[mathking]

OK, since ejog would like to get some discussion going, and SW Ohio is covered so well by another forum, let's get some discussion going. Since I know the central region best, I will start there. Hopefully we can throw out a thread for boys, then for NE and NW Ohio.

As luck would have it, Milesplit does not want to cooperate with my phone, so please feel free to "correct" my predictions. Since I know D1 the best...

Coffman, Davidson, Scioto, New Albany, Upper Arlington, Westerville North, Jerome and Liberty are the teams I see as contenders. There may be some others. Some schools like Orange and Gahanna are just one or two kids improving a lot away from being in contention as well.

In divisions 2 and 3 I am mostly stuck with recollections and meet results from the meets we went to last year, since I don't follow them as closely, and aside from Granville I am not sure about most of the athlete's graduation years. But here goes…

In D2 I am not sure who is even in the region, but Granville, Circleville, Bexley and London are tough. Some of the SE schools like Athens could contend. Not sure how many are back, but Sheridan had a bunch of kids in the 20s and 21s last year.

In D3, Academy, Northmor, Centerburg, Fredericktown, and Mount Gilead are all good squads.

[ejog]

D2 girls-sheridan runs together, may need a front runner to be the best in the Pickerington re gion. Granville always good- see if they can sustain after losing a retiring legend. Ill take Zane Trace. Coach has worked hard to develop a good program. Might need a 5 card. D2 boys- Proctorville Fairland has a good program and Granville is traditionally good again the coaching issue. Ill take Sheridan. they have a very talented group of freshman coming this season. Some of the youngsters would have ran varsity last year if we were using Kentucky rules. D3 Ill do some work and try to get that on tomorrow. I sure hope we can enjoy this xc site again. later Guys, talk to you tomorrow

[ejog]

Mathking we might be able to add a fast improving program in Lancaster. Coach seems to have returned a once dynamic program to prominence. he has some very nice young runners in the program. This is the boys team.

[bbaau]

Eastmoor girls were runner up in d-2 and return all girls , they will win the state next year. And break 2 records also.

[mathking]

I completely agree that Eastmoor is a favorite for girls D2 track. I should have been a little more clear that I am talking now about CC season this fall.

[Insidecorner]

Mathking,

Agree completely with you about Central Ohio girls cross country, and here is my 2 cents. Alot of questions for teams after Coffman.

Coffman - should be unbeatable and could very well contend for a state championship
Davidson - should be in the discussion for advancing out of regionals
Scioto - Can they replace the graduating "twins" which gave them alot of solid depth at the top?
New Albany - should also be in the discussion. Finished tied for 5 at the Regionals despite their number 1 and number 4 runner not being able to run due to injury and they are bringing everybody back. Depth and injuries remain big questions, but experience is on their side.
Upper Arlington - losing their number 1 runner in Menden, and Jaffe returning from injury from track. Freshmen ran well for them last year, but they will have to continue to improve to replace Menden which gave them a solid and experienced front runner.
Olentangy Liberty - Have alot of numbers, but will need some "low sticks" to contend
Westerville North and Jerome - Don't know much either way on them and will look for others input

The way I see it, Central Ohio girls distance is on an upswing if this past track season is any indication, and I think it will be interesting and changing meet to meet. Last fall, the weather also came into play. It may come down to who can stay healthy and runs well at regionals.

[mathking]

Insidecorner, Westerville North has the two Sandviks. Heather ran a 5:02.x mile at the district meet (in a race in which 5:03.x did not get out, so she has shown she can run under pressure) and should should be a good front runner for them. They have a solid pack of 20 and 21 runners as well. Jerome has Willette back, and as long as she is healthy she should be a podium contender. They also have a good pack of 20 and 21 runners.

I agree that the girls in Central Ohio D1 are on an upswing right now. There are a number of girls who could be on the podium in November and a couple with the potential to be near the top. Bosworth, Wallace and Willette were 9th, 13th and 20th last year in CC. After track season you have to like Hoover, Hartzell and Bosworth's chances given that they were on the podium in the 1600, 3200 and 3200. Galbreath, Sandvik, Jaffe, Tanner, Zishka and Eisenhauer are all potential All-Ohio athletes if healthy too. It seems to me that there is more depth now in Central Ohio D1.

[Insidecorner]

Thanks mathking! I knew you would have the scoop on Central Ohio! Due to some unforseen circumstances, I didn't get to see the district, regional, nor state track meet last spring, so I didn't get to see the up and coming runners/or teams at their best!

As an aside, I am a little worried that the heat this summer may carry over to the fall season, so we may not get a true feel for the teams (boys and girls). If that is the case, then there may still be alot of questions going into district and regionals. Great for forums, not so great for predictions!

[mathking]

Originally Posted by Insidecorner

Thanks mathking! I knew you would have the scoop on Central Ohio! Due to some unforseen circumstances, I didn't get to see the district, regional, nor state track meet last spring, so I didn't get to see the up and coming runners/or teams at their best!

