2003: can anyone touch Stanford?

i agree. Its sooo early to talk about this, but unless typhoid fever hits palo alto or there are mass injuries, Stanford would definitely be the team to beat. Oh, and Neil Davis of Stanford should have gotten the call to run at nats..

Well, considering Stanford's success rate at repeating, as well as keeping healthy and improving among more than 3 runners at the same time, I'm sure the Hogs will come charging back to take what's theirs.

Its starting all over again.

Of course Stanford can lose. Should they??? No way. Wisconsin will be very good. Overshadowed by Stanfords awesome performance was Wisco's very good performance without their number 2 man. Teg was injured in indoor and outdoor and part of the fall. He will be better next year with Spiker, Lockhart, Bairu and Solinsky very close. Lananna is too smart to think that they can just show up and win it!!!! He did a great job this year (I think that he did a poor job last year and as a coach I think that he would tell you that!!!). John Mc blames himself for this year, but lets face it, the kids are the most to blame. I despised the Colorado hype over the last 6-10 months and like someone else mentioned; it's a new season now for 2003!!! Who wants it most??? Stanford can not run mediocre and still win it; I think that others will be good enough to beat them if they do not perform to their capability!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amen to that!

I think Stanford's team will be different next year, though (i.e. - guys training for the Olympics and not the NCAA Championships). Do I believe that Stanford can win? Yes, and by a lot! But, will it be with the seven they had this year? No. They have 5 or 6 potential All-Americans coming off redshirt next year and another one coming back from injury. They will probably have a couple of their current All-Americans shoot for the Olympics, however, skipping the xc season for base work.

But, then again, next year is different and Wisc, CU, Ark, Oregon and many others will not be sitting around.

Can anyone touch Stanford? That's what everyone has been asking for years. Yet, this is the first championship for the men in FIVE years. Vin did a great job this yr with the men, but that doesn't mean jack for next yr. If there is ever a case for how hard it is to coach talent, Stanford is it.

Of course someone can catch Stanford and I'll tell you how to do it. Work as hard as the Stanford coaches do. Start with real recruiting. This is not waiting until a kid calls you, not waiting until Footlocker regionals, not waiting for state meet results.

When I call Lananna to tell him about a runner that might fly under the radar, he gets excited and contacts the kid. Even with all of the studs that he has, he gets off of his butt and goes to work.

Everyone does not get money. Trust me.

Do you want your resume to read Stanford or East Bumfuddle University?

How about some basic questions:

Do you want a great education?

Do you think that you can be an all american?

Do you want to be an all american?

Do you like great weather?

Do you like great facilities?

c. what does everyone think of stanford's chances in 2010???

Stanford's chances in 2010? Good, some of this years freshman should be seniors by then. Redshirt, mission,Olympics.

It doesn't matter what college you go to. Put in four years, come out with a degree, and Stanford is just as good as any other university. It matters more that four years were put in ans not where.

wisconsin has a chance with spiker back and if everyone else is healthy and if they all improve a little. and whats up with teg he hasn't been running as well as his frosh season or his redshirt season.

How about:

Do you want a great coach?

Oh Trackhead, you are clearly not a professional man. Try applying to a top law school, medical school, or bussines school with Most AnyState U on your resume versus Stanford. Pedigree means everything. For example, most top law firms in the country will not even interview someone who doesn't go to one of the top 25 law schools in the country.

Make the most of wherever you go, but don't fool yourself into thinking where you go doesn't matter.

Specialized careers such as law, and medicine do deserve specialized schools. I agree, if you want to be a high paid, top dog lawyer, big time pre-law school is where to go. If I wanted to be a veterinarian, I'd go to UC Davis. Specialized careers, okay.

Lawyers and doctors, I'll concede. But what percent of the population is that?

My point is that 15.5% of Americans have a college degree. If you get a degree from anywhere, that already puts you in the top 15.5% of the American workforce. Further more, 8.9% have advanced degrees, so picking a master's puts you in the 8.9%, regardless of where you get them.

