etrain11: the aftermath: Etrain Team Power Rankings: #15 Virginia Tech Hokies

You had to know it was coming sooner or later. My Virginia Tech Hokies are the 15^th team on my list and for a good reason. VT was able to grab an excellent recruiting class. It’s arguably one of the deepest in the nation. Not only that, but a lot of guys come back healthy this fall. Virginia Tech is going to be very, very good.

Last season, the Hokies were working out the kinks. Their top guys were working around some health issues and the large recruiting class was getting sorted out. New faces would emerge and step up in a time of adjustment. The first meet of the year would actually be hosted at VT for their alumni invite. The meet gathered some attention and teams like FSU and UNC joined the field. The race was a mess with some teams going hard from the gun while others laid back. FSU took the top three spots while UNC put in a couple top guys of their own. VT took it easy and held back any real effort. FSU would win while VT settled for an unimportant 5^th place. The first true effort would come at the Greater Louisville Classic. It was there that the Hokies recognized just how crucial having a strong ace was. Wisonsin, Louisville, and Missouri all put two guys in front of VT’s #1 (Stuart Robertson: 14^th place). Their 5^th man fell back to 56^th place and the Hokies settled for 4^th overall losing to Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Missouri. It wasn’t the greatest performance ever, but it was still early with plenty of time to improve. Another two weeks past and the Hokies found themselves going to New Jersey to race at Princeton. The race wouldn’t be an easy one with Villanova and loads of Ivy League teams attending. This time however, Stuart Robertson would step up to be that front-man and place second overall behind only Tommy Awad. The pack running for the Hokies improved although it wasn’t nearly as tight as Villanova’s who took spots seven through eleven. VT took the runner-up position and went back to Blacksburg. Second place at Princeton was nice, but the competition there would be nothing like they would experience at ACC’s. Another two weeks passed and the Hokies took a drive an hour down the road to Charlottesville, home of rival UVA. The meet would include a loaded field with multiple nationally ranked teams. The ACC was getting a reputation as the deepest conference in the NCAA and the Hokies were part of it. Of course, that reputation showed more than ever. Syracuse put all seven of their men in before VT's number one, Stuart Robertson, while FSU surged their way through the field with three guys in the top 20. Even team favorite UVA couldn’t handle the mass waves of talents and they dropped to 4^th place. Virginia Tech fell to 6^th and the team went home frustrated. They knew they had the talent to contend, but the pack wasn’t as close and the gaps were too big. That would have to change at regionals. The Southeast regional finally arrived in Louisville, Kentucky with talented teams crowding Tom Sawyer Park. Although Syracuse and FSU would be going to different regionals, the competition wouldn’t be any easier than ACC’s with teams like Furman and Eastern Kentucky being brought into the mix. Everything was on the line for the Hokies who were looking to find a bit of a hope and sneak in to an ‘at large’ bid spot. Unfortunately, they replicated their ACC performance almost exactly. Robertson was 17^th but the rest of the pack was simply too spread out. The fourth and fifth men were 42^nd and 43^rd, which hurt the scoring for Hokies and put them 50 points behind 4^th place (the last spot that got a bid). The Hokies finished 6^th for the second week in a row and went back home happy to have their brutal fall season behind them.

This, however, is the fall season that the VT team has been talking about for a while. The team grabbed one of the best and deepest recruiting classes in the nation including 4:09 miler Diego Zarate. Throw in a transfer from UVA and this squad has a lot of young potential. I’m hesitant to put Zarate or any other young guys in the scoring mix right now considering the experience the other guys have. That said, don’t count any of them out of potentially being scorers. The biggest return however, has to be Thomas Curtin who destroyed the track this past winter and spring with All-American finishes in the 5k as well as two ACC titles. The man was fourth during his sophomore year of XC. Could we see an individual title from him this fall? An ACC title in XC last year could’ve dropped the scoring by 41 points and nearly tied them with Virginia. That’s a huge jump. A title at regionals would mean a 42 point jump and only 8 points away from that ‘at large’ bid. You can see where I’m going with this. Curtin’s return to this team is going to be monumental. All the other Hokies need to do is keep their pack running tighter, and this team is going to NCAA's. I’m also looking for big things from Vincent Ciattei who spent most of his time injured last year. He was a 4:09 miler in high school and has a 14:41 5k. If he can stay healthy, he’ll be extremely dangerous. Throw in Andrew Gaiser who has a 14:33 PR and then you have some talented depth. Out of everyone here though, Robertson has to be my favorite. He was stepped into a position of being a leader and now knows what it takes. I also like that he can still improve a lot. Last year was his first year being a top talent and I imagine that he’ll continue to improve now that he has experience in the post season. The rest of the team is incredibly deep and healthy. This could be VT’s year to not only make NCAA’s, but really mix it up as well.

etrain11: the aftermath

The Tracks

Etrain Team Power Rankings: #15 Virginia Tech Hokies

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The Tracks

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Etrain Team Power Rankings: #15 Virginia Tech Hokies

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