By: Garrett Zatlin
PAST RANKINGS THIS SEASON
Preseason (9/11)
Week 1 (9/20)
Week 2 (9/28)
Week 3 (10/5)
Week 4 (10/12)-- No changes
Week 5 (10/19)
Week 6 (10/26)-- No changes
Week 7 (11/2)
Week 8 (11/9)-- No changes
Week 9 (11/16)
Week 10 (12/5)
KEY
PAST RANKINGS THIS SEASON
Preseason (9/11)
Week 1 (9/20)
Week 2 (9/28)
Week 3 (10/5)
Week 4 (10/12)-- No changes
Week 5 (10/19)
Week 6 (10/26)-- No changes
Week 7 (11/2)
Week 8 (11/9)-- No changes
Week 9 (11/16)
Week 10 (12/5)
KEY
· Bold: Had performance or important piece of news that influenced a strong change in the rankings
· (#/#): First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings. A plus (with green) means they have improved in the rankings. A minus (with red) means they have regressed in the rankings. The second number indicates where they were ranked the week before
· (Weren’t Ranked): Was not ranked the week before.
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#25 Furman Paladins (Wasn't Ranked)
-When I looked at the results from nationals, I wasn't thrilled. Providence had a decent season, but they didn't do anything to separate themselves from other programs like Air Force or Minnesota. Meanwhile, UTEP, Michigan, and MTSU proved that you can't be a productive team with a few low-sticks. So who was going to be the 25th ranked team?
I eventually turned my attention to Furman and I began to feel like they legitimately deserved a top 25 spot. Frank Lara and Josh Brickell had evolved into pretty decent scorers for the Paladins while the rest of their top five included three freshmen (none of which placed lower than 33rd at regionals). Throw into the equation that their top three from 2015 (Aaron Templeton, Troy Reeder, Tanner Hinkle) all redshirted and you have to be super impressed with this program.
Coach Gary basically wiped the slate clean and was only 1 point away from making nationals. That is incredible coaching if you ask me. They may not have been the flashiest program, but they did enough to crack our top 25.
#24 Navy Midshipmen (+1/25)
-No one can deny the fact that it was a rough day for Navy. Their inexperience on the big stage caught up to them and they simply couldn't hang with the big-name programs. Lukas Stalknaker placed a respectable 88th overall, but we didn't see another Midshipmen cross the line until Ryan McCoy placed 152nd.
26 out of 31 teams is far from great. There's a good chance that Navy will tell you the same thing. Still, this is a team that hadn't been to nationals since 1997. On a team with five seniors, no one had ever raced past regionals. They made a lot of noise this season and had to get past an underrated Mid-Atlantic region to make it to Terre Haute. For that reason, they keep their spot in the rankings.
#23 NC State Wolfpack (-4/19)
-After shocking the nation and taking down Virginia at Southeast regionals, NC State came back down to earth Earth and finished 22nd at NCAA's. Overall, their regular season was unexciting and forgetful. However, 3rd at ACC's and winning your region is good enough to get in the rankings. It wasn't an amazing performance at nationals, but they did just well enough to stay in.
#22 Georgetown Hoyas (+1/23)
-Jonathan Green failed to have an impact early in the season and was shut down for the rest of 2016. Clevenger was expected to be a star-transfer, but struggled to adjust to the new program. Meanwhile, Darren Fahy never laced up his spikes for a race in 2016 despite being ranked in our preseason top 50.
All of those reasons are why Georgetown quickly fell in the rankings. They struggled at big-meets and couldn't find any other scorers to compliment Scott Carpenter. Their nightmare of a season finally ended at nationals where they placed 21st overall.
This wasn't the Georgetown program that we were used to seeing, but they did enough to stay relevant as the season ended. Hopefully, we see guys like Green and Fahy return next year in top form.
#21 Boise State Broncos (0/21)
-Yes, they did beat CSU at conferences, but the Rams got the best of Boise State when it mattered the most (nationals). It was a very up and down season for the Broncos and unfortunately for them, one of those down moments came at NCAA's. Let's look back at their meet history this season...
