Another coach’s kid -- and other new blood

We know Neely Spence is fast. Runner-up at cross country nationals in Evansville in 2008, she won the outdoors 5,000 in Charlotte. Her dad, Steve Spence was an Olympian and won bronze in in the 1991 World Champs marathon in Tokyo.
Adams State head coach Damon Martin might also have a fast daughter. The 1988 Olympic Trials qualifier (1,500) may also have his daughter Lauren as his seventh runner, judging from Saturday’s Joe I. Vigil open. (Lauren Martin was listed as “unattached” in that meet.) Any other “coach’s kids” running in D2?
It isn’t always evident how recruits or transfers might impact a team, but here’s a few I noticed:

• Western State gained the services of Southern Indiana’s No. 4 man, David Goodman and Gabe Proctor, ninth at junior college nationals last year for Garden City. They appear to have a few redshirt freshman ready to stop into top seven roles. The women got ex-Colorado Stater Laura Kleppin, who was Western’s top runner at...the Colorado State meet this past weekend (take that, D1!).
• Yes, Adams State does have two Huffner brothers on the squad (including the sub-3:40 performer). But Edwin Cruz was not a finisher at ASC’s first home meet. The women’s team added Middlebury (D3) transfer Sarah Lange.
• Chico State will have expereience in the form of junior college transfers Joseph Rivera and Anthony Costales.

Shadow boxing: Scheduling Adams, Western and Mines

When you’ve got the top three men’s teams (and the No. 1 and No. 9 women’s) in D2-land in one conference, expect those teams to be familiar with each other. Although they know each other’s runners and performances, No. 1 Adams State, No. 2 Western State and No. 3 Colorado Mines won’t toe the line together much until championship season starts. Here’s when they do meet:

• Sept. 18: Adams, Mines at Colorado College

[Note to “anonymous”: Blame me and the media staffs at Oklahoma State, Western State, Adams State and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for confusion over who is racing where on Sept. 25 or Oct. 2.]
Gamesmanship? Familiarity breeds contempt? Regardless, the teams will see each other three straight meets to end the season. And, per recent history, the Central Region race will be arguably the most-important D2 meet outside the two at Louisville (preview and nationals).

Greater Louisville meet highlights regular season

Due to I’m-not-sure-what, I thought Oct. 1-2 would be the (third-most) important weekend of the NCAA Division II cross season. It still is, perhaps, with these two meets scheduled::

• Oct. 1, Preseason No. 15 (men's, USTFCCA) Lock Haven and Stonehill(No. 21 men's, No. 16 women's) will run the Paul Short Invite at Lehigh.
• And most D2 powerhouses will be at the Greater Louisville Open, which is to be run on the nationals course Oct. 2. The lineup includes Colorado Mines (No. 3m), Edinboro (No. 12m), Grand Valley State (No. 3m, No. 2w), Harding (No. 9m), Shippensburg (No. 11m, No. 4w), Southern Indiana (No. 8m, No. 12w), Queens (No. 7m, No. 24w) and Western Washington (No. 6m, No. 7w). Look for some fast time: Last year's men's winner went 23:33. Should be quite a meet!

But Abilene Christian, Adams State (No. 1m, No. 1w) and Western State (No. 2m, No. 6w) won’t be running at Oklahoma State’s Cowboy jamboree -- at least not on Oct. 2. That meet has been moved to Sept. 25. Adams will race against D1 No. 2 (men’s) Oklahoma State (and lots of other D1ers) at Arkansas’ Chile Pepper Invite Oct. 16. With the schedule change, Western might not leave Colorado until their conference championships.
NOTE: Thanks to whomever pointed out the sked change!

D2 women: If not Pixler, who?

