Sort of a stretch to consider a team that scored ZERO points in the GLIAC in the 5 and 10 a winning contender in the same conference in cross country against GVSU's depth. But the mid-distance talent they have is strong.
Ashland with Baum winning and 4 others all running perfect races on the day (and I only see three others they have that should run 24:30 on a fair cross course including Windle because he is so good) might sneak by but it would take a bad day for GVSU for that to happen.
Before capitalizing ZERO i would have done research to see that Baum scored a penny point in the 5k from the slow heat. tisk tisk, look at the papers. As for papers, those dont matter this season. AU has 5-6 guys who are mentally connected and will finish in a pack within 10 seconds of each other, guaranteed. No outliers, just teamwork.
While I think certainly Ashland can give GVSU it's toughest challenge at GLIACs in awhile, I have to think GV is still a pretty decent favorite. They have a very good team returning. GV should have a strong 1-2 combo with Peterson and Bradley up front. They follow that up with a another 5-6 guys that could still challenge for the team title alone. Cini had a phenomenal year last season, 3rd at GLIACS and 22nd at nationals. Kyle Flores stepped into the top 5 for GV at regionals and nationals, then went 14:29/30:15 during track. Fr Chris May stepped in and finished 12th at regionals and ran 14:41 unattached in track. Spencer Pageau has gone 14:29 and finished in the top 10 at GLIACS last year. Joe Duff has represented GV at nationals and was in their top 5 at the 2012 national meet. Ricky Perez finished in GV's top 5 at times last year. Besides May, 4 other redshirts broke 26:00 last year on GV's roster.
Ashland should make the meet closer but GV has to be the clear favorite at this point. What I think is going to be even more interesting is the GV-USI matchup at regionals.
USI could be a top 5 team at NCAAs...if they can run to their potential that is......
Gliac insider wrote:
Is it true Baum has a stress fracture?
Baums career is a roller coaster and inspiring!
trackathlete1 wrote:
800 - Bladecki (Ferris)
1500m - Bladecki (Ferris)
3k Steeple - Bladecki (Ferris)
5k - Bladecki (Ferris)
10k - Bladecki (Ferris)