RE: 2014 Northeast-10 XC Thread

a bird wrote:

I highly a doubt stonehill will win either the ne-10 or the region. As far as dominating, that is not correct as well. They have each year qualified for nationals and have finished in the bottom 5. This region is weak, at some point a team from this region has to score in the top 10 at nationals.

Not likely to happen unless AIC recruits 1 or 2 more Kenyans or the league as a whole gets more recruiting $$. FP is a model that shows what can happen when you offer a little bit more of the "green" to a runner or his parents. With the average cost to attend a Northeast-10 school reaching $50K, without more $$ available you are just not going to get the next level up of HS runner to come. They may look at some of the schools - but when push comes to shove and you look at how much money you still need to pay - State Schools or High D3 looks much more attractive.

Dage minors FTW

Holmes FTW

nexctrackfan wrote:

I agree - it looks like Stonehill top 3 scorers at last year's championship were seniors, so unless they all have another year available from RS'ing earlier in their careers - they look to be in somewhat of a rebuilding mode. Now rebuilding for them probably keeps them in the top three - but makes it really difficult to compete with FP and Adelphi. Does anyone know the status of the Stonehill seniors that ran last year (Leoanrd, Fontanella and Waller? Are they done? Taking grad courses and staying?

According to TFRRS site

Stonehill does have Fontanella coming back, as well as, Paul Cina who was a RS last year and Dan Gordon, who stopped running mid October last season and if healthy could certainly contribute to the team this season. Based on this "new" info & the fact that Sean Grady will not be able to run XC for Adelphi this year - I certainly put Stonehill back in the running to defend their title over FP.

The Wildcard remains AIC - does anyone know if they brought in any more "very mature" freshmen recruits? Nothing on their website so far.

nexctrackfan wrote:

According to my school's TFRRS site

http://www.tfrrs.org/teams/7769.html

WE HERE AT Stonehill do have Fontanella coming back, as well as, Paul Cina who was a RS last year FOR US and Dan Gordon, who stopped running mid October last season and if healthy could certainly contribute to OUR team this season. Based on this "INSIDE" info & the fact that Sean Grady will not be able to run XC for Adelphi this year - I certainly put my Stonehill back in the running to defend our title over FP.

Fixed that for you ;)

In all seriousness. I think it will be close with a few teams both at NE10 and regionals, as it usually is. Single digit points probably will decide it. I think everyone likes Stonehill's experience, even if they have a few missing from last year's team. They always race well at NE10's and regionals which is a credit to Coach Boen. Though they keep getting better, FP seems a little too "mid-distance" oriented based on their track performances. And although they will do well in xc, I don't think it is what best suits the likes of Gisore or Minor who both had very good track seasons. And I haven't seen the FP course yet, but I've been told that it is not for the faint of heart. Probably not a mid-distance runners type of course. I would like to see if BJ Smith can keep racing well like he did on the track. He could surprise people. That 10k win at conferences was pretty cool to watch. Of course AIC will have a team that will compete for titles and on a tough course, having that solid 1-2 point effort up front can steal the victory.

I remember hearing that Merrimack has a strong freshmen class coming in, as well as some pretty good returners (Nick C, Cruz and Ali), so they could shake things up. As far as regionals go, I'm calling the new kids on the block Roberts Wesleyan for a surprise victory. Look at their track times and what they did last xc season. This team could be way better than any NE10 team. They are like a healthy mix of Stonehill and AIC. Don't forget Wilmington is still riding that U of Delaware transfer wave with a very mature group, too!

My 100% accurate predictions-

NE10: 1) AIC 2) Stonehill 3) FP 4) Merrimack 5) Adelphi

Regionals: 1) Roberts Wesleyan 2) Stonehill 3) Wilmington 4) AIC 5) FP

Love your "fix" for me!

AIC - Biwott/Chirchir/Cashin/Antivo - who is the 5th? If they have a transfer or an incoming freshmen to fill that slot and everyone stays healthy that is a good prediction -just no room for error with only five guys!

As far as Merrimack at #4 in NE-10 meet, with Grady not running for Adelphi that might happen, but Adelphi still has some guys coming back that were hurt/RS last season and the incoming freshmen @ Merrimack would need to step in/up right away for it to happen.

Boles - NJ kid coming from a solid program and ran 9:50 ish

Stenbrecher - NY kid also coming from a solid program and also ran 9:50 ish

Gentile - MA kid who seemed to run better in XC as a junior - but could be the "diamond" in the rough with the right training/coaching

Murphy - MA kid from a solid program with improvement every year- but has more impressive track times (1:54 800)

I would agree a strong incoming group for Merrimack - but nothing that "wows" me this year. Similar to Bentley - I think they might be a team to look at next season as being in the discussion for a top three finish in the conference meet.

My suspicion is that nexctrackfan's opinion did not have to be "fixed" because he more than likely is a ne former coach, and not a current student in the league. The tfrrs's reference gave it away.

