Big Ten Indoor Meet - Michigan WTF!

...And on the women's side, McGuire just keeps killing it:

DMR: 11 straight Big 10 titles

800: 2nd and 4th place (frosh, soph)

1600: 3 in top 6

3000: Finn 9:12 2nd place

5000 : Finn 15:52 breaking 25 year old Michigan record

He also should have Osika and Smith coming back for outdoors. Men's team has never had sprinters (with a few noticeable exceptions like Harris) and has had NO mid-distance crew since Warhurst left. Really sad to see.

Disappointing and down right embarrassing. 11th of 11 in the conference. You can't just blame the distance/mid-distance guys any more.

UM has the chance to recruit heavily from an INSANE junior class of distance/Mid distance boys/men. I hope they go after it! In state tuition after all!

McGuire should be involved in coaching the middle distance guys it seems. He's getting it done! Looks like a genius going after Finn and letting the twins bolt for bluer skies….

Finn is a beast and really only getting rolling

bobinvirginia wrote:

...And on the women's side, McGuire just keeps killing it:

DMR: 11 straight Big 10 titles

800: 2nd and 4th place (frosh, soph)

1600: 3 in top 6

3000: Finn 9:12 2nd place

5000 : Finn 15:52 breaking 25 year old Michigan record

He also should have Osika and Smith coming back for outdoors. Men's team has never had sprinters (with a few noticeable exceptions like Harris) and has had NO mid-distance crew since Warhurst left. Really sad to see.

1600......

Another Option wrote:

I went out to the Big Ten meet and as an alum I couldn't be more disappointed in the Michigan Men's team.

Mile - no one in the finals

400 - no one in the finals

60 - no one in the finals

800 - no one in the finals

60H - 1 finalist

600 - no one entered

200 - no one in finals

3000 - 2 entrants

5000 - 4 entrants

DMR - 6th place

4x4 - NO TEAM

PV - no entrants

LJ - 3 entrants

TJ - no entrants

WT - 1 entrant

11th place in the Big Ten

I don't want to see the program killed, but when do quality of life issues suggest euthanasia should be considered?

2 in the 60h final

Webb, going to UM for one year doesn't make you an alum.

There probably more than one error in my list, but the point remains.

Can anyone familiar with the new staff tell me the program is really headed in the right direction? Is it still fully funded? If so, how does this happen? Is the team so bad that it would have been embarrassing to put them on the track in more events or is this a cost issue and a sign of something much more ominous? This has to kill recruiting efforts. Who would want to be part of a program that won't even put a full team on the track at the conference championship, let alone be anywhere near competitive.

You said it yourself... It's a new staff. That means new direction and things changing. It also can very easily mean the previous staff left nothing behind. I get you are probably distance oriented and the distance coach is still Gibby but it takes more than distance runners to be good in the Big10

LaPlante was to Michigan track what RichRod was to Michigan football, but something else has to be up to put so few bodies on the track... Or LaPlante was even worse than I knew.

Gibby! Gibby!

I quit going to the meets at Michigan. I tried one earlier in the year but it was obvious that they just don't care. It was the most spectator unfriendly track meet I've ever been to. I thought about offering to fix it up for them, to make it a good experience for people but like I say, they just don't care anymore. It was particularly disappointing after my club helped them buy that big scoreboard and they still don't even know how to use it properly. They just suck. The other teams--volleyball, wrestling, tennis, etc. are thriving and make it fun regardless of how good the team is that particular year. So yeah, without at least a small fan base, they may as well just go away.

bobinvirginia wrote:

...And on the women's side, McGuire just keeps killing it:

DMR: 11 straight Big 10 titles

800: 2nd and 4th place (frosh, soph)

1600: 3 in top 6

3000: Finn 9:12 2nd place

5000 : Finn 15:52 breaking 25 year old Michigan record

He also should have Osika and Smith coming back for outdoors. Men's team has never had sprinters (with a few noticeable exceptions like Harris) and has had NO mid-distance crew since Warhurst left. Really sad to see.

It's not high school, they don't run the 1600

Mrr82....sorry, 3 in the top 6 in the MILE.

The difference between the men's and women's team is striking. The women's team has always been based around the mid-distance, but seems to consistently get individuals performers in other areas (Olifi sisters, Pendleton sisters, Tobel, Busbee, etc).

The men's team has been on a steady decline for years. They really need a few big-time recruits to turn the tide. I read that Clayton would not allow an athlete to travel unless they were ranked in the top 18 in the Big 10 prior to the meet---that would explain the lack of entries in some events. They seem to be redshirting Flanagan, Glimes, and Mora who all had good freshman seasons in cross country, but none of them would have scored even if they had run.

