Definitely get in touch with the coach directly. You can't really go on history as an indication, as the program is in an adjustment phase regarding roster size. The first move made by the new coaching staff this year was to trim the men's XC roster by approximately 10 spots.
Why did they cut the roster? I remember they let go of a distance coach, but was the coach replaced? There is a Molly Jergenson listed on the website in the coach section. Is she coaching in some capacity.
Curious what is going on with the program in general since they're having a pretty down year so far.
(1) dear lord ndwoodforlife2018, control yourself, you're moving to south bend, Indiana, don't forget that
(2) sparks, (who made the move in late August??)is working with the recruits that the other two coach left him with, there is no more Rae or Grady. Blame for this season falls squarely on the previous coaches
Take it down a level wrote:
sparks, (who made the move in late August??)is working with the recruits that the other two coach left him with, there is no more Rae or Grady. Blame for this season falls squarely on the previous coaches
If you want to blame it on recruiting then blame Shawn Carlson. He recruited all those guys.
They have three footlocker finalists, a 4:07 HS miler, a 4:08 HS miler, a 14:11 guy and a 13:52 guy. That should be a good top 7. Maybe they won't win nationals but they shouldn't be 30th at Wisconsin either.
Sparks can't blame anyone but himself. When your flotrack workout is 8 or 9 miles at sub 5:00 pace and most of those guys then go run 25:30-26:45 the fault is with the coach.
1. Blaming an assistant is asinine, buck always stops with the head coach, and as an aside, it's my understanding it's a miracle good runners came out for the team after meeting the respective head coaches
2. I can't imagine training went smoothly for nd's athletes this summer not knowing what their new program would look like
3. You're an idiot if you think all that comes into play is an athletes pr... Moreover many underclassman severely under preform when transitioning into college
4. Glad to hear he trimmed the fat
Bottom line, sparks did wonders at siu, so don't get you panties in a bunch
Pump the brakes, bro wrote:
Bottom line, sparks did wonders at siu, so don't get you panties in a bunch
Can you give some specifics? I hadn't heard of Sparks before the hiring and checked out the results from his time at SIU. The top performances are hardly eye-popping, but I'm really not familiar with what kind of talent he started with.
In what ways did he improve the program, and what kind of time-based improvements was he getting out of individual athletes?
In short, he took a team that was at the bottom of their conference to consistently place 1st or 2nd place for his last (5 yrs?)... Trained numerous national level performers and a think at least one all American
Lastly, Siu is a state school with a direction in its title, come on man
1. I didn't blame the assistant. I said they actually have quite a bit of talent.
2. He's been there for 2 months. Talented guys with any summer training should be able to break 25:30 by now.
3. Obviously good PRs are not all that come into play but how many excuses can you make. It's not only the underclassmen. The returners are worse too. If his ludicrous flotrack workout is standard practice watch for them to continue to struggle.
4. Don't know about the cuts but from the looks if it they could have used all the help they can get.
Bottom line, He did a pretty good job at Southern Illinois but I wouldn't call it "working wonders". The MVC is a bad conference that never produced a national qualifying team.
What is the minimum ACT from anyone's experience that it would take to get into Notre Dame if you are a sub 4:13 1600m guy? I talked with an alumni and Ted
Carlson (assistant) and they both said 29 and up will guarantee admission. Thoughts?
This thread is ridiculous. If you had asked me last year after NCAA XC how the ND men would do in XC 2014 I would have let you know "Awful - they definitely won't qualify for Nationals". They graduated all of their top guys, and the few that are left started the season with some injuries.
How the f*ck are you going to bash Sparks when he's been in South Bend for 2 months? You clearly don't know anything about coaching or running in general to expect him to have some immediate season saving solution. Give the man some time. He had a lot of success at SIU considering how difficult it must be to get someone to go to CARBONDALE. In 2009, Mohammed^2 had to drop out of regionals with a bladder infection, else they would have finished 3rd behind NCAA champs Oklahoma State and NCAA 12th place finishers Oklahoma, and in front of NCAA 16th place finishers Iowa State.
First of all, there is no way you are an ND alum. The sentiment among vast majority of alumni is that Sparks is doing a poor job. Further, what ND alum knows that "Mohammed^2" dropped out of regionals in 2012 with a bladder infection? You are obviously either Sparks or a former SIU athlete.
Nobody expected the ND team to qualify for nationals this year, but with the talent identified earlier in the thread a decent coach would be able to beat Canisius College, Gonzaga or Lamar.
All I see from Sparks' defenders are excuses why the team is not better- late hire, poor recruiting, uncertainty during summer, injuries, now even a referenece to a 2 year old bladder infection. Stop making excuses and beat somebody.
