NCAA Nationals Top 30 Individuals Prediction

On Tuesday(see post below)I predicted teams and I felt reasonably confident in my reasons for where I placed them. Today, while trying to lock down where the NCAA's top individuals will finish, admittedly, there is considerably more second-guessing, reconsidering, and shuffling that takes place. The difference between athletes in the 1-30 range is miminal, and a very good day from the 15'th best runner in the nation could very well trump a decent day from the the 10'th best. With that being said, here are my projections for Mondays action:

1. Samuel Chelanga - Liberty (1'st Place Southeast Regional/1'st Place 2009)
Comment: Well, duh. It's probably not worth overthinking this one. Chelanga is the defending champ by a whopping 25 seconds. He ran 27:08 for the 10,000 in the spring, which is a mark untouched by anyone else. This season in Cross Country, he is undefeated and unchallenged. Knowing what I know, there is little reason to expect a different result than last year.
Previous Rank: 1

Cowboy Up: Nationals Team Predictions

For a prognosticator, a regional qualifying meet is a dreaded thing.
The results should have some merit over the regular season's ones in that the race distance is the championship distance(10K). However, that factor is overshadowed by the unimportance of the specific results to the pertinent teams and individuals. For that reason, if you read too much into this individual over that individual or this team over that team, you will get burned. For most of the best runners or teams, the meet is all about qualifying as easily as is prudent or possible.
Ricky Bobby might have introduced to us the quote: "If you ain't first your last", but the apt quote for regionals might be "If you ain't first, but you're qualified, you're first".

NCAA Top 30 Individual Power Rankings: Pre-Regional Edition

The top 3 are back and in fine form, but who will follow them in Terra Haute and in what order? VFL9 breaks down the individual race at NCAA's.

Format- Athlete (Last Year's NCAA Finish/This Year's Conference Finish/Greatest NCAA accomplishment/PR)

The Heavy Favorite:

1. Samuel Chelanga - Liberty (1'st/1'st Big South/27:08 10,000m PB)

Comment: Chelanga won by 21 seconds, and that was before he dropped a jaw-dropping 27:08 in outdoor track. No competitor can match that stellar mark, and an undefeated season thusfar filled with what, for Chelanga, have been under-control efforts bodes well for the defending champion. Look for him to deliver a fast start and attempt to run away from the rest of the nation's best.

NYC Marathon Recap: The First and the Last

Sunday's New York City Marathon was about the first and the last.

For Gebre Gebremariam the first, as in his debut marathon, was a stunning success. Gebremariam capped off a rousing victory with a 4:36 26'th mile followed by a celebratory last .2 miles filled with triumphant finger pointing, and gesticulations.

For Haile Gebresalassie the last, as in presumably his last race ever, ended prematurely in mile 17. The bitter disappointment of the setback left him emotionally distraught and ready to move on to the next chapter of his life in a remarkably abrupt fashion.

Conference Weekend Wrap-Up and Team Rankings

The Conference Championship weekend has past and here are the winners and the losers from a weekend with surprisingly few nail-biters. I'll also throw in the VFL9 team rankings.

Winners of Conference Championship Weekend:

Wisconsin: In what was expected to be a hotly contested battle with the Indiana Hoosiers at the Big 10 Championships, the Badgers not only obliterated their would-be rivals, but the entire conference itself. The Badgers amazingly scored only 28 points. In dual meet format, the score would be Wisconsin 28, Big 10 29.