D3 Atlantic Region XC 2015

Atlantic_Lives_Matter wrote:

http://www.ncaa.com/news/cross-country-men/article/2015-11-15/ncaa-diii-mens-and-womens-cross-country-championships

Women get 6 teams: Geneseo, Oneonta, RPI, St. Lawrence, Rochester, RIT

Exactly as expected. The region was super deep this year on the womens side and all 6 teams deserved to go. Congrats to the RIT women on their first time making the big dance as a team.

Men get 3: Geneseo, St. Lawrence, Hamilton

TCNJ and New Jersey in general really really screwed everything up. I think Ithaca deserved to go to nationals but understand why they didnt get one. They waited until E8s to race their A squad and paid the price for it. Lesson to everyone: you need to have a resume prior to regionals.

First, I love the name, it gave me a good chuckle. Second, while everyone is talking poorly about TCNJ, I just wanted to say something positive by wishing Andrew Tedeschi the best of luck at nationals. I've only talked to him once. He came off as a genuinely kind person, and at the end of the day that's way more important than what you do or don't do at Regionals/Nationals/any other race.

Atlantic_Lives_Matter wrote:

I think Ithaca deserved to go to nationals but understand why they didnt get one. They waited until E8s to race their A squad and paid the price for it. Lesson to everyone: you need to have a resume prior to regionals.

Same thing has ruined RPI's chances the past few years. Disappointing too, the region looked very strong a month ago with something like 6 or 7 teams making the national rankings or the "watch list".

Also while we are giving props, it should be mentioned that Ramapo freshman Matt Tuohy missed nationals was the 8th individual and would've gone if Ithaca had made it as a team. He was 6 seconds off of the last qualifier, Tedeschi, so while you can argue that is a decent enough gap, I do feel for this guy not being sent. He moved from 66th to 16th throughout the race after getting reportedly knocked down at the start.

Ok let's assess yesterday team race. I'll give a quick recap of the top ten teams from yesterday.

1. Geneseo is really good. We all knew that, so not much else to comment on here. 44 second spread and a great frontrunner in Garcia-Cassani. They were number 1 in this region all year and never let anyone doubt it. Job well done. Go rep the AR next week at nats. We could use a podium team.

2. St. Lawrence was doubted by some, but most agreed they were the second best team in this region all year long. Well, yesterday they proved they definitely were the second best team, and even made it competitive with Geneseo. 14 points is not much in a race this size. SLU could make some noise in Wisconsin next Saturday with a great 1-2 punch up front, but they need their 4 and 5 guys to step up.

3. Congratulations to Hamilton. We knew they were good, but while some believed they were the third best team in this region, most people on this board did not. And neither did the USTFCCCA who had them ranked 5th in the most recent regional poll. Well, Hamilton is without a doubt the third best team in this region and by quite a bit. Good for them. Enjoy the trip to nationals boys, you earned it.

4-7. Ithaca-NYU-RPI-Ramapo - Let's put all these teams together because let's be honest, this was a straight up toss up and that is why the region is only sending 3 teams. No team stepped up and solidified the fourth position - as the gap between 3rd and 4th was 76 points. Who would have thought? Ithaca pulled out the fourth spot yesterday, which was unfortunate honestly because they had no resume, and it made the region look very weak. There was no shot they were going to nationals having done nothing noteworthy all season, so the region was locked in with 3 teams. Go to some good meets and run fast next year if you think you have a shot at a top 5 finish!!! NYU was just a bit behind Ithaca, 5 points to be exact, but their resume was only slightly better, including a subpar performance at their conference meet. Had they taken 4th, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened. They might have gotten to nats and might not have. Couldn't be certain either way. RPI was 8 points behind NYU and had they taken 4th, I think we would still be sitting here with 3 AR teams going to nationals. Fazio is a great frontrunner, but they just dont have enough power behind him to do anything better than a mid top 10 finish in the region. Ramapo had a great shot here for a 4th place finish that was theirs for the taking. Had they gotten the job done, the region would have sent 4 teams for sure. They had the resume and the regional/national rankings behind them. 14 points shy they fell. They went out too slow seeing as they were in 13th at the 2k mark with their 1 guy in 65th place. Did no one tell them they were a top 4 caliber team until 2 kilometers into the race? Better luck next year NJAC.

8. Rowan ran as expected I guess. They were ranked 8th in the region going in. Weren't they ranked nationally at one point though? I don't really know what to say about them. Seems like they ran good for their ability at Mike Woods and Regionals, but not so good at their home course for the Inter-Regional border battle and the NJAC meet. Maybe they should move their home course to Letchworth.

9. TCNJ really shit the bed. Nothing much else to say than that. Good job by Tedeschi grabbing the last individual qualifier spot and giving TCNJ something to smile about and the NJAC one runner in Wisconsin next week. What happened to your gweedo teammates? Glad to hear he's a nice kid though.

10. Oneonta took home the final spot in the top 10. Looking at what they did all year they had a shot at a top 10 finish, and they did it. Good job.

Chances we see Geneseo or SLU on the podium, anyone?

