brown gig

Is Brown waiting until cross season to bring in a new assistant?

Another Columbia Grad?...... Uhhhhm.

Lake is going to hire someone from Columbia?

Brown should be able to pull in the right person for the program. Providence is a great place to live and the university is top-notch.

Agreed. Hopefully they will pull in someone young with energy that can spend time with the athletes to be sure that running is a priority but also teach them how to balance running with academics and be successful in both areas.

Why such the hate on Craig Lake? She's only been there a short time. She's had a history of good success at Columbia. I'm sure Brown will get it going sooner rather than later. She's a great recruiter and she's very intelligent when it comes to coaching AND has a good deal of experience in the Ivy League (Running and coaching). I think you guys just get off on bashing her on here and I think it's unfair. She's a fun person to work with and is likeable. The way some of you talk, it's as if Brown has some history of NCAA dominance and she's not getting back to that level! Craig will do a great job.. lay off and give her time. (and if she wants to hire someone from Columbia... a person she knows and trusts... so be it!... who wouldn't do the same?!)

I agree. With the disclaimer that I do not know Coach Lake extremely well, she seems to have many positive attributes that are not being discussed. I realize it is the nature of a message board to post problems, I think we should highlight some of the good and focus on constructive criticism.

Somewhat related, has there been a hire for the assistant job?

What is the general consensus of the athletes currently at Brown regarding the program?

Coach Lake did an outstanding job at Columbia and I believe she will succeed at Brown. However, I might suggest some reasons why she has rubbed some people the wrong way.

1. She forced out a successful, respected and loved assistant coach (John Gregorak) and replaced him with a revolving door of inexperienced young coaches whose main qualification seems to be a personal connection to Coach Lake.

2. Since her arrival, two long-time volunteers for the program have quit. Besides providing free labor, they were well-liked and had been there for years.

3. She canceled the annual cross country banquet, which in the past helped many alumni feel more connected to the program.

4. In her first year at Brown, she applied for the same position at Harvard.

Constructive criticism? How about this. Re-instate the cross-country banquet. Consider it an olive branch to the alumni/friends/boosters of the program and a chance for them to know Coach Lake in person, and not just as the person who fired John.

That being said, I wish everyone at Brown the best.

I'm telling you that she's a crazed maniac. Everyone she hires quits and moves across the friggin' country. She may be a good coach but is too crazy for reasonable people to deal with.

Yeah.

Tom Ratcliffe would have never put up with this crap.

I have tried and tried to stay away from responding to any of this, but c'mon enuff is 'nuff. I ran cross country and track at Columbia while Lake was here. Everyone's praise of how great she was when she was here is way over hyped. She was a train wreck when at Columbia as well. No one on the team really liked her or in the athletic department for that matter. The difference for her now is that Coach Wood is not there to put out her fires. He kept the team together or I and many of my friends would have quit. He would always say something stupid to make us laugh and help us keep it in perspective. He would inspire us more with a three minute speech than anything else we were be giving by her. From what I hear, he constantly was saving her at Dodge as well. Lake did a great job recruiting, but Wood kept things running smoothly. Just felt she has been given and TAKES "way" too much credit for what happened at her time at CU.

Are there any great recruits coming in next year?

are wood and lake still together?

NO! Not for years.

Has there been a new hire yet?