D2 East Region - 2015

Stonehill FTW. Followed by Bentley, Merrimack and AIC. Rounding out the top 5 is that dingus team from the other conference who doesn't like using the lord's name in vein

nexctrackfan wrote:

Is it confirmed that Biwott is not coming back for his last year of XC?

Without him in the race - I would agree that AIC will not win the team race - also not convinced that Chirchir wins the overall race either. He certainly will be in the race for the top spot, but several guys can/have beaten him.

Full AIC Roster from TFRRS confirms that Biwott is gone.

Chirchir, John JR-3

Byrne, Mitchell SO-2

Green, Nick SR-4

Mehretu, Siem RS-FR-1

Hume, Kemani SO-2

Bean, Kyle SO-2

Rolim, Andre RS-SO-2

It looks like they have still have a solid top three (Chirchir/Byrne/Green) - but some serious question marks after that - maybe another Kenyan comes in as a freshmen and they are right back in the mix, but with this roster I do not see them finishing in the top three in their conference, much less the D2 East.

AIC updated XC website

They did recruit another Kenyan runner - Leakey Kipsogei - as well as - Jeremy Antivo coming back as a grad student, a transfer from Pittsburgh (listed as a Freshmen?) - Jared Mason and another runner from CA who might help - Jacob Boatman.

They may have just vaulted themselves back into the driver seat for D2 East - looks like we will see them and Stonehill next weekend at St. A's meet - would be surprised if either team ran hard though, but at least we will see new recruits "live".

Top 5 Teams:

1. AIC

Returns four runners that placed in the top 20 at 2014 D2 East Regionals. Filling in the final three spots will be Kemani Hume (SO) who ran 8:52 for 3000m indoors, Siem Mehretu (FR) who ran 8:43/15:42 in 2015, and Leakey Kipkosgei (FR) who is definitely an unknown quantity at this point other than being noted as having won the Kenya Inter-High School 1500m Championship in 2013. Until proven otherwise, the defending champions are the front runners as they come back fully loaded.

2. Roberts Wesleyan

RW returns a strong five from a team that finished third at D2 East Regionals last year, with all five having placed in the top 30. As a team, they saw only marginal improvement on the track, so it doesn’t look like they will be able to compete up front for points and will have to rely on depth, but what depth it is. The five returners had a spread of only 23 seconds at last year’s regional meet, which is exactly the type of spread which could be deadly to a top-heavy team like Franklin Pierce.

3. Stonehill

Stonehill graduated four of its seven runners from its 2014 Regionals squad, but as usual, is incredibly deep. The top four returners were all in the top 20 at NE10s, and the top six were in the top 40. Look for Daniel Nolan to fill in the remaining spot in the top seven after a strong indoor and outdoor campaign saw him lower his 5000m PR to 15:21. Stonehill will likely not have the firepower up front to compete with AIC, and will have to win on depth.

4. Franklin Pierce

Although Franklin Pierce returns five runners from its 2014 Regionals team, it finds itself a little top-heavy at the start of the season. The team will be led by the power trio of BJ Smith, Colton Ham, and Dage Minors, who should all be in contention for single digit points come the D2 East race. After that though, there is a substantial drop off, where it looks like the gap will be filled by two rising juniors, Jon Holmes and Dylan Crowley. Isaac Fithian (SR), could provide a significant boost to the team as well if he can return to the form he showed in 2013/2014, when he was 32nd in the region in cross and ran 15:52 for 5000m outdoors.

5. Bentley University

With a deep junior class supplemented by several strong sophomores and seniors, Bentley returns everyone from its 2014 Regionals team, but at this point in the season finds itself on the outside looking in for the three nationals qualifying spots. Stonehill returns five runners that placed above Bentley’s third runner at NE10s, making a shot at the third spot look remote barring any substantial improvement. The Falcons will need sixth and seventh returners Ryan Cadorette (SO) and Erik Alatalo (JR) to run cross times more in line with their more impressive track times in order to have a shot at Nationals.

Watch:

1. Adelphi University

Returning five runners from a 2014 team that ran better at the Regionals 10k compared to the NE10s 8k, Adelphi will be a team to watch in 2015, though given the relative youth of its team, it is more likely that they will be a factor in 2016/2017.

