2019 D3 Great Lakes Region XC

Always forget that you guys exist.

include lake ontario or GTFO

1. Calvin - 8 Returners ran 15:30 or faster this Track Season

2. Otterbein - They're rely on their Top 3 but their depth will come through

3. John Carroll - Young team but improved a lot in Track.

4. DePauw - Not overly impressive in track but will have experience

5. Case Western - Will have a low stick but 4/5 will hurt them

6. Trine - 4 Guys at 15:21-15:35 but no 5th. Can they translate that to XC?

7. Albion -Return 5, but not great track season

8. Mount Union - Young team but will to pack up in order to succeed.

9. Wabash - Returns a good. Mid-D heavy. How will that show in XC

10. Baldwin Wallace - A solid 4 but need a 5th.

Region gets 5 this year.

If I had to make a prediction on teams that make it to nationals today,

Calvin

Otterbein

Case Western

JCU could be good, they have some decent returners, they will rely heavily on unproven guys. Ian Pierson ran 3:55 over 1500 but can't seem to crack 15:30 for 5k. Maybe they will have some good freshman?

Calvin and Otterbein seem to be a step above everyone else.

1. Calvin-Always dominant

2. Otterbein-Returns most of top 7

3. JCU- Young team with potential

4. Case- How do they got after Trey?

5. Depauw- Lost a lot from last season

6. Albion-Looking for a 5th

7. Mount- Going to be a pack

8. Trine

9. Wabash

Individual

1. Razanaukas-CWRU

2. Hampton-Otterbein

3. A.Smith-Calvin

4. Johnson-Calvin

5. Ellis-Calvin

6. Hoffman-Otterbein

7. Hall-CWRU

8. Veach-Hanover

9. K. Smith-Albion

10. Neura-Heidelberg

It seems that Razanaukas winning would be a little bit of an upset considering he lost to 6 guys at regionals in 2018 who will be returning this year. Obviously things change from year to year, but the top returner would be Addison Smith from Calvin and you have him getting 3rd. Why?

Wabash has a really good incoming freshmen class. Obviously they have to prove themselves but they could be really good this year

This is the best group ever to come to Wabash. Now that the coach has his feet wet in college level, look out! He coached some of the best high school runners in the history of Indiana. The NCAC and Great Lakes won't know what hit them.

Razanaukas had an amazing track season with some fast times in the 5k and he will be tough to be beat. He saw some massive improvement throughout the season. Smith only had some average steeple times.

What are people looking at on the women’s side?

Baldwin-Wallace look like the clear favorites. Hope is almost always strong in cross, but they looked weak in track. Last year was so close with BW coming up clutch specifically at regionals. Who is Allegheny bringing back? Calvin is losing girl who finished 3rd in 1500 this year, but usually find enough to make it to Nationals.

Individually, Vince of Albion can’t have anymore eligibility can she? Is Brennen of BW the fav? She’s the top returner and had a dynamite track season. Or could Boltemeyer of Trine be the fav with all the older girls out? Two freshmen lead the region’s returners in 5k and 10k times from track. Feels like it’s open-ish for team and individual.

Thoughts?

Isn’t Neura done? The top group in the GL was very senior heavy!

Burt wasn’t top 100. He’ll win his conference easily with Headrick gone, but will have to step up to make it out.

Smith is more of a mid distance guy, but Albion always seems to have one sole guy or girl that is near the top of the Region.

My dark horse qualifiers are: Ethan Pine from Wabash (3:55 as a freshman and a Wabash team on the rise) and Derek Miller from Trine.

The ladies will be interesting. Look for the Oberlin senior duo to be at another level. The Case woman had a great indoor, but outdoor wasn’t as strong. Kelly will be a force. She topped Bultmeyer when it counted at Regionals and the 800 Nats. Trine raced her to death late in the year for a team that couldn’t win their conference . The Hanover freshman didn’t perform at near the same level in track. Not sure what that’s all about.

Neura has only one XC season left

Albion strikes me as more of a cross country than a track school. They tend to perform well in XC and struggle some in track.

As OP mentioned they're losing 3 of their top 7 (Wittland, Swaton, and Lusk). They're still returning 4 strong runners in Ditri (sub 15 5k), Smith (3:56 1500m), Cucuro (15:20s as a freshman although seems to have been injured during track), and Weimer (15:20s as a freshman as well). As long as one guy steps up or they get a fast recruit, they'll be set and could definitely challenge for a spot at nationals although the region will be strong this year and it would be shocking if Calvin lost given they're returning 2 national qualifiers in Ellis (10k) and Ferguson (Steeple) as well as xc all American Smith and guys like Johnson (9th in indoor 5k) and Varineau who have run some fast times and so on.

Should be fun to watch the region this year!

dfr47 wrote:

Calvin is podium material. Unfortunate fall at natty's last year stopped them. Return just about everyone, and Johnson/Smith/Ellis/Varineau could all contend for top spots. Add in Ismond, VanAppledorn, and Cummisford and they should be formidable contenders at the national level.

Otterbein won the transfer lottery and stocked up big in the past few years, so we will see if that trend continues.

JCU could very well fight for an at-large bid.

CWRU also has some notable transfers, as Raz's teammate made the switch mid-year. Some other transfers are coming into the D3 gl region from some notable places (Iowa and Adams State), so we will see where they end up.

Based off these predictions and research, I see these individuals making it out of the region (no particular order):

Bach- Mount Union

Neura- Heidelberg

Burt- Earlham

Sauerbrey- Ohio Northern

Miller- Trine

Hamed- Ohio Wesleyan

Smith- Albion

Who?

Who is transfering?

Bump for inside transfer info.

How about impact freshmen? Any truth that we'll see a Michigan 3200m champion wearing orange and blue next year?

Don't shoot the messenger. Just saying what I've heard. We'll find out on the course, I guess

Based on last years results, removing seniors, the top 15 this year would be..

1. Smith- Calvin

2. Hoffman- Otterbein

3. Hampton- Otterbein

4. Johnson- Calvin

5. Ellis- Calvin

6. Neura- Heidelberg

7. Razanauskas- CWRU

8. Ferguson- Calvin

9. Martin- DePauw

10. Hall- CWRU

11. Diebold- Adrian

12. Stevenot- Rose-Hulman

13. Varineau- Calvin

14. Veach- Hanover

15. Pierson- JCU

Calvin puts 5 in the top 13 and is the obvious favorites with 31 points. Otterbein and CWRU both have two in this top 15 with Otterbein having an advantage with their two low sticks. Otterbeins 3 comes in a few spots ahead of CWRU's 3, but CWRU seems to have significantly better depth at this point. Should be a good battle for the 2nd automatic spot.