Big 10 XC Preview

Who is david Van orsdal and will welden? I think that wisconsin, iowa, ohio state, michigan is going to be the order at big tens this year at minnesota. The Big Ten will get 6 teams in. Minnesota will get in because of the weak midwest regional, and there is always the surprise team. Ohio state was a surprise last year and somehow they got in. I dont think Illinois has the depth or talent to run with any of the big ten teams, look for them to finish 7-8th. Minnesota has 6th place locked up.

Michigan won't get in? The Great Lakes usually gets a large number of teams into nationals (23 qualifers over the last 3 seasons). Name six teams that are definitely better than them. And then they still have a shot.

Van Orsdel was a footlocker finalist in 2002 from Hopkins, MN and Will Weldin still has eligibility?

Will this mean a lot of teams in the Big Ten will do Griak so they can see the course? It be sweet to see a early season show down.

i think 3rd-6th will be determined by injuries and whether one team over achieves the other.

Purdue finally got rid of Mike Poehlein as head coach. The guy turned away runners who wanted to walk on for him. I was one of them. I was no stud or anything. 4:20 for 1600 and 15:45 5k in high school ( i was 17 when I graduated). I wouldn't get a second look at most schools, or they might let me walk on. But when you are the whipping boy program you'd think they would at least let people walk on. The new coaches are doing what they can and I think the program will at least gain a modicum of respect in time. They let me run for my last year of eligibility, and I think that they are taking the right steps in terms of recruiting and actual structured coaching of the runners. From what I have been told, Poehlein just made workouts up daily.... 5 minutes before they were to be run.

I hope in a few years I can look at a Big Ten XC meet result and see Purdue in the top half.

There seems to be magic in teh air in Columbus.

Too bad the coaches Gary and Rob Myers can't compete.

Fisher graduated in 4 and wanted to get on with the real world. Tough loss, but don;'t forget about Footlocker finalist Levi Fox too!

Last year was a fluke. Iowa consistently falters when it counts...no way are they number 2

No, i think michigan will get in, i dont know about michigan state. I dont even think they deserved it last year. Ooops is right Lvei Fox and Jeff See are going to be huge if they run. This will be a fun year, as always to watch the big ten unfold. Does taking 13th at Nationals count as a fluke for Iowa? I dont know it may have been on there home course but they ran well last year. Michigan would have better with a healthy one two punch. Wisconsin though has the guns again to win it if they dont fall apart at NCAA's, does anyone think that they are favored? Any realistic perdictions on where the big tens will finish this year at NCAA's?

I think Wisco will win NCAAs

"Last year was a fluke. Iowa consistently falters when it counts"

your whole damn conference will falter when it counts at ncaa's! the hogs are really scared of wisco, believe me. are we up to 41 now?

Yeah, because the SEC really holds it down in cross country. Most of the teams in the SEC compete in the weakest regions and they still have trouble getting more than 2 teams to nationals. Meanwhile the Big Ten Conference puts 7 teams into the big dance, which is more than all but 1 of the regions. Arkansas is tough, but they would have a lot less conference titles in cross if they where in the Big 10. The hogs should be scared of the Badgers, they have not beaten them in over 3 years!

Good stuff........bump

Colorado will win NCAAs again. It's just what they do.

Oh, and Hogs guy: When was the last cross title you guys won?

thought so.

I hate to say this and go behind my team's back. But I think Wisc. can take it all next season. Although CU is very strong and very young, the only reason we won last year, I believe, is that Wisc. had a horrible race at Nats. Just look at what they did previously. If they would have stayed together, it wuld have been all over for us.

CU loses no one of great importance and brings back Nelson who will surely be top 25 if not top 10. Wisconsin loses Teg, and Spiker neither of whom had great races at NCs last year, but that is 2 of the top 5. They bring in Withrow who should at least be as good as Teg, Wagner, Eagon and Ford who really could be anywhere from 4-10 on their team.

Vaughn, Schoolmeester and Nelson are very close to Withrow, Bairu and Solinsky.

Wisconsin probably has more talent, but CU has a better coach and has a history of running very well at Nats.

Poehlein was a good guy, but a bit scatterbrained. He could have been a much better coach if he wasn't a head cross/track coach... Meaning he had way too much administrative stuff going on when we runners would have preferred he'd actually been at practices.

Anyways, with regard to your situation, I'm sure it was due to title 9 equity bs. They are not allowed to have any walkons because those numbers count against the gender equity numbers.

I'm surprised they wouldn't let you walk on with those times, if they are legit and you improved some. That's what I ran in HS and I did 4 good years with the program.

With that said, every Div I track program has it's priorities. For Purdue, distance has never been one. Recruiting money goes to throwers, jumpers, sprinters, and maybe some mid-distance guys. I can't blame them, as a TRACK program they've had success with this strategy. And with our history of performance in distance, what HS stud in his right mind will seek out Purdue as a top pick? The top runner at Purdue during my stay (Donnie Fellows) came primarily for academic pursuits. In other words, we take what we can get. Despite the coaching change, I don't see distance turning around at Purdue anytime soon.

The Purdue coach turned me away too - 4:19 1600, 1:53 800. He wouldn't even talk to me - just sent an email saying I can walk on if I'd like, but wouldn't really get any support.

down with purdue!

catinthebag wrote:

The Purdue coach turned me away too - 4:19 1600, 1:53 800. He wouldn't even talk to me - just sent an email saying I can walk on if I'd like, but wouldn't really get any support.

I don't dislike Poehlein, the times I talked to him, I think he is a genuinely nice guy. I don't think he had the clout to get what he wanted for the distance runners, or to recruit like he may have wanted to. I can't argue with Purdue's success in the sprints (men) and the throws. For a few years they were sweeping the sprints at Big Tens.

Turning away guys like catinthebag is why the distance program mostly sucks. Guys who run 4:19 and 1:53 have at least the potential to get faster, given little more than encouragement and a good training program.

Most of us don't want money, we just wanted to get faster and race. Title 9 bullshit screws a lot of us.