Big Ten XC Championships 2013Nov 1, 2013 by FloTrack Staff
Big 10 Preview: Will Wisconsin's streak continue and the battle in Michigan
Big 10 Preview: Will Wisconsin's streak continue and the battle in Michigan
Big Ten Championships: Can the streak continue for Wisconsin?
With the Big 10 Championships this Sunday, the Wisconsin Badgers have a chance to add their 15th consecutive Big 10 trophy to the mantle. The No. 7 ranked Badgers were fielding a lot of doubts early in the season, dropping to 20th in the USTFCCCA rankings before their fourth place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. And to be honest, Flotrack was one of them.
Earlier this fall, Flotrack went to Madison to express their doubts straight to Mick Byrne's face. We asked him about leadership, Big 10 and NCAA streaks. The result? An INSIDE series that gives an unprecedented look behind the scenes of one of the countries most historic programs.
This weekend half of the equation can be solved. Will the Badgers win Big 10s? Check out INSIDE Wisconsin and see for yourself whether or not the Badgers will keep their streak alive.
But if we had to pick any team to break up the streak, it'll be Michigan. We were under the impression that they've been underrated the entire season. When the latest National Poll was released, our beliefs were confirmed - Michigan rose from "Receiving Votes" to #16.
The Wolverines looked solid at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, finishing ninth overall (we think they underperformed a little, but that's our subjective view). Mason Ferlic has been a strong leader for Michigan and could even contend for the crown this Sunday.
Ferlic will have his hands full at the front, though. Purdue's super sophmore Matt McClintock, who had an incredible finish at Pre-Nationals, is Ryan Fenton's pick to win (Maine bias).
Michigan State's Caleb Rhynard is a solid choice as well following his solid showing at Wisconsin, where he finished 19th in 23:38.
There's also a few Badgers who will be in the mix. After a tough 116th place finish at his home invitational, Finnerty will look to bounce back at Big 10s. Don't forget - he was seventh at Big 10s last year and Wisconsin's fourth finisher.
Redshirt freshman Malachy Schrobilgen and junior Michael Van Voorhis were almost inseparable at Wisconsin where they finished 20th and 21st, respectively.
Note: These projections are independent of the analysis above. The places for each individual and team are mainly based on the results from Wisconsin and Pre-Nats.
Women's Big 10 Preview
By Isaac Wood with special guest Kevin Sullivan
The 2013 Big 10 Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Purdue this Sunday and the Women’s race is going to be very exciting up front. There are six teams ranked in the USTFCCCA’s top-30 and the parity within the conference is quite interesting.
Michigan State’s women come into the meet the highest nationally ranked team in the conference and are the favorites of the meet. On paper the Spartans look very good and still have some question marks. After a very solid showing at Griak, MSU was outstanding at Wisconsin finishing 4th as a team and placing two individuals in the top-25. Leah O’Connor has been awesome as the front-runner for the Spartans this season and surprise redshirt frosh Rachele Schulist has come out of nowhere to be a solid no. 2.
The real question mark lies in Sara Kroll. The 2012 Big 10 Individual Champion, Kroll has yet to run a race in uniform for the Spartans, but has done well unattached in the few races she was able to get to on her own. If Kroll suits up for Michigan State this weekend, the Spartans could be looking at running away with the Big 10 title.
In-state rival Michigan is not going to just lay down and let the Spartans take their title they won last season from them. In fact, this race is going to be tight from the get go. Although Michigan lost a ton of studs from last year, they have reloaded with freshman phenom Erin Finn and a slew of girls that were ready to take the reins of this team after their veterans of 2012 graduated.
Anyone remember last year?
Taylor Pogue, Brook Handler and Taylor Manett along with Megan Weschler are all inter-changeable pieces that will be displacing much of the rest of the quality Big 10 teams that will be in the mix.
Minnesota’s women are very deep and have a very solid pack. Laura Docherty, Molly Kayfes, Katie Moraczewski, Liz Berkholtz, and crew will be right in the thick of things and don’t be surprised to see them have a spread of 15-20 seconds between their 1-5.
Penn State has been a bit of a disappointment this season as Tori Perri and Rebekka Simko have been absent this year. They have some solid pieces that if they can get things together they could come up and surprise a few schools.
Wisconsin and Indiana have come out of the wood work this season and are both ready to prove their legitimacy as some of the top 30 teams in the NCAA. Samantha Ginther and Kelsey Duerksen are proven front-runners for the Hoosiers and could find themselves in the top 10. Wisconsin’s best chance for a top-10 individual finisher is most likely Gabi Anzalone who has not run great this season, but has potential to back to the form she was in last season when she qualified for NCAAs in Louisville individually.