#20 Colorado State Rams (-2/18)
-There were so many high expectations for the Rams entering this season. Their depth had grown another year older and had gained plenty of experience. They were supposed to be led by Jefferson Abbey and Jerrell Mock, but those two faltered as the season progressed. Abbey never could get back into his 2015 fitness and Mock slowly began to fade from his top 10 ranking once the Wisconsin Invite came around.
Despite the struggles, CSU still came out of nationals with a very nice 17th place finish. They placed three in the top 90 and were less than 25 points away from 12th place Oklahoma State. Not too bad all things considered...
#19 Virginia Cavaliers (-4/15)
-Virginia's ranking, admittedly, was propped up by the idea of Henry Wynne entering their lineup. When he didn't run in any post-season race, we could see the effects. NC State upset the Cavaliers at regionals and Furman finished only 1 point behind them.
I thought UVA could rebound at nationals, but their inexperience got the best of them as four of their five underclassmen that ran placed outside of the top 100. The Cavs ended up placing 18th overall to finish their season. It's certainly not what they wanted, but they have a very young (and now experienced) team that will return next semester with Henry Wynne being active. That is a scary thought to think about.
#18 Washington State Cougars (+6/24)
-No one can doubt that the Cougars were a good team this season. They had some great front-runners and a supportive pack that rarely slipped up. Unfortunately, they were probably under appreciated for most of the season when you consider how good the PAC-12 and West region are.
Once the Cougars got to Terre Haute, they showed what they were capable of with an outstanding 14th place team finish. Michael Williams had a brilliant run and placed 30th to lead his team ahead of conference and regional rivals like UCLA, Boise State, and California.
#17 Indiana Hoosiers (-1/16)
-Did not run at nationals
#16 Michigan State Spartans (-3/13)
-This was a team that took some time to develop which is evident by their early season performances. 5th at Roy Griak was decent, but 18th at Wisconsin was absolutely horrendous. Luckily for the Spartans, they rose up to the challenge and peaked at the perfect time by placing 2nd at BIG 10's (only 3 points off Wisconsin) and 2nd again at Great Lakes. Unfortunately, that post-season magic wore off as the Spartans had to settle for a disappointing 20th place nationals. Still, they did a lot more this season than some originally thought they would.
#15 Iowa State Cyclones (+2/17)
-It's been a while since ISU has been in the national discussion, but they did some outstanding work this season when you consider where they were just a year before.
They had their ups and downs. They came in 2nd at Roy Griak and then placed 6th at Wisconsin. They also struggled at regionals where they placed 4th in the team standings. In the end, the Cyclones finished 16th overall at nationals which was an improvement on their original preseason ranking. They didn't end with any All-Americans, but they can take comfort in the fact that they return 6 of their 7 runners next season.
#14 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (+6/20)
-Tulsa was a tricky team to figure out this season. They placed an unexciting 13th at Wisconsin, but came back to impress at Midwest regionals where they placed 2nd overall and put four in the top 12. NCAA's was their chance to show exactly how good they were and they took advantage of that opportunity by placing 11th overall and being led by Luke Traynor who finished 13th individually.
If they had just had a reliable 5th man then this team is in the top 10.
#13 Portland Pilots (-3/10)
-We didn't have Portland ranked in our pre-season top 25, but there was plenty of chatter about the potential they held. Sure enough, they came out blazing by torching the field at Roy Griak to win and later finishing 7th at Wisconsin. All eyes were on them as they entered West regionals and they prospered in the spotlight by taking the 2nd automatic qualifying spot. Their pack running could simply not be stopped and almost no other team could match their depth.
They ended up finishing 13th at nationals, but they probably could've improved with an established low-stick to bring down their score. Maybe we'll see that low-stick emerge next season.
#12 Oklahoma State Cowboys (0/12)
-12th at NCAA's and 12th in our rankings seems appropriate. They had a very solid season and developed some key runners that could have an impact for next year. Josh Thompson and Hassan Abdi were excellent for the Cowboys all season. They even had some great performances from their other runners which helped prop up the score.
Unfortunately, Geberkidane was injured and Sylvester Barus failed to show consistency. Had they been at the top of their game, then Oklahoma State could've been a top 10 team...or better.