AIC Mass Frosh

Christian Gentile - Melrose 17 AS D2 in X-C 4:35/10:05

Murphy, which one Kevin -Chelmsford/Matt -Weymouth

Cant be Connor he signed with Merrimack

Metawampi wrote:

AIC Mass Frosh

Christian Gentile - Melrose 17 AS D2 in X-C 4:35/10:05

Murphy, which one Kevin -Chelmsford/Matt -Weymouth

Cant be Connor he signed with Merrimack

Sorry if my last message confused you Gentile and the other three (Boles, Steinbrecher and Murphy)are all Merrimack recruits.

Let's be honest here - All of the schools in NE10 suck.

Psychedelic boSs wrote:

Let's be honest here - All of the schools in NE10 suck.

I guess you would have to qualify the statement further - vs who?

They are what they are - a solid (not great/not crappy)D2 conference. Are there better D1,D2 or D3 conferences - of course there are! But on the flip side there are crappier D1,D2 and D3 conferences as well.

Just not sure what your point really is?

So it looks like all teams have at least posted their 2014 schedules and the top four teams (FP/Stonehill/AIC/Adelphi) are all scheduled to run at Paul Short 10/4. Although they all will not likely run in the same race - at least it will be a good indicator of where each team is vs. the others when you compare times afterwards. I would hope by then each team will have a better sense of their Top 7, based on meets they may have run in September.

Until then - I'm sure we will see a fair amount of "split squad" efforts, which will not let anyone really have early bragging rights - IMHO.

I doubt stonehill or FP would land anyone that would break into their top 5. Not saying they don't have any decent freshmen, but I just think their returners are at a pretty high level; one that is such that a better than average d2 recruit probably would find it hard to earn a spot right away, unlike one might be able to do at MC or Adelphi this year.

AIC however could bring in another Kenyan or two I'm sure. If so. They win.

Overall in my book, FP is a year older and stonehill loses 1-2 guys from their nationals team. I'd give the early edge to FP. It's always safe to bet on experience, that's why this is such a tastey matchup. They both have it now.

My 100% accurate predictions-

NE10: 1) AIC 2) Stonehill 3) FP 4) Merrimack 5) Adelphi

Regionals: 1) Roberts Wesleyan 2) Stonehill 3) Wilmington 4) AIC 5) FP[/quote]

Don't count out the Alpha Owls, they may not win the NE-10s, but they will be in the hunt!

Ok Coach Wallin. You don't have any hurdlers doing your dirty work in cross country like you do in track. So you must be confused.

And your mascot is by far the weakest in the Northeast-10 aviary.

Alpha Owl wrote:

My 100% accurate predictions-

NE10: 1) AIC 2) Stonehill 3) FP 4) Merrimack 5) Adelphi

Regionals: 1) Roberts Wesleyan 2) Stonehill 3) Wilmington 4) AIC 5) FP

Don't count out the Alpha Owls, they may not win the NE-10s, but they will be in the hunt![/quote]

Define in the hunt? You just gave your 100% accurate predictions and did not have them in the top five at Northeast-10's? How do you be "in the hunt" and still finish outside of the top five in a conference that has a pretty good drop off after the top 3-4 to begin with?

No idea - I just know that FP has/had more $$ in the past few seasons and was able to use it to "upgrade" their program. I do know that even within the NE-10 you have programs that have "some" $$ and some that have none. I believe in the past few seasons FP went from none to "some".

SWA Watchdog wrote:

nexctrackfan wrote:

Credit the admin and athletic department with shaking the "money tree" to help the program and for Zach getting kids to follow him around (HS,College,College). As I have said already in this thread - good example of how you can compete with a little bit of extra $$ offered.

You keep saying the same thing about the same schools. You sound like a ne10 coach. With some inside knowledge. You even call a coach by their first name (not uncommon on this thread, which to me is a giveaway that coaches, current or former, are the biggest source of the negativity on these boards).

The athletes deserve way more credit than they receive from people like you. Don't just come on to letsrun.com and spout negativity or promote your excuses. Don't pretend to have all of the answers. Because you clearly don't.

SWA Watchdog - first I am not an existing coach, have never been a coach and don't have the "resume" to be a coach - unless loving the sport counts.

As far as inside knowledge - I guess if you consider reading this thread over the years and going to each schools websites to see who is coming back and who has been recruited- as inside knowledge - guilty as charged.

Where have I been negative about the athletes? If an athlete is able to "earn" scholarship $$ from a school - awesome. As far as talking about the same schools - they are the favorites this season - no? Should I be talking about LeMoyne, Pace and St. Mike's instead? Not taking shots at them - but for this season they are not as strong as the team's I have spoken about.

Purple Power wrote:

Ok Coach Wallin. You don't have any hurdlers doing your dirty work in cross country like you do in track. So you must be confused.

And your mascot is by far the weakest in the Northeast-10 aviary.

Not CW, Former AA from Southern. Haven't looked through Letsrun MB since I was an athlete, looks to be the same type of negative talk. I was simply showing support for my former team, Purple Power's response was negative, and hateful. I am confused, as to what you mean by hurdles doing "dirty work" in CC?