etrain11: the aftermath: Etrain Team Power Rankings: #22 Cornell Bears

Etrain Team Power Rankings: #22 Cornell Bears

By: Garrett Zatlin

22. Cornell (Big Red) Bears

Flotrack's #22: Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Coach: Adrian Durant

Notable Departures: David Melly
Notable Additions: Richard Buchanan, Tyler Fisher

Projected Scoring Five: Dominic Deluca (SO), Ben Rainero (SR), Brian Eimstad (SR), James Gowan (JR), Josh Dryland (SO)

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I’ll admit, I’m a big fan of Deluca, which is probably what made me put Cornell in the rankings. Even so, I really like the potential this squad has. They have a nice mix of younger and older guys that will feed off of each other during the season. What’s even better about these guys is the fact that they return six of their top seven from regionals (four of their top five scorers return). What’s not to like about that?

The Big Red has been an interesting team to watch in a Heps league that is slowly growing in prestige. Cornell started off last season with a relatively easy win in the open race at Paul Short that seemed to be filled ‘B-team’ talent. Nonetheless, Cornell charged into the Princeton Invite ready to run. A solid 13^th place by Ben Rainero gave Cornell the edge over Ivy League rivals (Columbia, Princeton, Harvard) as well as other established teams like Iona. Their 8^th place finish wasn’t outstanding, but deserved some credit considering a certain freshman didn’t race. Yet, what really caught the attention of Ivy League runners and fans was Cornell’s performance at Pre-Nats where they busted out a strong 10^th place finish. They defeated Eastern Michigan and NC State in the process, but many were more interested about how Cornell became a contender in the first place. The answer could be found at the 52^nd spot where the freshman Dominic Deluca had stepped up and came out of nowhere. Eventually, the Heptagonal championships had arrived and Cornell would be put to the test to see if they were just as good as they were at Pre-Nats. Cornell answered the critics and secured a second place finish behind a Princeton Tigers squad that was simply too deep to beat. Although the biggest story wasn’t the team battle, but rather the excellent racing by Cornell’s Dominic Deluca, who ran a fantastic 24:29 to finish 4^th overall. Did Cornell find a true front-runner? That question was answered at Northeast regionals where Deluca led Cornell to a respectable 5^th place finish at regionals. It was their best finish in the region since 2007 (when they also placed 5^th). Deluca may not have made nationals, but his 19^th place set a precedent for his Cornell teammates and the rest of the Ivy League. This year, Big Red should be hungry for more.

Cornell is clearly strong, and has the pieces to be an Ivy League champion. Ben Rainero and Ben Eimstad seemed to switch positions as the top guys before Deluca stepped in. If both can continue to act and train like a front man, then we could see a nasty 1-2-3 punch. James Gowans is also a name I’m expecting to improve. His 3:45 1500 this past spring indicates he has strength to run fast on a grassy terrain. 2015 will be the senior’s last chance to make it to Terre Haute and a motivated, experienced, veteran is always dangerous if you’re on the other side. The only uncertainty comes from the fifth man Josh Dryland. The rising sophomore was consistently in the scoring five, but it’s tough to say if he’ll make the freshman to sophomore jump. If he can, then there is no doubt in my mind that this squad can make nationals. We will just have to see if they are motivated enough to do so.