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Wisconsin Adidas Invitational PreviewPublished by
Friday, October 12, 2012 – Madison, Wisconsin The Wisconsin Adidas Invitational has quickly become the premier regular season cross country meet, for both men and women, even surpassing NCAA Pre-Nationals, which happens to fall on the same weekend this year. In both the men’s and women’s races, 20 of the top 30 ranked teams are competing. With conference and regional meets coming up, the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational should help answer some of the questions lingering in front of passionate collegiate cross country fans everywhere. Quick Facts
A loaded field of talented teams takes to the start line on Friday, where #1 Wisconsin will receive their first major test of the season. Earlier this week, Wisconsin head coach Mick Byrne discussed the likelihood of top runner Mo Ahmed redshirting the season. While Ahmed is training and healthy, his long summer of racing means the standout may not race this fall. If that indeed is the case, fellow Badger senior Reed Connor will redshirt the season, thus leaving Maverick Darling and Alex Brill in charge of leading the pack. With Ahmed and most likely Connor not racing this weekend, Wisconsin enters with far less firepower than when they won the 2011 NCAA team title, however, they are racing on their home course and Byrne knows how to get his runners ready for the big-time races. Following closely on Wisconsin’s heels is Oklahoma. Coming into the meet, the #4 Sooners dominated at the Panorama Farms Invitational a few weeks back, which saw the experienced squad beat runner-up Arkansas 40-61. Senior Bill Kogel leads the pack, and should contend for a top five finish Friday, while the pack of seniors Patrick Casey, Riley Masters, Kevin Williams, Andrew Weaver and Kyle King should pack it up and run a small split because of it. Oklahoma ran to a sixth place finish at the national championship last fall and is looking to trophy this time around. Equally in line to challenge for the victory are #5 ranked teams (tied in the rankings) Portland and Iona. Portland lost #1 runner Trevor Dunbar last spring, as the Alaska native transferred to the University of Oregon. To make matters worse, their #2 runner Joash Osoro transferred out to William Carey University in Mississippi. Don’t worry about the Pilots though. Scott Fauble leads the way of an extremely deep team, and while they don’t necessarily have a top ten individual talent on their roster, they have a group that can win with strong pack tactics. Iona is perhaps the most undervalued team at the moment. A few short weeks ago, the Gaels dominated the Greater Louisville Classic, with Mitch Goose, Matthew Bayley and Matt Gillespie finishing 3-5, while placing five in the top 19 finishers. Their Louisville performance can easily be ranked as one of the top team performances on the season, thus far. Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Portland and Iona are the four teams most fans will keep their eyes on, as each seems to have the makeup of a trophy contending team, but there are a few others who should factor in for top four places this weekend. Syracuse and Princeton have moved up the rankings this fall, showing depth that many discounted heading into the season. Syracuse ran a 14 second 1-5 split at the Dartmouth Invitational, with frontrunner Joe Whelan leading the way. While they didn’t face amazing competition at the invite, they certainly showed they have the talent and depth to be very competitive. Princeton, with new coach Jason Vigilante at the helm, placed second at the Notre Dame Invitational behind the impressive running of Tulsa. Led by top talent Alejandro Arroyo Yamin and Chris Bendtsen, the squad ran a 34 second 1-5 split and an even more impressive 50 second 1-7 split. Not to be overlooked, Northern Arizona is the easy darkhorse in the field. While they’ve yet to really be challenged this season, the squad could very well surprise with a top four finish despite being ranked 18th. NAU graduated five of their top seven from last season, including All-American Diego Estrada, however, they received two transfers in Brian Shrader and Matt McElroy, as well as top freshman Futsum Zienasellassie. Those three, along with a few of their experienced returnees, make up a very strong group. Individually, Friday’s race is a seemingly two-man battle between University of Arizona teammates Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu. The duo ran to a 1-2 finish at the Greater Louisville Classic earlier in the season and are raring to race once again. Both easily shattered the 8k course record in Louisville and are in seemingly the best shape of their careers. Not to be overlooked, Texas A&M