Worst 10 Picks Women

Pick	Player	Athlete	Team	Place	Off
68	Lars	Crystal Nelson	Iowa State	192	124
33	Lars	Semehar Tesfaye	Arkansas	142	109
39	Mike	Megan McGlinchey	LaSalle	148	109
30	Chris	Kristin Casper	Georgetown	121	91
52	Marshall	Carrie Verdon	Colorado	136	84
36	Andrew	Nicky Akande	Villanova	95	69
50	Chris	Mary Aldenbratt	SMU	115	65
53	Lars	Gina Valgoi	Loyola	104	51
27	Alex	Allison Lasnicki	Conn	73	46
51	Chris	Katie Flood	Washington	89	44

Worst 10 Picks Men

Pick	Player	Athlete	Team	Place	Off
33	Kyle	Parker Stinson	Oregon	240	207
31	Alex	Richard Medina	Colorado	228	198
25	Chris	Rex Shields	BYU	188	163
52	Trent	Maksim Koroslev	Harvard	201	149
63	Phil	Vigis	EKU	194	131
39	Lars	Jim Rosa	Stanford	166	127
51	Alex	Sam McEntee	Villanova	150	99
32	Trent	Dan Lawry	Michigan	125	93
58	Phil	Tyler Stutzman	Stanford	137	79
35	John	Joe Rosa	Stanford	112	77
16	Chris	Craig Lutz	Texas	dnf
14	Mike	Rich Peters	Boston	dnf
12	Trent	Matt Gillespie	Iona	dnf
45	Chris	Matt Bayley	Iona	dns
48	Kyle	Ben Torotich	EKU	dns
34	Mike	Andrew Bayer	Indiana	dns
69	Trent	Jeremy Rae	Notre Dame	DNS

Best Runners Not Picked

24	Joseph Maniafasha	OK State
26	Scott Fauble	Portland
27	Luke Caldwell	New Mexico
30	Peter Okwera	Tenn
34	Thatcher	BYU
35	Chebet	WKU
35	VanHalen	Colorado
38	Wade Meddles	EKU
45	Pierce Murphy	Colorado
49	Rob Finnerty	Wisco
50	Rory Tunningley	Texas
13	Elaina Balouris	WM
20	Kelsey Lakowske	Duke
26	Emily Stites	WM
39	Katie Conlon	Oregon
42	Lindsay Crevorsiert	Conn
45	Laura Galvan	K State
46	Rochelle Kanuho	NAU
49	Kaylin Belair	Toledo

Men's Fantasy XC Scores

Alex		Place
Henry Lelei	TAMU	5	5
David Rooney	McNeese	7	7
Tom Farrell	Ok St	9	9
Richard Medina	Colorado	228	15
Brian Shrader	NAU	15	44
Sam McEntee	Villanova	150	80
Andy Heyes	Tulsa	44
	Top 5	80
	Top 7
Andrew
Lawi Lalang	Arizona	2	2
Kemoy Campbell	Arkansas	17	17
Jakub Zivec	FSU	21	21
Ryan Dohner	Texas	19	19
Kevin Williams	Oklahoma	78	43
Brandon Lord	Georgia	107	102
Chris Bendson	Princeton	43
	Top 5	102
	Top 7
Chris
Paul Chelimo	UNCG	10	10
Craig Lutz	Texas	DNF	188
Rex Shields	BYU	188	62
David Forrester	FSU	62	87
Matt Bayley	Iona	DNS	53
Erik Olson	Stanford	87	400
Shane Moskowitz	Ok St	53
	Top 5	400
	Top 7
John
Kennedy Kithuka	Texas Tech	1	1
Souifane Bouchiki	EKU	40	32
Jake Huryz	Colorado	32	40
Joe Rosa	Stanford	112	37
Travis Mahoney	Temple	37	54
Paul Katam	UNCG	76	164
Nate Jewkes	SUU	54
	Top 5	164
	Top 7
Kyle
Anthony Rotich	UTEP	4	4
Girma Mecheso	Ok St	6	6
Andrew Colley	NC St	16	16
Parker Stinson	Oregon	240	105
Ben Torotich	EKU	DNS	121
David Perry	Portland	121	252
Kirubel Erassa	Ok St	105
	Top 5	252
	Top 7
Lars
Chris O'Hare	Tulsa	20	11
Shadrack Kipchirchir	Ok St	18	18
Maverick Darling	Wisco	11	20
Jim Rosa	Stanford	166	28
Will Mulherin	Virginia Tech	28	33
Matt Johnson	Lamar	33	110
Hunter Mickow	Illinois	46
	Top 5	110
	Top 7
Marshall
Mo Ahmed	Wisco	8	8
Mitch Goose	Iona	23	23
Soloman Haile	Arkansas	47	39
Blake Theroux	Colorado	39	42
Bill Kogel	Oklahoma	51	47
Gilbert Kemboi	USC Upstate	42	159
Martin Grady	Notre Dame	52
	Top 5	159
	Top 7
Mike
Patrick Casey	Oklahoma	67
Eric Fernandez	Arkansas	83
Lane Werley	UCLA	25
Brendan O'Neil	FSU	28
Rich Peters	Boston	48
Andrew Bayer	Indiana	251
Ben Johnson	Stanford
	Top 5	251
	Top 7
Phil
Stephen Sambu	Arizona	3	3
Zachary Mayhew	Indiana	13	12
Reed Connor	Wisco	12	13
Futsum Z	NAU	31	31
Kyle Merber	Texas	98	98
Tyler Stutzman	Stanford	137	157
Thijis	EKU	194
	Top 5	157
	Top 7
Trent
Trevor Dunbar	Oregon	41	41
Matt Gillespie	Iona	D	14
Jared Ward	BYU	14	125
Dan Lawry	Michigan	125	22
Zach Gates	Virginia	22	201
Maksim Koroslev	Harvard	201	403
Jeremy Rae	Notre Dame	D
	Top 5	403
	Top 7

