Results? Anyone know what happened??
Results? Anyone know what happened??
Does anybody else think that our sport is messed up when a school hosts a huge invitational and doesn't even run their own team (well on the men's side)?! XC at the Division I level is so messed up with the qualifying criteria for nationals that most regular season meets cease to matter. Seriously, Arkansas, if your are going to host the Chilli Pepper meet and have teams flying in from all over the country, at least have the courtesy of having your own men's team there!
So, what was the reason AR didn't run?
runsbunches wrote:
So, what was the reason AR didn't run?
Their meet sucks compared to others.
runsbunches wrote:
So, what was the reason AR didn't run?
They would have finished 2nd and gotten no at-large wins. They finished 5th at Wisconsin and got more wins than they'll need. Last year they didn't qualify for NCAA's because they didn't finish top 2 at Regionals and didn't have the at-large wins they needed because they didn't go to Wisconsin or Pre-Nats.
They need to move the meet to the first at-large weekend or maybe back two weeks into September, but I don't know if they can do that.
The Chile Pepper is not a school sponsored race. It is a completely separate event and the the U of A, along with its cross/track team, do not get any of the race profits from participating in it; however, they did run a B team. Arkansas needs points just in case they don't automatically qualify like in 2011. Last year, Arkansas was ranked 15th in the country but got 3rd in their region, behind Texas and ATM, and did not qualify. Arkansas is hosting their region this year and that, according to Coach Bucknam, had a lot to do with the decision to go to Wisconsin. Arkansas made it clear early in the season that they would not participate in this race because of last year. Any school that came for the sole purpose to race Arkansas had plenty of time to change their schedule.
Also, the Arkansas can't change the date of the Chile Pepper because it is not school sponsored.
So are you saying that the University of Arkansas has no clout in the Fayetteville community? Especially a U of A sports program with the most titles in NCAA DI? If the U of A XC program wanted to change the date of Chile Pepper, all they have to do is pick up the phone and maybe do some leg work. Chile Pepper is not a good meet for the weekend that is currently site. Plain and simple, they need to change the date or make the meet better.
Tell me who the most powerful player in the Chile Pepper Festival is from what is directly stated on the web site (http://www.chilepepperfestival.org/eventhistory.aspx):
The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival was created in 1992 to bring together three northwest Arkansas cross-country races under a single event - The Chile Pepper Run, the Arkansas Invitational, and the Fayetteville High School's Purple Dog Invitational.
It's sad. I miss the old golf course and alumnus versus current hogs.
I think that it is a big high school meet more than a big collegiate meet, with non-school stuff in addition. In Wisconsin, the adidas meet cannot easily be a big high school meet because it is at the same time as the league champs and right before the beginning of the state meet series (sectionals/regionals/state). I would guess that the culmination of the season is later much further south.
Finally, the meet is a 10km course, and given the stretch run of League/Regional 10km/NCAA 10km it is not ideal in terms of its timing and takes more out of the runners.
Just because a college sports team has a outstanding record does not give them carte blanche over the local community and its events( I can use big words too Danny boy).