standout Henry Lelei should give both Arizona runners a challenge. Lelei has yet to be truly challenged on the season and is one of the top returnees in the country. One of the most talked about storylines will certainly be how NC State’s Andrew Colley opens up his racing season. The Wolfpack junior is the top American returnee after placing 15th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall. While he was a little dinged up earlier this season, he’s running healthy and should challenge for a top three finish. Right on Colley’s heels will undoubtedly be Oklahoma’s Bill Kogel, who continues to improve seemingly every season and is poised for a big senior cross country season. Kogel, along with another 15-20 top runners will challenge for top ten finishes. It’s going to be an amazing day of racing in Madison. Similar to the men’s race, the women’s race at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational is loaded with ranked teams and individuals who will ultimately contend for the national title in less than two months. While the men’s race has generated some great press, the women’s race on paper is even better. While the men’s race offers five teams in the top 10 and 7 in the top 15, the women’s race showcases six top 10 teams and 10 of the top 15 teams. Leading the charge are Pac-12 rivals #2 Arizona and #3 Washington. At the Greater Louisville Classic a couple weeks back, Arizona edged Washington for the team title 71-80. This came as quite the surprise on the national stage, as Arizona finished 19th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and didn’t seem lined up to challenge for a trophy this fall. Tremendous front running from Elvin Kibet, who won the race in Louisville, and a strong 29 second 1-5 split, Arizona showed they are well positioned to challenge for not only a trophy, but the national title. While Washington lost the battle in Louisville, they are still in line to challenge for the national title once more. The 2011 runner-up squad was running without #2 runner Megan Goethals in Louisville. Should Goethals return to race Friday in Madison, that puts Washington back at full strength, especially with Goethals and individual title threat Katie Flood scoring very low points up top. Washington’s depth was very impressive and should be one of their key strengths this weekend. Behind Arizona and Washington, Iowa State looks to show their #5 ranking is legit. Led by pre-race individual favorite Betsy Saina and top five challenger Meghan Nelson, Iowa State looks to continue their momentum from their big Roy Griak Invitational win two weeks back. The X-factor for Iowa State could be whether or not experienced Morgan Casey will be back toeing the line. The Cyclones relied on Casey last fall quite a bit, running as their fourth runner most of the season and playing a key roll at the national meet. Following closely behind are the squads from #7 Stanford, #9 Cornell and #10 Michigan State. Stanford is a fascinating squad to watch this year. Along with senior front runner Kathy Kroeger, who could compete for the individual title Friday, the Cardinal are running a nice mix of experienced veterans in Jessica Tonn and Asiling Cuffe, while putting freshmen in key rolls, like Cayla Hattton. Returning six of seven from their squad last fall, Stanford has dreams of getting back on the podium. Perhaps the most surprising squad of 2012 so far is the women’s team from Cornell. The team crushed very strong competition at the Paul Short Invitational earlier in the season, scoring a mere 55 points and soundly beating Northeast rivals like Georgetown, Villanova and William and Mary. Cornell ran a 38 second 1-6 split and 24 second 1-4 split. Led by top five challenger Katie Kellner, if they put up a similar split Friday, Cornell will challenge for a top three finish. Michigan State, #12 Vanderbilt and #13 Weber State should also challenge for top-five team finishes. Individually, Flood, Saina, Nelson, Kroeger, Goethals and Kibet make up one heck of race to watch up front. However, the potential star of the show could be Dartmouth junior Abbey D’Agostino, who is looking to show that her 2012 track season was a mere warm-up to watch she does over hill ‘n’ dale this fall. D’Agostino opened her season extremely strong and should get quite the challenge from the lead pack, as seven of the top eleven returnees from the 2011 national championship are competing in Madison. So much talent, only one race, the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational is going to be a great one. #1 Wisconsin Other Notable Teams: Kansas, Texas A&M, NC State, Iowa State, Arizona, Dartmouth Ranked Women’s Teams Competing #2 Arizona Other Notable Teams: Syracuse, Virginia, Dartmouth, Princeton, North Carolina More news |
