Top Distance programs in OHIO?

Before Brian Cole left Ohio Northern was the best.

It's only a matter of time before somebody from Malone gets on here and says it's them.

While they are tops in NAIA for men, it's Ohio State for men. On the women's side, you have a rising Ohio State and really nice programs at Toledo and Miami. You didn't specify gender or division, but that's my take in the overall scheme of things.

To be fair on the women's side, I think you could also include Dayton who is an rising team as well.

*a rising team

Ohio State on the men's side is the class of the state, hands down. Malone is a very good NAIA school, as is Cedarville some years. On the D3 level, Mount Union has consistently been the top dog for decades.

Most Ohio schools will try to pretend they're as good as Ohio State, but they're not on the men's side I agree. Unfortunately, I think there has beena couple years where Malone had strong enough teams to challenge OSU, but the move to D2 and Hazen in his twilight years, perhaps the best is behind them.

However, on the women's side, aside from one National XC team appearance 2 years ago for OSU, they don't have track runners yet and have to take a back seat to Toledo who has qualified more often in cross country and had a National qualifier indoors.

For the record I am a male and have run in the 9:30ish range so I am good but not great so osu prolly isnt an option.

Ohioxc wrote:

For the record I am a male and have run in the 9:30ish range.

Sounds like a perfect fit for Malone. You could absolutely not do better within OH. IMHO

You should take a look at Ohio Northern if you are thinking about going DIII. The above poster mentioning the former coach Brian Cole was a joke, he was absolutely terrible. The current coach, Jason Maus, is a great motivator and has developed a wide range of runners talent-wise.

I am a little biased as I graduated from Ohio Northern, but I also believe that Mount Union would be another good DIII school to consider. The decision between the two would be based on what you would like to major in, which should be higher on your priority list anyways.

Men:

1. OSU- they have a former-Olympian as a coach, also a coach of pro-runners, they collect the best HS talent in the state, have the greatest depth, and best academic quality in OH

--------HUGE DROP OFF--------

2. Kent State- Croghan is a good coach and quality guy. Decent development among his runners.

3. Miami (OH)- Always good for mid-level results in the MAC

4. Malone- NAIA, some years they are good enough to compete for the #2 spot in the state, seem to be passed their "really dominant" years though.

--------DROP OFF----------

5. University of Akron- lacking HS talent, the better NEOH kids go to Kent

6. OU- meh same as Akron, no Men's TF

7. Mount Union- solid for a DIII, some years better than Akron

--------DROP OFF-----------

....The Rest....BGSU, Toledo, handfull of DIIIs

9:30 2 milers should not be running d3. Period.

Those programs are glorified high school programs believing they are better than they are based on their overhyped, overpriced cost of attendance. Private/d3 schools are a bad option now. You are too good to go to a d3 school. Don't let D3 people tell you the competition is really great. It's not & if you improve you should be able to get an athletic scholarship anyway. Most d3 school are extremely lacking in diversity and are dull & uppity. Unless you are a mediocre high school runner running 16:25-17:00 for the 5k with loaded parents; don't go d3 unless you want to go into a highly specialized field that one of those schools offers or be a big fish in a small pond.

Malone is a terrible school. Lowest job placement of any noncommunity college in Ohio after graduation. Good training though. Guys turn into studs there, but not always the most well-rounded professionals in their educational field.

OSU- might be a bit too much for you. Not sure how well guys stay healthy & develop there. It's a factory where you will be a piece of meat. Good school though.

Miami- snobby, rich, elitist. Lots of hott girls with a good party scene. Not a huge fan of the coach. You might be okay if he likes you though.

OU- some serious alcohol abuse problems on that campus. That being said, great party scene & girls. Really nice running down there. Good coaches. No track. Solid education. Cost of tuition isn't that high whereas they also have a lot of scholarship for straight distance runners. I'd be hesitant about OU unless you know you have a lot of self restraint & self motivation.

Toledo/BG- eh soso, mediocre d1 a step above YSU & Wright State. You won't improve a ton at any of these schools. I'd suggest not going to any of the above unless stuff drastically gets changed or if you want a cheap education with cheaper/worse athletic experiences. Wright State might be up&coming with Ordway as a coach- but I don't really know about it.

