Early conference read: Adams men; Augie and Western women impress

It is hard to know what performances mean at conference championships.
For example, it appears that Adams State men will get the best of Western State this year. Adams recorded a decisive 30-42 win at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference meet in Las Vegas (uh, New Mexico). If anything, the Adams team appears to be in churn, with Edwin Cruz and Keegan Calmes impressing, while Luke Cragg perhaps had an off day. And I'm kinda wondering where Matt Bond is. Another indication of depth?
Western State's top five were the same quintet that had the awesome pack time at the Fort Hays State meet. But a 25-second gap between Ryan Haebe and Tyler Rasmussen wasn't enough for the win. Again, Tyler Pennel didn't run (and apparently won't??).
Western State's women came up big, besting their rivals by 11 points. Is that only because steeple champ Cassie Mitchell wasn't at the front for Adams? (Correction: Steeple champ Alicia Nelson didn't run.)
And, yes, fair readers, No. 18 Augustana women's win over No. 10 Mary and No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth did not escape me. More on that to come...

Top conference races: GLIAC 800, RMAC DMR

Two great men's races highlighted last weekend's conference championship action.

In the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 800 meters, the top nine finished under the provisional nationals qualifying mark of 1:54. Saginaw Valley's Tony Filipek (national leader) and Charlie Richards led the way.

Out west in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, distance medley relay title contenders Adams State, Metro State and Colorado Mines duked it out. The nod (this time) went to Adams, anchored by Reuben Mwei who recorded an (adjusted) 9:46. Metro and Mines were about two and three seconds back, respectively. A distant fourth was Western State.

More conference news

Sunday and sundry followup from conference champs weekend:

• Queens (N.C.) easily won the Conference Carolinas title -- without Michael Crouch. Resting?
• Stonehill turned the tables on Mass-Lowell, narrowly winning the Northeast 10. Those two squads will tangle again in the East Regional.
• More notably, perhaps, was the dominating performance of American International's Glarius Rop. Notable, but not surprising to those who follow NE10 cross. (Better add him to the list of Evansville faves.)
• Augustana (S.D.) easily won the Northern Sun; pre-season favorite Mankato State was second. Will both make it to nationals as the fourth- and fifth-place teams out of the Central Region?
• The West Virginia collegiate championships was "wild and woolly" as promised: West Virginia Wesleyan and Seton Hill tied at the top.
• And with only one senior in their top seven (and no juniors), Grand Valley State won the GLIAC. The Lakers ought to mark Dec. 4, 2010 on their calendars.

Conf-apalooza

Missouri Southern topped what had to be an exciting MIAA championships in Emporia, Kan. today.

Their 2-5 runners were within 20 seconds of each other -- and included what I'm guessing is a Finnish duo of Jarkko Jarvenpaa and Aki Nummela. MoSo was led by Brennon Benkert; their six-point winning margin was the difference between the fifth men: Nick Niggemon (MoSo) was 18 seconds ahead of Cameron Ayers (Pittsburg State) at the finish. What will those gaps be over 10k?

Pre-meet fave Central Missouri was fourth, preceded by Southwest Baptist.

Elsewhere:

• Adams State easily won the RMAC. And, yes, it appears Western State ran their big guns. My sleeper team, Colorado Mines, held off Metro State for team bronze. Reuben Chebon-Mwei (ASC) took the individual title, running 24:42 at altitude!
• Alaska-Anchorage's Marko Cheseto won the GNAC title, but the Seawolves suffered fourth- and fifth-man blues. Western Washington was bettter.
• Abilene Christian easily won the Lone Star Conference for the umpteenth time.
• Florida Southern continued its dominance of the Sunshine State.
• On the other side of the country, Chico State contined their run in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
• Daniel Kirwa (Harding) won another Gulf South Conference title. (I inadvertently put him on Abilene's squad in an earlier version of this post. My apologies.)

Comments are open...

Conference champs on the line

Updated at 3:31 p.m.: For most, it's the start of championship month. Runners from most of the 22 NCAA II conferences toe the line this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Already some teams have been crowned, such as Bowie State, which won its first-ever Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association title. (That's the conference with track power St. Augustine's. Judging by their performance last weekend, they won't score any distance points this spring either.)

Meet of the week: the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. This will feature some pretty equitable talent: Central Missouri, Missouri Southern, Southwestern Baptist and Pittsburg State. All four are nationally ranked.

And I'll curious to see how Alaska-Anchorage and Western Washington fare against each other in the Great Northwest AThletic Conference. Adams State and Western State square off in downtown Denver. (Why do I have the feeling that Colorado Mines will do something special?)

For some teams, conference titles might be the season's high points. Here are some of the perhaps lesser-known battles shaping up:

• Wilmington looks to unseat Felician at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference championships in Philly.
• There promises to be a "wild and woolly" battle for the West Virginia Intercollegiate title.
• The Peach Belt touts its biggest men's field since 2003.
• The South Atlantic conference has a title sponsor.
• The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Heartland Conference need to update its Web site from last year. (The football info is up-to-date, naturally.)
• Florida Southern seeks its 13th straight Sunshine State Conference title; Chico State is vying for its 8th straight California Collegiate AThletic Association trophy.

I'll post more preview throughout the day. But I won't be able to cover them all this weekend. So, please, brag about your finish here!