AR Expert wrote:

Chances we see Geneseo or SLU on the podium, anyone?

Very slim. Geneseo seems to have the better shot of the two, but although they're deep, and have a 1/2 capable of making AA, the rest of the pack will undoubtedly be too far back in such a large race to contend with the likes of EC/NCC/etc.

When SLU is on, they've got about the same chances, but Patterson and Kirui are too inconsistent to bet on, and they really don't have a 6th guy to step up if either of those two falter.

Anyone want to guess the number of AR All Americans on the men's side?

I'm going with 3, but I think there will be 10 from the AR in the top-50. We've got some good runners, but not a lot of standouts.

My picks:

1. Isaac Garcia-Cassani

2. One of the SLU guys

3. Sawyer Hitchcock

Gonna say we get Issac, Sawyer, Caulfield and Sidi. Geneseos 2-3 have a chance. I wont make the mistake of disregarding Hamilton again. They will probably place better than 25; I would say 15-20, but not a chance they get an all-american.

Hey guys Lincoln here! I am just here to bring you this years unoffical Flotrack, D3 Atlantic Region XC "Flo Awards"... it's whose number 1! (a bunch of noises that no one cares about blah blah blah) just kidding.

Now that the 2015 AR XC season is done, its time to discuss the awards from this season. Now these awards can be anything from just the "best male" to "best ingrown toe nail". IT DOES NOT MATTER. Lets just throw some awards or superlatives out there to get this thing going. These are completely my own opinion.

*only known AR runners

"Best flow" - Isaac Garcia Cassani

Runner up - David Busby

"Most likely to catch some waves after Nationals" - Travis Briggggggs

"Best dressed at regionals" - Charles (Adam) Pfander

"Slowest walk up to award at regionals" - James (Boofer) Bailey

"Most likely ran with a brick up their butt at regionals" - Tyler Grimm

"Together forever" - Collins and Mulcahy

"Best name" - Joe Smith

Other possible awards... most improved in the region, fastest ginger (I could look for this, but that requires so much work), most likely to crash on your couch, most likely to have a kid, the list goes on... I would also like to acknowledge Sir Fists A Lot on "Lets Run MVP"

Werd.

Heart Hurting Performance: Gary Messina

TheBoiz wrote:

Heart Hurting Performance: Gary Messina

I was wondering what happened to him. Ran 27:00?!!??, looked primed to make it to nationals leading up to his abysmal performance....

Team most likely to collapse so epically that it makes us question our existence as a region: Geneseo

All Americans wrote:

Gonna say we get Issac, Sawyer, Caulfield and Sidi. Geneseos 2-3 have a chance. I wont make the mistake of disregarding Hamilton again. They will probably place better than 25; I would say 15-20, but not a chance they get an all-american.

Sidi? Pretty bold pick. I wouldn't sleep on Fazio, the ONLY returning All American from the AR.

Hulk wrote:

All Americans wrote:

Gonna say we get Issac, Sawyer, Caulfield and Sidi. Geneseos 2-3 have a chance. I wont make the mistake of disregarding Hamilton again. They will probably place better than 25; I would say 15-20, but not a chance they get an all-american.

Sidi? Pretty bold pick. I wouldn't sleep on Fazio, the ONLY returning All American from the AR.

Give it a break.

a nice plaque for the wall wrote:

Anyone want to guess the number of AR All Americans on the men's side?

I'm going with 3, but I think there will be 10 from the AR in the top-50. We've got some good runners, but not a lot of standouts.

My picks:

1. Isaac Garcia-Cassani

2. One of the SLU guys

3. Sawyer Hitchcock

You think Sawyer is more likely to be an AA than Fazio? You must go to a state school. Idiot.

6.Geneseo

10.SLU

19.Hsmilton

Watched the race...looked like Issac was top 15 and Fazio was all american? Can anyone find results?

Geneseo with a third place finish!! Great come back from last year. Good to see after everyone was trashing them on here for their performance from last year. They return some top athletes so they should still have the pieces to be good next year.

SLU fell back a little to 15th place. A little below where they should have been but good performance by average Joe Smith and Caulfield. Honestly it is a little surprising that they had 2 in the top 35 and didn't place higher as a team.

Hamilton finished 21st. Great that they got to nationals.

Congrats to the all americans Issac (8th overall!!! will he be a national champion before he graduates?), Joe Smith (not so average anymore!! 10th place), Fazio (good to see him come back after an injury last year) and Caulfield.

Also, great job the the Geneseo and Oneonta women on top 8 finishes and RPI for a top 10 finish. SLU fell back a lot from last year...Kelogg did not have a great race. Can't wait for Amy Regan (We're not worthy) to return next year and snag another W.

Good performance by Sawyer Hitchcock. Still to bad Ithaca did not make it as a team.

Did anyone see the race? The guy ran crazy fast for the win... It was like 23:35? He looked rough at the end and the chase pack was closing hard on him.

Anyways I guess this is goodbye for a while. Anyone want to throw out way to early predictions for next year? I hope not but if I see one I will post my own.

Cross is over so now it is time for me to start showing and shaving like a normal human again. My pet monkey is still doing well by the way.