I guarantee you I am a Notre Dame alum. What do you want to know about? Hi Cs? Freshmen jumping in St Mary's pond? SYT? King burger? Cannons? Piane's retirement reception with the $5.5m +$1.5m donation from the Hayes family?
You don't speak for the majority of us, because the majority of us are smart enough to hold on judging someone who has been there 2 months. YOU ARE MAKING US ALUMS LOOK BAD. I'm not arguing the fact that they have underperformed this year, but I'm not ready to crucify the new guy. I'd rather they underperformed in a down year with a coaching change than a year where the pieces are in place.
As for my knowledge of 2009 SIU regional performance, it is called being a student of the sport. Try it. I never went to SIU as you should now be able to tell from my first paragraph.
Hey, gentlemen, I think it's important to realize that this thread was originally started by a student-around a year ago-so let's be productive and answer his questions.
Yes, you would be able to get into Notre Dame with a 29, if and only if, you ran under a 4:15. Good luck buddy. Hope you can acheive further success in your career!
Agreed.
You have a good chance getting in with those stats but always be proactive in reaching out to coaches. Good luck with your training and racing this year.
I can see where this is heading anyways from the Sparks defenders. The HEAD TRACK coach will be moving resources (scholarship) away from the distance area and into sprints, jumps, etc.
The cross country team will become a shell of itself and it will be because they replaced 2 great coaches in Paine and Connelly and replaced him with one coach who has never taken a team to the Nationals before.
It is probably a good move to place higher in track, but the cross country team will obviously suffer.
Nobody to blame really, just a different direction.
Makes sense to me wrote:
I can see where this is heading anyways from the Sparks defenders. The HEAD TRACK coach will be moving resources (scholarship) away from the distance area and into sprints, jumps, etc.
The cross country team will become a shell of itself and it will be because they replaced 2 great coaches in Paine and Connelly and replaced him with one coach who has never taken a team to the Nationals before.
It is probably a good move to place higher in track, but the cross country team will obviously suffer.
Nobody to blame really, just a different direction.
True! Sparks is not the HEAD track coach. Many have failed to realize that. Piane did a great job in realizing that distance is the highest scoring area. It is what it is, but Notre Dame will always produce good milers.
Up and Coming Runner wrote:
Piane did a great job in realizing that mid-distance is the highest scoring area.
FTFY
Irish alum wrote:
I'm not arguing the fact that they have underperformed this year, but I'm not ready to crucify the new guy. I'd rather they underperformed in a down year with a coaching change than a year where the pieces are in place.
I suppose the difference is I believe with 3 footlocker finalists, 2 sub 4:10 HS milers, a 14:10 and 13:52 guy the pieces are in place.
As an alum then you will also know that Piane didn't assign summer training so you can't use having no coach this summer as an excuse for this years team more than any other year. So if you acknowledge they are underperforming, who is responsible for having them ready to go?
Irish alum? wrote:
Irish alum wrote:I'm not arguing the fact that they have underperformed this year, but I'm not ready to crucify the new guy. I'd rather they underperformed in a down year with a coaching change than a year where the pieces are in place.
I suppose the difference is I believe with 3 footlocker finalists, 2 sub 4:10 HS milers, a 14:10 and 13:52 guy the pieces are in place.
As an alum then you will also know that Piane didn't assign summer training so you can't use having no coach this summer as an excuse for this years team more than any other year. So if you acknowledge they are underperforming, who is responsible for having them ready to go?
Sports fan, do you seriously think that b!tching about a coach who has been there for 2 months on at Letsrun thread where a potential recruit is asking about the team is good for the program?
I never said that them not having a "summer coach" was an excuse. I never said that Sparks isn't responsible for their performances. I said that we shouldn't vilify a guy who has been at the helm for 2 months and has run a total of 2 important meets. The guys you mentioned have run a couple races this year and aren't running any worse than they were under Piane, except the one that is battling injury.
Why are you dead set on trying to drag your alma mater and it's new coach through the mud?
Makes sense to me wrote:
I can see where this is heading anyways from the Sparks defenders. The HEAD TRACK coach will be moving resources (scholarship) away from the distance area and into sprints, jumps, etc.
The cross country team will become a shell of itself and it will be because they replaced 2 great coaches in Paine and Connelly and replaced him with one coach who has never taken a team to the Nationals before.
It is probably a good move to place higher in track, but the cross country team will obviously suffer.
Nobody to blame really, just a different direction.
Probably not fair to say he has never taken a team to NCAA's; a couple years at Indiana with Chapman and Ohio State with Gary where he worked with teams that were making Nationals as well as a post-college group under Gary and OSU.
Notre Dame recruits itself; don't need aid like at Ok State where you have to heavily scholarship them to get them to come.