Big Sky XC - 2017

NAU's newest commit Joey DeFeo will carry the jacks to victory.

Grijalva?

Southern Utah men's team should be very good this year, but I believe that Nau return seven of their top new for last years NCAA Championship team, three of which were All Americans in Baxter, Day and Trouard whom both red shirted outdoor track. Blaise Ferro really came on at the end of track (redshirted Xc in the fall). Recruiting wise I believe they have two freshman coming in who ran 8:45 and 8:55 for two miles and four more freshmen that all ran under 9:19 for two miles, plus a slew of others that have been at NAU for awhile. They will have potentially tremendous depth plus lots of talent, another very good team for this season.

Here are the two teams for next year, top 7's only.

Northern Arizona

Matt Baxter 13:44/28:48 SR. NZL

Tyler Day 13:49/29:06 JR. AZ

Cory Glines 13:58/29:11 SR. OH

Geordie Beamish 8:10/13:53 SO. NZL

Blaise Ferro 8:26/14:09 FR. NJ

Andy Trouard 8:10/14:13 SR. AZ

Peter Lomong 8:16/14:26 JR. VA

Grijalva and Knudsen with their super strong 3200's at 8th/9th, maybe Harvey Nelson?

Southern Utah

Mike Tate 3:42/13:39 SR. CAN

Kasey Knevelbaard 3:41/13:50 JR. CA

Matt Wright 8:07/29:27 SR. UT

Josh Collins 8:02/14:12 JR. UT

Mark Bennett 8:32/14:18 JR. AZ

Aidan Reed 3:59/8:23 SO. MT

Nate Osterstock 3:55/8:23 FR. UT

George Espino (1:48/3:49) and Liam Kennell (3:48/14:39) at 8th and 9th

Tyler Day and Trouard redshirted this track season. It looks like they still raced unattached though with Day running 28:46, and Trouard running 3:38, 13:36. Both will be running at the US championships later this week. That makes quite a top 5 not including any improvements from the younger guys or incoming freshman

haven't been keeping up as much this season, thanks for the heads up. That is national championship material for sure...

Men's side: It is all about NAU and Southern Utah. Believe it will be a glorified dual meet at the conference meet, definitely give the edge to NAU, but it will be a battle. Think Weber should be next best team again in third with Montana State looking in best position to get fourth. Give the nod to Mike Tate to win individual title.

Women's side: NAU will be hard to beat if they are healthy. My pick for second is Montana. Most of their athletes improved greatly on the track and they are very solid. Weber State should be good, but not nearly as good as they were losing Child and Whettan, still pick them third. Fourth is up for grabs with transfer of Snyder, maybe Idaho State with their incoming recruits and a solid front runner in Dodge. Who will win the individual title? Gilchrist is she is healthy, if she isn't, it is anyone's guess.

Any other transfers in or out?

Fantastic conference. Class act all the way through.

Gotta go NAU comfortably on the men's side with SUU, Weber, and likely MSU.

Women's side is fairly wide open as the conference hit a bit of a reset. Lots of opportunity for teams who have never won a title to contend over the next few years. Edge right now is NAU but I like SUU, ISU and UM as well.

With the departure of Dan Walker, what is the future of Weber state xc? Will Pilkington get the job? Will that mean greater investment in distance? Or could the opposite occur, with a non-distance coach stepping up and moving away from distance?

weebur wrote:

With the departure of Dan Walker, what is the future of Weber state xc? Will Pilkington get the job? Will that mean greater investment in distance? Or could the opposite occur, with a non-distance coach stepping up and moving away from distance?

Pilkington is a great coach but doesn't seem like he would want the burden of entire squad.

I likeHogan to get the head gig. Distance ladies are fully funded so nothing changes there. Men have title IX pressure so they will likely stay the same.

Enjoyed this thread last year. Any news in the Big Sky or thoughts?

Coaches pre-season polls:

Men's Preseason Poll

1. Northern Arizona (9) 141

2. Southern Utah (3) 135

3. Weber State 118

4. Idaho 104

5. Montana State 91

6. Idaho State 79

7. Eastern Washington 74

8. Sacramento State 57

9. Montana 53

10. Portland State 48

11. North Dakota 21

12. Northern Colorado 15

Women's Preseason Poll

1. Northern Arizona (10) 141

2. Weber State (1) 122

3. Montana (1) 113

4. Southern Utah 111

5. Idaho 106

6. Eastern Washington 77

7. Montana State 75

8. Idaho State 51

9. Sacramento State 46

10. Portland State 45

11. Northern Colorado 37

12. North Dakota 12

Men look to be pretty well ranked- I believe Weber is closer to the 4-7 grouping though. Lots of close competitions for 3-8 in my opinion. Women- Weber State is getting a bit too much respect in my personal opinion. Well coached group, but they just don't have the horses that Montana, Idaho, SUU or even ISU have. I think it's still going to be a very close meet come OCT 28

I agree, the men's ranking looks pretty good. The women, however, seem to be poorly researched. A LOT of women graduated but there's A LOT of new blood in the conference which will lead to a bunch of poor predictions.

My over/under

1. Weber St is overrated. They had their big recruit almost die this summer and won't be participating. After losing Child and Whetten they are relying on improvement in returners alone to fuel this ranking.

2. Montana St is highly underrated. Look at their roster online, they got a bunch of new girls and transfers and, despite losing the favorite for the conference title to Utah St, should be very competitive.

Then...do the SUU men have a chance at NAU?? Any chance?

What women did Montana State pick up that'll make them so good in your opinion?

Weber State is crazy deep and has talented up and comers. I expect they will be very good.

I think Southern Utah is the big question mark, they performed well last fall, but had a sub par spring, lost their top three, and are redshirting a couple good athletes.

If NAU is healthy and they easily defend.

gettin it right wrote:

..... there's A LOT of new blood in the conference which will lead to a bunch of poor predictions.

My over/under

1. Weber St is overrated. They had their big recruit almost die this summer and won't be participating. After losing Child and Whetten they are relying on improvement in returners alone to fuel this ranking.

2. Montana St is highly underrated. Look at their roster online, they got a bunch of new girls and transfers and, despite losing the favorite for the conference title to Utah St, should be very competitive.

Then...do the SUU men have a chance at NAU?? Any chance?

I believe each coach in the conference shared the "new blood" that was going to be in their lineup with the other coaches prior to rankings submission- I think everyone had ample info to make educated guesses if they cared.

That said, SUU has a snowballs chance and NAU would have to have an off race for it to be possible and SUU would have to have a good one.

I'm going on record and giving my prediction:

Men- NAU, SUU, WEBER

Women- Idaho, NAU, Montana

According to their roster online, Anna French - WV transfer - 10:46 in hs

Looks like a good pickup for sure. A few low 17:00 5k-ers and 11:00 or under 3200s from incoming freshmen.

The depth in the women's team race seems to be incredible from 3-8. Teams could be moving 3-4 spots just on a good/bad day at conference. Probably the thing to watch in Ogden in October.

Top 5 women's teams:

1. NAU - easy pick

2. Montana - assuming they replicate their outdoor successes

3. Montana St - betting on their newcomers/karma

4. Idaho - need their xc performances to live up to their track times

5. Weber - just not good enough for any higher

Men:

1. NAU

2. SUU

massive gap

3. Weber

4. Idaho

5. Montana St

(boring top 3, I know)