Specialized trades, fine. But most of these kids who aren't interested in medicine, law, or advanced science will just fine at any university of their choosing.

As someone with deep ties to Stanford, I can tell you there are many reasons to go there. Here they are in no particular order:

1) The weather. Can't discount it. It is just an awesome training enviornment.

2) The campus. Stanford's campus is absolutely beautiful. Seeing those palm tree-lined streets is almost enough right there to get the midwesterners out there.

3) The education. Say what you want about how good your school is and how schools are really on equal footing anymore, but Stanford is a top notch school. If you're just looking to get an undergraduate degree and that is it, then you might not necessarily have a bigger advantage over many other graduates from other universities, but once you apply for medical school or law school or for a Ph.D. somewhere, it does matter. If you look at the Stanford runners, many of them were top-notch high school students. Bei and Sage were their high school valedictorians. Ryan Hall was a stellar student also as was Alicia Craig. These people are not single-minded focused on running forever. They know that will end, and they have other goals. Jorge and Ritz were not straight A students; where did they end up? Not Stanford.

4) General attitude. Having lived in the midwest and on Stanford's campus, I can tell you that the attitude toward health and fitness among non-runners and even non-athletes is so different. It is hard to spot an overweight person in the San Francisco Bay Area where in Chicago, you can't throw a dead cat without hitting one. This attitude is beneficial. You will have more people in California being supporting of you even if they aren't runners than you will in pretty much any other place in the country. Even if you decide that you couldn't care less what other people think, it is nice to go for a run and not have cars honk at you, and people yelling "Run Forrest Run". That kind of crap just doesn't happen in the Bay Area. Also, pedestrians are treated as if they were gold. If you've never lived in California or if you've ONLY lived in California, then you don't know what I'm talking about.

5) The Culture. There is so much to experience in the SF Bay Area that is attractive to young college students. Diversity is huge. Come from Wisconsin or Minnesota where everyone is white, and head to Stanford and you will see. It is a great place to experience many new things. College-aged students thrive on this type of thing.

6) The Chinese Food. No kidding, there are more Chinese food places than McDonald's, and 99% of them are GREAT!

7) Finally, The running programs there. So what if the team is loaded with talent? It should be the goal of every team member to make it regardless. Ultimately if you improve and others graduate, you should have a shot. Who wants to run at nationals and say they came in 103rd? When they get the chance, they should do better.

Anyway, that's why.

Trackhead,

More than just medicine and law. Don't discount the business schools. And, it really does matter. People who come out of Stanford end up heading companies and making huge salaries or running a hospital or running a successful law firm. People with degrees from other schools end up working for those Stanford graduates and making lots less.

Stanford is a place for leaders and winners.

There are a few schools who can compete. Harvard and Yale do. Some of the technology driven schools like Cal Tech and MIT do in thier own fields. But, an MBA from Michigan State is nowhere near the same as one from Stanford. If you want to get into Harvard's MBA program and you have one slot left and one has their undergraduate degree from Florida State and one from Stanford, with everything else being equal, Stanford wins.

Stanford is without question one of the top 3 schools in the country, and it could be argued that it is simply THE best.

What is funny is that some, if not MANY, of the guys (and gals) who run for Stanford (and historically for Vin L) have choosen to go on to a "specialized" degree. Both the Hausers want to go to Med school, Kempagnin (sp?) did, etc. These are not only fast runners, but smart folks as well. I mean look at Jennings, he didn't even have to go to NASA to become a space cadet.

The problem is that we are not talking about just any kid. A person who chooses a school such as Stanford, Georgetown, or Duke is most likely to be driven by a future career just as much as they are by their current running. These are the kids that are going to be doctors, lawyers, scientists, and wall street "big swinging dicks". They are not concerned about be just like everyone else. If they were they would go to State U....just like you said.

Ummm, Kempainen didn't go to Stanford. Smart guy, professional guy, accomplished guy, but not a Stanford guy.