Just yesterday, Michigan signee Colin Martin comfortably won the PA Indoor State Champs 3k in 8:30. His brother Ethan (also a Michigan commit) has better PRs, but has struggled with injury issues this year, and seems to have taken indoor as a training season. According to milesplit, Michigan has also signed a 4:15/1:54 guy, a 4:19/1:54 guy, and a 4:20 guy all from in-state. Lastly, FL Finalist Kyle Kroon from NJ (9:03 3200) has signed. Hopefully the coach can develop some of these talents!

Signing a half decent class of distance runners is the problem. Those types of kids only score nominal points on the track and it doesn't leave any money for a well-rounded team. Having a dozen 14:00-14:10 types makes a strong cross country team, but an awful track team. I know LRC is a distance oriented sight, but those kids aren't going to address the underlying issue. Michigan has become what Michigan State used to be, and MSU is still mediocre at best.,

mike rotchburns wrote:

Just yesterday, Michigan signee Colin Martin comfortably won the PA Indoor State Champs 3k in 8:30. His brother Ethan (also a Michigan commit) has better PRs, but has struggled with injury issues this year, and seems to have taken indoor as a training season. According to milesplit, Michigan has also signed a 4:15/1:54 guy, a 4:19/1:54 guy, and a 4:20 guy all from in-state. Lastly, FL Finalist Kyle Kroon from NJ (9:03 3200) has signed. Hopefully the coach can develop some of these talents!

if you expect these signees to be the future of MU track, you are sadly mistaken. Yes, they will improve, if Gibby is worth anything, but take a luck at Big Ten results. ok, the mile winning time was no better than a HS race, but not many HS guys can close in 52/53 seconds like a bunch of guys closed out the mile at Big Tens. The 3k and 5k times were faster then all conferences (except the 3k rabbited MPSF at Seattle). Asking young guys to come in and compete at that level is not realistic. The biggest problem with MU track is that Gibby and Gerry are not on the same page. All Gibby cares about is XC. He has not bought into track and Gerry needs to sort this out asap. Look at the Indiana, MSU, and Wisco guys. They run XC well and show up for track. Wisco going 1-2-3 in 5k proves this and Rhynard for MSU scored big in 3k and 5k . This is because Ron, Walt,and Byrne are passionate about track. MU needs to take a good look internally and also at the strength of the Big Ten. Across the board, depth wise, the Big ten indoor meet was stronger than all conferences.

MI Guy wrote:

Disappointing and down right embarrassing. 11th of 11 in the conference. You can't just blame the distance/mid-distance guys any more.

UM has the chance to recruit heavily from an INSANE junior class of distance/Mid distance boys/men. I hope they go after it! In state tuition after all!

McGuire should be involved in coaching the middle distance guys it seems. He's getting it done! Looks like a genius going after Finn and letting the twins bolt for bluer skies….

Finn is a beast and really only getting rolling

I completely agree, Michigan is incredibly deep this year for the 2015 guys, sort of like the girls of years passed. If U of M could somehow convince hill, robinson, and fisher to not bolt for greener pastures they could be solid in xc and track.

bobinvirginia wrote:

Mrr82....sorry, 3 in the top 6 in the MILE.

The difference between the men's and women's team is striking. The women's team has always been based around the mid-distance, but seems to consistently get individuals performers in other areas (Olifi sisters, Pendleton sisters, Tobel, Busbee, etc).

The men's team has been on a steady decline for years. They really need a few big-time recruits to turn the tide. I read that Clayton would not allow an athlete to travel unless they were ranked in the top 18 in the Big 10 prior to the meet---that would explain the lack of entries in some events. They seem to be redshirting Flanagan, Glimes, and Mora who all had good freshman seasons in cross country, but none of them would have scored even if they had run.

This is mostly because of Title 9. Girls team has way more roster spots, likely more scholarships, and likely more funding.

First of all, it's UM or U of M. I don't know how anyone could think it's MU or that is ok. MU is probably most likely possibly Marquette University.

Secondly why would those guys want to go to U of M and get "developed" like some of other studs that have gone there? Lately it's where kids go as freshmen to die. Some of their best kids have been Grad School transfers. If I were a stud Michigan kid looking for a place to go I would highly consider Walt at MSU, Rhynard has gone from 9:20 range in the 3200 from HS to a 7:53 3K which equates about to 8:26 3200, That is almost a minute improvement. Not to mention almost 20 second improvement in the mile and threatening to break 4, pretty crazy for a kid that couldn't break 2 in HS. Then look at the girls team, lots of those girls have improved a ton as well, Schulist and O'Connor are becoming national level runners.

as a runner considering both those universities and talked to the coaches (who i both liked) they both have their share of blow ups and success stories...U of M owns MSU in xc right now tho