2016 Penn State National XC OpenOct 13, 2016 by Dennis Young
Penn State XC Open Preview
Penn State XC Open Preview
Some updates: the start times have been changed, with the men's race pushed to 12:15 PM and the women's to 11:30. Also, Villanova's Pat Tiernan will make
Some updates: the start times have been changed, with the men's race pushed to 12:15 PM and the women's to 11:30. Also, Villanova's Pat Tiernan will make his season debut at the Big East champs in two weeks. The original preview appears below.
A few top-ranked teams are avoiding the Wisconsin/Pre-Nationals hegemony this weekend and heading to State College, Pennsylvania, for the Penn State XC Open on Friday. I'll be there filming races and interviewing athletes; here's what's going down. Penn State's course is one of the most uniquely challenging ones in the country, with a flat and downhill first mile and a nearly entirely uphill final mile. Or at least that's how I remember it. The men's course is also 5.2 miles.
Men's Race, 12:15 PM Eastern
Saucony Flo50 ranked teams: No. 12 Virginia, No. 13 Mississippi, No. 20 Oklahoma State
Saucony Flo50 ranked individuals: No. 2 Pat Tiernan (Villanova), No. 13 Sean Tobin (Mississippi), No. 21 Sylvester Barus (Oklahoma State)
Other teams to watch: Virginia Tech (No. 28 in the coaches' poll)
Last year, Mississippi was highly ranked after a great track season and melted down at the very end, finishing second to last at NCAAs. But this team is tougher than it was a year ago. Craig Engels finished fourth and fifth in the 800m and 1500m at the Olympic Trials in a six-day period this summer. MJ Erb finished fourth at Notre Dame two weeks ago even though his shoe fell off 800 meters into the race. And at Notre Dame, the entire team beat a tough field without Engels finishing in its top seven.
This team is running to its potential, and this is its biggest test of 2016. No. 12 Virginia finished a respectable third behind BYU and Syracuse at its home meet--without another miler who had a long summer, Henry Wynne--and No. 20 Oklahoma State hasn't rolled out its full squad yet. How those three teams finish against each other will be pretty informative about the middle third of the NCAA field. And Kolas points could be on offer here. No matter how good or not Mississippi and Oklahoma State are, they should safely make it out of the South and Midwest regions, respectively. And perpetual South Central qualifier Texas is here as well. Wins over any or all of those three teams could prove crucial come national qualifying time.
The individual race will be much more interesting if Villanova's Pat Tiernan debuts. Tiernan is one of the few runners in the Cheserek era to try to actually win a national title over Ches, making last year's NCAA XC championship unusually exciting. But he hasn't raced since running the 5K at the Olympics. If Tiernan doesn't run, then Sean Tobin vs. Sylvester Barus is still a nice matchup. Tobin and Barus were both pretty impressive in winning Notre Dame and Cowboy Jamboree, respectively, and we'll see exactly how good they are on Friday.
Saucony Flo50 ranked teams: No. 11 Penn State, No. 18 Oklahoma State
Saucony Flo50 ranked individuals: No. 13 Regan Rome (William & Mary)
Other teams to watch: Virginia (No. 22 in the coaches' poll), Mississippi (No. 25 in the coaches' poll), West Virginia (No. 30 in the coaches' poll)
There's a lot of uncertainty beyond the very top of the women's national picture this fall. FloTrack is not as high as the coaches' poll is on Penn State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Mississippi, and West Virginia. And those are the five best teams in State College on Friday. We'll at least learn how good they are relative to each other, though Oklahoma State probably won't debut Kaela Edwards until later in the season.
Every team here will be running on full bore for Kolas points against Penn State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and William & Mary, all of which have an excellent shot at auto-qualifying for NCAAs and therefore providing points to teams that beat them.
William & Mary's Regan Rome looked strong in getting a win at Panorama Farms, and she'll be the favorite here.
A few top-ranked teams are avoiding the Wisconsin/Pre-Nationals hegemony this weekend and heading to State College, Pennsylvania, for the Penn State XC Open on Friday. I'll be there filming races and interviewing athletes; here's what's going down. Penn State's course is one of the most uniquely challenging ones in the country, with a flat and downhill first mile and a nearly entirely uphill final mile. Or at least that's how I remember it. The men's course is also 5.2 miles.
Men's Race, 12:15 PM Eastern
Saucony Flo50 ranked teams: No. 12 Virginia, No. 13 Mississippi, No. 20 Oklahoma State
Saucony Flo50 ranked individuals: No. 2 Pat Tiernan (Villanova), No. 13 Sean Tobin (Mississippi), No. 21 Sylvester Barus (Oklahoma State)
Other teams to watch: Virginia Tech (No. 28 in the coaches' poll)
Last year, Mississippi was highly ranked after a great track season and melted down at the very end, finishing second to last at NCAAs. But this team is tougher than it was a year ago. Craig Engels finished fourth and fifth in the 800m and 1500m at the Olympic Trials in a six-day period this summer. MJ Erb finished fourth at Notre Dame two weeks ago even though his shoe fell off 800 meters into the race. And at Notre Dame, the entire team beat a tough field without Engels finishing in its top seven.
This team is running to its potential, and this is its biggest test of 2016. No. 12 Virginia finished a respectable third behind BYU and Syracuse at its home meet--without another miler who had a long summer, Henry Wynne--and No. 20 Oklahoma State hasn't rolled out its full squad yet. How those three teams finish against each other will be pretty informative about the middle third of the NCAA field. And Kolas points could be on offer here. No matter how good or not Mississippi and Oklahoma State are, they should safely make it out of the South and Midwest regions, respectively. And perpetual South Central qualifier Texas is here as well. Wins over any or all of those three teams could prove crucial come national qualifying time.
The individual race will be much more interesting if Villanova's Pat Tiernan debuts. Tiernan is one of the few runners in the Cheserek era to try to actually win a national title over Ches, making last year's NCAA XC championship unusually exciting. But he hasn't raced since running the 5K at the Olympics. If Tiernan doesn't run, then Sean Tobin vs. Sylvester Barus is still a nice matchup. Tobin and Barus were both pretty impressive in winning Notre Dame and Cowboy Jamboree, respectively, and we'll see exactly how good they are on Friday.
Women's Race, 11:30 AM Eastern
Saucony Flo50 ranked teams: No. 11 Penn State, No. 18 Oklahoma State
Saucony Flo50 ranked individuals: No. 13 Regan Rome (William & Mary)
Other teams to watch: Virginia (No. 22 in the coaches' poll), Mississippi (No. 25 in the coaches' poll), West Virginia (No. 30 in the coaches' poll)
There's a lot of uncertainty beyond the very top of the women's national picture this fall. FloTrack is not as high as the coaches' poll is on Penn State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Mississippi, and West Virginia. And those are the five best teams in State College on Friday. We'll at least learn how good they are relative to each other, though Oklahoma State probably won't debut Kaela Edwards until later in the season.
Every team here will be running on full bore for Kolas points against Penn State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and William & Mary, all of which have an excellent shot at auto-qualifying for NCAAs and therefore providing points to teams that beat them.
William & Mary's Regan Rome looked strong in getting a win at Panorama Farms, and she'll be the favorite here.