Here we go again: Adams State puts 5 below/near 14-minute mark

Aaron Braun is on a tear. After running a then-national collegiate leading 3k, he rips a 13:43 (adjusted) 5,000 at the very fast University of Washington track. It's Braun's last competitive season in Adams State green, and he's making it worthwhile.

It's also Brian Medigovich's last run. He ripped a 13:51, finishing just behind teammate Reuben Mwei.

And ASC had Luke Cragg and Ryan McNiff at 14:04 and 14:07 respectively.

Are Adams State's national title hopes getting stronger? In addition to their mile, 5k and DMR dominance, they've got the No. 2 long jumper and No. 4 high jumper.

Elsewhere in D2 cross-land: Missouri Southern shakes off blahs from last fall and rips (that'll be the third time I've used that verb in this post) a 9:51 DMR. That time is second to -- you guessed it -- Adams State.

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.

Regional poll No. 7: South Central continues to confound

The South Central region is shaping up to be the tightest race of the Nov. 7 weekend. A look at the regional poll over the last two weeks is a good indication.

Last week, Central Missouri was tops. This week, after a nice win at MIAAs, Missouri Southern leads. I've still got my money on Abilene Christian (Daniel Maina will likely run faster), but that'll be a fun meet. Unless you're a coach, chewing on your program as you watch the miles click off.

• MoSo's roster of nearly all Missourians (and a coupla Finns) has been led by different runners at different meets. They don't appear to be front-runners, but will herd all their scorers across the line en masse. Coach Tom Rutledge is an ex-football coach who cut his teeth at Adams State in the 1980s.
• Abliene is deceptively good, which I've written about (probably too much).
• Tim Testa leads a deceptively strong Pittsburg State squad. Most of their squad missed the much-ballyhooed Cowboy Jamboree (Swine Flu?), but they nearly knocked off Missouri Southern at MIAAs. And they went to MoSo's gigantic home meet (the Stampede) and were runners-up to Arkansas. Coach Russ Jewett has been a steady hand for over two decades.
• Southwest Baptist has won one big meet (the Griak in Minnesota) and has been a step behind South Central rivals in two other biggies: the Stampede and the MIAAs. Michael Pierce's front-running should help when Abilene is added to the mix.
• Central Missouri is consistent (led by frosh Laban Sialo of Kenya; remember that name), but also consistently spread out. If they "pack it up," look out.
• Tarleton State is the nearest to knocking Abilene off the top of the Lone Star conference, but it didn't happen this year.

Remember, only three qualify. Any guesses?

Elsewhere: Little change, other than Metro State was rightly moved into No. 4 in the Central, making them legitimate contenders for a trip to Evansville. It's up to Augustana (S.D.) and Mankato State to make sure Nebraska-Kearney and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference don't sweep all 5 nationals berths.

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.)

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