The west is always strong and will be again this year. On paper - Stanford is ridiculous, but that is a given. Conover will do a good job with Poly - and they should be watched carefully. Oregon will be solid, as will Portland and Washington could always sneak into the mix. Due to my bias I think Arizona St. will be strong. I know the depth and talent in XC this year and I believe Fasil has as good of shot at top 5 as anyone. I guess we'll see. I'd be happy with another top 20 performance. On paper we're pretty decent:
Fasil Bizuneh - 13:51, 28:46
Juan Reyes - 13:54
Ronnie Buchanan - 14:12
JJ Duke - PAC 10 XC Freshman of the year 2001
Aaron Aguayo - 9:07 in HS 2002
Jeremy Rasmussen - 8:49st
Roger Cahill - 9:12 in HS
Kris Alexander - 7th PAC 10 steeple in 2002.
Nobody thinks Stanford can be beat out west, but as I tell my guys - Stanford may have 50 blue chippers, but only five score in XC - so anything can happen. It's gonna be a fun year regardless of what happens.