It won’t be long now until a plethora of the country’s elite harriers descend upon Madison, WI to throw bows and the likes as they compete at the 2011 Wisconsin Adidas Invitational.  In case you haven’t heard, this meet is stacked with talent as 21 ranked men’s teams and 19 ranked women’s teams set to compete Friday afternoon.  Here’s a look at some of the upcoming action.

(Apologies for not being able to preview every single team/individual as there are going to be a couple that surprise and a few listed here that falter…there’s just too much talent and not enough time.  Besides, no team or individual needs someone to write about it to make it happen.)


Men’s Race

Lots of teams will be looking to secure some big points (you know, those weird calculations we all have to sift through after regionals despite having run a qualifying meet) as this meet will surely set the rankings heading into conference and beyond.  But who cares about rankings…who’s gonna win?

Wisconsin seems like a solid choice to take home the gold if they run their top five, but one only needs to look back to last year when Maverick Darling was pulled off the line moments before the start to know that nothing is set in stone for the #2 ranked Badgers.  What’s more important to look at here though is that the Badgers have yet to win this meet since it began in 2009, losing to Syracuse (‘09) and Indiana (’10) before going on to set the record straight in the championship part of the season.  So while Wisco may have it on paper and a strong home course advantage (and a biased reporter rooting them on), they can take nothing for granted as the rest of the country comes knocking on their door. 

Stanford will hopefully give us a good look at their depth behind frontrunners Derrick and Riley.  They will have to do without the services of Elliot Heath this year, but they’ve got oodles (yes, oodles!) of talent in the wings just waiting to step up.  Like Wisconsin, this will be the first real big meet challenge of the year for the Cardinals.  Pack running and small meet victories are one thing, being tossed into a sea of flying elbows with savviest racers in the country is quite another.

BYU will be lead by Miler turned XC enthusiast, Miles Batty, as the team looks to hold their number 6 ranking.  This is quite potentially a team that could sneak up on a trophy come November, but it will be interesting to see how they fare among a loaded field looking to put themselves ahead of the Cougars while they still can.

Indiana made a bold statement as they took home a 32-point victory over the Badgers last year, but are they up for the challenge again?  IU certainly has a great deal of experience on this course and will be looking to make a name for themselves all over again this weekend as they continue to finesse their fitness.  No word yet on whether Andy Bayer will run, but if the Hoosiers have any shot they will need his low stick to edge out the nation’s best teams.  What IU does have going for it though is a wealth of training under its belt.  I have it on good authority that “Unlike some schools that only train during the school year, IU trains year-round to keep its performers in peak condition.” (http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=83378)

NC State will look to solidify themselves as a top 10 team behind the efforts of Ryan Hill and company, but they may be a bit off the lead.  Meanwhile, they’ll be watching their back as in state rival UNC and its young guns look to burst onto the scene. 

And finally, there is Oregon.  Will Lukas and/or Luke Puskedra be toeing the line?  Or will the young guns of the U of O have to keep the team afloat without them?  According to GoDucks.com the duo could be making their debut alongside Elkaim, but until that gun goes off nothing is definite.  There are a lot of questions being raised about the validity of the Duck’s chances this fall, and this meet will hopefully provide an answer to a lot of them.  To any doubters though, the Ducks have found ways to pull off some pretty special performances in the past so even if they implode this weekend, don’t expect it to be all she wrote. 

Up front, expect a great battle between Don Cabral, Diego Estrada, Lalang, Mead, as well many of the other top studs depending on how far off the leash their coaches are willing to let them go.


Women’s Race

Ok, so the men’s race looks stacked but the women’s field truly puts it to shame with the insane amount of depth present in Madison this weekend.  While there are a few teams that may think they’ve got a shot at the big one in November on the men’s side, we’re actually going to see a showdown between the #1 and #2 in the country for the women. 

Providence will be looking to hold off a strong challenge from Villanova as the Friars look to defend the slight edge they demonstrated over the Wildcats at Paul Short.  This meet also marks the return of Emily Sisson to Wisconsin’s course, so expect a great performance from her and, well…every other member of both these team’s top fives.  Really, this one is a coin flip.  These two teams could race every weekend between now and November 21^st and you still might not be able to tell who the better team is!

Not far behind the two Big East superpowers, if not stealing the whole show will be last year’s champion Syracuse.  The women of the Orange n Blue will first have to hold off challenges from the Stanford Cardinals and the Lobos of New Mexico if they want to finish on the medal stand, however.  And they’ll have to do it without Katie Hursey.

Of course all of them will have to be on their guard as #9 Iowa State, #10 Cal, #12 Oregon, #13 UNC, #14 UNC and #15 Michigan State will be looking to solidify themselves at the top of ridiculous cluster of top 10-bubble teams taking the line.  Again, the men’s race has a ton of depth, but it seems miniscule compared to these women’s teams that are ranked astoundingly close to one another.  This may mean the upsets won’t be as pivotal point-wise as they will be for the men, but now we’re going to start to see who exactly is a contender and who is a Jackson Browne fan as the heart of Cross Country season begins. 

Up front, don’t forget to watch what promises to be an epic race in the continuing rivalry between Sheila Reid and Jordan Hasay.  Also in the mix will be UNC’s Kendra Schaaf and recent Paul Short champ Bogdana Mimic among others.


Links:
Wisconsin Invite Coverage
PreNats Coverage (LIVE on Sunday)
Comparing Wisco & PreNats Fields
NCAA XC Rankings National | Regional