Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

[JackJD]

The Jacks are running at the NCAA Regional Cross Country Meet in Stillwater this morning. This is the qualifier meet for the national meet 11/24/08 in Terra Haute, IN. The competition is the best.

It will be a tremendous accomplishment is the Jackrabbit women, Summit League Champs, can crack the top 10 teams.

The course starts with a 300 meet uphill run. It's a very hilly 10,000 meters for the men and 6,000 meters for the women.

Interesting (weird?) fact about men's college cross country. The regular season races for the men are 8,000 meters until the regional meet when the distance goes to 10k. The national meet is also 10k.

[Gameday]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

Our Men and Women represented us well.

Stillwater Midwest Regional Results:

Women: 16th
55 Caitlin Berry 22:29.05
72 Nicole Davis 22:45.45
74 Ashley Storm 22:46.75
111 Claire Steinke 23:17.40
115 Kelsey Aune 23:17.80
(120) Danielle Burke 23:22.85
(137) Amanda Frohling 23:42.85

Women's Results:
http://www.okstate.com/downloads1/50...&DB_OEM_ID=200


Men: 18th
45 Michael Krsnak 32:25.95
109 Neil Albares 34:11.85
110 Marshall Kambestad 34:15.50
111 Todd Vlieger 34:17.50
135 Brad Anderson 35:00.05
(136) Kyle Schmidt 35:04.80
(137) Jake Schneller 35:13.85

Men's Results:
http://www.okstate.com/downloads1/50...&DB_OEM_ID=200

[EQguy]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

I am looking for some analysis from JD or someone that follows these teams. Were these times good times, expected times or below expectation. Does anyone qualify for nationals with these places?

[JackJD]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

Still looking over the results. One must keep in mind that no two cross country courses are alike. It is possible a slower time on one course is a better effort/result than a faster time on a different course. Add to the course differences, at least for the men, is the fact that the distance is increased for the regional and national meets from 8k to 10k. That's a significant difference for most runners who are accustomed to running the 8k distance.

One factor to look at is how tightly bunched your team is. Our top five women were within 50 seconds of one another and the top seven were within about a minute and thirteen seconds. That's good grouping and will help win and place high in most meets.

The times our women ran are pretty good but it's hard to make comparisons without seeing the course and the competition (I didn't make it to this meet). Judging from some of the competition, our women had the potential to have a higher team place if things fell into place for them but overall, a pretty good effort. Knowing the members of the women's team, it's my guess they're disappointed in the team place at the regionals but they had an excellent season.

Our top finisher in the men's race, Mike Krsnak ran well for a true freshman. His time and place are notable. Our men are running injured not everyone made the trip. Injuries are as much a part of cross country as in some contact sports...maybe even a worse problem in some years. If the SDSU men were healthy and ran to their potential, they could have competed with and probably finished ahead of Nebraska which finished ninth.

The competition at the regional meet is really tough. Many teams skip the regional meet, knowing they won't do well.

SDSU has a bright future in this sport. The women notched their first conference title. The men are very young and distance runners generally improve with age.

[JackJD]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

Couple of additional thoughts. SDSU dominated the North Central Conference in cross country, particularly on the men's side. SDSU has multiple national titles in the College Division (pre-1978?) and Division II. Some said when SDSU announced it was moving to Division I, that only cross country would instantly "fit" in the D-I ranks and that has been true. Realistically, SDSU is not (yet) in the league of Minnesota or Wisconsin and many other DI cross country programs BUT it is no where near the bottom of DI either and competes well against some of the largest universities in the country. Cross country is a sport in which we have excellent high school runners in the region to draw from, we have an established tradition, we have excellent coaching...so, all the tools are there for SDSU to lead the Summit League and inch its way up in the region and eventually make itself known on the national scene.

[kstate10K]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

Maybe I can offer my 2 cents worth of opinion/experience in the 10K or 8K difference. Yes it is only slightly longer than 1 more mile and at this time of year most cross country runners are at or near their peak physical conditioning, but their bodies are conditioned to race 8K distances. I am by no means saying that I am an expert, but I did run in the NCAA Division I meet twice and have run more than a dozen 10Ks on the track, roads, and cross country meets.

I use a college freshman as an example; coming out of high school they are very use to the 5K race. Their 1st 8k race is very interesting to watch, they look good at the 5K mark, but then they begin to break down. Many finish with the comment; "At the 5K mark my body thought we were done!"

This is the same when stepping up to the 10K. At the 8K they look good, feel good, but shortly after that they begin to tire. ( Yes, they train at distances farther than 10K, but very rarely race at a distance longer.) This tiring also wears on the mind, as the body tires the mind must try to force the body to push itself past the fatigue and remain at the race pace for the next 2000 meters, especially more difficult if hills are involved as they were/are at most cross country courses. The hill adds to the fatigue and the body slows at the times go up. The Stillwater course indeed had to be a very difficult course to run and with the weather conditions, even more obstacles to get through for a fast time. I have not been on the course, but I judge my opinion by the people I talked with who were there and by comparing the 8k times from the various conference meets that most school ran 2 weeks ago.

The SDSU Men are very young and will get better as they mature and get stronger. Many of them will adapt to the 10K distance by next year. JackJD is correct in his assessment of the Men's and Women's team, they are very talented and will get better under Coach DeHaven's leadership. The women and men will someday soon have people running at the national meet, the program is very good and on the upswing.

Sorry this is so long, but a 10K is also a very long and difficult journey!

[EQguy]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

good insight. Thanks for the post.

[oldalum]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

I drove down to Stillwater, OK to watch our daughter’s last cross country meet. Like JD said, the women ran well as a group, finishing 16th. They were hoping for 12th or so, but they did finish two places above NDSU which is always a victory in my book!
We hadn’t run against most of the teams there so we didn’t really know where we would stack up against them. Teams like Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and others provided a very high level of competition.
OSU hosted the meet on their cross country course, not a golf course like most schools. It was a very tough course. Six or seven short but very steep hills followed by wide open prairie. The weather was 42 degrees with 20 mph winds, gusting to 25. The winds didn’t bother us Dakotans, but the hills may have had an impact.
The men finished 18th (NDSU 16th). Injuries have been a problem for the men’s team this year.
It has been great getting to know the girls and watching them improve over the years. Also making new friends with the parents, going to out of town meets together, etc.
Our daughter has really enjoyed running for Rod Dehaven. She said it was really fun and she learned an awful lot. She said this year’s team is the best she has ever been a part of. That is saying quite a lot since at Watertown she was on one state champ team and four ESD champs.
We have been watching her run cross country for 11 years, so it was a little hard to see her last meet end. But it has been a lot of fun, she has done a great job and we are very proud of her.

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: Regional Meet - Stillwater OK

But it has been a lot of fun, she has done a great job and we are very proud of her.

And you should be PROUD of her!!! Congratulations to you and we're appreciative she came to SDSU!