University that SHOULD have successful XC programs

oklahoma state women. the womens coach sucks and they must have a ton of money because they didnt go to their home xc meet and went to franklin park to get blasted away and just this past week ran a race here in colorado in march for no reason ...

UC Irvine

A runner cannot find better weather to train in and there are tons of dirt and asphalt bike trails near the campus. A coach can have the athletes run hills or on flat trails right next to the campus. The program started off very well but has been medicore at best for years now.

Steve Scott graduated from there and held the US mile record for a long time. The girl who still holds the high school mile record went to the high school that is across the street from the campus.

I would second James Madison. It's a shame that program was pretty good and on the rise.

If it is the coach, then why is George Mason so bad?

They have the X-stanford coach (scored like 20 points at nationals with Stanford the year they won) and Julie Henner who coaches tons of litle level runners. Why are they bad?

Andrew Gerard only coaches the men's team, taking second at CAAs, behind William and Mary I believe, this past fall. Which is a large jump from only 2 years ago when they were consistantly finishing last, before Gerard's arrival. Julie Henner also only works with the men's middle distance team. On the women's side a revolving door of coaches has left distance there almost non-exsistent, floundering, and currently, coach-less.

orelserte wrote:

If it is the coach, then why is George Mason so bad?

They have the X-stanford coach (scored like 20 points at nationals with Stanford the year they won) and Julie Henner who coaches tons of litle level runners. Why are they bad?

George Mason men will be fine in a matter of time. They have some solid youngsters. Years of mediocrity and crappiness must be dealt with first, before the program can be turned around.

George Mason women will never be fine as long as they have the current head coach.

UC Riverside

the 2004 recruiting class included:

Andrew Tachias -2nd in CA state 3200 with a 2mile pr of 9:06

Raul Lara - ran 9:10 for the 2 mile as a junior in high school

Joel Cota - ran 1:53 and 4:13 i believe as a junior in high school

Ulices Pina - from LB Poly. I dont remember exactly what he ran in hs but he was BAD ASS. i believe he got 2nd or 3rd in D1 state cross his senior year.

Andrew Trinidad - ran sub 15 at mt sac and very fast on the track as well.

They should all be BLAZING SENIORS/redshirt juniors.

WTF HAPPENED THERE?

I don't think that is the case at all, Hessel was a great coach and his Reign at CSU was a good one. When he came in the program was not very good at all and by the time he left they were consistently making NCAA cross. All the distance records on the mens side were set under Hessel, and he had a multiple national champion in Berryhill. Hessel was a great track coach and he did a lot of great work with walk-ons. He was also focused on having a complete program and CSU was consistently fighting with BYU for conference championships (we only got them once though). It is true that the mens distance squad has sucked in the past couple years, but that has very little to do with hessel. Berryhill is a great coach and he will have the guys rolling again, it's nothing but a couple of down years as the team switches coaches.

hipnotik wrote:

UC Riverside

the 2004 recruiting class included:

Andrew Tachias -2nd in CA state 3200 with a 2mile pr of 9:06

Raul Lara - ran 9:10 for the 2 mile as a junior in high school

Joel Cota - ran 1:53 and 4:13 i believe as a junior in high school

Ulices Pina - from LB Poly. I dont remember exactly what he ran in hs but he was BAD ASS. i believe he got 2nd or 3rd in D1 state cross his senior year.

Andrew Trinidad - ran sub 15 at mt sac and very fast on the track as well.

They should all be BLAZING SENIORS/redshirt juniors.

WTF HAPPENED THERE?

it's known as the "california high school syndrome"....alot of top kids don't improve much in college and in alot of cases don't even last 4 years. this is especially true of hispanic kids for reasons that are too deep for me to figure out.

you are missing the point. wrote:

a successful X-C program has nothing to do with the name of the university or how big it is, other than the ability to offer scholarships. It all boils down to the COACH and the runners he/she can bring in and turn into successful runners, which then, attract more successful runners.

I disagree.

Except for a handful of recruits, most high school runners should be thinking about using their legs to get an education. I've only known one college athlete who prioritized athletics over his education in making his selection. Just in my family, 2 of my siblings turned down opportunities to play at top 20 D1 programs, opting for small colleges with superior academics (my other sibling was able to pick the best of both worlds).

Also, I think that a great coach is not NECESSARY to a great program. A single, great runner can create a culture of hard work in his wake that will persist for a decade, as long as the coach doesn't get in the way. I've seen it happen so many times.

vermonter wrote:

UVM. they got a good amount of money, a ton on the womens side and you can't ask for a much better place to train and they are really horrible.

can't ask for a better place to train? Vermont?

I always thought that Vanderbilt should excel in XC, both Men's and Women's. It is a sport that doesn't require big numbers of athletes, runners tend to be nerdy so the academics shouldn't be a problem, Nashville is a nice mid-sized city, the degree you earn is actually worth something, it's pretty centrally located.

Draw backs are the heat in the summer and the high cost of tuition, both are equally stifling.

Penn State should be good but a lot of the best pa guys dont go there. like

Ian Fitzgerald 408, 900 William and Mary

Chris Spooer 408, 855 Duke

Jeff Weiss Footlocker finalist Slippery Rock

Craig Miller 406, Footlocker finalist Wisconsin

Paul Springer 852, Footlocker finalist Notre Dame

If these five pennsylvania guys went to penn state, they would be a nationally ranked team

PA runner guy wrote:

If these five pennsylvania guys went to penn state, they would be a nationally ranked team

Have any of them done anything?

mufafa wrote:

Too stupid given that they are D3

you didn't get the joke.

And Spooner has done exactly what since going to Duke?

You add Ryan Blood and Chris Cummings to that group and you have some of the best PA kids in college.

Jizzmo wrote:

I always thought that Vanderbilt should excel in XC....

Draw backs are the heat in the summer and the high cost of tuition, both are equally stifling.

And the lack of a men's track team.

i totally disagree. heres why...

look at:

AJ Acosta, (Half Hispanic)

Daniel Mercado, (Hispanic)

Diego Mercado, (Hispanic)

Yosef Ghebray,

Tim Nelson,

Josh Spiker,

Brandon Bethke,

Ryan Hall,

Chad Hall,

Kyle Alcorn,

Fernando CaBadA(ss),(Hispanic)

and i could keep naming them for days...

and if you wanna talk about longevity google search "Danny Martinez". He went to Salesian High School in LA back in the late 70s i believe and is still breaking 15 mins for 5k.

Old Main wrote:

Have any of them done anything?

Weiss has been very competitive at the D2 level with few AAs and I believe a sub-30 10k.