I've got a lot to learn about D2 women's cross. I know who won (Adams State) and nearly won (Grand Valley State) in Evansville. Despite graduating many seniors, both should be factors in Louisville. (Adams State always exceeds expectations at nationals.) Missouri Southern graduated three of their top four, but return third-placer Ashley Siler. Seattle Pacific loses nearly everybody, including D1 transfer Jessica Pixler. Depending on where Tanya Zeferjahn is at in her eligibility, Queens should be a factor, too, right? Of course, Evansville was a disaster for the Royals. But what about Truman State, led by Dani Dell'Orco? Or Western Washington, led by Sarah Porter?

It's an unsettled picture that might not be clear until the dust (or mud) settles in November.

Next: Put the first weekend of October on your calendar.

More pre-season questions than usual for D2 men

It's tough to know exactly who might be toeing the line for D2's top teams this fall, as many sports information directors have yet to update their websites. A few have, like Chico State, which does a great job. They're touting a few recruits and transfers, including the Alaska state champ. I know speculation this August centers on whether or not ASC junior Dean Huffer's younger brother (and 3:38 performer) joins Adams State, but I've seen no indications of that.

A late Labor Day means a late start to the season, so there is plenty of time to consider these questions:

• With their top three gone, does Adams State have the depth to win?
• Will Western State rebound from a very quiet spring? Or will it finish third in the RMAC, behind a surging Colorado Mines?
• Has Grand Valley State matured enough to win it all? Or will they be elipsed by regional rivals Southern Indiana?
• Can Chico State race well out of the Pacific Time Zone?
• What will happen to Abilene Christian (and Amos Sang)?
• Can Harding's Daniel Kirwa get back to the winner's circle? Or will it be Crouch, Sang, Rop or an Alaskan?

Next: Questions for the women's field.

Adams State to race Oklahoma State; Western State adds event to sked

It's not champ vs. champ, like an Adams-Oregon race might've been, but the Grizzlies managed to fill a hole in their schedule. The No. 1 D2 squad will travel to Stillwater, Okla., for the Oct. 3 Cowboy Jamboree.

Oklahoma State -- led by soph stud German Fernandez -- is a national title contender. And as they have demonstrated in the past, they aren't afraid of running against all comers. In fact, last year's Jamboree included Harding, Abilene Christian and Butler Community College, in addition to N. Arizona, Indiana and Kansas. Unfortunately, Abilene and Harding won't be in Stillwater.

Update: But Western State will apparently be there. The Mountaineers also show the Rocky Mountain Shootout -- and a date against D1 contender Colorado -- on that date.

About that USTFCCA poll

I have been asked what I think about the new regional and national rankings. (Warning: I'm not sure their links are all correct.)

Not only do they look nice and fancy, but I like the idea. We all know the Westerns and the Abilenes of the world will top the national polls, but good squads vying for the top 10 can get obscured. These teams are reflected in the regional polls.

Winning a conference title is important, winning a regional title is important and winning a national title is important. It depends on what your goals are.

But I'm willing to bet if a team sets a goal of winning a regional title (and it's not the power-packed Central, where a strong Metro State squad is merely ranked 6th!), they'll get to nationals, perhaps finish out of the money and realize they want to aspire to more.

So while I may joke about Armstrong Atlantic State adding a cross-country squad to balance out their tennis program and meet equity concerns, I am interested to see if Columbus State and Clayton State can challenge Queens (N.C.) for the Southeast region title.

My only complaint is that the association should be more transparent who is voting. Otherwise, nice job USTFCCCA!

Don't ignore Western Washington, Edinboro and Stonehill

The United States Track & Field and Cross County Coaches Association (whew!) released their pre-season poll.

The ranking is by region, with no real surprises, although apparently I'll have to pay more attention to Western Washington, which the association (which doesn't really say who votes) placed ahead of Alaska-Anchorage. I've been pretty bullish on the Seawolves.

Western Washington has high hopes to improve its finish last year in Slippery Rock -- and they have a coach named "Pee Wee" to boot.

It's worth paying attention to Edinboro (yep, that's where Greg Beardsley ran) and Stonehill, who are picked to win the Atlantic and East regionals, respectively. It's about time some East Coast squads made some noise at nats.

New poll

OK, the new poll is up, reflecting (perhaps) a better understanding of the major players.