#11 Oregon Ducks (0/11)
-They had a nice win at Pre-Nats, but their season went down hill after that. They were 4th at PAC-12's and 4th again in the West region with other teams like Washington State closing in on them.
The pressure was on for Oregon to perform well at NCAA's. In the end, they had a decent showing and placed 9th overall. It wasn't perfect, but they did well enough to move up a few spots.
#10 UCLA Bruins (-2/8)
-They didn't quite meet my expectations when they placed 15th at the NCAA meet, but they showed enough consistency throughout the season to stay in the top 10. Ferdinand Edman was a killer low-stick for the Bruins and they had a very nice pack behind him. A pair of finishes ahead of Oregon and 3rd in the West region was a very encouraging sign.
#9 Iona Gaels (-2/7)
-They ran without Chartt Miller for the entire regular season, but still proved that they could contend without him. Easily winning Paul Short and placing 5th at Wisconsin were encouraging signs especially when you consider that they didn't have their best low-stick.
Yet, my biggest concern was whether or not they could all perform well on the same day (nationals). Unfortunately, even putting Chartt Miller back in the mix wasn't enough as nearly every Iona runner had one of their poorest races of the season. In fact, no Iona Gael left Terre Haute as an All-American.
They still managed to place 10th overall at nationals, but when you look at their roster you know that they are better than that.
#8 Wisconsin Badgers (+1/9)
-The Badgers race in only one serious regular season meet (the Wisconsin Invite) where they placed 11th with Schrobilgen dropping out. I had my concerns about Schrobilgen and the youth of Hacker and Snyder, but when it came time for the post-season they put all of my concerns to rest.
Once they earned back-to-back victories at BIG 10's and Great Lakes, I was felt pretty comfortable about Wisconsin at nationals. Sure enough, they ran very well and placed 8th overall in the team standings (McDonald and Schrobilgen both became All-Americans). However, they could've done much better as their 5th man (freshman Ben Eidenschink) fell all the way to 157th in the individuals results.
They ran well and proved to be a top team in the nation, but just imagine how good they could've been had they had a little more support for their 5th man.
#7 Mississippi Rebels (+7/14)
-They didn't care about rankings or previous races. They came out and shocked the nation with an incredible 4th place finished to get a spot on the podium. They were led by MJ Erb who had the best race of his career by finishing 6th overall and giving Ole Miss the low-stick they desperately needed if they were going to podium.
For the past few week, the Rebels had been showing some weakness at their 6th and 7th spots. In fact, those last runners finished 132nd and 198th (in the team scoring). Luckily, the Rebels had their five runners finishing 5, 30, 42, 48, and 71 (in the team scoring). That's pretty darn good if you ask me.
Yet, maybe the most exciting part for Ole Miss was the fact that they beat out SEC rivals Arkansas (a team favored for the podium) by 10 points. I'm sure the Rebels didn't forget about the beat down they took at conferences when the Razorbacks won by 13.
They may have finished 4th overall, but they'll finish at 7th in the rankings. Their regular season performances weren't enough for me to put them in the top 5.
#6 BYU Cougars (-2/4)
-There are a lot of stars on this BYU team. However, the one that shined the brightest never even ran. Coach Ed Eyestone has impressed me once again as he is still able to create another top-tier cross country team. Coming into this season, we knew BYU would be good, but nobody thought they would take down Syracuse (twice). So how did they do it?
We can start with Nico Montanez, a guy who had never broken 14:30 for 5k. Eventually, Montanez became one of the top ranked runners in the nation and ended up placing 9th at NCAA's. Behind him? Two sophomores (Rory Linkletter and Clayton Young) killed it all season and made appearances in our top 50 rankings. It also doesn't hurt that they had freshman Brayden McLelland putting up points for the squad as well. Sprinkle in a slew of experienced upperclassmen and you can imagine why BYU was so good this year.
However, none of that happens without Coach Eyestone. He developed three underclassmen into scorers for a nationally ranked team. One of them became All-American. Meanwhile, we saw Nico Montanez go from an unknown to a superstar ace as a senior (which rarely happens).
They had their short-comings, but BYU deserves the same kind of respect Iona, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma State get every year.
