Midwest region: Grand Valley gets another course test drive

This year (for the women) and next year (for the men) are when Grand Valley State will challenge for a national title.
Junior engineering major and steeple All-American Tyler Emmorey (pictured) leads the heralded group of underclassmen, who have this year and next to at least notch a best-ever team finish. So why can they afford to look to next year? GVSU’s top five features nary a senior. Why is this year exciting? At their conference meet, they perfect-scored. Pack time? 16.3 seconds. First things first, they have to advance from the regional race in Louisville. S. Indiana (which has done a nice job after losing a top-5 runner to Western), Drury, Ashland and whoever else wll be left shooting for second.
For the women, the time is now. Not only do they have a deep team, but they get another dress rehearsal on the nationals course. To wit:

• Megan Maceratini leads the Lakers and will make up for last year’s 156th-place finish..
• Indoor and outdoor mile runner-up Monica Kinney didn’t run at conference, but is solid.
• Kylen Cieslak transferred from Northwoods and has been a regular top-five finisher on the team.
• Katherine McCarthy and Jessie Vickers are returning All-Americans.
• Rebecca Winchester redshirted last fall.

And I’ve probably missed somebody. Again, the regional meet is the first act. It would be cool to see host Bellarmine qualify as hosts, like S. Indiana did last year. But this meet serves as a tune-up for future national champions -- not only this year, but perhaps next.

Grand Valley State women: Fear us

Neeley Spence (Shippensburg) was the individual D2 stud at the Greater Louisville Open. But Grand Valley State -- while narrowly beating D1 Vanderbilt -- whomped on all D2 competition, including five top 25 teams. And get this: No. 1 runner Katherine McCarthy was only 25 second ahead of No. 5 runner Rebecca Winchester. That is some depth, ladies and gentlemen. GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes called it a "great meet for our program."
The Lakers finished only eight points behind Adams State in Evansville last fall. Might fortunes be reversed in Louisville? Apparently some coaches think so, as Grand Valley State moved to No. 1 in the national poll today.

Poll: Grand Valley will win women’s nationals race

It’ll be a three-team women’s team race in Louisville, according to faithful blog readers.
A pre-season d2cross online poll picked Grand Valley State (12 votes) to win over Adams State (7) and Western State (4). Alaska-Anchorage and Western Washington didn’t get any votes. (Shippensburg, Chico State and Minnesota-Duluth weren’t on the poll. Next time.)
There was more interest in the d2cross poll about teams that didn’t make it to nationals last year, who should make it this fall. The list:

• Millersville men 17
• American Int’l men 16
• Fort Hays St. men 4
• Alabama-Huntsville women 3
• Kings College men 3

Missing, too, are the Midwestern State and Edinboro women; and the Central Missouri, Nebraska-Kearney, Abilene Christian, and Lock Haven men. Wait...that sounds like a good poll (see the right-hand column).

Poll says: Adams State men favorite for Louisville

It's hard to argue with the 46 percent that picked Adams State to three-peat next fall -- and that's not because I'm an alum.

In spite of losing their 1-2-3 punch (Aaron Braun, Brian Medigovich and Reuben Mwei) and their No. 5 man (Luke Cragg), they'll return a deep squad. Remember this bunch had different 5-6-7 runners at regionals. Assuming everyone returns healthy, Ryan McNiff, Edwin Cruz, Anthony Gauthier, Drew Graham, Keegan Calmes, Brandon Birdsong and someone else I don't really know about, will be a formidible force.

Their biggest threat? According to the poll, it's Colorado Mines. If the Orediggers can improve their 1-6 just a bit, they could be threats for RMAC, regional and national crowns. In Evansville, third place was their best showing ever.

Voters picked (to be) junior-heavy Grand Valley State as third-best bet to win. I suspect Tyler Emmorey and company were a bit disappointed by their fifth-place finish in Evansville. They were fifth in Slippery Rock, too. The school's best-ever finish is fourth. A first-ever national title would be greatly received in that athlete-rich school.

For posterity's sake, here's the early Louisville men's (women's is coming, promise!) results:

Adams State 22

Colorado Mines 7

Grand Valley State 6

Western Washington 4

Abilene Christian, Western State 3

Some other team 2

Adams State will win in Evansville.

I won't predict 15 points (if it wasn't for Daniel Kirwa bringing along his team, it might've been possible), but this is one of the best Adams State teams. Ever. I know one member of the 1992 team that wouldn't have wanted to race them.

The top four (Aaron Braun, Ryan McNiff, Brian Medigovich and Reuben Chebon-Mwei) are solid. I figure three of them are in the running for the individual title. Mwei might be especially motivated, as he missed out on last year's trip due to a mishap. I'm not sure who's running in the Nos. 5-7 spots, but they won't disappoint. Adams has proven themselves, including a front-end finish at the Oklahoma State jamboree, which, ironically, might've been their lowliest effort of the year.

Four years ago, Western State turned the screws on the Evansville hills in the late miles and won a convincing national team championship. It'll take that -- and some bad luck for others -- for history to repeat itself. It would be stupid to write off Western, so while a win might be an upset, it wouldn't be without precedent. Returning All-Americans Tyler Pennel, Iain Donnan and Loren Ahonen lead a formidible team. If they run at the front, as expected, this team will finish well. Like last year, though, it'll likely be for team silver.

I think a national title is a year or two off for Grand Valley State. But not third place this year.