Prediction
Team
1) Michigan State
2) Michigan
3) Minnesota
4) Indiana
5) Penn State
Kevin Sullivan's Predictions (he's an unbiased Michigan alumnus)
1) Erin Finn- Michigan
2) Taylor Pogue- Michigan
3) Shannon Osika- Michigan
4) Megan Weschler- Michigan
5) Taylor Manett- Michigan
Note: Though we don't necessarily agree with them, the projections below have Michigan narrowly taking down Michigan State. We'll go with Isaac Wood's (not Kevin Sullivan's) analysis and take MSU this Sunday. Still, we wanted to include the following projections for science. These projections below are mainly based on the results from Wisconsin and Pre-Nats.
With the Big 10 Championships this Sunday, the Wisconsin Badgers have a chance to add their 15th consecutive Big 10 trophy to the mantle. The No. 7 ranked Badgers were fielding a lot of doubts early in the season, dropping to 20th in the USTFCCCA rankings before their fourth place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. And to be honest, Flotrack was one of them.
Earlier this fall, Flotrack went to Madison to express their doubts straight to Mick Byrne's face. We asked him about leadership, Big 10 and NCAA streaks. The result? An INSIDE series that gives an unprecedented look behind the scenes of one of the countries most historic programs.
This weekend half of the equation can be solved. Will the Badgers win Big 10s? Check out INSIDE Wisconsin and see for yourself whether or not the Badgers will keep their streak alive.
But if we had to pick any team to break up the streak, it'll be Michigan. We were under the impression that they've been underrated the entire season. When the latest National Poll was released, our beliefs were confirmed - Michigan rose from "Receiving Votes" to #16.
The Wolverines looked solid at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, finishing ninth overall (we think they underperformed a little, but that's our subjective view). Mason Ferlic has been a strong leader for Michigan and could even contend for the crown this Sunday.
Ferlic will have his hands full at the front, though. Purdue's super sophmore Matt McClintock, who had an incredible finish at Pre-Nationals, is Ryan Fenton's pick to win (Maine bias).
Michigan State's Caleb Rhynard is a solid choice as well following his solid showing at Wisconsin, where he finished 19th in 23:38.
There's also a few Badgers who will be in the mix. After a tough 116th place finish at his home invitational, Finnerty will look to bounce back at Big 10s. Don't forget - he was seventh at Big 10s last year and Wisconsin's fourth finisher.
Redshirt freshman Malachy Schrobilgen and junior Michael Van Voorhis were almost inseparable at Wisconsin where they finished 20th and 21st, respectively.
Note: These projections are independent of the analysis above. The places for each individual and team are mainly based on the results from Wisconsin and Pre-Nats.
| Individual Projections | Team Projections |
Place Name School 1 Mason Ferlic Michigan 2 Matt McClintock Purdue 3 Caleb Rhynard Michigan State 4 Malachy Schrobilgen Wisconsin 5 Michael Vanvoorhis Wisconsin 6 Jannis Topfer Illinois 7 Carl Smith Indiana 8 Mark Beams Michigan 9 Matt Fischer Penn State 10 Evan Esselink Indiana 11 Alex Brill Wisconsin 12 Alex Hatz Wisconsin 13 Liam Markham Illinois 14 Jacob Naylor Wisconsin 15 Morsi Rayyan Michigan 16 Kevin Lewis Iowa 17 Ian Barnett Illinois 18 Robby Creese Penn State 19 Cory Glines Michigan 20 Derek Storkel Minnesota 21 Andrew Larsen Minnesota 22 Jordan Redd Ohio State 23 James Yau Michigan 24 Ben Carruthers Michigan State 25 August Pappas Michigan 26 Nick Renberg Michigan 27 Robert Finnerty Wisconsin 28 Connor Mora Michigan 29 Jr Ricker Indiana 30 Rorey Hunter Indiana 31 David Madrigal Michigan State 32 Ben Flanagan Michigan 33 Marcus Paulson Minnesota 34 Robby Nierman Indiana 35 Adam Zutz Minnesota 36 Brendan McDonnell Illinois 37 Thomas - Jeremy Cough Indiana 38 Nick Soter Michigan State 39 Tommy King Illinois 40 Caleb Kerr Purdue 41 Nicholas Pupino Ohio State 42 Ben Witt Iowa 43 