Top 5 Individuals:

1. BJ Smith – Franklin Pierce

A consistently excellent performer, Smith is the 2nd returner from 2014 Regionals, and put up solid numbers both indoors and out, culminating with a 31:28 performance over 10000m.

2. Michael Scott – LIU Post

The top returner from 2014, Scott ran relatively uninspiring times on the track following a strong cross campaign. Unless he rebounds, it is unlikely that he will challenge Smith for the top spot.

3. Ignatio Hernando – SNHU

A surprise to some, Hernando has made some noise already this cross season upsetting John Chirchir of AIC at the opening meet of the season. Hernando, a transfer, ran 15:13 on the track last year.

4. John Chirchir – AIC

A consistently strong performer each year, Chirchir ran 31:38 for 10000m outdoors. He has been in the top 10 for both Regionals and NE10s in each of his seasons for AIC, and looks to continue the same success this year.

5. Dieter Gutbrod – SCSU

2014/2015 was a year of solid improvement for Gutbrod, as he dropped his mile time from 4:31 to 4:11 and his 1500m from 3:57 to 3:50. That success transferred over to cross as well, as the Owl finished 9th at the conference meet and 11th at Regionals.

Watch:

1. Leakey Kipkosgei – AIC

Until Kipkosgei races, there isn’t much to say here, other than that he is someone to keep a very close eye on.

Notes on week one: Has anyone seen Nyack's roster? 3 new Kenyan names. What's going on with Adelphi, did kids sit out the first race? Only notable change was SNHU's positive shift in rankings, and Adelphi's negative. Stonehill also looked strong very strong at Shacklette.

Franklin PierCE is also the next IVY LEaGUE ScHOOL!!!! So They will school everyone at NE10s and at Regionals!!!! You heard it here first!!!!

Wow, it looks like they may have pulled in quite the recruiting class this year. (Then again, just being from Kenya doesn't make you a world-beater by default)Three Kenyans, and a guy from Zimbabwe? To be honest, I didn't even know they also had a track program until I went to their athletics site to investigate.

d2 East region wrote:

Notes on week one: Has anyone seen Nyack's roster? 3 new Kenyan names. What's going on with Adelphi, did kids sit out the first race? Only notable change was SNHU's positive shift in rankings, and Adelphi's negative. Stonehill also looked strong very strong at Shacklette.

Wow. To top it off, throw in another 4 freshman girls from Kenya.

As awesome as it must be to bring all of these kids in and give them the opportunity to compete and go to school here, you still need to manage them correctly. Can't buy a ton of kids for a few years and be successful if you have no idea how to keep them on track, healthy and making gains.

Only reason I doubt this is because knowing Emerson there'd be 15 tweets about it

on a side note how does Franklin Pierce's coach have so many twitter followers??????

with the NE-10 twelve days away, who you got winning the men's title? It might be closer than everyone thinks.

Stonehill if they run their top guys

AIC if Stonehill doesn't run their top guys

FPU if they peak early

Gotta give Stonehill due respect.

Boen has a history of peaking her athletes well every year for this meet (and Region), and I sincerely doubt that will change anytime soon.

As previously stated numerous times, Stonehill's depth gives them quite an advantage at NE-10s.

Same goes for their women's team, save for their front-runners added in.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else is capable of (especially Southern New Hampshire- who doesn't love the up-and-coming challenger archetype?).

If Stonehill doesnt run their top guys, they will lose for sure. AIC, and, or FPU could make a push to top Stonehill if they can pack up their first three, and back two. Fast course next weekend, could be some fast times.

If you think Stonehill won't run their top guys, you're out of your mind. Try and explain to your boss that you lost a conference title because you were saving your guys for a meet (regionals) that there's no guarantee of winning. Winning conference titles looks great for a school, no need to sit anyone unless you're a top 5 team in the NATION against an awful conference or because you're battling injuries.

Who do you guys think is going to surprise the NE-10 this weekend? Coaches poll came out yesterday, what do you think should be different?

I can't find it on ustfccca, link?