***--------------------DIVISION 3 MENS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM PREVIEW--------------------***

Those are decent recruits but not enpugh to make them the best Cortland team ever (or get them to nationals).

He has a point, this crop of La Crosse runners is very talented, but none of their guys seem to become AA in xc. Creger's been 36th like three years in a row. Mueller may be good, but it's gonna take a group "jump" to get them the win. Maybe this is the year, time will tell!

hopeful d3 all-american wrote:

4 Aaron Johnston-Peck, So 24:49.5 Case Western Reserve inj.

How long has been injured? Any time table for his return?[quote]bucko wrote:

I talked to him a few weeks back and he's said he was training again, though not that well. He does plan on running cross.

In the Atlantic Region, i don't see Geneseo going back to nationals, not after losing by far their three best runners. SUNY Brockport might have a decent team but I don't know about their recruits, UR is always up in the air, might be good, might get their asses kicked. RIT picked up at least one good freshman, got some good people returning too. NYU and CONJ are probably going to be pretty strong(as always).

Unless a team gets 5 recruits who all run 9:20 or better in the 3200, recruits don't mean shit to a team's success later in the season (most often, history tells us that). So all this talk about 9:40something recruits is pretty ridiculous.

andyroo wrote:

He has a point, this crop of La Crosse runners is very talented, but none of their guys seem to become AA in xc. Creger's been 36th like three years in a row. Mueller may be good, but it's gonna take a group "jump" to get them the win. Maybe this is the year, time will tell!

Yeah, but their team split is going to be miniscule and everyone is going to improve. It convievable that some of the teams from behind them will catapault ahead of them, but I think they are the prohibitive favorite.

could someone do a breakdown of whos returning to the WIAC teams looking to get top 4 at nats....LaCrosee, Platteville, Oshkosh

The first post in thr thread has info on Lacrosse and Platteville. Who wants to do Steven's Point and Oshkosh??

As far as the Atlantic region goes, Cortland could do fairly well if the entire team pulls together and stays injury free. Cloke isn't running XC because he has two years of track eligibility but only one of XC due to playing soccer before going to Cortland, so he's saving it for his last year so he can run XC, indoor, and outdoor. Geneseo will have a solid team as they always do, even with the loss of Turner, Beck, and Casey. NYU will be very strong as they return good runners and they usually do a good job of recruiting new talent.

What's wrong with Central Region getting 5 qualifiers? Do they have really weak teams? I just remember Moen, Booth and Murphy all came from the Central Region in 2003 and they were all top 5 at Nationals I think

No, the Central region generally has 3-4 good teams, but most likely that fifth team they get this year will be towards the back. That's one of the reasons historic qualifying is being eliminated, so that mediocre teams don't get in based on previous years' strength of region.

Geneseo only loses 2 from XC. Casey didn't run XC this year, just outdoors. Brockport won't be nearly as good as last year, they lost 3 of their top 5. UR should have a decent core, assuming Whitbeck can get healthy and Stevens continues to improve, but I'll agree that they could just as easily get their butts kicked. RIT got Burdick, which is a big lift.

Personally, I see it like this in the Atlantic Region:

1. NYU

I really don't like them, but even McDonough can't screw up this team

2. Geneseo

Lost top 2, but should be able to reload quick enough

3. TCNJ

Loses 4 of top 7, including top 3, but always do well

4. Plattsburgh

Returns top 7, DeShane has improved loads since last XC

5. St. Lawrence

French is back for his last round, should have a better supporting cast this year than last

6. RIT

7. Brockport

8. U of Rochester

9. Ithaca

10. Oneonta

Sorry, goofed on the top 10 there. Here is my revision:

1. NYU

2. Geneseo

3. TCNJ

4. Plattsburgh

5. SLU

6. RIT

7. Cortland

8. Brockport

9. U of Rochester

10. Ithaca

SE runner wrote:

Emory won't go from the South, most of their team graduated. My money's on Centre (return 7), but they will likely finish last at nat's again. FWIW I think Haverford could make a run at the team title, they have good returning depth, but La Crosse will be tough.

not that anyone cares bc emory never finished high at nationals, but people have been saying that about them for the past few years and they always crush people at regionals. they'll go to nationals again and crush their region again. they graduated all their guys two years ago, one an all american and still went... though they did lose their coach this year.

I cannot see Stevens Point being anything at all this year. They have lost their workhorse Lalonde and they will be 100% rebuilding. As for Oshkosh they could be good if they could miraculously get all 5 runners on their team healthy at the same time. Platteville will be young and tough and will only get better obviously in years to come with Sigl leading them to a possible trophy soon.

Now as for La Crosse having no one you see stepping up to become a front runner, may I remind you of the stellar track season their young guns had. Obviuosly Mueller has his credentials, but what about fellow classmates Dan Thor who ran like 14:50s and a transfer Paul Zdroik who ran 14:42 and made it to nationals with a 9:09 steeple. Not to mention Herlihy looks like he is ready to step up after his good track season also running a 9:09 steeple. I think this team is the heavy favorites and the pack running will still be there, only closer to the front of the pack!

Though I may be biased since I am formerly from the WIAC

picks wrote:

No, the Central region generally has 3-4 good teams, but most likely that fifth team they get this year will be towards the back. That's one of the reasons historic qualifying is being eliminated, so that mediocre teams don't get in based on previous years' strength of region.

Yeah, the fifth team is probably going to be a waste of a spot, but you have to admit that if central only had 2 bids the way the NCAA originally wanted, a couple of potentially top-10 schools would have missed the race.

I have no bias towards lacrosse, yet to say they are not the favorite is absurd. They have so many guys who could get top 35 at nats it could be calvin college all over again!

Neal was a 9:40 guy, he did ok as a freshman at Nats.

heya wrote:

I have no bias towards lacrosse, yet to say they are not the favorite is absurd. They have so many guys who could get top 35 at nats it could be calvin college all over again!

yeah... i don't think so.