attention: drew shields has been out since they won nationals two years ago. he ain't coming back.
attention: drew shields has been out since they won nationals two years ago. he ain't coming back.
https://twitter.com/Dshieldsxc
Wrong. According to his twitter he's training...if he's healthy come XC, he'll be in the mix. That kind of talent doesn't die at such a young age.
what sort of talent? doing well in footlocker during a crap year? he's never had a track season, and was only alright at cross country. all the other badgers are literally miles and miles ahead of him at this point. after he got injured he started drinking way too much and got fat (pushing 170). you're telling me that he will lose all that weight, and then get in better shape than everyone else? dude's a has-been, and won't come back.
Dear 'In Madison'
this thread is NOT a joke.
This will be the first year under Mick where he has no proven XC studs on his roster
Shields was 6/7th man is coming off of a bad injury so even if he comes back it wont be a drastic change
Finnerty doesnt have a 6th year.
Finnerty
RS 08 XC
RS 09 IN
RS 09 OU
FR 09 XC
FR 10 IN
FR 10 OU
XX 10 XC
SO 11 IN
SO 11 OU
XX 11 XC
JR 12 IN
JR 12 OU
SR 12 XC
SR 13 IN
SR 13OU
Thus in order for a 6th year he needs to prove medical redshirts in fall of 2010 or 2011. That is not happening
Counting on redshirt freshmen is no guarentee
also just look at 2012 regional results wisconsin doesnt not look good after removing seniors.
In both 2010 and 2011 he was out for medical reasons, I think (back). I do not know what rules they have for approving a 6th year, but there certainly are precedents for it.
More importantly, what is Finnerty's best big ten xc finish?
Ghost of Diemer wrote:
More importantly, what is Finnerty's best big ten xc finish?
7th in 2012. He would be the top returner. He didn't run XC in any other year due to injury.
It's a moot point. He's been running every race he can this summer looking for a shoe contract (but wearing the Wisconsin jersey). He got his degree in May. It would not make sense for him to even want to run an XC season.
It's going to be a wild season for the Badgers. It's the first time in forever that they're going to need to schedule looking for points. They might have to go somewhere before the Adidas meet and run everybody. Mick has some decisions to make. Obviously, he's already made them and us regular schmoes will be informed when he sees fit.
They freaking take 40 teams to NCAA Nationals these days. You have to be really bad anymore if you are a traditional distance power and can't qualify for Nationals.
Any team with one or two All-American types and 3 guys that can run 5:10-20 pace for 10k cross get to Nationals.
Who is the favorite to win the Big 10 Individual crown?
Indoor? wrote:
Who is the favorite to win the Big 10 Individual crown?
At this stage there isn't one. The top returner is a Purdue guy coming off his true freshman season. Try to wrap your head around that. I'm not kidding and I'm trying to get myself to believe this isn't some sort of parallel universe, with only mild success.
It's going to be a crazy, enjoyable Big Ten season.
Wisconsin is going to have their worst team in a very long time this year. But lucky for them, the Big 10 are Great Lakes Region as a whole are going to be very bad as well.
Wisconsin should still win the Big Ten and regionals, but are going to have a really tough time at nationals.
Wisconsin has:
Brill - 8:37 steeple
Hatz - 3:39 1500
Schrobliger - made world junior xc team in 2013
Van Vorhis - 14:06 5k
Mudd - 3:57 mile
Sandoval - 24:40 8k as a true freshman in his only race last year
So they definitely have a good enough team to qualify for nationals.
Wrong. According to this flotrack interview Finnerty may be back:
Regardless, Wisconsin will qualify. Hell, even if they don't win Big 10s or Great Lakes, you are vastly underestimating the potential of this team.
Malachy Schrobilgen was runner-up at USATF and had a good showing at worlds--with Brill (15th last year), Hatz (49th--struggled this race), and Van Voorhis, Wisconsin can place place at least 4 guys in the top 25. Add in a healthy Shields, or Finnerty (16th last year, providing he is cleared) and you have a solid 5 guys, with a strong supporting cast in Brice, Sandvold, Naylor (48th) and Erschen (who was injured halfway through last year but has run 4:05/8:08).
Writing Shields off two months before the season starts is incredibly naive. I think he'll surprise many people. But even without him and Finnerty, Wisco can and will qualify.
For an injury prone athlete like Finnerty, why bother with a 6th year in cross country? Is it for the scholarship?
He may not be quite ready to break in to the top 7, but another guy to watch for is incoming frosh Ryan Kromer, who finished 9th at NXN and 8th at FLN. He's very underated due to missing his senior track season.
In Madison wrote:
Writing Shields off two months before the season starts is incredibly naive. I think he'll surprise many people.
I think he will surprise everyone by how FAT he still is.
"There is a decent chance I will try to come back for cross country..." we will know in the next couple of weeks.
From the like provided by In Madison (Thanks)
Shields tweeted that he was going to run 70+ miles last week. Is the OP the author of the Wood report prediction blog? He only has one Wisconsin runner (Hatz) in the top 240 which would say he is thinking that they won't qualify as a team as well.
I think Mick gets it done if they do not get the injury bug. Schrobilgen was the best Midwest recruit and is getting acclimated to the Wisco system. Sandvold is going to be good as well. I believe that they win the Big Ten after all.
Question: what does Coach Mick Byrne do well?
He obviously stepped into a very successful program. What does he do well that is going to enable continued success? Is he a master motivator? A genius when it comes to physiology and how to optimize performance? A gifted recruiter? Incredibly well organized?
I realize many will take this as an opportunity to tear him down, but that won't explain how he got go where he is and why his teams have been successful for years.
Relative to the best coaches in the NCAA, what makes him stand out?
I agree with this. Wisco would have more guys up by Hatz based on track times alone. Do not think that Wood's predictions are accurate beyond ~20th place. Also he shits on the Big Ten big time.
Wisconsin released its schedule. There are lots of sorting out the roster type meets. Plus probably one meet (BC or ND, not both) to maybe try to be in a position to get a point prior to the adidas meet.
09/06/13 Badger Season Opener Zimmer Championship Course 5:30 p.m. CT
09/14/13 Sycamore Invitational Terre Haute, Ind. 10:00 a.m. CT
09/27/13 Boston College Invitational Chestnut Hill, Mass. TBA
10/04/13 Notre Dame Invitational South Bend, Ind. TBA
10/12/13 Lucian Rosa Invitational Kenosha, Wis. 10:30 a.m. CT
10/19/13 Wisconsin adidas Invitational Zimmer Championship Course 11:30 a.m. CT
10/25/13 UW-Oshkosh Open Winneconne, Wis. 4:00 p.m. CT
11/03/13 Big Ten Championship West Lafayette, Ind. 1:00 p.m. CT
11/15/13 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Zimmer Championship Course 1:00 p.m. CT
11/23/13 NCAA National Championships Terre Haute, Ind. 1:00 p.m. CT