How does it play out? Predictions? Standouts? Underdog performers (both team and individual)?
How does it play out? Predictions? Standouts? Underdog performers (both team and individual)?
i'd put money on calvin winning it. anyone disagree?
Fair, they do have 5 returning from last years team, and Diemer is bound to do some good stuff with some of the younger guys. Team prediction: Calvin, Heidelberg; to round out the top five I see Manchester, Mount Union and... strangely enough Hope College (in no particular order), the third is definitely a underdog team with the ability to do very well! All three have a fair number of guys returning from last years team. Hope performed really poorly if you look at previous results and times from the season. All three seemed to be fairly identical throughout the season. In addition (If you look at a big race, University of Osh-Kosh) there may have been some top seven changes due to injury or sickness. Overall though I see the regional getting much stronger and faster with a bunch of returners younger kids getting better coaching and faster and faster in the region.
Fair, they do have 5 returning from last years team, and Diemer is bound to do some good stuff with some of the younger guys. Team prediction: Calvin, Heidelberg; to round out the top five I see Manchester, Mount Union and... strangely enough Hope College (in no particular order), the third is definitely a underdog team with the ability to do very well! All three have a fair number of guys returning from last years team. Hope performed really poorly if you look at previous results and times from the season. All three seemed to be fairly identical throughout the season. In addition (If you look at a big race, University of Osh-Kosh) there may have been some top seven changes due to injury or sickness. Overall though I see the regional getting much stronger and faster with a bunch of returners younger kids getting better coaching and faster and faster in the region.
watch out for Albion...they had a monster recruiting class and a few solid returning guys
calvin and kramer will win easy with 5 guys in the top 25. next prolly heidelburg and after that who knows.
albion is worthless.
plus you gotta figure that the region is in holland! that definitely gives hope an advantage when it comes to training and knowing the course. plus they are going to want to perform in front of their home crowd!
This is how I see the Regional possibly ending up this year:
1. Calvin -- Always solid and always reload
2. Case Western -- They always seem to peak perfectly and they return 6 of their top 7
3. Ohio Wesleyan -- They also return 6 of their 7, Including their entire top 5 and a national qualifier as well as a transfer kid that ran well for them in indoors and outdoors last track season
4. Oberlin -- They had a really bad race at regionals last year. Up until that point they seemed to have an outside shot at getting out. They return their entire top 7 and are still young so look for them to be a threat.
5. Mount -- They always reload and run well I give them the respect vote. Return 5 out of 7. People will really have to step up to get them placed here.
6. Denison -- They return 7 including a two time national qualifier in D and rumor has it that Adam Tewahade will be back -- consistent sub 26:30 or better runner.
7. Wabash -- They have two strong front runners so maybe they could place higher.
8. Manchester -- Return 5 and have a solid number 1 man but they too will need others to step up.
9. Heidelberg -- Return 4 of their top 7. To qualify again to nationals they'll really need a good recruit or a younger runner to step up and carry some of the load.
10. Hope -- I really can't see them breaking into the top 5 but it is their home course so they will have an advantage in the wind. They return 4 of their top 7 so anything could happen.
I'm pretty set on the top 3 qualifying to national but really everyone else is a crap shoot in my opinion. This region has always been deep and full of surprises so who will step up this year and give their team a breakthrough. Will it be Wabash or Hope? Or will Berg somehow magically qualify again to nationals? Only time will tell great to finally see the season so close to starting.
I think Heidelberg will be a bit farther back than 9th. they lost their coach again and I have heard there are a few runners transferring. Has anyone else heard anything?
d3 fan, Heidelberg's web-site still shows Coach Roberts as the head coach.
How about the women team qualifiers for the region? I know Calvin lost their top 5 women, but they always seem to reload. Also DePauw, Case & Oberlin always seem to be in the mix, each lose 2 of thier top 5 from last year if I remember correctly. With Hope having the "home course" advantage do they have a chance to advance to the national meet this year? Other women teams to watch for in the region?
Yes Roberts is still the Head Coach. Jason Headman was the GA last year and managed all of the distance workouts and such Roberts was more of a sprint coach. With Headman being let go last week the "Berg" boys are going to camp with no distance coach.
Is the course in Holland any good? Every time I raced there the course sucked.
i hear the course is as flat as a pancake, just like the nationals course. making the regionals course flat i think helps the regions chances of doing well at nationals by not deadening the legs as much as a hilly course would of the runners the week before.
1. Calvin
2. Mount Union
3. Heidelberg
4. Manchester
5. Oberlin
6. Case Western Reserve
7. Ohio Wesleyan
8. Denison
9. Wabash
10. Anderson (Ind)
Regional Rankings out today ... Not sure if I agree with all of them but not completely terrible. What does everyone else think?
XC season finally kicks off, any good match-ups of top regional teams this weekend? has anyone seen national rankings yet?
Plenty of showdowns w/ regionally ranked teams this weekend:
- unranked ONU over #3 Heidelberg @ BGSU
- #5 Oberlin > #8 Denison > unranked Albion > #4 Manchester> unranked Hope > #7 OWU @ Ohio Wesleyan
- Mid-East#1 Allegheny > #6 Case
- #2 MT.Union > JCU
Any predictions on the next rankings?
9/14 GREAT LAKES Region
Rank School Location Conference Last Week
1 Calvin Grand Rapids, Mich. MIAA 1
2 Mount Union Alliance, Ohio OAC 2
3 Case Western Reserve Cleveland, Ohio UAA 6
4 Oberlin Oberlin, Ohio NCAC 5
5 Denison Granville, Ohio NCAC 8
6 Wabash Crawfordsville, Ind. NCAC 9
7 Ohio Northern Ada, Ohio OAC NR
8 Albion Albion, Mich. MIAA NR
9 Manchester North Manchester, Ind. HCAC 4
10 Heidelberg Tiffin, Ohio OAC 3
Alot of changes from the pre-season poll. Looks like it could be an interesting competition for the national spots.
Here's a prediction: Hope women FTW. They have a nice pack and a ton of depth this season and I think they'll unseat Calvin.
For those wondering about the course, it is a pancake-flat golf course, NOT Hope's normal hilly home course. If there's wet weather it won't be super fast, but if it's fairly dry then look out for a lot of PRs. It's a pretty popular golf course so I don't know how much Hope will be able to train on it and/or gain a home course advantage.