#5 Colorado Buffaloes (-2/5)
-We didn't really get a gage of how good they were until the post-season when they upset Stanford for the PAC-12 title. They were only 16 points off from NAU at regionals and that was with Saarel and Forsyth having poor races.
They ended placing 6th at nationals. They had an outstanding top three with Saarel, Klecker, and Dressel becoming All-Americans. However, their 4 and 5 were 74th and 125th...
#4 Syracuse Orangemen (+2/6)
#3 Arkansas Razorbacks (+2/5)
-This is the debatable part for many since Syracuse placed 3rd at NCAA's and Arkansas placed 5th. For me, I can't put Syracuse ahed of Arkansas after they had lack-luster regular season performances and had a relatively unchallenging path at conferences and regionals.
You could argue the same thing for Arkansas, but they were able to take down a strong Ole Miss squad at SEC's. They also had a great Pre-Nats performance where they probably could've won if they had run Andrew Ronoh.
#25 Furman Paladins (Wasn't Ranked)
-When I looked at the results from nationals, I wasn't thrilled. Providence had a decent season, but they didn't do anything to separate themselves from other programs like Air Force or Minnesota. Meanwhile, UTEP, Michigan, and MTSU proved that you can't be a productive team with a few low-sticks. So who was going to be the 25th ranked team?
I eventually turned my attention to Furman and I began to feel like they legitimately deserved a top 25 spot. Frank Lara and Josh Brickell had evolved into pretty decent scorers for the Paladins while the rest of their top five included three freshmen (none of which placed lower than 33rd at regionals). Throw into the equation that their top three from 2015 (Aaron Templeton, Troy Reeder, Tanner Hinkle) all redshirted and you have to be super impressed with this program.
Coach Gary basically wiped the slate clean and was only 1 point away from making nationals. That is incredible coaching if you ask me. They may not have been the flashiest program, but they did enough to crack our top 25.
#24 Navy Midshipmen (+1/25)
-No one can deny the fact that it was a rough day for Navy. Their inexperience on the big stage caught up to them and they simply couldn't hang with the big-name programs. Lukas Stalknaker placed a respectable 88th overall, but we didn't see another Midshipmen cross the line until Ryan McCoy placed 152nd.
26 out of 31 teams is far from great. There's a good chance that Navy will tell you the same thing. Still, this is a team that hadn't been to nationals since 1997. On a team with five seniors, no one had ever raced past regionals. They made a lot of noise this season and had to get past an underrated Mid-Atlantic region to make it to Terre Haute. For that reason, they keep their spot in the rankings.
#23 NC State Wolfpack (-4/19)
-After shocking the nation and taking down Virginia at Southeast regionals, NC State came back down to earth Earth and finished 22nd at NCAA's. Overall, their regular season was unexciting and forgetful. However, 3rd at ACC's and winning your region is good enough to get in the rankings. It wasn't an amazing performance at nationals, but they did just well enough to stay in.
#22 Georgetown Hoyas (+1/23)
-Jonathan Green failed to have an impact early in the season and was shut down for the rest of 2016. Clevenger was expected to be a star-transfer, but struggled to adjust to the new program. Meanwhile, Darren Fahy never laced up his spikes for a race in 2016 despite being ranked in our preseason top 50.
All of those reasons are why Georgetown quickly fell in the rankings. They struggled at big-meets and couldn't find any other scorers to compliment Scott Carpenter. Their nightmare of a season finally ended at nationals where they placed 21st overall.
This wasn't the Georgetown program that we were used to seeing, but they did enough to stay relevant as the season ended. Hopefully, we see guys like Green and Fahy return next year in top form.
#21 Boise State Broncos (0/21)
-Yes, they did beat CSU at conferences, but the Rams got the best of Boise State when it mattered the most (nationals). It was a very up and down season for the Broncos and unfortunately for them, one of those down moments came at NCAA's. Let's look back at their meet history this season...
- Placed 3rd at Roy Griak (great)
- Placed 15th at Wisconsin (sub-par)
- Champions of Mountain West conference (great)
- Placed 7th at West Regionals (bad)
- Placed 19th at NCAA's (average)
Boise State clearly had plenty of talent, but failed to stay consistent. However, one reason for that can be explained by Michael Vennard. Their low-stick from 2015 ran at Roy Griak, but didn't get on the starting line for Wisconsin. Later, Vennard placed 3rd at conferences, but ended up as a DNF for regionals. He eventually placed 111th at NCAA's.
