In 1996, Coach Martin takes over the mens program and two years later experiences the ultimate high of the National Title. Since then, the team has gotten worse each year finishing 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, and now an embarrassing 3rd IN THE REGION. The strange thing is that the women are running as well as ever. Can anyone explain why the men are in a downhill spiral?
It seems as though the better the Western team gets, the worse the Adams team gets. They used to go toe to toe every week, and now I doubt Western even considers them a challange anymore.
Wouldn't the upperclassmen his second (or third?) year still be Vigil's left-overs?
I'm not trying to be mean spirited when I say this is perhaps the dumbest thing i've ever read. HOLY SHIT, THEY GOT 3rd IN A TOUGH ASS REGION, STOP THE PRESS!!!
The truth of the matter is that almost every team in the nation goes through the same ups and downs. There's no question that WSC is on a seemingly never ending up, but I can safely say at some point they will fall back to earth. Maybe not this year or next year or even 5 years from now, but they will.
Adams is still one of the top 6 teams in D2 and very well may surprise people and finish top 4 at Nats. They've proven they know how to step up in the past.
I guess the explanation might be that they're simply not as deep as they were in the past. They don't have the big guns they used to have. Whatever, it's not a huge deal.
The shocker isn't that they're down this year, it's that they've been competing at such a high level for so long. Remember in '96 they finished something like second to last at nationals. Since then they haven't been out of the top 4. That's pretty damn good. Very few college teams in any sport can claim they've been a top 4 team for the last 5 years. I guess i'm willing to cut them some slack for having an "off" year or two.
If you look at the polls, Adams finished where they should; third. The region has three of the four top teams. Western has been on a roll for three years and South Dakota State has been a Div. II power house throughout its history (6 national titles for men). Adams is doing great, and remains one of the top running programs in the nation year after year.
They always run tough, the also have a lot of young runners.
They also have a lot of young runners.
For the record, Martin did NOT take the program over directly from Vigil. There was a one year period where there was a mass exodus from the program following the 1995 xc season. There was another coach there at the time between Vigil and Martin and the men left. The 1996 team was successful just to qualify for NCAA's after the dust settled. Martin has always coached the women.
Just some info there.
Like was said above "it is very difficult to be in the top four for five years straight".
But not for Western. Both mens and womens teams have never finished outside the top four since entering the NCAA in 92, that's a pretty good record.
And so much for SDSU's 6 national titles - only one of them has been since 92 when Western and Adams arrived.
Adams will be back, but Western will always be around.
yep, in 1996 when Western was ranked #1 all season and got 4th.
I coached in the RMAC and I can tell you that Adams State is not in a spiral-it's just pretty hard to live in Coach vigil's shadow. Wasn't the coach that took over for Vigil named John Kernan (sp?)? Word has it, that in his first team meeting, he walks in and says something like "the Joe Vigil era is over" which precipitated a mass exodus of great runners. Yow
It aint that Adams has gotten worse, it's that Western and SD State are running extremely well. I venture a 1-2 prediction for those two and it's not out of the question to see Adams make it 1-2-3! Having coached in that region for a year, I can tell you that it's far and away the toughest in DII.
It's hard to be compared to a coach who scored a 15 at Slippery Rock, but coach Martin does a nice job.
when damon was a jr in college, i was a freshman and he was even coaching us then. we'd all go into the "coach's" office and the "bus driver" would tell us to go run. then we'd go outside and damon would give us our workouts.
damon's the best motivator i've ever seen, and the dude is tough as nails when it comes to competition. he'd rather die than lose, and i know his athletes can see that.
4th (if they finish that low) is still no disgrace, and i'm sure they'll be back even better, and competing for the championship before you know it ...
besides, they still have to run the race at nationals, so you never know what might happen. "half this game is 90% mental", and he tends to inspire guys to do things they never would be capable of on their own ...