NCAA XC Regionals 2022 Discussion Thread

But maybe he wants to graduate in 4 years and move on with his life--even if that means staying in track as a professional runner. These boys and girls aren't property, and "redshirting" is *at least sometimes* done solely for the benefit of the university that hopes to "profit" off the athlete.

Indeed it looks like the Zags top 7 all come from Washington as well. Impressive, props to Gonzaga.

dyestat.com

DyeStat.com - Videos - Gonzaga Coach Pat Tyson, Wil Smith 4th Place, Yacine Guermali 7th Place, Kyle Radosevich 22nd Place Men's 10K - NCAA D1 XC West Regional 2022

The Gonzaga men placed second at the NCAA West Regional on Friday at University Place, Wash., and earned the program's first automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Coach Pat Tyson and three All-Region performe...

Link:www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id...

It's crazy to me considering how much more national attention Oregon gets compared to every other xc program in the country that they only beat something called Cal Baptist by 4 points.

To be fair, CBU has such lax admission standards and BS majors that they aren’t even playing by the same rules as everyone else. They should be getting to nationals and beating teams with their set up.

That's fair. However, my point was just how little Oregon achieves compared to their reputation. When I was first starting to take running seriously in high school about a decade ago all I knew was that Oregon was really good. What they've achieved as a team since I've started following the sport has been pretty underwhelming.

Obviously they've had some incredible individuals, but as a team they've rarely done anything of note.

Or, if you're a glass is half full kind of guy, Oregon took 4th in a tough region.

With the money, tradition, facilities, and everything else Oregon has, 4th at nationals should be a disappointment.

Fun fact: BYU's Thompson brothers are actually triplets. Their sister, Sage, is a gymnast at University of Utah.

lehifreepress.com

Thompson triplets turning heads in athletic world - Lehi Free Press

@lehifreepress

When Creed Thompson won the Wasatch Cross Country Invitational nearly two weeks ago, he raised his forefinger heaven ward. He was not indicating he was first; he was paying homage to his father, Bryce Thompson. His father pas...

Link:lehifreepress.com/2020/09/26/thompson-...

It is a great accomplishment but it's not fair to expect other coaches to do this. Basically every mormon goes to BYU. If there was a religion called "tree-hugging" and everyone "Tree-hugger" lived within 30 minutes of Eugene and all went to Oregon, would be we praising Jerry S for doing it all with 25-year old in-state talent.

I think you can make a case that they've put their emphasis, under Johnson, on T&F and their trophy case that reflects this focus.

That's definitely one way to look at it. But when you look at how much attention they get from the running community compared to say, Stanford you would expect them to be a juggernaut.

Did you ever consider Coach Smith is training them properly to peak at Nationals and knew Cowboy Jambo did not matter at all?

Exactly. In college XC all that matters are two 10ks in November. Everything else should be treated as workout. But those other “races” are just there appease athletic directors to make them think cross country has a “schedule” like other sports. But it’s not other sports. All that matters is how fast you’re in November. Good coaches understand this.

Oregon has Hayward Field... meanwhile CBU doesn't even have a track

Yes, but CBU has an international airport close by for the 16 foreign members of their women's xc team and 10 foreign rostered men to fly into.

Rooks isn’t in the top 7. The claim was the top 7 are all within 30 miles from campus. Read thoroughly.

You didn't read the two responses before you!

Gary Martin was the third place freshman in the race. The two ahead of him were also running for UVA. You have to say that he can run a pretty strong 10k. You also might think long-term, and see that with his 1:48/3:58 speed and ability to front-run he is probably going to turn out to be better at 5000m internationally than the mile and hence should get in more strength work, but of course it would be great for him to make it at 1500/mile.

Oregon is going to have top recruits with Schumacher and Flanagan, which is already happening, and so we're going to see a return to the top. Track will still be the priority, but Schumacher at Wisconsin had them on the podium in xc almost every year. They'll have to contend with Gonzaga, which has become a powerhouse under the radar.