Will Brewster Illinois 44 Alex Brend Minnesota 45 Garret Zuk Michigan State 46 Curtis Hanle Ohio State 47 Nathan Burnand Michigan State 48 Steven Stoot Purdue 49 Brian Hannaford Ohio State 50 Trevor Vidlak Nebraska 51 Conner Quinn Penn State 52 Nate Ferree Iowa 53 Nick Scarpello Penn State 54 Nolan Fife Indiana 55 Quentin Shaffer Iowa 56 Kevin Docherty Iowa 57 Paul Zeman Illinois 58 Drew Shields Wisconsin 59 Jacob Olson Nebraska 60 Chris Campbell Penn State 61 Neal Berman Wisconsin 62 Jake Waterman Purdue 63 Matthew Bloch Nebraska 64 Andrew Cartwright Purdue 65 Jonah Heng Nebraska 66 Riley Macon Minnesota 67 Austin Pondel Penn State 68 Jarren Heng Nebraska 69 Clark Ruiz Michigan State 70 Blake Taneff Ohio State 71 Connor Gibson Nebraska 72 Alex Wilson Michigan State 73 Steve Sulkin Minnesota 74 Brannon Kidder Penn State 75 Tate Schienbein Purdue 76 Caleb Wilfong Iowa 77 Joe Harter Nebraska 78 John Simons Minnesota 79 Graham Morris Illinois 80 Jeff Hannaford Ohio State 81 Sam Chaney Iowa 82 Blayne Dulian Minnesota 83 Brett Klosterhoff Purdue 84 Neff Jackson Ohio State |
Place School Points 1 Wisconsin 46 2 Michigan 66 3 Indiana 110 4 Illinois 111 5 Michigan State 141 6 Minnesota 153 7 Penn State 191 8 Purdue 216 9 Iowa 221 10 Ohio State 228 11 Nebraska 305 |
Women's Big 10 Preview
By Isaac Wood with special guest Kevin Sullivan
The 2013 Big 10 Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Purdue this Sunday and the Women’s race is going to be very exciting up front. There are six teams ranked in the USTFCCCA’s top-30 and the parity within the conference is quite interesting.
Michigan State’s women come into the meet the highest nationally ranked team in the conference and are the favorites of the meet. On paper the Spartans look very good and still have some question marks. After a very solid showing at Griak, MSU was outstanding at Wisconsin finishing 4th as a team and placing two individuals in the top-25. Leah O’Connor has been awesome as the front-runner for the Spartans this season and surprise redshirt frosh Rachele Schulist has come out of nowhere to be a solid no. 2.
The real question mark lies in Sara Kroll. The 2012 Big 10 Individual Champion, Kroll has yet to run a race in uniform for the Spartans, but has done well unattached in the few races she was able to get to on her own. If Kroll suits up for Michigan State this weekend, the Spartans could be looking at running away with the Big 10 title.
In-state rival Michigan is not going to just lay down and let the Spartans take their title they won last season from them. In fact, this race is going to be tight from the get go. Although Michigan lost a ton of studs from last year, they have reloaded with freshman phenom Erin Finn and a slew of girls that were ready to take the reins of this team after their veterans of 2012 graduated.
Anyone remember last year?
Taylor Pogue, Brook Handler and Taylor Manett along with Megan Weschler are all inter-changeable pieces that will be displacing much of the rest of the quality Big 10 teams that will be in the mix.
Minnesota’s women are very deep and have a very solid pack. Laura Docherty, Molly Kayfes, Katie Moraczewski, Liz Berkholtz, and crew will be right in the thick of things and don’t be surprised to see them have a spread of 15-20 seconds between their 1-5.
Penn State has been a bit of a disappointment this season as Tori Perri and Rebekka Simko have been absent this year. They have some solid pieces that if they can get things together they could come up and surprise a few schools.
Wisconsin and Indiana have come out of the wood work this season and are both ready to prove their legitimacy as some of the top 30 teams in the NCAA. Samantha Ginther and Kelsey Duerksen are proven front-runners for the Hoosiers and could find themselves in the top 10. Wisconsin’s best chance for a top-10 individual finisher is most likely Gabi Anzalone who has not run great this season, but has potential to back to the form she was in last season when she qualified for NCAAs in Louisville individually.