Overall Scoring for Fantasy XC

Player	M	W	T
Alex	80	132	212
Marshall	159	106	265
Andrew	102	165	267
Phil	157	151	308
John	164	154	318
Lars	110	229	339
Kyle	252	100	352
Mike	251	134	385
Trent	403	111	514
Chris	400	334	734

Women's Fantasy XC Results

Team	Alex		Place
	Laura Hollander	Cal Poly	9
	Mareike Schrull	Iowa	7
	Allison Lasnicki	Conn	73
	Juliet Bottorf	Duke	27
	Josephine Moultry	New Mexico	30
	Agnes Kemboi	TCU	83
	Courtney Schultz	New Mexico State	59
		Top 5	132
		Top 7
Team	Andrew
	Risper Kimayo	UTEP	5
	Amber Henry	Weber State	32
	Kelly Macumber	Kentucky	6
	Nicky Akande	Villanova	95
	Grace Heymsfeld	Arkansas	55
	Ashley Beutler	Wisconsin	65
	Jillian King	Boston College	69
		Top 5	165
		Top 7
Team	Chris
	Jen Bergman	Arizona	29
	Megan Goethals	Washington	48
	Kristin Casper	Georgetown	121
	Sara Kroll	Michigan State	53
	Mary Aldenbratt	SMU	115
	Katie Flood	Washington	89
	Holly Rowlamd	Iona	D
		Top 5	334
		Top 7
Team	John
	Violah Lagat	FSU	11	11
	Emily Lipari	Villanova	25	25
	Shelby Houlihan	Arizona State	31	31
	Laura Nagel	Providence	35	35
	Jillian Smith	Michigan	52	52
	Florence Ngetich	Florida	54	154
	Gabi Anzalone	Wisconsin	86
		Top 5	154
		Top 7
Team	Kyle
	Jordan Hasay	Oregon	3
	Alexi Pappas	Oregon	8
	Colleen Quigley	FSU	12
	Katie Kellner	Cornell	36
	Allie Woodward	Oregon	44
	Monica Juodeskaite	Ok State	41
	Natalja Piluisnia	Ok State	50
		Top 5	100
		Top 7
Team	Lars
	Megan Nelson	Iowa State	16
	Juli Accurso	Ohio State	38
	Jess Engel	Oklahoma	57
	Semehar Tesfaye	Arkansas	142
	Amanda Mergaert	Utah	14
	Gina Valgoi	Loyola	104
	Crystal Nelson	Iowa State	192
		Top 5	229
		Top 7
Team	Marshall
	Kathy Kroeger	Stanford	24
	Shalaya Kipp	Colorado	18
	Cayla Hatton	Stanford	28
	Emily Sisson	Providence	15
	Aisling Cuffe	Stanford	21
	Carrie Verdon	Colorado	136
	Samantha Bluske	Iowa State	108
		Top 5	106
		Top 7
Team	Mike
	Betsy Saina	Iowa State	1
	Elvin Kibet	Arizona	19
	Amanda Winslow	FSU	17
	Megan McGlinchey	LaSalle	148
	Catherine White	Virginia	33
	Carly Hamilton	Georgia	92
	Madeline Chambers	Georgetown	64
		Top 5	134
		Top 7
Team	Phil
	Aliphine Tuliamuk	Wichita State	4
	Marielle Hall	Texas	23
	Sara Sutherland	Texas	58
	Chelsey Oswald	Kentucky	37
	Liann Farber	North Carolina	40
	Tori Perry	Penn State	47
	Rebeccah Addison	Michigan	56
		Top 5	151
		Top 7
Team	Trent
	Abbey D'Agostino	Dartmouth	2
	Sarah Collins	Providence	10
	Katie Clark	Butler	22
	Kelsey Santisebastian	California	70
	Jessica Tonn	Stanford	43
	Sarah Callister	Weber State	29
	Rachel Sorna	Cornell	34
		Top 5	111
		Top 7

