ricco is a good pick for national champs, he has the talent. he just hasn't put a great cross country season together yet. he would be a favorite in my book if he is running well in november
ricco is a good pick for national champs, he has the talent. he just hasn't put a great cross country season together yet. he would be a favorite in my book if he is running well in november
Do you REALLY think Augie has a chance to get out of the Midwest? There are 4 spots...NCC, UW-L, UW-O, UW-P, UW-SP just to name a few....how many of these teams can they beat?
I don't THINK these guys have been cc aa's yet, but I think they have a good shot this year (quite frankly I haven't looked this up to see if they've been aa's yet, though, just my weak memory).
Tom Kreger (Hamline)
Mike Morgan, Levi Ashley (Neb Wes)
Hendrik Kok (Calvin)
Most of UW osh (Ciesweski, Boehlke, Groose, McKenna...)
There are a TON of others, but those are just a few that are off the top of my head
First of all, I don't believe Auggies will get out of the Midwest region. The talent is too spread out through the region this year...it seems like almost all UW schools are looking to get there AND NCC (this means that some decent teams will be left out...including Augustana!)
SPV41, I agree with the names...especially Hendrik Kok. Kreger and Ashley were all-americans last year and I think Morgan is gone. I agree that on that UW-O team there has to be a few big time performances around the corner.
Yeah, you're right about Kreger and Ashley, I was just too lazy to look that up before.
I agree with what you said about Auggie. There are a lot of teams that have at least as much potential as Auggie does this year, I can think of 5 schools just from Wisconsin (UW-Whit, UW-Plat, UW-SP, UW-Osh, UW-Lax), so sure, they could make it, but I wouldn't exactly pencil them in as a favorite to make it.
Unless he graduated (which Juiliano apparently did), Morgan should still have a year left for cross.
I don't think Ricco has been an All American yet, so add him to the list.
Oskhosh, 4 runners with top 5 potential, are you kidding me.
They do have good runners, and a good team but lets be realistic.
I am not ripping these guys they are good runners, but here are probable scenerios based on their past performances.
cieswiski- top 10 potential, but not a lot of big meet exp.
bohelke- top 15 potential possible if he doesn't burn out
Gross - no way, he has yet to prove himself on a consistant basis, much less top 5. He SHOULD BE top 25, but who knows with him.
McKenna- def. all american, but not a top 10 stud.
Keskinin- a real ?, he will contribute, but i doub't he'll be in 2000 form.
They do have a slew of other top 50 type guys.
They are stacked, but don't give them too much credit. They should be the best team in the land, but no way do they have four guys who could be in the top 5 or 10.
I think 5 guys in the top 35 or 40 is very realistic goal for them.
NoWay - your right. Lots of teams have a ton of talent, none have more than UW-O, but that doesn't mean that they have top 5 type individuals.
The one clear advantage they have over the rest of us is that they get to train with each other. I predict they will have two in the top 10-15 due to the fact that they have the best training group in the nation...unless teams are combining for training purposes.
I agree.
They should place guys well at nats. What worries me about a few of these teams is they pound a lot of races, for example, they'll run Rory Griak, Notre Dame, and JIm Drews, all tough races against tough comp. Then you throw in The WIAC championships.
Regionals is the easiest meet of the year for a team that races like that, and there in lies the problem.
Do they have the gas in the tank for nats?
Just an observation of mine over the past few seasons. Take it for what its worth.
my money is on the DIII 10k champ, danny hotpants. sure, mark miller is in New England and has run the 6th fastest DIII 5k time ever, and ryan bak isn't far off that. but danny sure has some hot pants, and he can ride that pony!
CD and I were refering to first time All Americans, NOT individual champions. I think they have a decent shot to have 4 guys get their first AA.
Oh, NoWay- I agree with your Oshkosh observation. I've often thought that as well.
"The one clear advantage they have over the rest of us is that they get to train with each other. I predict they will have two in the top 10-15 due to the fact that they have the best training group in the nation...unless teams are combining for training purposes."
What other teams don't get to train with other teammates? I would think there are buttloads of teams combining for training purposes. On the other hand, you have to consider if there are so many good guys training all as one group, they will pound, and especially UWO being a miler-oriented program they could burnout. Can't argue history...
I just meant that not many teams have that many guys that are all legitimately training to be the #1 guy on the team AND all-american. If they manage not to burn out...that may be an advantage that some of the top 5-10 teams at Nat's have over top individuals that come from poor teams.