D2 XC PREDICTIONS

Top Teams

1. GV-Destroyed the 5th ranked team, 7 in front of their 3

2. Mines-3 points away from Adams and with depth of NCAA will be able to beat adams

3. Adams-Won their regional and top guys will get it done. Top 3 teams will be within 10 points

4. Chico-absolutely amazing pack.

5. Augustana- karbo is back and the pack is good.

6. Alaska-Should have 4 All Americans and freshman Kenyan top 10.

7. Western State- sad to see them this low, but without Johnson they are not a podium team. Butler will be their leader in the top 15.

8. American Int- Biwott will be a 1 Stick so yeah.

9. Malone-Impressive showing at Midwest

10. Lock Haven- Good pack and 37 seconds spread 1-5

Maybe Jimmy Guy is human?

Johnnie may have just been zapped from using a lot of energy on the muddy part of the course, or just didn't have it once Pence started his kick with around 1k left. Just an off day, but he will bounce back at Nats. Congrats to Pence - he's usually overshadowed by Johnnie but today he got a big win.

Southern Indiana will not crack top 20 at nationals. Mark my words.

MOTHA EFFIN MIDWEST. They will be getting 5 auto team quals next yr if they show up at NCAAs in 2 weeks

Nothing wrong with Guy. He will be a major player at nationals.

Ashland in top 20? Midwest is the best region

Mirth is only a 14:32/30:13 guy(39th best xc place)

Lewandowski is a 14:33 guy(34th best xc place)

I understand Guy losing to Peterson(14:10 and 16th last year) and Pence(14:08 was top 15 before he passed out). A run similar to that in two weeks and he will not be on Individual Podium.

Ever cross your mind that maybe he had a slightly off day?

1. Tabor Stevens-Returning Champion and is coming into form

2. Kevin Batt- Oregon did it, so why not Adams?

3. Michael Biwott- 4th last year, will have to settle for a 1 place improvement

4. Aaron Dinzeo- 5th last year, him and biwott both settle for 1 place improvement

5. Henry Cheseto- He has won more than he has lost this year. Solid regional Peformance

Haha what the f$@k

1. Mines

2. Adams

3. GV

4. Chico?

I think Mines may actually steal it.

1 Cheseto, Henry FR-1 Alaska Anchorage 4:55.9 30:34.0 1 (Random good Kenyan)

2 Notz, Dominik JR-3 Alaska Anchorage 4:58.2 30:48.6 2 (8:28 3k, seemingly nobody turned stud.)

3 Huizar, Mark SO-2 Cal Poly Pomona 4:58.3 30:48.9 3 (75th at nationals last year)

4 Sanchez, Johnny SR-4 Chico State 5:00.2 31:01.1 4 (34th and 23rd placings at nationals)

5 Medina, Kyle FR-1 Chico State 5:00.2 31:01.2 5 (solid Mid D guy moved up)

6 Grubiss, Nick SO-2 Chico State 5:00.7 31:04.3 6 (14:32 guy)

7 McGuirk, Alex SR-4 Chico State 5:01.1 31:06.7 7 (8:50 Steeple)

8 Mora, Aaron SO-2 Chico State 5:01.3 31:07.6 8 (30:10 10k)

9 Guske, Taylor SR-4 Cal Baptist 5:01.7 31:10.4 9 (past AA)

10 Breen, Dillon SR-4 Chico State 5:02.2 31:13.6 10 (Nobody from what I can tell)

11 Anthony, Dylan SR-4 Alaska Anchorage 5:03.4 31:20.9 11 (23rd and 25th placings at nationals)

12 Griffith, Isaac JR-3 Western Washington 5:04 31:27.0 12 (Can't find results)

13 Peterson, Robert JR-3 MSU-Billings 5:04.8 31:29.5 13

14 Collins, Tanner SR-4 UC San Diego 5:05.1 31:31.2 14

15 Pepiot, Valentin JR-3 Academy of Art 5:05.3 31:32.3 15 (3:40/8:40st)

From what I have heard, the course was full 10k, so there isn't question about whether or not the Chico guys all ran 31:0x, the question is, did they ease up when they realized they had the race in the bag?

Who eased up if so? How much did they ease up by? Who went to the well to hold on? Is their 7th as good and had an off day?

None of these questions really matter, because their performance at the National Championship meet is what counts, but it looks like they may have a stronger hand of cards than they have shown this season. Chico men have underperformed at the last two national championships so it is hard to know what they have in store when they have 6 guys in 12 seconds, with almost no challengers in that timespan, after they ran together the whole race.

Someone check if he has an agent!!? I saw the freshman Kenyan from shorter didn't run this weekend...through the grapevine he was reported to the NCAA for being too good.

Henry cheseto should be a dark horse! Weather isn't looking too cold.....can we see another Kenyan ruler the next 4 years?

I was at the West Region race and I can tell you that it was indeed a 10k and it was, flat, fast, and perfect weather. I wasn't watching Chico all that closely in the last 1k but I saw them at the finish and as you can see from the results its true that they were not straining across the line. They all came across together, some of them walked slowly across the timing map and they were highfiving and the like. They gave it a very relaxed look. But I'm not sure at what point that look of relaxation came on... could've been with 500m to go, or 2.5K to go... I'm not sure.

What I can offer is this photo essay and story about the meet:

http://insearchofthemoment.com/blog/2014/11/27/the-end-of-the-season

Men

1. Adams

2. Gvsu

3. Chico

4. Mines

5. Malone

6. Augustana

7. Lock Haven

8. Western

9. Southern Indiana

10. Alaska

Women

1. Gvsu

2. Adams

3. Hillsdale

4. Duluth

5. Simon Fraser

6. Edinboro

7. Chico

8. Augustana

9. Roberts Wesleyan

10. Western

Adams

Mines

GV

Western

Chico