Shawnee State- See Malone minus crazed religious cult base. Not a very good school. However, there is the amazing Southern Ohio Appalachia for training & a more vibrant coach. Also no T&F I believe.

Best options- Akron or Kent- those guys seem to develop. Not the best schools, but not the worst either. Pretty good running programs. I've heard really good things about Croghan at Kent. Also, it has everything OU & Miami have, just a better training environment. Downside: it's in shitty Northeast Ohio that is ravaged yearly by snow & other bad weather. You should look at Kent.

Cincy traditionally has a great program. The campus is pretty hit or miss- you either like it or you don't. It used to be in the ghetto, but it has really improved in recent years. They have some really good runners that have tended to improve and good job opportunities after college.

Xavier- new coach- guys are starting to improve quite a bit. The best bang for you buck of a private school in Ohio. Looking back on my undergrad experience; I wish I would have gone to Xavier (old coach was a giant turd- new coach is supposedly a lot better).

Dayton- no T&F. Other than that- I don't really know anything else. The city of Dayton is similar to Youngstown for reference...

Hope my hasty prejudices towards these programs helped!

This is a pretty good summary, in my opinion. Only disagreement: old Xavier coach wasn't a bad guy; new coach is definitely a better coach though. They have several guys running pretty well.

Take a look at Tiffin University as well. Dedicated staff and the distance coach is an Ohio High School legend. Small town but great training unless you are looking for miles of trails. The department holds the track program in high regard and you will get to travel to meets that D3 programs don't do.

It is a school on the rise athletically and academically. Night and day from 10 years ago.

according to the all ohio cc results these are the top 10 teams

TEAM RESULTS

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1. 82 MIAMI (OHIO) (25:00.4 125:01.7)

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1 12 252 Robbie Fisher 1 SR 24:54.5

2 15 251 Jarrod Eick 1 SO 24:57.7

3 16 254 Matt Marol 1 FR 24:58.8

4 18 255 Michael Perry 1 SR 24:59.9

5 21 250 David Eichenberger 1 SO 25:10.8

6 ( 28) 247 Chris Dennison 1 JR 25:20.6

7 ( 78) 249 Blake Dircksen 1 FR 26:10.1

2. 119 XAVIER (OHIO) (25:12.1 126:00.5)

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1 7 1244 Tommy Kauffmann 1 SR 24:43.6

2 17 1242 Hank Geer 1 SO 24:59.8

3 22 1249 Thomas Ohlman 1 FR 25:14.1

4 23 1238 Keith Albrektson 1 JR 25:14.6

5 50 1240 Benjamin Foley 1 JR 25:48.4

6 ( 79) 1251 Joe Ryan 1 SR 26:14.1

7 (131) 1243 Christopher Hanson 1 FR 27:00.3

3. 123 OHIO U. (25:10.8 125:53.6)

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1 3 402 Ridge Robinson 1 SR 24:26.2

2 9 396 Scott Meyers 1 SR 24:47.5

3 34 393 Noah Howkins 1 SO 25:30.4

4 35 390 Chris Davis 1 SR 25:31.1

5 42 386 Tyler Ames 1 SO 25:38.4

6 ( 47) 389 Joey Cherico 1 JR 25:44.1

7 ( 61) 388 Tyler Cantley 1 JR 26:00.0

4. 126 DAYTON (25:01.8 125:09.0)

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1 1 137 Chris Lemon 1 SR 24:11.8

2 4 138 Matt Lemon 1 SR 24:28.8

3 13 143 Greg Roeth 1 SO 24:55.0

4 31 139 Kyle Lowry 1 SO 25:23.6

5 77 145 Jeremy Schiele 1 SO 26:09.8

6 ( 80) 142 Doug Norris 1 FR 26:14.7

7 (110) 131 Nate Addessi 1 SO 26:42.4

5. 134 CINCINNATI (25:10.9 125:54.4)

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1 2 122 Eric Finan 1 JR 24:20.6