You can see the correlation between how this team performs when Vennard is running well and when he isn't. I'm not sure what the issue may have been for him this season, but he'll return in 2017 for another shot at glory.
#20 Colorado State Rams (-2/18)
-There were so many high expectations for the Rams entering this season. Their depth had grown another year older and had gained plenty of experience. They were supposed to be led by Jefferson Abbey and Jerrell Mock, but those two faltered as the season progressed. Abbey never could get back into his 2015 fitness and Mock slowly began to fade from his top 10 ranking once the Wisconsin Invite came around.
Despite the struggles, CSU still came out of nationals with a very nice 17th place finish. They placed three in the top 90 and were less than 25 points away from 12th place Oklahoma State. Not too bad all things considered...
#19 Virginia Cavaliers (-4/15)
-Virginia's ranking, admittedly, was propped up by the idea of Henry Wynne entering their lineup. When he didn't run in any post-season race, we could see the effects. NC State upset the Cavaliers at regionals and Furman finished only 1 point behind them.
I thought UVA could rebound at nationals, but their inexperience got the best of them as four of their five underclassmen that ran placed outside of the top 100. The Cavs ended up placing 18th overall to finish their season. It's certainly not what they wanted, but they have a very young (and now experienced) team that will return next semester with Henry Wynne being active. That is a scary thought to think about.
#18 Washington State Cougars (+6/24)
-No one can doubt that the Cougars were a good team this season. They had some great front-runners and a supportive pack that rarely slipped up. Unfortunately, they were probably under appreciated for most of the season when you consider how good the PAC-12 and West region are.
Once the Cougars got to Terre Haute, they showed what they were capable of with an outstanding 14th place team finish. Michael Williams had a brilliant run and placed 30th to lead his team ahead of conference and regional rivals like UCLA, Boise State, and California.
#17 Indiana Hoosiers (-1/16)
-Did not run at nationals
#16 Michigan State Spartans (-3/13)
-This was a team that took some time to develop which is evident by their early season performances. 5th at Roy Griak was decent, but 18th at Wisconsin was absolutely horrendous. Luckily for the Spartans, they rose up to the challenge and peaked at the perfect time by placing 2nd at BIG 10's (only 3 points off Wisconsin) and 2nd again at Great Lakes. Unfortunately, that post-season magic wore off as the Spartans had to settle for a disappointing 20th place nationals. Still, they did a lot more this season than some originally thought they would.
#15 Iowa State Cyclones (+2/17)
-It's been a while since ISU has been in the national discussion, but they did some outstanding work this season when you consider where they were just a year before.
They had their ups and downs. They came in 2nd at Roy Griak and then placed 6th at Wisconsin. They also struggled at regionals where they placed 4th in the team standings. In the end, the Cyclones finished 16th overall at nationals which was an improvement on their original preseason ranking. They didn't end with any All-Americans, but they can take comfort in the fact that they return 6 of their 7 runners next season.
#14 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (+6/20)
-Tulsa was a tricky team to figure out this season. They placed an unexciting 13th at Wisconsin, but came back to impress at Midwest regionals where they placed 2nd overall and put four in the top 12. NCAA's was their chance to show exactly how good they were and they took advantage of that opportunity by placing 11th overall and being led by Luke Traynor who finished 13th individually.
If they had just had a reliable 5th man then this team is in the top 10.
#13 Portland Pilots (-3/10)
-We didn't have Portland ranked in our pre-season top 25, but there was plenty of chatter about the potential they held. Sure enough, they came out blazing by torching the field at Roy Griak to win and later finishing 7th at Wisconsin. All eyes were on them as they entered West regionals and they prospered in the spotlight by taking the 2nd automatic qualifying spot. Their pack running could simply not be stopped and almost no other team could match their depth.
They ended up finishing 13th at nationals, but they probably could've improved with an established low-stick to bring down their score. Maybe we'll see that low-stick emerge next season.