Results of the old poll: Adams State 10 votes, Another team 7, Chico State 2, Harding and Western State 1.

The real Abilene Christian emerges

OK, time for a new poll.

Abilene Christian pulled in two Europeans and at least one American to bolster their status as perennial contenders. The squad lost three of their top five finishers from Slippery Rock -- albeit missing one of their studs -- which lulled me into a false sense of their vulnerability.

But according to this Lone Star Conference press release, they've added Roman Rybicki of France (click here if you want to "friend" him), Craig Peters of Great Britain, plus Texan Spencer Lynn. Its unclear if New Yorker Colby Delbene will also be part of the squad; Delbene was a recruit of the recently departed head track coach.

• Peters, who is technically Welsh, is a 14:29 5k performer.
• Rybicki appears to be at least a 3:51 performer, who was 26th at the French short course champs this spring. (Note: My French sux, but I have run the Aix-les-Bains cross country course.)
• Lynn ran a 4:25 mile

These two internationals would appear to put the cross country contingent at the school's self-imposed limit of five foreign athletes, which includes Kenyans Maina, Sang and Tanui. (Not sure how the five-person limit works out for track.) Of course, the idea of limiting where a student-athlete comes from appears a bit ludicrous to me.

So I'll take back my comments about ACU appearing soft this year. Their recent lineup additions make me even more curious to see the outcome of their Alaskan adventure.

Don't write Western State off

After Adams State's exploits this spring (remember those 5k times?), one can be forgiven by thinking this fall's 'cross trophy should be mailed to Alamosa now before postal cuts take place.

But ASC's arch-rival Western State bolstered its roster with two European additions.

England's Glen Watts will arrive in Gunnison for one season. He's around a 9:00 steeple performer.

And Ireland's Dave Flynn has donned an Eire jersey many times and recorded a 9:21 steeple this spring. He'll come with four years' eligibility.

Update: I inadvertently had Watts' name twice. Flynn's the Irishman!

Kirwa to open with 2-mile test

Assuming he runs, outdoors 5k/10k champ and my favorite to win the men's cross title in Evansville, Ind., this fall (Daniel Kirwa of Harding) will debut this season at Arkansas Tech's 2-miler Aug. 28. Any bets on his time? Sub-9 for sure; 8:40?

Kirwa and the Harding boys will run his first invitational at Memphis Sept. 5. It appears to be a pretty good field, although tough D1 sqaud Eastern Kentucky won't return.

Harding returns a solid core, with soph Phillip Biwott (48th in Slippery Rock) and Wociech Kopec (66th) returning. Expect them to again dominate the Gulf South Conference and the South Regional.

This just in! Abilene Christian favored in Lone Star Conference

To absolutely nobody's surprise, the Abilene Christian Wildcats are picked to stomp everybody in the Lone Star Conference this fall. This year's rout will be held at the campus of West Texas A&M in Canyon, Tex., on Oct. 24.

The Wildcatz have merely won the last 18. It's up to Tarleton State or Texas A&M-Commerce to stop this juggernaut.

Looking at ACU's lineup, do they have the mustard to challenge for their third national title in four years? I'm lukewarm on them now.

Pre-seaon notes II: Chico State welcomes hot shot recuit; Metro State loses top-flight coach

Chico State, the West Coast's pre-eminent D2 cross program (Alaska-Anchorage, anyone?) landed quite a recruit in Issac Chavez, an 8:57 two-miler. He'll be a name to remember on Chico's roster.

Chavez finished 14th out of 25 starters at USAT&F Junior Nats in the 5,000m, coming across the line in 15:17. Hopefully we'll get an ever better idea of his promise (and Chico's) at the Stanford Invitation on Sept. 26. But it'll be hard to replicate the win by ex-Chico Stater Scott Bauhs against that deep field.

After re-starting a program in a tough D2 conference, Metro State (Colo.) coach Pete Julian has left for Washington State. Julian's recently coached Anthony Luna, the reigning indoors and outdoors 800m outdoors champ. And Julian is on the record as being foreigner-averse, so don't look for a return to the Henry Rono days at Wazoo. Here's hoping the next Metro State coach will take up the charge and get the Roadrunners a track.