Fantasy NCAA Picks

Pick	Player	Athlete	Team
1	Kyle	Jordan Hasay	Oregon
2	Mike	Betsy Saina	Iowa State
3	Phil	Aliphine Tuliamuk	Wichita State
4	Trent	Abbey D'Agostino	Dartmouth
5	Andrew	Risper Kimayo	UTEP
6	Franzen	Violah Lagat	FSU
7	Alex	Laura Hollander	Cal Poly
8	Lars	Megan Nelson	Iowa State
9	Marshall	Kathy Kroeger	Stanford
10	Chris	Jen Bergman	Arizona
11	Chris	Megan Goethals	Washington
12	Marshall	Shalaya Kipp	Colorado
13	Lars	Juli Accurso	Ohio State
14	Alex	Mareike Schrull	Iowa
15	Franzen	Emily Lipari	Villanova
16	Andrew	Amber Henry	Weber State
17	Trent	Sarah Collins	Providence
18	Phil	Marielle Hall	Texas
19	Mike	Elvin Kibet	Arizona
20	Kyle	Alexi Pappas	Oregon
21	Kyle	Colleen Quigley	FSU
22	Mike	Amanda Winslow	FSU
23	Phil	Sara Sutherland	Texas
24	Trent	Katie Clark	Butler
25	Andrew	Kelly Macumber	Kentucky
26	Franzen	Shelby Houlihan	Arizona State
27	Alex	Allison Lasnicki	Conn
28	Lars	Jess Engel	Oklahoma
29	Marshall	Cayla Hatton	Stanford
30	Chris	Kristin Casper	Georgetown
31	Chris	Sara Kroll	Michigan State
32	Marshall	Emily Sisson	Providence
33	Lars	Semehar Tesfaye	Arkansas
34	Alex	Juliet Bottorf	Duke
35	Franzen	Laura Nagel	Providence
36	Andrew	Nicky Akande	Villanova
37	Trent	Kelsey Santisebastian	California
38	Phil	Chelsey Oswald	Kentucky
39	Mike	Megan McGlinchey	LaSalle
40	Kyle	Katie Kellner	Cornell
41	Kyle	Allie Woodward	Oregon
42	Mike	Catherine White	Virginia
43	Phil	Liann Farber	North Carolina
44	Trent	Jessica Tonn	Stanford
45	Andrew	Grace Heymsfeld	Arkansas
46	Franzen	Jillian Smith	Michigan
47	Alex	Josephine Moultry	New Mexico
48	Lars	Amanda Mergaert	Utah
49	Marshall	Aisling Cuffe	Stanford
50	Chris	Mary Aldenbratt	SMU
51	Chris	Katie Flood	Washington
52	Marshall	Carrie Verdon	Colorado
53	Lars	Gina Valgoi	Loyola
54	Alex	Agnes Kemboi	TCU
55	Franzen	Florence Ngetich	Florida
56	Andrew	Ashley Beutler	Wisconsin
57	Trent	Sarah Callister	Weber State
58	Phil	Tori Perry	Penn State
59	Mike	Carly Hamilton	Georgia
60	Kyle	Monica Juodeskaite	Ok State
61	Kyle	Natalja Piluisnia	Ok State
62	Mike	Madeline Chambers	Georgetown
63	Phil	Rebeccah Addison	Michigan
64	Trent	Rachel Sorna	Cornell
65	Andrew	Jillian King	Boston College
66	Franzen	Gabi Anzalone	Wisconsin
67	Alex	Courtney Schultz	New Mexico State
68	Lars	Crystal Nelson	Iowa State
69	Marshall	Samantha Bluske	Iowa State
70	Chris	Holly Rowlamd	Iona

