Not vilifying or dragging anyone through the mud. Just expressing my opinion that they should be able to beat low-level mid-majors with the talent they have.
Not vilifying or dragging anyone through the mud. Just expressing my opinion that they should be able to beat low-level mid-majors with the talent they have.
For the record, none of those IU teams made the NCAA's and only one men's team from OSU. He coached women at OSU according to his bio.
What is the thought on Sparks heading into this season?
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weasels and donkeys wrote:
What is the thought on Sparks heading into this season?
A guy from NJ in the last 4 years got recruited to ND. As a junior he won the meet of champs mile in 4:07 and had a 1:52 half mile time. senior year he was about the same times but he was already committed to ND at that point.
weasels and donkeys wrote:
What is the thought on Sparks heading into this season?
Sparks can coach. And ND is a great school to attend. Go. Now.
Not sure what coach is looking for. Filled out ND online Q with 1:53-4:13 and near perfect SAT and ACT. Followed up with email to coach but no reply so disappointingly chose different school.
THE Ohio State wrote:
weasels and donkeys wrote:What is the thought on Sparks heading into this season?
Sparks can coach. And ND is a great school to attend. Go. Now.
Women had another good XC season, finishing 11th at Nats without Seidel.
Men had a bad season, losing top 2 guys to grad 5th years at Georgetown and Portland and having a lot of injuries. Their next fastest XC guy redshirted and their two seniors didn't have great XC seasons, but they're more MD guys. They did have two pretty good recruiting classes (current Freshman and next year's class), so I would expect them to improve dramatically next year and more the following year.
Also, Carlson's coaching the distance guys. Sparks coaches the women.
If you're considering Notre Dame, I'd say that the coaching is good. The facilities and gear are great. The ACC is a great conference to run in. You'll get tons of competition. And, the school is great academically and socially. The weather is not great :)
One thing to know is that Notre Dame treats academics very seriously. You will graduate in 4 years. They pride themselves on that.
Go there because of the school and use running to enhance your experience. If you approach it from that perspective, you'll love it.
"The facilities and gear are great."
Under Armour is "great" gear? !!
Fu Manchu wrote:
If a kid ran a 4:12 1600m and had a modest 27 on the ACT would he have a shot in gaining admissions?
That ACT score is weak for ND. Average at Notre Dame is 33...
irish fan wrote:
Men had a bad season, losing top 2 guys to grad 5th years at Georgetown and Portland and having a lot of injuries....
...
Go there because of the school and use running to enhance your experience. If you approach it from that perspective, you'll love it.
The ND men's program is in rough shape at the moment. Head Coach has really tarnished the legacy of men's distance established by Coach Piane and 7+ decades of alumni. Top 2 guys went elsewhere because culture of team was toxic.
Regarding your last statement, I'm not sure if that is representative of the attitude espoused by current coaches or athletes, but if so, it is no wonder why they are not very good.
Men's XC and distance program is on life support until Turner is cleared out.
Single in Fisher wrote:
Men's XC and distance program is on life support until Turner is cleared out.
I don't know about 'life support' but I will agree that Turner seems more focused on sprints and is not liked by most of the distance athletes.
The women have obviously done well and I believe that the Men's program shows promise in the next few years. There are guys that have developed really well and Carlson seems to have ramped up the men's distance recruiting efforts.
My comment re: picking the school first, then running is generic. Notre Dame will never be Oregon (or Colorado or OK State, etc., for that matter). If you're an elite high school runner, I believe that you should go to a great school and then run, in that order. Unless you really think that you're not only going to be a pro, but an Olympian.
Assistant coach wrote:
"The facilities and gear are great."
Under Armour is "great" gear? !!
Their clothes are great. Shoes? Not so much.
But the runners can wear other shoes, just not Nike.
What "promise" does the men's team show? They have gotten worse every year since Coach Piane retired.
Words can't even capture how frustrating and disappointing it is to witness the decline of a once-proud program. As much as it pains me to say this, recruits should look elsewhere until Turner is gone: Georgetown, Princeton, Michigan, Stanford, etc. Notre Dame used to compete with those schools, but no longer.
I agree completely. I don't know what recruits they signed this year, but if the culture is not in place they will not succeed as a team.
Given that this years team had regular season losses to, among others, Lamar, UT Arlington, and Saint Loius (twice!); and championship losses to Georgia Tech, Pitt, IUPUI, Marquette, Miami and Dayton it seems the rebuild has a long way to go.
Single in Fisher wrote:
it seems the rebuild has a long way to go.
IF they bring back the two seniors--Dumford and Marco, who have XC eligibility--and the Juniors are healthy--Kennedy and Pulliam, and Williams continues to improve, and you get something out of this year's Frosh--Monahan, Salvano--you've got a good seven right there.
That's a team of 5 guys that can average 24:30 - 24:50 in an 8K, which is usually good enough to get to nats.
We'll see. I think you're going to see some good times at the NDI this weekend.
It appears that they stopped recruiting distance runners unless they are National elites. My son ran 9:10 and 4:10. He had a 35 ACT. He filled out recruit questionnaire early senior year and again during indoor but the coach didn't respond either time. The Ivy League schools on the other hand were very attentive.
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