Prediction
Team
1) Michigan State
2) Michigan
3) Minnesota
4) Indiana
5) Penn State
Kevin Sullivan's Predictions (he's an unbiased Michigan alumnus)
1) Erin Finn- Michigan
2) Taylor Pogue- Michigan
3) Shannon Osika- Michigan
4) Megan Weschler- Michigan
5) Taylor Manett- Michigan
Note: Though we don't necessarily agree with them, the projections below have Michigan narrowly taking down Michigan State. We'll go with Isaac Wood's (not Kevin Sullivan's) analysis and take MSU this Sunday. Still, we wanted to include the following projections for science. These projections below are mainly based on the results from Wisconsin and Pre-Nats.
| Individual Projections | Team Projections |
Place Name School 1 Kelsey Duerksen Indiana 2 Erin Finn Michigan 3 Samantha Ginther Indiana 4 Leah O'Connor Michigan State 5 Rachele Schulist Michigan State 6 Brook Handler Michigan 7 Katie Borchers Ohio State 8 Taylor Pogue Michigan 9 Leigha Anderson Penn State 10 Sarah Disanza Wisconsin 11 Megan Weschler Michigan 12 Katie Landwehr Michigan State 13 Molly Kayfes Minnesota 14 Lindsay Clark Michigan State 15 Laura Docherty Minnesota 16 Alyssa Schneider Illinois 17 Shelby Jackson Michigan State 18 Emma-Lisa Murphy Wisconsin 19 Marta Klebe Penn State 20 Katie Moraczewski Minnesota 21 Liz Berkholtz Minnesota 22 ANDREA OSTENSO NORTHWESTERN 23 Alex Leptich Michigan 24 Maggie Bollig Minnesota 25 Becca Dyson Minnesota 26 Michelle Thomas Ohio State 27 Emily Giannotti Penn State 28 Megan Rodgers Michigan State 29 Erica Ridderman Indiana 30 Amanda Behnke Indiana 31 LIBBY KOCHA NORTHWESTERN 32 Katie Rodden Penn State 33 Anna Pasternak Michigan 34 Alexa Rumsey Michigan State 35 Molly Hanson Wisconsin 36 Chanli Mundy Indiana 37 Brianna Johnson Indiana 38 Katie Porada Illinois 39 Amanda Fox Illinois 40 Rachel Drake Minnesota 41 JENNA PIANIN NORTHWESTERN 42 Erin Cawley Wisconsin 43 Kait Mincke Minnesota 44 Kelly Whitley Wisconsin 45 Blair Doney Purdue 46 Alexis Wiersma Michigan State 47 Tori Gerlach Penn State 48 Sakiko Minagawa Ohio State 49 Raquel Serna Michigan State 50 CAMILLE BLACKMAN NORTHWESTERN 51 Rachel McNally Wisconsin 52 Sharise Lund Purdue 53 JULIA BUFORD NORTHWESTERN 54 Taylor Manett Michigan 55 Liga Blyholder Wisconsin 56 Stephanie Aldrich Penn State 57 Linsey Daluga Purdue 58 Kristen Fritts Purdue 59 Sarah Jane Underwood Penn State 60 Helen Willman Ohio State 61 Brynn Olinger Purdue 62 Kelli Budd Minnesota 63 Nicole Hilton Ohio State 64 ANN POWERS NORTHWESTERN 65 Katie Adams Iowa 66 Laura Maibuecher Purdue 67 ELENA BARHAM NORTHWESTERN 68 ELENA MILLER NORTHWESTERN 69 Jill Kanney Ohio State 70 Shannon Maser Iowa 71 Courtnet Martin Iowa 72 Hanna Winter Illinois 73 Isabel Andrade Nebraska 74 MEGAN O'BRIEN NORTHWESTERN 75 Tess Wilberding Iowa 76 Bethany Neeley Indiana 77 Minori Minagawa Ohio State 78 Dana Payonk Purdue 79 Audrey Blazek Illinois 80 Stephanie Morgan Illinois 81 Sarah Larson Nebraska 82 Rachel Price Iowa 83 Kristi Oslund Nebraska 84 Hannah Edwards Nebraska 85 Megan Lush Nebraska 86 Britten Petrey Illinois 87 Shawnice Williams Nebraska 88 Theresa Keller Nebraska 89 Katherine Howard Nebraska 90 Jessica Wright Nebraska |
Place Name Points 1 Michigan 50 2 Michigan State 52 3 Minnesota 93 4 Indiana 99 5 Wisconsin 149 6 NORTHWESTERN 197 7 Ohio State 204 8 Illinois 244 9 Purdue 273 10 Iowa 363 11 Nebraska 406 |