Pick	Player	Athlete	Team
1	Andrew	Lawi Lalang	Arizona
2	Lars	Chris O'Hare	Tulsa
3	Phil	Stephen Sambu	Arizona
4	Marshall	Mo Ahmed	Wisco
5	Chris	Paul Chelimo	UNCG
6	John	Kennedy Kithuka	Texas Tech
7	Mike	Patrick Casey	Oklahoma
8	Kyle	Anthony Rotich	UTEP
9	Trent	Trevor Dunbar	Oregon
10	Alex	Henry Lelei	TAMU
11	Alex	David Rooney	McNeese
12	Trent	Matt Gillespie	Iona
13	Kyle	Girma Mecheso	Ok St
14	Mike	Rich Peters	Boston
15	John	Souifane Bouchiki	EKU
16	Chris	Craig Lutz	Texas
17	Marshall	Mitch Goose	Iona
18	Phil	Zachary Mayhew	Indiana
19	Lars	Shadrack Kipchirchir	Ok St
20	Andrew	Kemoy Campbell	Arkansas
21	Andrew	Jakub Zivec	FSU
22	Lars	Maverick Darling	Wisco
23	Phil	Reed Connor	Wisco
24	Marshall	Soloman Haile	Arkansas
25	Chris	Rex Shields	BYU
26	John	Jake Huryz	Colorado
27	Mike	Eric Fernandez	Arkansas
28	Kyle	Andrew Colley	NC St
29	Trent	Jared Ward	BYU
30	Alex	Tom Farrell	Ok St
31	Alex	Richard Medina	Colorado
32	Trent	Dan Lawry	Michigan
33	Kyle	Parker Stinson	Oregon
34	Mike	Andrew Bayer	Indiana
35	John	Joe Rosa	Stanford
36	Chris	David Forrester	FSU
37	Marshall	Blake Theroux	Colorado
38	Phil	Futsum Z	NAU
39	Lars	Jim Rosa	Stanford
40	Andrew	Ryan Dohner	Texas
41	Andrew	Kevin Williams	Oklahoma
42	Lars	Will Mulherin	Virginia Tech
43	Phil	Kyle Merber	Texas
44	Marshall	Bill Kogel	Oklahoma
45	Chris	Matt Bayley	Iona
46	John	Travis Mahoney	Temple
47	Mike	Lane Werley	UCLA
48	Kyle	Ben Torotich	EKU
49	Trent	Zach Gates	Virginia
50	Alex	Brian Shrader	NAU
51	Alex	Sam McEntee	Villanova
52	Trent	Maksim Koroslev	Harvard
53	Kyle	David Perry	Portland
54	Mike	Ben Johnson	Stanford
55	John	Paul Katam	UNCG
56	Chris	Erik Olson	Stanford
57	Marshall	Gilbert Kemboi	USC Upstate
58	Phil	Tyler Stutzman	Stanford
59	Lars	Matt Johnson	Lamar
60	Andrew	Brandon Lord	Georgia
61	Andrew	Chris Bendson	Princeton
62	Lars	Hunter Mickow	Illinois
63	Phil	Thijis Nijuhis	EKU
64	Marshall	Martin Grady	Notre Dame
65	Chris	Shane Moskowitz	Ok St
66	John	Nate Jewkes	SUU
67	Mike	Brendan O'Neil	FSU
68	Kyle	Kirubel Erassa	Ok St
69	Trent	Jeremy Rae	Notre Dame
70	Alex	Andy Heyes	Tulsa

Regional Previews: West Men

1. Stanford- Led by the Rosas and Ben Johnson, the Cardinals should run to victory here after a second place finish at Pac-12s to Mountain Region team Colorado.  They are ranked 3rd in the nation.

2. Portland- The Pilots lost their top 2 runners to transfer from last year but they still are great.  They recently defeated BYU at the conference meet by one point.  If the Pilots still had Dunbar and Osoro they would be hunting for an NCAA title.

