OAC XC 2019

Calling the 14:57 guy over the 14:32 guy? Bold.

It's Hampton's race to lose

He was their 5th man at their first meet, and it wasn’t even really close. He figured it out a bit at their second meet but still didn’t run anything crazy fast.. track times don’t always correlate to the course. I’m not saying he won’t win, I’m just saying that he’s shown more weakness than some others.

Yeah, you’re right. I think the guy who ran 24:4x in XC last year and is a two time all American on the track is going to lose to Austin Neura from the Berg. That checks out to me.

Well, about 5 posts deep and its obvious that Neura made this thread

Alright alright. Who let Wilmington's 5th guy make a thread? Regardless, I'll throw out a rough guess on how things could shake out. Pretty solid conference in the top 3 teams, and some good individuals. Should be a good battle between Otterbein and John Carroll. Outside the top 3 it's just a s**t show. Who let Cap and Muskingum have XC teams??

Mens top 10

1.) Hampton (OTT)

2.) Daily (JCU)

3.) Hoffman (OTT)

4. Pierson (JCU)

5.) Thompson (OTT)

6.)Nuera (Berg)

7.) Grandpa Myers (Mount)

8.) Philips (JCU)

9.) Ehret (OTT)

10.) Heys (Willmski)

Teams

1.) Otterbein

2.) John Carroll

3.) Mount Union

4.) Who cares

I think it's a bit early to come up with any kind of top 10. Not much racing thus far. All-OH should bring some light to who had a good summer and who is ready to compete for the crown.

Lol this aged well

Muskingum really showed their depth out there

BW women vs Muskingum men, who wins that race?

Muskie men edge out the BW women and Eby goes home DEVASTATED

You, sir, win the internet today.

After some more racing, and some further research...

I apologize for my ignorance, please forgive me

So, how about women's race? It seems to vary who is having a good week. At this point I'd put it as:

Baldwin-Wallace, with Kelly Brennan leading the way, a solid 2-3 and 4-5 plenty strong enough

John Carroll, with dynamic young duo of Jenko (F) and Bujaucius (So) leading the way. Otterbein looks next, but at Louisville meet Oh Northern & Mt Union were right behind them. Of course, hard to tell if the course debacle played any role in that.

Last year BW nailed their peak perfectly for regionals; Carroll often seems to peak well too, though. I'm going with BW, for now.

All the regular season racing is over - let's hear everyone's last thoughts before the meet.

Can the JCU men upset Otterbein with their best race thus far as host?

Can the JCU women take down the heavy pre-season favorite BW?

Can Neura pull it off? Hampton? A freshman?

Will Brennan take the crown or will one of the JCU youngsters win it all? Someone else?

Men's battle appears to be a dual meet with some sprinklings of Mount, maybe Wilmington, and Neura. Could be a really low scoring meet between JCU and Otterbein. They appear to match up well man for man, based on Louisville Results, but it didn't look like JCU ran all their guys at Oberlin. Not sure why? Any injuries would seem to impair their chance at a title. Mount is the next best team with a freshman and vet Meyers. ONU, Heidelberg, and Wilmington. Berg and the Quakers both have some solid talent up front, but their 3-5 are all in a dogfight. Not sure exactly where ONU will end up, but historically speaking, seems like they compete well at OACs, it just won't be for a top 3 spot this year.

Women's race looks to be another close one. BW and JCU both have some strong front runners - it will most likely come down to the 3-5 to determine the championship. JCU got the nod in a larger field at Oberlin. BW's 5 struggled at Oberlin and as a result cancelled out a solid top 4 runner performance. Otterbein looks to be getting better, but lacks the clear front runner fire power that BW and JCU have. ONU has some girls that should be close to top 10, but are young after that. They tend to run in packs and could sneak in there. Mount has a low stick in Durisin and Mason had a good race at Oberlin, but it's mostly freshmen after that.

Who would you bet on?

Don't have strong feelings about it, but for men I pick Hampton and Otterbein, followed by JCarroll. I'm thinking Oberlin was off day for Ott, but even then they were ahead

For women, I'm going with Brennan, but then the JCarroll team. Really tough to guess as I don't have a good feel for how spread of field will affect scores of 3-4-5 runners