Ok, let me respond to a few posts here.
We aren't saying Wisconsin needs to be penalized. Just DQ them. The way the NCAA system works it doesn't matter if Wiscon was first or last in that meet. They're going to NCAAs so they could care less if they were DQd.
We too would like to find a better process for qualifying for NCAAs, but in the interim, this is a temporary solution as the wins over Wiscon shouldn't impact the at large process. If someone has a better way to qualify, please post it.
Ok moving on.
Yes, forms of this happen but as you said this was blatant. As you said it was flaunted. That's the way sports work. If you hold a guy in the NFL sneakily, no one calls it, but if you clip him wide open in front of the goal line, you get the flag.
But you misunderstand the reason why we and others are outraged by this. I could care less if Wisconsin did this three weeks ago. We are upset because Wisconsins actions impact the at-large process. That's the issue here. Lots of teams tempo for a few miles or the whole way in the first meet of the season, but that's fine as the meet doesn't count for NCAA scoring.
This is not true for 2 reasons.
1) We didn't acknoweldge that teams do this at conference meets. I've NEVER heard of a team not trying to win conference.
2) As for regionals, you're goal is to qualify. If that's what you do, then it's ok. It's pretty easy to distinguish between the two. If you want to go 90% at regionals and qualify, that's fine as you are honoring your competition as you are in the first of a two-meet championship. More importantly, your cruising into the finish isn't screwing up the at-large process.
When I was coaching at Cornell, one of my guys Bruce Hyde won the Northeast Regional as one of Byrne's Iona Kenyans wasn't killing it from the front early on and it gave him a chance late.
Yes but part of capitalism is how do the consumers react. With the little league softball team, there was outrage. Here there is some as well. A coaches job is not to win it's a) to please his boss the AD. Plenty of coaches are fired in basketball for a boring style of play.
People defending this action keep using the slippery slope argument of "How will we not DQ everyone as few people give 100% in every race?" That's stupid. The slippery slope fears exist with everything.
I can turn that on you. If you are fine with teams jogging courses, then what about this. I used to think about this when I was at Cornell. So I'm friendly with Syracuse's Chris Fox. Are you fine with me driving the Big Red up to Syracuse on a Tuesday and he has his guys run a tempo so I crush them and get the at-large points. In return, whenever I'm talking to a top runner in recruiting who can't qualify academically for Cornell, I agree to praise SU.
Of course that would spark outrage as it's jeopardizing the NCAA at large system. This is doing the same thing.
I'd much rather have the NCAA say you can fly to a course and run it as practice. Change that rule. Don't let teams not try in competition in countable meets.
I would have much rather had Wisconsin flaunt the you can't fly to a course to practice rule than not try in a race. They could have done the following. Fly to meet and then only race 3 ot their studs. Saying the the others were sick or had injury scares and let them see tempo the course while the others were warming up.