#12 Oklahoma State Cowboys (0/12)
-12th at NCAA's and 12th in our rankings seems appropriate. They had a very solid season and developed some key runners that could have an impact for next year. Josh Thompson and Hassan Abdi were excellent for the Cowboys all season. They even had some great performances from their other runners which helped prop up the score.
Unfortunately, Geberkidane was injured and Sylvester Barus failed to show consistency. Had they been at the top of their game, then Oklahoma State could've been a top 10 team...or better.
#11 Oregon Ducks (0/11)
-They had a nice win at Pre-Nats, but their season went down hill after that. They were 4th at PAC-12's and 4th again in the West region with other teams like Washington State closing in on them.
The pressure was on for Oregon to perform well at NCAA's. In the end, they had a decent showing and placed 9th overall. It wasn't perfect, but they did well enough to move up a few spots.
#10 UCLA Bruins (-2/8)
-They didn't quite meet my expectations when they placed 15th at the NCAA meet, but they showed enough consistency throughout the season to stay in the top 10. Ferdinand Edman was a killer low-stick for the Bruins and they had a very nice pack behind him. A pair of finishes ahead of Oregon and 3rd in the West region was a very encouraging sign.
#9 Iona Gaels (-2/7)
-They ran without Chartt Miller for the entire regular season, but still proved that they could contend without him. Easily winning Paul Short and placing 5th at Wisconsin were encouraging signs especially when you consider that they didn't have their best low-stick.
Yet, my biggest concern was whether or not they could all perform well on the same day (nationals). Unfortunately, even putting Chartt Miller back in the mix wasn't enough as nearly every Iona runner had one of their poorest races of the season. In fact, no Iona Gael left Terre Haute as an All-American.
They still managed to place 10th overall at nationals, but when you look at their roster you know that they are better than that.
#8 Wisconsin Badgers (+1/9)
-The Badgers race in only one serious regular season meet (the Wisconsin Invite) where they placed 11th with Schrobilgen dropping out. I had my concerns about Schrobilgen and the youth of Hacker and Snyder, but when it came time for the post-season they put all of my concerns to rest.
Once they earned back-to-back victories at BIG 10's and Great Lakes, I was felt pretty comfortable about Wisconsin at nationals. Sure enough, they ran very well and placed 8th overall in the team standings (McDonald and Schrobilgen both became All-Americans). However, they could've done much better as their 5th man (freshman Ben Eidenschink) fell all the way to 157th in the individuals results.
They ran well and proved to be a top team in the nation, but just imagine how good they could've been had they had a little more support for their 5th man.
#7 Mississippi Rebels (+7/14)
-They didn't care about rankings or previous races. They came out and shocked the nation with an incredible 4th place finished to get a spot on the podium. They were led by MJ Erb who had the best race of his career by finishing 6th overall and giving Ole Miss the low-stick they desperately needed if they were going to podium.
For the past few week, the Rebels had been showing some weakness at their 6th and 7th spots. In fact, those last runners finished 132nd and 198th (in the team scoring). Luckily, the Rebels had their five runners finishing 5, 30, 42, 48, and 71 (in the team scoring). That's pretty darn good if you ask me.
Yet, maybe the most exciting part for Ole Miss was the fact that they beat out SEC rivals Arkansas (a team favored for the podium) by 10 points. I'm sure the Rebels didn't forget about the beat down they took at conferences when the Razorbacks won by 13.
They may have finished 4th overall, but they'll finish at 7th in the rankings. Their regular season performances weren't enough for me to put them in the top 5.
#6 BYU Cougars (-2/4)
-There are a lot of stars on this BYU team. However, the one that shined the brightest never even ran. Coach Ed Eyestone has impressed me once again as he is still able to create another top-tier cross country team. Coming into this season, we knew BYU would be good, but nobody thought they would take down Syracuse (twice). So how did they do it?
We can start with Nico Montanez, a guy who had never broken 14:30 for 5k. Eventually, Montanez became one of the top ranked runners in the nation and ended up placing 9th at NCAA's. Behind him? Two sophomores (Rory Linkletter and Clayton Young) killed it all season and made appearances in our top 50 rankings. It also doesn't hurt that they had freshman Brayden McLelland putting up points for the squad as well. Sprinkle in a slew of experienced upperclassmen and you can imagine why BYU was so good this year.
