How does everybody here feel about how Wisconsin will fair at Nationals.? They ran very well at Big 10's and if they can bring their spread down a little they should do well, top 4 I would think.
How does everybody here feel about how Wisconsin will fair at Nationals.? They ran very well at Big 10's and if they can bring their spread down a little they should do well, top 4 I would think.
You've got to hand it to Jerry - nothing like creating an air of mystery to build up interest. They've got the strongest 5 guys they've had in the last 4 years, I think. Somebody will have to have a bad day for UW not to do well, as opposed to some recent years when the 5th man had the race of his life.
Wisconsin could be 2nd!!!! Behind Stanford.
Wisconsin will not be a threat to even come close (points-wise) to either Colorado or Stanford.
Teg was 7th or 8th last year and will have a more difficult time just placing that high, as the top half dozen runners this year are phenomenal. Other runners have stepped up well for Spiker, but they don't have enough guys who can finish in the top 15-20 like the top 2 schools.
Colorado (my new pick to win) and Stanford are a lot better than everyone else, including Arkansas.
Few peak like the Badgers. A few more than that choke like the Bufs or Stanford have done on occasion. UW for top three, but I couldn't pick the order - too many variables.
You want to talk about peaking?!? Look at Arkansas. There aren't ANY teams out there that peak the way they do. Stanford Arkansas 1-2. Colorado Wisconsin NAU MtSt Oregon all battle it out for 3-4-5 (edge to CU & Wisc). Big surprise of the meet Alabama will place higher than anyone thinks AND Villanova will do better than they have all year. Big letdown Midwest region AND NCSt (what the hell happened to 'em). Wisconsin's good but look to next year for the break through.
What is it that Schumacher does that has made Wisco so successful? The success he's had in four years seems to be either a testament to him being one of the best coaches in the country (with the likes of Wetmore and McDonell) or to his good recruiting (getting Teg, Spiker and Lockhart et al).
In any case, it'd be interesting to find out how the team trains; even with the great talent he's recruited, it still takes intelligent to coaching to produce those kinds of results.
I don't know any "secrets." When Schumacher got there, I got the impression the mileage went up. Plus, the team seems to like and trust him as a coach. That can bring on a LOT of improvement in and of itself.
I know that's a lot of platitudes for one post, but I think they apply in this case.
There are two wild cards in the equation here, bascially Festa and the one-two punch of Lockhart and Simon. Festa dogged a tad at last year's Nat's, but was an abberation of sorts, so undoubtably he is looking for redemption and could run with Teg to finish in the teen's. Bobby and Simon have been running all season together, and it will be tough to handicap exactly where they are, but based on the fact that they both have big meet experience, things could look rosey for Wisco, who generally responds well when the stakes are high.
Schumacher has taken everything he learned about running from Martin Smith and unlke Martin, he actually has a personality.
I've never heard anyone say that Martin Smith didn't have a personality.
I think Schumacher has probably tweaked what he learned under Smith, but yeah, I don't think the runners had to change their training enormously when he arrived.