3. Oregon- I hesitate greatly to put the Ducks here.  They have one of the better up front duos in the NCAA but their 3-5 are pathetic for the talent they have on that roster.  They went 30-31-37 at Pac-12s.  That being said, they did escape a decent day from AZ state at conference.

4. Arizona State-  If Darius Terry has a better day, the Sundevils take down the Ducks.  They were 4th at Pac-12s led by Nick Haape and Kansas transfer Zach Zarda.

5. UCLA- The Bruins were right behind AZ State who was right behind Oregon at Pac-12s. They are ranked 27th nationally and look to qualify for NCAAs led by Lane Werley who was 5th at Pac-12.

6. Washington- The Huskies look the be the odd ones out in the West Region.  They were only 14 points back from Oregon at Pac-12s and need to jump at least one team ahead of them if they want to get to nationals.  As it stands, they have just one at large point.  Look for Joey Bywater and Tyler King (2nd frosh at Big 12s) to lead them.

7. Cal Poly- The Mustangs get the nod over Arizona due to their pack running.  They scored 25 points at Big West going 1-3 with a 25 second spread.

8. Arizona- The Wildcats are going to do about as bad as a team with 3 points through 2 runners can do.  They have a 2-3 spread of 2:30 in most races.  How hard is it to recruit 3 somewhat decent guys to this team?

9. Washington State- They might as well make the Pac-12 into the West Region and give Portland a bye here.  WSU was 8th at Pac-12 and I pick them 9th here.

10. Gonzaga- These guys get the nod over SanFran who they edged by 2 points at the WCC.

It looks like the top-5 teams will make it out of this region unless Washington or Cal Poly run great and beat a few teams in the top 5.

Individuals
1. Lalang, AZ
2. Sambu, AZ
3. Dunbar, Oregon
4. Stinson, Oregon
5. Werley, UCLA
6. Fauble, Portland
7. Kincaid, Portland
8. Perry, Portland
9. Rosa, Stanford
10. Johnson, Stanford

Possible individual qualifiers: (other than AZ duo)
Barak Watson, Boise State
Weston Strum, Loyola Marymount
Chris Frias, Cal Poly

Regional Previews: Mountain Men

1. Colorado- The Buffs will pack run their way to a win here and will be one of the favorites heading into nationals.  The Buffaloes are fresh off an easy victory at Pac-12s for the second straight year.  The real question is: Will we see Joe Bosshard?

2. BYU- The Cougars looked great early but have slowly been dropping since.  Their top two are solid and will contend for the individual title here.  It will be up to their 3-5 to hold off the Lobos and Lumberjacks.

3. Northern Arizona- The Lumberjacks replaced Diego Estrada with Brian Shrader and Futsum Z and they have looked good this year.  They have avoided the bigger meets but have been successful at smaller ones.

4. New Mexico- The Lobos dominated the Mountain West conference and look to qualify for nationals out of this region.  Like usual, their team is comprised mostly of British imports.

5. Air Force- The Falcons have a tight pack.  They finished 2nd in the mountain behind New Mexico and placed 6 ahead of Colorado State's #2.

6. Colorado State- The Rams have run the big meets this year and are prepared to do well here.  They have  solid front runner in Alex Muntefering and a tight 2-5 pack.

7. UTEP- These guys are great through 2 and solid through 3.  Their 4 and 6 guys need to run well to even keep this spot.

8. Weber State- Weber edged out Southern Utah by 3 points at Big Sky.  They are led by John Coyle and have a solid pack.

9. Texas Tech- TT is not deep at all but front runner Kennedy Kithuka will likely win here.

10. Southern Utah- South Utah lost Cam Levins and any chance of making NCAAs.  They are led by 2011 individual qualifier Nate Jewkes.


It appears that 4 solid teams will qualify out of this region.  I really don't see anybody upsetting the top 4.  UTEP lacks depth and Air Force lacks a front runner.

Individuals:  The Kenyans will run hard and the BYU leaders will finish between them and the rest of the pack which will be tactically battling for team qualifying.  Most of the top positions will be taken up by BYU, Colorado, New Mexico, and NAU runners.

