Big Sky XC 2016

Top 10 in my book in the individual race is a big deal. So far nobody has come up with a reasonable option outside NAU and SUU guys to break into the top 10.

But what about the women? Who are the top candidates? Potential surprises to be top 10??

Sure bets:

Reiter EWU

Whetten Weber

Who else?

Time warp wrote:

Billybop wrote:

Women

No way Eastern Washington is not going to do that well! Southern Utah and Montana are both a reach to place that high.

No longer 2015, billybop. The times they are a changin, to quote a Nobel Prize winner.

You need to read Billybop's comment with the proper punctuation. I'm sure he/she meant to say:

No way! EWU is not going to do that well! SUU and Montana are both a reach to finish that high.

Just saying the Idaho women are pretty good and just beat UM. Times a changing since 2 weeks ago?

The EWU sentence earlier was a mess. Meant to say that EWU was not going to place that well. I would say if they are 7th it would be a really good race for them. This is based on results. Maybe there are things I am unaware of though...

Townsend

Indies wrote:

Top 10 in my book in the individual race is a big deal. So far nobody has come up with a reasonable option outside NAU and SUU guys to break into the top 10.

But what about the women? Who are the top candidates? Potential surprises to be top 10??

Sure bets:

Reiter EWU

Whetten Weber

Who else?

1. Reiter EWU

2. Whetten Weber

3. Townsend NAU

4. Child Weber

5. Spiker- Idaho

6. Story- Idaho

7. Snyder - MSU

8. Malespina- NAU

9. Nickerson- SUU

10. Dilmore- Weber

* Gilchrist of NAU has potential to be top 5 when healthy. Will run, but no one knows how healthy she really is.

Does Portland St. ever have a shot at breaking top 5 on men or women's side? What holds them back? Seems like they were rebuilding XC programs starting a few years back. Not trolling - just curious, as I am a mid-1990s alum.

Old alum wrote:

Does Portland St. ever have a shot at breaking top 5 on men or women's side? What holds them back? Seems like they were rebuilding XC programs starting a few years back. Not trolling - just curious, as I am a mid-1990s alum.

In 15 years of following Big Sky track and cross country I have never seen Portland State finish in the top 5 or even close to it. They are usually the last ranked team in the Big Sky. Individually, I have seen some good women runners from PSU but they are very rare. On the men, I have never, ever seen an good individual that has placed anywhere near the all conference performers.

I always figured that PSU has never invested in its cross country or track programs. In track, they used to have a really good womens sprint program which would put them in the top 5 at conference regularly. Had they combined that with a good distance program, they would have gotten a couple titles over the years. Hope things improve over at PSU, but look for both their squads to finish last tomorrow.

I would consider putting Dodge from Idaho State in there somewhere. Don't know much about her but she's been right there all year.

NAU 1,2,3,4,5,6. number 7 was like 9 place.

Clinical by NAU. Wasn't even hard for them. Would it be more fun for them if they joined the Mountain West?

Big upset by the NAU women, great job.

SUU women prove they were real. UM did well also.

Idaho State's men showed up and squeaked out that 4th place finish.

Reiter falls to a Weber girl and not named Hailey.

Congrats to the NAU men. It´s pretty special what they did today. They not only scored a perfect 15 but did so with another top 20 nationally ranked team in the race. They took 7 of the top 10 spots. That is sick.

Women race was as advertised. Surprised to see Child win over favored Reiter and her teammate. Child is a much better 5K runner than 6K. We overlooked that fact. NAU women take down favored Weber. Nice way for coach Erick Heins to go out.

Idaho women disappointed a bit. I thought them being on their home course would have an advantage. SUU women did very well and have a young solid team which will cause problems for others in the future.

The live stream provided by Idaho nothing short of a disaster. I have never seen such unprofessional work from a University. Those kids were all over the place, almost running spectators over, cussing on camera, laughing as they went over bumps and took sharp turns and almost never showing the actual race. I appreciate them trying to cover the race on video, but a little effort in organization would not hurt one bit.

Pretty funny how many people trashed the SUU women on this thread. Insecure people...

How come SUU men,s number 1 guy...is it Mike Tate, is not running this year? Last year at Big Sky I think he was second. I believe he is a Junior. I just think SUU men's team will arrive. Maybe next year but they are coming!!!

keepsimple11 wrote:

How come SUU men,s number 1 guy...is it Mike Tate, is not running this year? Last year at Big Sky I think he was second. I believe he is a Junior. I just think SUU men's team will arrive. Maybe next year but they are coming!!!

I think they are redshirting him this year. SUU has always had a good team, I have been hearing that ¨they are coming¨ ever since the days of Cam Levins but the best they can do is hover around 20th in the nation. It is a great program, but I don´t know what they mean when they say wait until next year and that they are coming. Next year, they will have a similar team. The only way they have a chance over NAU is if NAU redshirts their entire A squad to save them for a national run at the title like they did last year. NAU is loaded for at least the next 3 years. Most of their current team comes back next year. The only unreplaceable runner is Futsum but next year they bring a red shirt freshman who is being polished this year to debut next year. Look for similar results next year at conference between these two powerful squads.

Who has a chance to make nationals?

Apart from the obvious NAU men. What other teams or individuals have a chance to make it to the big dance? Regionals is a 10K form men and 6K for women.

Can the NAU women team make nationals? Will SUU men make it? Individually, will the two Weber girls make it? Will NAU´s Townsend? Sarah Reiter?

I think Sarah Reiter and Whetten will make it. Child and Townsend have a shot. I predict that SUU men will get left out. The Mountain region is the toughest to make nationals in.

Do you even understand how making it to nationals works, SUUs men are pretty much already in as long as they take top 6 in the Mountain which is very doable for a team with their talent

OK, the biggest win in conference history happens this weekend and nobody has anything to say? At least a nice congratulations to NAU for putting the Big Sky conference on the map would be appreciated!

Congrats to Southern Utah for their 29th place and to Sarah and Ellie Childs for their solid run in the womens race.

To NAU, even though they were #1 in the nation most of the season, I had doubts they could win. There are so many good teams out there, I thought Colorado, Stanford or Syracuse had the better talent. It really is incredible that a school from our very own Big Sky conference can win a NCAA national championship these days. I was really happy to see coach Heins and NAU take one for the Big Sky. Nice job guys.