Big 10 Women's Cross country

Minnesota. Gary Wilson.

MSU, Walt Drenth

michigan. look at their track results thus far this season.

get ready for a win.

Look at the growth and recent success of the women's distance program at Illinois. Karen Harvey has built a very strong program and has already signed a quality recruit out of Canada (Danelle Woods) who has ran sub-18 min for 5K and sub 5-min for the mile.

Wisconsin.

tradition

jts77 wrote:

Look at the growth and recent success of the women's distance program at Illinois. Karen Harvey has built a very strong program and has already signed a quality recruit out of Canada (Danelle Woods) who has ran sub-18 min for 5K and sub 5-min for the mile.

I second the vote for Illinois and Karen Harvey. She has done great things there over the past few years and only more good things will come. She has taken some girls who were ok, but definitely not great, and helped turn them into very good runners (i.e. Stephanie Simms).

what about Iowa? they seem to have improved immensely since the arrival of Layne Anderson. I dont know much about him, except that he used to coach at Auburn and they replaced him with Fox. 17th at nationals isnt too bad.

Karen resurrected the program at Illinois, but this year has not been good. She is very, very intense and the current team may have grown tired of it?

For the track, you can't do any better than Michigan!

Wilson is on a roll at Minnesota. That's the program for CC right now.

If you're a tough girl, very thick skinned, then Harvey is for you.

not really a fan of Wilson and Minnesota....to be completely honest

The attrition rate of Karen Harvey's program is extremely high. Just take a look at their cc roster. Unless you are focused on earning a professional career, I would not advise Illinois.

The best way to find out which program is best for you is to visit and ask women on the team what they think...and dont ask just the top 2 or 3 runners.

All the top recruits that have gone to Illinois have stayed with it and from talking to them they love it. The ones that can't hack it are the ones down the ladder and for whatever reason they just can't take training and living the lifestyle of a top tier DI distance runner.

searching wrote:

not really a fan of Wilson and Minnesota....to be completely honest

I've heard decent things about Michigan State's new(ish) coach, too, and it came straight from one of her athletes. But it's gotta be Michigan or Wisconsin otherwise.

If you're looking at Big-10, then you have a lot to choose from. Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are have great environments for running (hills, trails, etc).

I would think that if you're good and want to get better, go to Wisconsin. It's a fun town, and they win. Hanging with Hanna Grinaker and Claire Maduza everyday will toughen you up. I see the Badgers as a team that's on the way up for the next few years. It's a bit flat there though, like Michigan State is. Also a big party school like MSU is--which you more or less want to steer clear of if you're trying to get good.

I live in Michigan now, so I can tell you more about those schools (visited all but Iowa). People argue with me, but Ann Arbor does not have a lot of places to run. It's mostly pavement, and the few trails they do have are imbedded with roots and stones to twist your ankles on. However, the M golf course is the hilliest mo-fo in the big 10 (tougher than Indiana's and Penn State's). They do have the Nichols Arboretum, which is good for about 8 miles or so, but you can't run there every day. And dispite Michigan's well-deserved reputation for being full of arrogant, smug students, I have found the women runners at Michigan very friendly, level headed, and smart. Their coach Mike McGuire and I are about the same age--he was a GREAT runner in his day.

Michigan State has Walt Drenth (big plus). Their women's coach (forgot her name all of a sudden) seems alright to me. I've seen her at meets and at workouts on State's pretty much flat golf course. She knows what she's doing--and she seems very reasonable when I've seen her talking and encouraging her athletes. Lots of dirt roads, some trails there, good looking students, fun place to go to school.

I don't think you need a thick skin to go to Illinois. I think Karen Harvey handles her runners better than some people might give her credit for (ask Katie Engle if you get a chance). She IS intense though. I think most runners would benefit from that. You can't really run successfully in college if you aren't going to put your heart and soul into it. I think she makes the best mentor of all the coaches in the Big 10. She is also my pick as the most complete coach in the Big 10.

If you know what you want to major in, look at each schools' reputation in your field of study. Go into it with the mind that college will primarily be a balancing act of academics and running. You'll be busy.

Very good analysis.

they all have a pretty good coaching bio, but those always look good.

I guess I am just looking for some insider info on training programs and the relationships these coaches have with their athletes.....I am not looking for the BS you have to wade through on a recruiting visit.

You aren't going to find much insider information here on any of the programs because none of the programs you are looking at have girls that would post tons of info on here. If anything you should contact the coaches, ask them questions and then as for some athlete contacts so you can talk to them as well if you want.

Don't know much about the other Big 10 programs but MSU has a lot to offer. Drenth is very good. Rita seems to care a lot for her athletes. You will get better there and East Lansing has some surpisingly good places to run.