BEST TEAM IN INDIANA

Men or women?

Women I think the nod has to go to ND and then Ball State.

Men, probably IU and then ND and maybe Butler.

At NCAAs, where it matters, ND will be on top for both. The only debate is if the ND women will finish higher than the ND men for the first time ever.

ND certainly has the nod for right now on the women's side. You are correct. They have super studs returning and super studs incoming. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

BSU returns all their runners. Indiana adds 10:38 3200m runner Jessica Gall. Purdue should be solid. Butler will be weak. In. State will be weak.

Like I said, it should come down to ND and BSU with ND having the nod for now.

I don't know how you think BSU can even come close to ND. ND was 2nd at GL and 18th (?) at nationals and return everyone. They're number one runner (Lauren King) went on to run 4:16 in the 1500, Jen Handley was a qualifier for the 5k outdoor, and they bring in Molly Huddle. BSU can't compete with that.

Wow, BSU sucks?! Hmm, seems like maybe you are a little penis envy. Meaning, you only care to talk up the big name schools.

I just looked on their website on some past articles and it seems that they return two cross country national qualifiers. ONe of them finished 17th last year, hmm, better than any ND athlete.

And while yes, ND has some very very good kids coming in (I believe that's why I said ND gets the nod) you don't win championships on paper. IT'll come down to race day at regionals.

Pretty immature to come right out and say that BSU sucks when they plainly don't.

Have a great day.

Probably the Invaders.

Oh, did you mean college?

He didn't ask what team has the most members sleeping with the coach.

Hey, that's one I haven't heard yet - care to share more details?

How will Notre Dame beat Butler when butler returns its entire team (Minus Young, but adds Tucker) and from what I have heard adds 2 more very capable runners. Notre Dame lost 6 of their top 7. Mobley will be good, Moore could be good. But those two are not Shay and Watson. Look for Butler to surprise a lot of people. Also IU will not be as good as everyone thinks. Studying abroad and injury rehab will hurt this team.

I wish someone would have asked this question a few years ago. It would have provided an extremely rare opportunity to say that Indiana State was among the best in the state. Alas, the Sycamores are back to their perennial "rebuilding" ways.

As for now, I'd give votes to ND and Butler as the best of the men's programs.

BTW, whatever happened to Purdue? Those teams used to be stacked back in the mid-80s. Did Coach Poelein (sorry, I know that's a spelling nightmare) finally destroy the program?

Why the need to bash ISU? They do it right, by funding athletes in all event areas, not just distance. If you look at their record over the past decade, they've probably had as many All-Americans and national qualifiers in T&F as anybody in the state. Granted, the XC program runs in cycles, but when you're trying to run a balanced program, you're going to have that. They also focus their recruiting efforts on in-state kids who weren't prep superstars. As a mid-major, their record of success across the board is as good as anyone's.

ND lost 5 of their top 7, not 6. David Alber, a 901 steepler and 1419 5k runner returns. Also, just because they lost 5 of their 7 doesn't mean they are slim. You didn't see the other guys last year because you can only race 7. ND's second team scored about 20 pts at Central Collegiates, granted Western Mich was the only competition. At Pre-Nats, when Shay and Conway went down, they scored Mario Bird, who was their about their 12th runner. They still placed 2nd in their heat.

As for Butler, ND beat them at districts by 72 pts last year not racing Shay or Conway. With Moore coming in, a 72 pt cushion is more than enough to stay ahead. That assumer Tucker replaces Young about evenly. But we'll see.

As for IU, what is the deal with Powers?

Butler recruited an 8:50 chaser and a Great Britain senior reserve x.c. runner (33rd world x.c. juniors '99) so I think you'll find that Notre will get a caning.

Valpo, hands down.

Sorry you misunderstood, but there is no way in hell that I was bashing the Sycamore XC or track programs. All I meant was that this year's XC team will not be as strong as it was when Jason Gunn, Rick Sluder and some of the others were still there. That's all.

Rode and Stafford should be strong this year, but I just don't know how the rest of the team will shape up. Contri should also do well, but there's a lot of youth on that team.

I would agree that McNichols has done a great job of coordinating the programs since he landed at ISU in 1983, and I still believe that Gartland is the best distance coach in the state.

Valpo...?won't even win the Mid-Con...

Alber finished behind Butler's 5th runner last year at NCAAs.