No Rosa, Rosa, Fisher for Stanford- Are they healthy?

Do you know for a fact they aren't running? I'd like to update our preview if you have confirmation.

"This is a Cardinal lineup that should look very different from the one that will run at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21. The NCAA team should include All-America twins Jim and Joe Rosa, freshman Grant Fisher, and perhaps graduate transfer Collin Leibold – each of whom is withheld from Wisconsin for different reasons. However, one asset of Stanford is its’ depth."

This is from the Stanford official release. I forgot to add Leibold as well. So it seems that:

1) "Various reasons" makes sense: Presumably, Fisher is preserving eligibility, one of them is injured (perhaps Leibold and/or Jim Rosa) and another is merely focusing on regaining fitness (Joe Rosa, who was good but not in tip top form at Wash U)

2) Any injuries that exist appear to be relatively minor or on the back end of healing, as the NCAA team "should include" all of them

3) They are planning on racing Fisher this year in the Stanford uniform (as they should)

"Various reasons" can't refer to Fisher preserving eligibility if the same press release says they expect him to run on Nov 21.

[quote]quack goes the duck wrote:

"This is a Cardinal lineup that should look very different from the one that will run at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21. The NCAA team should include ... freshman Grant."

This is from the Stanford official release. I forgot to add Leibold as well. So it seems that:

1) "Various reasons" makes sense: Presumably, Fisher is preserving eligibility,

Er... wrote:

"Various reasons" can't refer to Fisher preserving eligibility if the same press release says they expect him to run on Nov 21.

[quote]quack goes the duck wrote:

"This is a Cardinal lineup that should look very different from the one that will run at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21. The NCAA team should include ... freshman Grant."

This is from the Stanford official release. I forgot to add Leibold as well. So it seems that:

1) "Various reasons" makes sense: Presumably, Fisher is preserving eligibility,

actually it definitely could. If they aren't going to be running a full squad at Wisco (and likely not going to earn a significant amount of at large points) then it could make sense to them to not race Fisher now in a meet that won't affect their ultimate goals for the season (NCAA, Pac 12) just in case he were to get hurt in between. Look at the scenarios:

A) Run Fisher as part of a partial squad: potentially give points by racing 4 of their final 7 (McGorty, Fisher, Wharton, and Sweatt, for example) but, being short handed, do not win the meet or beat top tier teams like Cuse or Iona. If Fisher stays healthy it's fine, but if he gets hurt next week then medical redshirt rules stating that he must not compete during the second half of the season could result in him losing his eligibility.

B) Don't run Fisher as part of a partial squad: still not beating the top teams, but ensure that they can decide the day before Pac12s if he is healthy and ready to roll and have both options completely on the table.

I would personally run him because Wisco would give him some good experience racing in what amounts to NCAAs-lite, and practice things like getting out in a big field, packing up with McGorty, etc. However, that doesn't meet that even if they are hoping to ultimately run him at NCAAs that they aren't making an effort to protect his eligibility by holding him out.

Leibold is coming back from injury over the summer so I'm guessing that's why he's not racing.

Can't say I know why the Rosas aren't running. I would be a bit worried that Jim isn't racing considering he hasn't run an XC race all year (and didn't run any in 2014 either).

When I spoke to Chris Miltenberg last month, he said that if Fisher were to run for Stanford this fall, it likely wouldn't come until Pac-12s. His line of thinking essentially seems to be "if we get to late October and Fisher is still healthy and can make a big impact, then we will race him."

The lineup at Pac-12s will tell us a lot. Stanford's top 7 finishers at Pac-12s was the team they ran at NCAAs. I would expect them to run a full-strength squad at Pac-12s this year as well.

Jonathan Gault wrote:

The lineup at Pac-12s will tell us a lot. Stanford's top 7 finishers at Pac-12s was the team they ran at NCAAs. I would expect them to run a full-strength squad at Pac-12s this year as well.

To clarify: Stanford's top 7 finishers at Pac-12s in 2014 were the team they ran at NCAAs in 2014.

The other bit of news buried in the release, on the women's side, is that Cranny is "working through an injury and is hoping to return by the end of the season"

Stanford release is here:

http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=210422793

Milt ran spilt squads throughout the season last year. I would assume Grant and Joe are healthy as both have raced well. Jim may be getting back to form and may not race until he absolutely needs to. Milt said he learned his lesson McGorty's freshman year and he likely doesn't want Fisher tailing off from a long season.

I think people are sleeping on McGorty and I believe he will be top 3 this weekend and could win.

Here is Stanford's release from a couple weeks back which answers the "are they healthy question:

http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=770311&SPID=130812&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=210384693

"Rosa, Leibold, and Wharton are working their way back from injuries."

As LetsRun reported about a month back, Wharton sustained a foot injury during spring track but is healthy now and fit enough to race tomorrow. He's already burned a redshirt season so desire is to race him. We'll see just how fit he really is.

Jim Rosa apparently picked up some soreness to his repaired knee following his Pan Ams 10k race late July. Again, he's already redshirted xc so he'll be back in uniform if he can regain necessary fitness.

Same w/Collin . . . no more xc eligibilty after this so he'll race if he can.

Joe & Grant are being held out simply as a coaches decision.

IF . . . big IF . . . McGorty, Keelan, Wharton, Sweatt,& both Rosas can maintain/regain racing fitness, and Leibold or someone else such as Cam Miller or Steve Fahy can show they belong on the travel squad as the 7th & 8th men (Miller & Fahy get their opportunity tomorrow) . . . then pretty good chance the redshirt stays on Fisher.

Jerry probably lost an NCAA title by holding Withrow out as a freshman to preserve his redshirt at Wisco. The bird on the course is worth two on the sidelines.

I can't believe Stanford is running a B squad and giving away Kolas points to the undeserving.

Stanford's coaches are being conservative and planning for bigger races. Slow-steady progress...

Wisco Fan wrote:

I can't believe Stanford is running a B squad and giving away Kolas points to the undeserving.

They won't give points unless 4 of the 7 they run at regionals are running at Wisco.

If they're holding out the Rosas, Liebold and Fisher, then run them at regionals, anyone who beats Stanford at Wisco gets zero points from beating Stanford.

What incentive does McGorty have to race this at all hard? None.

Shoebacca wrote:

What incentive does McGorty have to race this at all hard? None.

McGorty is relatively untested and inexperienced at the top level of NCAA XC. Yes, he was 20th last year, but contending for a top-5 spot is a different thing altogether, so being in a top race like Wisco, where he'll be battling for the win, could go a long way in setting him up for Nationals. He wasn't tested at all at Stanford Invite.

Shoebacca wrote:

What incentive does McGorty have to race this at all hard? None.

Good practice for NCAAs running in a crowded, competitive field. Winning this race gives you a ton of confidence heading into NCAAs. I'll take a confident athlete over one who has rested all season any day. I bet every winner of wisco has placed in the top 10 at NCAAs that year. Stop thinking racing hard 5-6 weeks out from a championship is going to somehow make you fall apart.

Because running hard makes you a better runner?

Shoebacca wrote:

What incentive does McGorty have to race this at all hard? None.

"its' depth."

Come on Stanford.