does anybody know of any premier races around the country that allows Div II/III teams compete with top DI teams?

Yeah almost every other meet in the country allows DII, NAIA whatever in. Arkansas races Abilene Christian a couple of times a year at the OSU jamoree, their own chilipepper meet, etc.

I think it's disgraceful Western isn't allowed to trounce all the DI boys.

The Stanford Invit. is open to top teams regardless of division. It's not of the same caliber as Griak though.

INTHEKNOW wrote:

But that aside, they would still give ANY DI school a run for their money, and only a few, if any, would be able to beat them.

Rocky Mountain Shootout

Collegiate Men's Results

Boulder, CO - 8K - 10/06/2001

5400 feet

Place Name                            Team                                 Time

1. Jorge Torres     COLORADO              24:47

2. Dathan Ritzenheim       COLORADO              24:47

3. Edwardo Torres             COLORADO             25:05

4. Josh Eberly                    WESTERN STATE     25:09

5. Sean Smith                    COLORADO              25:18

6. Jon Severy                      COLORADO              25:23

bears xc

yeah your right and thats probably part of the reason we were looking for a good sea level race.most of our guys are sea level runners. Its a different race running on CU's home course at altitude. Last year wasn't a good day, and our whole team wasnt running. How ever this year it looks like we will be back and looking to run better.

isnt Western State in Gunnison, Co? If that is so, that is higher elevation than Boulder.

I dont think you payed attention to former posts. The probable reason for Griak disallowing Western State is the fact that DI schools need to acquire points for an at-large bid for NCAA. All the descent teams at Griak last year went to NCAA last year. I doubt anyone is afraid of Western State. This isnt football, i dont think too many schools care what division you are in if you are a good team.

No, I really don't hate WSU, but they won't be as tough this year without Aish. Yes they will be good, but they cannot compete with the top D1 schools. Colorado, Arkansas and Stanford have about 10 guys that could make WSU's top 7. WSU would be in the middle of the pack at D1 nationals at best.

lets get one thing straight- NOBODY IS AFRAID OF COMPETING AGAINST D3 schools.

ok, now that we have that out of the way look at what somebody else said- (paraphrase) "this isn't football, people arent afraid to compete."

cross country is running and not a freaking war. I am sure that all good runners would like to compete against the guys from western but the fact of the matter is- they aren't allowed to run. it is probably because of the fact that (as people already pointed out) d1 schools need to get points for nats.

now, if these guys wanted to run against d1 runners so bad, why didnt they go to a d1 school?

d11 kids and more so d3 kids are always worrying about what d1 guys think about them and trying to prove that they can compete. who freaking cares. track is a black and white sport. if you can run 43.13 for 400 and you're in HS, Naia or d3 it doesnt matter cause you are the best.

now, western guys- dont say that people are scared because they arent, you go to a d3 school and thus have to race in a different race.

plus, why would the meet director denieing you entry into the meet mean that the best teams are scared of you? wouldnt it mean that he is scared of you?

First of all, Western is a D2 school, not D3. Second, the reason that most of those guys didn't go to D1 schools is that no one wanted them out of highschool. The majority of the team were 9:40 two milers or even slower in HS. Now, they have four guys at 14:06 or better and two more sub 9:00 steeplechasers. There isn't a school in the country that wouldn't want all six of those guys. Just so were clear, I never went to Western.

That is great that guys like that have progressed so well. But I know of a DI school called Central Michigan and they had walk-ons like that all the time. But see those guys werent wanted either. They just wanted to run DI. I dont know if you heard of a guy named Richie Brinker but he lead 7 guys to a 20th place finish in 1998 at NCAA and he only ran 9:45 in high school. He was a 2-time all american in cross. So in my opinion that is a shit argument because i think that happens at programs all over the country. If its really that big of an issue, transfer to a division I school. If not, accept your decision for going DII.

Does anyone here actually go to western? If so, please e-mail me. I have really been wanting to go there for a few years now, and now its my senior year and I want to be sure to run what it takes to get in.

-Please respond--

TxRunner84@hotmail.com

Mikel, you've spammed up another message board with your immature crap. Stay off of this one, because you'll be served up as finger food.