1.Kennedy Kithuka, Texas Tech
2. Anthony Rotich, UTEP
3. Rex Shields, BYU
4. Jared Ward, BYU
5. Jake Huryz,CO
6. Blake Theroux,CO
7. Futsum Zienasellassie, NAU
8. Brian Shrader, NAU
9. Matt McElroy, NAU
10. Hugh Dowdy, CO
11. Luke Caldwell, NM
12. Aric Van Halen, CO
13. Martin Medina, CO
14. Nate Jewkes, SUU
15. Alex Muntefering, CO St
16. John Coyle, Weber State
17. Tylor Thatcher, BYU
18. Jason Whitt, BYU
19. Pat Zacharias, NM

Regional Previews: Midwest Men

Welcome to my regional rankings!  I'll start with the Midwest region because it is my favorite.  I ran in it a few times and it will always have a special place with me.  This region is to be held at SW Missouri State in Springfield.  The course is a big loop with some inner loops.  It has some long, slow hills that you have to go up a few times during the race.  The meet was last held here in 2010. I will preview teams first and then individuals after that.

1.  Oklahoma State- In past years, OK State has ran easy and let OU win.  This year, I think even with running easy, OK State will still win.  They crushed Texas and OU at Big-12s with their first 3 running in an easy pack and their next 2 running together just 6 seconds back.

2. Oklahoma- Oklahoma looked great their first race out this season but since then they haven't ran quite as well.  Don't get me wrong- they're a great team and will finish 2nd here but they aren't quite as good as last year.  Miler Pat Casey is leading this team that had a 26 second spread at the conference meet.

3. Tulsa- Tulsa was third here last year and they are a better team now.  I don't think they quite have the depth to challenge for the automatic qualifier but they will score much less than their 120 points last year.  Oklahoma's third best team is also led by a miler- Chris O'Hare.

4. Kansas- Kansas has come out of nowhere this year.  They have always been a decent team but this year they are deep.  They had a 1-7 spread of just over 30 seconds in the Big-12 race.  Look for them to run in a pack and be led by Evan Landes or Don Wasinger.

5. Iowa State- The Cyclones finished 16 points behind Kansas at Big 12s.  The only real bright spot was front runner Mohammed Hrezi who finished 14th.  They need their 3-5 guys to get closer to Hrezi to beat Kansas.

6. Illinois- The Fighting Illini have been moving up the regional rankings all year.  They recently beat Minnesota 86-141 at Big 10s led by Jannis Topfer and Hunter Mickow.  They could finish as good as 4th on a good day.

7. Missouri- The Tigers ran very well at the SEC to move ahead of Minnesota in my rankings.  They won a tie breaker for third and were nearly second to Arkansas.  They are led by Hayden Legg and Max Storms.

8. Minnesota- The Gophers have been missing a front runner this year with the graduations of Hassan Mead and Ben Blankenship the last few years.  They have been led by John Simons most of the year and are patiently awaiting the return to top form of Pieter Gagnon.  The Gophers, 5th at Big 10s, were predicted to make nationals by flotrack's Kolas Calculator but that is a very long shot now.

9. Southern Illinois- The Salukis won the Missouri Valley with 34 points placing all 5 of their runners in the top 10 and within 27 seconds of runner-up Zach Dahleen.  It will take a big team effort to move past the Gophers.

10. South Dakota State- SDSU is fresh off a victory at the Summit League with Mike Krsnak as the individual champion.  They finished just behind Iowa at Griak but look to be much improved since then.

Early in the year it appeared that as many as 6 teams would get into nationals from this region.  Now, it looks likely that only 4 teams will get in.  The only scenario would be if Tulsa or Oklahoma were to lose to Iowa State or Illinois and that isn't likely.

Individuals:
There is no Hassan Mead to set the pace and drag everybody else along this year.  It will most likely be a tactical affair with a slow pace early.
1. Girma Mecheso, OK State
2. Shadrack Kipchirchir, OK State
3. Tom Farrell, OK State
4. Patrick Casey, OU
5. Chris O'Hare, Tulsa
6. Mike Krsnak, SDSU
7. Bill Kogel, OU
8. Kevin Williams, OU
9. Jannis Topfer, Illinois
10. Hunter Mickow, Illinois

The two bolded runners would be the automatic individual qualifiers.

Other individuals to watch out for: The rest of Tulsa, OK State, and Oklahoma's teams, Zach Dahleen of SIU, Peter Gagnon of MN, Don Wasinger of KS, Cosmas Ayabei of UMKC, Trent Lusignan of SDSU, Jeff Mettler of USD, Mohammed Hrezi of ISU, Hayden Legg and Max Storms of Missouri.