2 11 120 Oliver Book 1 SO 24:48.9

3 29 127 Tommy Morgan 1 SR 25:20.9

4 38 117 David Barry 1 SR 25:32.1

5 54 124 Eric Hauser 1 FR 25:51.9

6 ( 95) 123 Kevin Fink 1 FR 26:29.8

7 (104) 125 Kyle Lang 1 JR 26:37.2

6. 151 SHAWNEE STATE (25:20.9 126:44.3)

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1 6 466 Michael Owen 2 SR 24:42.8

2 27 467 Keegan Rathkamp 2 SR 25:18.5

3 30 465 Brad Liston 2 FR 25:21.7

4 36 459 Galen Dills 2 SO 25:31.8

5 52 597 Blake Wysocki 2 SO 25:49.5

6 ( 82) 464 Josh Linkous 2 SR 26:15.6

7 (113) 471 Chuck Wentz 2 SR 26:43.9

7. 159 MALONE (25:22.8 126:53.7)

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1 14 235 James Zeuch 2 SR 24:55.6

2 19 227 Nick Meeson 2 SO 25:06.0

3 32 229 Anthony Migliozzi 2 JR 25:27.1

4 41 233 Jarod Williams 2 SO 25:34.4

5 53 225 Nick Fresenko 2 FR 25:50.6

6 (115) 222 Jeremy Arthur 2 JR 26:46.7

8. 203 TOLEDO (25:31.4 127:36.6)

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1 10 476 Jonathan Dewitt 1 JR 24:48.1

2 20 488 Nick Thomas 1 SO 25:07.8

3 33 480 Elisha Kipchumba 1 SR 25:28.9

4 43 481 Barnabas Kiprotich 1 SR 25:39.6

5 97 486 Mike Smith 1 SR 26:32.2

6 (105) 474 Jacob Barnes 1 FR 26:38.6

7 (134) 483 Elliot Livensparger 1 JR 27:04.6

9. 243 ASHLAND (25:43.8 128:38.9)

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1 24 24 Matt Stratman 2 JR 25:15.2

2 39 19 Cameron Johnson 2 JR 25:32.5

3 44 27 Brock Weaver 2 JR 25:41.8

4 49 20 Colton Johnson 2 SO 25:47.2

5 87 23 Tom Scott 2 JR 26:22.2

6 (107) 15 Tyler Chancellor 2 FR 26:40.0

7 (170) 18 Gary Haglund 2 FR 27:56.3

10. 245 AKRON (25:40.7 128:23.2)

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1 5 8 Andy Morgan 1 JR 24:35.1

2 51 7 Joe McCoy 1 SR 25:48.9

3 55 12 Kyle Wheeler 1 FR 25:54.0

4 65 4 Brad Hough 1 FR 26:02.0

5 69 2 Zach Goulet 1 SO 26:03.2

6 ( 72) 1 Brian Dudek 1 JR 26:05.7

7 (112) 6 Andy Knapp 1 JR 26:43.9

Actually the new Akron distance coach just took their distance program to a great level in just 2 years.....

Both Akron and Kent however did not produce any distance NCAA qualifiers in years....

If you are running around the 9:30 mark in high school I have a few schools to suggest you look into:

I have always been a fan of Cedarville if you are looking for a small school. You would defiantly be able to compete a high level there. But, it is a VERY small school and it has to be the right fit.

A program that may have potential is Wright State. I've heard they have some scholarship money to play with (rare in Ohio). Also, their new coach Ordway has really starting doing good things with the limited amount of talent they have. They are DI too which is a plus.

My final recommendation for you would be Cincinnati. Their scholarships were cut a few years ago but they are still producing great results. They have a very competitive men's track team and the Eric Finan.

You must be one angry person who didn't excel at all in college.

Akron and Kent guys do not do much. A small few actually improve after high school.

If you want to act like you know what you are talking about at least know your facts. I mean you got to know facts since you're calling out all these schools to be terrible ones. Can you send me the info where you can find Job Placement Rates? O..Wait... you don't have it? So where are you getting your info?

Kent state has just has much alcohol problems as OU. If the kid was smart a D3 school would be great. Case Western is the best school in Ohio, Captial, and Kenyon all take dumps on Ohio State.

You are a P.O.S

Malone. Duh.

Thats exactly where they should be. Di is really for 9:15 and under, if you ever want to do anything.