However, none of that happens without Coach Eyestone. He developed three underclassmen into scorers for a nationally ranked team. One of them became All-American. Meanwhile, we saw Nico Montanez go from an unknown to a superstar ace as a senior (which rarely happens).
They had their short-comings, but BYU deserves the same kind of respect Iona, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma State get every year.
#5 Colorado Buffaloes (-2/5)
-We didn't really get a gage of how good they were until the post-season when they upset Stanford for the PAC-12 title. They were only 16 points off from NAU at regionals and that was with Saarel and Forsyth having poor races.
They ended placing 6th at nationals. They had an outstanding top three with Saarel, Klecker, and Dressel becoming All-Americans. However, their 4 and 5 were 74th and 125th...
#4 Syracuse Orangemen (+2/6)
#3 Arkansas Razorbacks (+2/5)
-This is the debatable part for many since Syracuse placed 3rd at NCAA's and Arkansas placed 5th. For me, I can't put Syracuse ahed of Arkansas after they had lack-luster regular season performances and had a relatively unchallenging path at conferences and regionals.
You could argue the same thing for Arkansas, but they were able to take down a strong Ole Miss squad at SEC's. They also had a great Pre-Nats performance where they probably could've won if they had run Andrew Ronoh.
#2 Stanford Cardinals (0/2)
-Does Stanford remind you a little bit of the Golden State Warriors? They had the top recruits in the nation (with name recognition), but still fell short of the championship title. Regardless, they had a great season and have a lot to be proud of. Fisher and McGorty both ended 2016 as All-Americans while Wharton found some consistency and ended up in 41st. Unfortunately, the last few scorers were a little too spread out to pull together a better score than NAU.
-Does Stanford remind you a little bit of the Golden State Warriors? They had the top recruits in the nation (with name recognition), but still fell short of the championship title. Regardless, they had a great season and have a lot to be proud of. Fisher and McGorty both ended 2016 as All-Americans while Wharton found some consistency and ended up in 41st. Unfortunately, the last few scorers were a little too spread out to pull together a better score than NAU.
#1 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0/1)
-History is complete. The Lumberjacks earned their school it's first ever national championship title. To add to the story, Coach Heins will ride off into the sunset in his last season of coaching as the man responsible for bringing that national championship to the school.
So how did they do it? They did it by putting four guys in the top 40 and making them All-Americans. They had some trouble with their 5th man placing 66th, but they placed so well upfront that they still beat 2nd place Stanford by 33 points.
-History is complete. The Lumberjacks earned their school it's first ever national championship title. To add to the story, Coach Heins will ride off into the sunset in his last season of coaching as the man responsible for bringing that national championship to the school.
So how did they do it? They did it by putting four guys in the top 40 and making them All-Americans. They had some trouble with their 5th man placing 66th, but they placed so well upfront that they still beat 2nd place Stanford by 33 points.
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Just Missed
-Bradley Braves
-Air Force Falcons
-Providence Friars
-Texas Longhorns
-Minnesota Golden Gophers
-Michigan Wolverines
-Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
-UTEP Miners
Kicked Off
-UTEP Miners (Last Ranked 22nd)
New Additions
-Furman Paladins
-Furman Paladins
Biggest Surprise of the Week
-Mississippi Rebels
Team of the Week
-NAU Lumberjacks
-NAU Lumberjacks
Notes
-Team of the Week goes to the NAU Lumberjacks (for obvious reasons)
-Biggest Surprise of the Week goes to the Mississippi Rebels after coming out of no where to earn a spot on the team podium
-It's easy to say that since one team beat another at nationals, that they should be ahead of them. However, these rankings are based on the entire season. One meet does not dictate where a program is ranked.
-Team of the Week goes to the NAU Lumberjacks (for obvious reasons)
-Biggest Surprise of the Week goes to the Mississippi Rebels after coming out of no where to earn a spot on the team podium
-It's easy to say that since one team beat another at nationals, that they should be ahead of them. However, these rankings are based on the entire season. One meet does not dictate where a program is ranked.