At Least Once More Before It Snows (For Real)

At least once more before it snows... That was my mantra as I drove the 7 miles from Laramie to the Happy Jack Rec Area.  I had planned this run all week but it became all that much more urgent when I woke up this morning to a light covering of snow on the ground and a forecast for more tonight. 

I arrived at Happy Jack Trailhead and was surprised to find it ten degrees colder and much, much windier than in town.  That is a lesson I should be used to by now.  I began my run on the fairly tame Happy Jack Highway.  As busy as the name seems, there wasn't another human soul to be seen.  My objective for the day was to conquer a trail infamously known as "Death Crotch".  The handmade wooden sign appeared after 3 miles of running.  I glanced up, unable to see the top of the mountain I was about to tackle through the mist.  It reminded me of the mythical Mt. Olympus, with it's peak surrounded by clouds to house Zeus and co.  As I began the ascent, I kept thinking that it wasn't as bad as last time.  However, last time was months ago.  Since then, my fitness had improved drastically and I made sure to not make the same mistakes as last time.  In my last adventure up this hill I had started at a different trailhead and proceeded to hammer the 6 miles downhill to the base of Death Crotch.  This time wouldn't be the same.

My second thought as I worked my way up the trail was, "what's that noise?!"  I was most assured that it was only a mountain biker but I ran up the trail a bit to get a better angle, just to be safe.  What I saw rustling around in some bushes was astounding.  It was a full grown male Elk!  Prior to this experience, I had seen captive Elk from afar.  This one, however, was not tame, captive, and certainly not afar.  It was huge.  You can read about how big an animal is all you want but until you meet one in the wild, you will never truly realize what that means.  The large mammal caught site of me and sauntered off into the valley.  I decided to continue on up the trail.  It wasn't until after he was out of site that I realized how fast my heart was beating.  Running Death Crotch can sure make your heart race but seeing an Elk while doing that was nearly enough to give me a heart attack.

After my heart rate returned to normal, or as normal as it could be going up a steep hill, I went back to focusing on the task at hand.  Sure, it was hard, but not nearly as hard as the last time I had done this run.  This time I was even able to enjoy some of the views along the way.  Miles away, a truck appeared to be the size of a Hot Wheels car as it cruised on Happy Jack Road.  Higher and higher I went, until the cloud completely surrounded me.

I ran along Summit Trail for awhile before hopping onto my favorite trail at Happy Jack, the Haunted Forest Trail.  Running down Haunted Forest is technical and tricky on a good day but day was especially difficult.  The mist made it hard to see very far in front of you and the night's snow turned the dirt surface into a slick mud.  Until this day, I was unsure of why the Haunted Forest was given that name but today, it was revealed to me.  The huge white aspen and birch trees loomed like ghosts in the distance and the whole trail had a very mystical feel to it. I made it safely down the technical part of the trail and the rest of the run was enjoyable but rather uneventful.

When I came back near the trail head, I simply didn't want to stop running.  The temperature was great and now, looking out my window as it snows harder and harder, I am glad that I kept running.  It may be the last time I am out there this year without some kind of apparatus strapped to my feet.

Minnesota Athletes Sign With Nike/OTC

New Blog, Get In The Trailer, has been busy introducing new members of OTC Elite this week.  To my surprise, two new members of the team are Ben Blankenship and Hassan Mead.  Both athletes are Minnesota High School graduates, Stillwater and Minneapolis South, respectively, and U of M graduates as well.  Now, before you, or they, go on the defensive, I want to say that I am surprised that Nike is signing athletes with potential instead of ahletes that have already accomplised a lot.  Typically, it takes a gargantuan performance to gain a spot with Nike or OTC.  In the past, athletes who have histories of collapsed lungs or total hip replacements don't get signed by Nike.  I am happy that Nike is giving these guys a shot and I wish them the best of luck.  They are no slouches and only stand to get faster.  Mead is said to be training with Chelimo, Chelanga and Thompson.  It is unclear who Blankenship will be training with.  After the recent success of OTC members Galen Rupp and Mo Farah it is exciting to see Minnesotans entering into that group.  They join Elliott Heath as the current Minnesotans on the most Elite Professional running group in the US.

