Grand Valley State wrapped up a sixth consecutive 2008-09 NCAA Learfield Sport Directors' Cup Director's Cup, aided, in part, by the men's fifth-place finish at cross nats.
Take a look at their top seven that ran in Slippery Rock: five freshman. Only their No. 4 runner won't be back this fall, barring (as for every team) injuries, academic issues and "acts of God." They'll have to step up their game to take on the Adams States, Abilene Christians and Western States of the world, but that is some potential. The Lakers were mostly absent from outdoor nats in San Angelo, which is unusual, although they were typically represented in the steeple.
Not for a few years. Look at next year (2009): Both Adams and Western Return the same top 5 that ran at nats. It looks like on paper that it is going to be red and green dominating the top spots.
ReplyDeleteNow for 2010: Adams looses most of thier top seven including four of their top five (looks like only McNiff will be the only returner from the year before). They are going to take a big hit from loosing so many guys. Western on the other hand keeps four of their top five, who will all be seniors in 2010. This should be their year to bring back the title to Western.
In 2011: This would be the first year that Grand Valley will have a pretty ligitimate shot at winning. All of the freshmen from 2008 will be seniors, the two traditional teams in Western and Adams will have had lost lots of guys that will weaken the team (so long as they don't reload). This would also be the year that Abilene will be able to get more then five foreign athletes, so they should beable to pick up a few good Aftricans.
Anon....nice analysis. As much as I am constantly impressed by Adams, Western and the RMAC, it would be nice to see some others jockeying for the top spot.
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