Pre-season notes: Abilene to Alaska; Adams State needs a meet; Western State won't leave CO in '09

In my quick review of regional D2 cross powers, I have to say the most-interesting early-season meet will be the Sept. 5 race at Alaska-Anchorage.

Abliene Christian will bring its high-powered (and mostly Kenyan) lineup northwards, creating a matchup against Alaska-Anchorage's up-and-coming lineup.

ACU returns only two of their top five from last year's fourth-place squad in Slippery Rock; Anchorage returns three of its top five. While I think Anchorage won't quite compete for a national title this fall in Evansville (they were 11th last year). But they're led by seventh-place finisher Marko Cheseto (and 5k and 10k All-American performer outdoors) and perhaps have a surprise up their racing flats. Mark it on your calendar.

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While I have discussed a supposed controversy over a tantilyzing Adams State-Oregon race, the fact remains that ASC needs a meet or two to fill out their schedule. According to ascgrizzlies.com, they don't race for five weeks after Sept. 19, a situation I'm sure they want to fix -- and perhaps already have.

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Meanwhile, ASC's rival Western State won't leave the state of Colorado during its 2009 regular season campaign. I'll be curious to see how that works out, but the Mountaineers are nearly always ready when it counts.

Oregon dodges Adams State?

Nothing gets me more riled up than a D1 school dodging a D2 school.

Word is Oregon and Coach Vin Lannana spurned Adams State and Coach Damon Martin from participation in the Dellinger Invite in Eugene Oct. 2.

While I cannot find any confirmation of this (I've got messages out to Oregon, Adams State and the NCAA), a few things make me doubt that tale:

• Oregon's "B" squad finished behind Southern Oregon in Corvallis, Ore., last year. The next week they perfect-scored a field at Clackamas Community College that included Southern Oregon (second) and Willamette (third). These two meets for the would-be D1 national champions accounted for half of their schedule, if you exclude conference, regionals and nationals. To some degree, they could care less about who they race against.
• NCAA cross country rules say nothing about not racing D2 teams to get an at-large berth. Those rules do spell out the need for "wins" against automatic qualifiers, head-to-head competition and common opponents. But nothing about D2, D3, NAIA or the Hogwarts School of Wizardry.
• If D1 invitees were worried about a D2 school as a common opponent, they might want to exclude them during the seven-week period before regionals (that's the time period that NCAA honchos base their at-large selections on). But again, looking at the NCAA championship criteria, that would make little sense.
• If this "no more than 10 percent D2" rule applies (can someone point me to this?), it's important to point out that nine teams made it to Eugene last year. If one doesn't return (which is likely in this economic climate), then a D2 aspirant would be out. But, again, I have no way of knowing if this rule exists.

As an ex-D2 athlete, it's hard not to get emotional about this. I'm sure the (mostly) mediocre D1 programs out there would rather not lose to a D2 squad. But who cares about those guys?

I'd like to think the top-flight schools (like Oregon) don't care who they raced.

I admire the programs who -- IMHO -- don't dodge: Arkansas certainly has never been afraid of inviting (and usually trouncing) all-comers. I recall an ass-whuppin' they gave us one fine fall day in Joplin, Mo. I'd throw Oklahoma State in that category, too. I'm not sure Minnesota felt so noble last year, judging from the look on Coach Steve Plascencia's face when I said 'hi' to him after Adams won the Griak last year. But the Gophers routinely send a top squad to La Crosse to race D3 power Wisconsin-La Crosse (and rival Wisconsin-Madison). And Colorado gamely grits its teeth on an annual basis to duke it out with the boys from Alamosa and Gunnison.

Aside from head-to-head competition, the only other measure we have to a team's prowess is the number of athletes they place on the Track and Field News top 50 list. By that yardstick, it would be great to see Adams State and Oregon tangle.