Summit League Stats- Men's

This blog post is to share my Summit League Statistics after the Griak/Notre Dame Weekend.  The formula for these stats is simple.  The time category is Notre Dame time.  IPFW, UMKC, IUPUI, and WIU all have Notre Dame times.  Oakland is converted in based on races against IPFW.  USD and SDSU times are Griak -30 seconds which is conservative (2 of USD's top 5 did not run at Griak and they are represented here by a good guess of their performances relative to their teammates earlier this year).  NDSU is based on races against SDSU.  The Florating category is Flotrack's way of rating performances.  All teams except Oakland were assigned Floratings on that weekend.



Name                    School             Time*      Florating*

Mike Krsnak	SDSU	24.18	200.7
Jeff Metler	USD	24.34	195.4
Trent Lusignan	SDSU	24.36	194.9
Cosmas Ayabei	UMKC	24.31	193.6
Joey Zielinski	IUPUI	24.58	184.6
Jared Ailts	SDSU	25.13	182.4
Michael Castel	WIU	25.17	178.4
Mubarik Musa	USD	25.34	175.5
Sam Roudebush	IUPUI	25.28	174.6
Taylor Huseman	USD	25.44	171.8
Zach Wiedeman	WIU	25.4	170.6
Travis Brenner	USD	25.48	170.6
Drew Kraft	SDSU	25.5	170.2
Kolton Sheldon	UMKC	25.42	169.5
Alex Hoenthaner	USD	25.53	169.2
Alloch Burton	UMKC	25.49	167.6
Joel Reichow	SDSU	26.02	166.2
Miguel Lozano	IUPUI	25.58	164.3
Ethan Marquardt	USD	26.08	164.1
Brett Kelly	NDSU	26.35	163.8
Dann Mann	UMKC	26.02	163.3
Bryon Schuldt	NDSU	26.36	161.8
Dirk Hudson	UMKC	26.07	161.6
JD Smith	IUPUI	26.09	160.9
Brant Hasse	USD	26.3	159.6
Moses Heppner	NDSU	27.06	158.1
Spencer Burgin	IUPUI	26.21	157
Austin Young	IUPUI	26.24	155.9
Philip Lavalle	SDSU	26.34	155.7
Trenton Hopper	WIU	26.27	154.8
Brendan Skime	NDSU	26.36	154.8
Andrew Thies	SDSU	26.36	154.7
Ryan Cutter	IUPUI	26.3	154
George Oconnor	OU	26.3	154
Alex Nail	UMKC	26.34	152.3
Michael Cox	OU	26.48	148
Ryan Wodjdyla	WIU	26.5	147.3
Griffin Humphrey	UMKC	26.51	147
Philip Palomino	OU	26.53	146
Jordan Hollman	IPFW	26.54	145.6
Grady Anderson	NDSU	25.54	140.8
Josh Hintz	NDSU	27.06	140.8
Lucas Degree	NDSU	26.37	139.4
Brandon Perry	IPFW	27.32	132
Anthony Sterzick	OU	27.37	131
Alex Katona	OU	27.44	130
Pat Cassidy	OU	27.47	129
Garret Glecker	IPFW	27.56	125
Chris Rudolph	IPFW	27.56	125
OU Ghost	OU	28	124
Cody Sengthong	IPFW	28.08	123
Randy McComb	IPFW	28.11	122
Taylor Crowell	IPFW	28.13	121
Kevin Kamm	WIU	28.39	120
WIU Ghost	WIU	28.49	119
WIU Ghost 2	WIU	28.59	118

The first set of scores are from the times.


Team                      1               2              3             4              5     Team Score

SDSU	1	4	6	15	19	45
USD	3	9	12	13	16	53
UMKC	2	11	14	20	21	68
IUPUI	5	8	18	23	24	78
WIU	7	10	26	38	54	135
NDSU	17	32	33	34	42	158
OU	29	37	40	45	46	197
IPFW	41	44	48	49	51	233

This set of team scores is from floratings.

Team                       1             2               3             4             5      Team Score

SDSU	1	3	6	13	17	40
USD	2	8	10	12	15	47
UMKC	4	14	16	21	23	78
IUPUI	5	9	18	24	27	83
WIU	7	11	30	37	54	139
NDSU	20	22	26	31	41	140
OU	34	36	39	45	46	200
IPFW	40	44	48	49	51	232