Tyler Emmorey was 24th last year and is running faster this year. (And the guy's only a soph!) Grand Valley State was defeated only by the likes of North Central (No. 1 D3) and Michigan; they held their own again D1 nats qualifier Michigan State. The top four members (including Nathan Knisely, Ross Faasse and Anthony Witt) were within 20 seconds at the Midwest Region. That will serve them well in Evansville. What won't, however, is a fifth man too far adrift.

The only thing between Chico State and perhaps second place is, again, that fifth man. Chico took on D1's best (Stanford) this season and, well, lost, but went down swinging. They are led by transfers Jimmy Elam and Brent Handa (who didn't run against Stanford). Beau Gradone-Rogers has been solid all year. Here's what bugs me: A program this strong deserves a national title. Maybe, if the stars, planets and the Electoral College align, it'll happen this Saturday. My prediction is fourth.

Mass.-Lowell impressively won the New England collegiates and held off rival Stonehill at regionals. Ruben Sanca is gone, but the team will improve on their 13th place finish. Angus MacDonald will likely become All-America. In fact, how MacDonald goes, Lowell goes. My bet is fifth, but second or third as a team is realistic.

Western Washington -- the West Region's No. 2 team -- has high goals for Evansville.

"The men are very capable of being in the top five, but they need to run better than they did at regionals," said coach "Pee Wee" Halsell, according to wwuvikings.cstv.com. The team has a strong lead foursome of Bennett Grimes, Blake Medhaug, Anthony Tomsich and Jordan Welling. But cross country fans know that the fifth runner is the crux, and that'll likely determine if the team reaches its goal. What is for sure, is that the team will top its best-ever 10th place team finish at sixth.

I overlooked Missouri Southern at regionals, but I won't do that again. This team rocked the South Central, displaying remarkable pack running (31 seconds for 1-5) in the country's second-toughest regional. They've run some big meets this year, including their own, a dual against Arkansas and the Okie Jamboree, which wasn't kind to them either. Josh Mathis led the team at regionals; he, their Flying Finns and Nick Niggeman are on a roll. A tight team pack will do them well in a big nationals field, perhaps as high as seventh.

Colorado Mines would win any regional meet -- except the one they're assigned to. Led by that ol' burro racer Oscar Boes (hey, I remember watching him!), this team has only been beaten by Adams and Western. This includes a win over a slew of D1 teams at Nebraska. And the team isn't just Ben Zywicki (19th in Slippery Rock); Aaron Swift, Tyler Curtis and Sean Gildea all contribute. If Zywicki goes nuts, look out. For now, I've penciled them in at eighth.

Top 10ers:

Shippensburg came out of "nowhere" to win the Atlantic Region. Bryan Beegle led a scoring pack that spanned only 46 seconds. There was little to indicate this team's surge (22nd at Paul Short, 3rd in their conference.

Queens needs Michael Crouch to finish in the top 8. If he shows, knock one of the above off.

Southwest Baptist had a fine showing at the Griak meet. Led by Michael Pierce -- a frontrunner -- they could push for a top 8 spot, too.

Midwest: Young Grand Valley State already has experience

Grand Valley State might start its 2010 national title run with a win at regionals at the well-known Kenosha, Wis., cross country course (ah, I have fond memories of that place!).

GVSU -- fifth in Slippery Rock with only one senior -- will be pretty good in Evansville, too. Soph Tyler Emmorey will leads the Lakers. He's a good bet to win the regional race, too.

The team was runner-up at the Michigan intercollegiates and only barely lost to D3 power North Central at Notre Dame.

Southern Indiana will likely be on guard against a let down. They absolutely must qualify in order to keep home field advantage at nationals. And qualify they should. The team was a strong second behind East power Stonehill at Pre-Nats in September.

The third spot should go to Saginaw Valley State, who have consistently beat likely fourth-place finishers Hillsdale this year.

Mass.-Lowell emerges

No. 12 Mass.-Lowell topped 46 other teams to win the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association title (quite a title).

Lowell had two under 25 minutes (Angus McDonald and Timothy Guerin) at Franklin Park, and came home with only six runners.

Back in fifth was No. 9 Stonehill. But perhaps their No. 6 runner (Dan Pilz) usually finishes higher? Even if that's so, it wouldn't have been enough to catch Lowell.

• Michigan brought a top squad and easily won the Michigan Intercollegiate meet ahead of No. 4 Grand Valley State. Tyler Emmorey had a nice race for GVSU, finishing second.
• Looks like No. 3 Chico State held its top guns out, while Alaska-Anchorage narrowly won the meet, led by Marko Cheseto and Micah Chelimo (my darkhorse fave in Evansville).
• No. 6 Abilene Christian ran three of their expected top five, losing to Tarleton State. Amos Sang torched the field, running under 19 minutes for four miles. (Interesting distance...)
• No. 9 Colorado Mines easily won at Fort Hays State.
• Harding's Daniel Kirwa won his home meet.

Thanks to those who posted links to results!

Could cross country title be next for Grand Valley State?

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.

Sweep-stakes

There is something cool when you see a school sweep an event. And why does it NOT surprise me when one school dominates a distance race. Steeplechase, with its peculiar skills, is a good example. In their respective D2 conference meets last weekend, these four schools turned in these four performances:
Chico State: 1-2-3
Grand Valley State: 1-2-4
Southern Indiana: 1-2
Emporia State: 2-4-5.
In an individual sport like track and field, I like the idea of a group of guys willing each other to perform.