As an aside, I am a little worried that the heat this summer may carry over to the fall season, so we may not get a true feel for the teams (boys and girls). If that is the case, then there may still be alot of questions going into district and regionals. Great for forums, not so great for predictions!

Yeah, if we get weather this hot in the season it will have an impact. I am thinking back to Lebanon last year. One of our varsity girls (a track and field podium athlete) was taken to the hospital. While she ended up OK by the end of the season, it probably did hurt her training. Racing smart is crucial in that kind of weather if you don't want people to get hurt. Once I was coaching at the Fairfield Invitational and had one of my JV kids collapse 50 meters from the finish and have to be taken to Children's Hospital. He was unconscious for at least 10 minutes. And 200 meters from the finish he looked strong. He passed three kids and accelerated into a spring and flashed me a smile as he passed. At the time he was on pace to break his PR by 90 seconds or so, after a great summer of training. It was not until the Queen City Conference meet that he actually broke his PR, because of the recovery. (At the district meet he ran right about where he would have at Fairfield if not for the collapse.)

[Insidecorner]

That would be a nightmare from a parent and coach's perspective. In order to try to get this forum up and running more, I'll post a thread to question about what can be done if it is hot.

[homeruntrot]

The hot temperatures always drove me crazy when I was a xcountry coach in southern Alabama.

[shooter_mcgavin]

Milesplit has Central region D1 girls going (based on returnees only):
Coffman, New Albany, Davidson, Upper Arlington, Scioto, Liberty, West. North, Gahanna. I think this would make a very reasonable pre-season ranking.

Central D1 girls are coming off a very good track season, Bosworth from Coffman & Hartzel from Orange should be able to run with anyone in the state. Sydney Leiher from Beavercreek is probably the individual favorite, but those two should be in the conversation. The biggest key to this region "turning the corner" towards respectability in the state, imo, lies with the sophomore class. This group had a great outdoor season.
These are the 1600m rankings of that class in D1: http://oh.milesplit.com/rankings/201...&cn=&r=&l=2402

That class of Central Ohio girls went 5:02, 5:04, 5:10, 5:12, 5:15, 5:16, 5:20, 5:20, etc as freshmen.
A big curiosity of mine is seeing if this will lead to xc success this fall.

Don't know as much about D2 or D3 anymore, but have to give respect for Zane Trace (SE district, Pickerington region) state runners-up last year in D2. I think they are the team to beat again this year.

[Insidecorner]

Shooter,

Do you feel 1600 meter times are a better predictor of cross country success, or do you feel that 3200 meter times are better predictor? Also, do all of these incoming sophomore girls run cross country, or do some of them play "that other sport" in the fall? I don't remember seeing some of the girls run cross country as a freshmen - but I am gettng older and my memory is not as good!

[mathking]

If an athlete gets an equivalent number of opportunities to compete in both the 3200 and 1600, the 3200 is obviously a better predictor. But that is not always the case. For a variety of reasons, from athletes preferring the 1600 to having a large team, not everyone runs the 3200 that often. Most of the good athletes get to run at least a few 1600s. Even 3200 specialists generally get to run some 1600s, but it is not uncommon for 1600 kids to run 4x800s and 800s (or even 4x400s) and so not run many or any 3200 races in the invitational meets that make it into the Milesplit rankings.

[Insidecorner]

Makes sense to me. However, in my limited experience, some (but not all) of the 1600 meter runners don't transition well to the 5K. While it is nice to have that foot speed and turnover, some of the 1600 meter runners just don't seem to have the endurance (and maybe some of if is mental). They do well overall, but not necessarily dominate as one would expect (given their dominance in the 1600 meters in the spring). I know that is speaking in generalities, and there are clear cut exceptions. It is interesting to watch the races between the good 3200 meter runners vs. the good 1600 meter runners (boys and girls). The strategy of the 1600 meter wanting it to come down to a kick, vs. the 3200 meter running pushing the pace.

[mathking]

It is certainly true that there is a difference between the 1600 and the 5000. Not every (heck probably not many) athletes are equally good at both. That said, a girl who runs a sub 5:10 mile is almost certainly going to be a good cross country runner. Not always as good a CC runner as a miler, but still good.

[Insidecorner]

Definitely agree with you mathking about that from the girls viewpoint. I suspect what makes a sub 5:10 1600 meter girls runner - stride, turnover, mental toughness - all seem to translate well for cross country. In addition, the courses here in Cenral Ohio seem a little more flatter, which do favor 1600 meter runners.

I am not sure why that is also not the same for a sub 4:20 (comparable?) boys 1600 meter runner. Perhaps there are simply more "numbers" of quality runners that can alter that impression. Perhaps a bigger denominator? (Notice the math reference for you mathking!).

[shooter_mcgavin]

Insidecorner, I believe all of the 5:20 or faster freshmen run cross country. I agree that good milers are not always as good at xc, but my gut tells me that this class is going to be very good at both. Partially because most of them managed very solid marks in the 3200m as well. I always get excited when a 1600m/3200m type runner makes a big leap in the 1600m, many times have I seen this lead to big improvements in fall.
A few examples from our team the past five years-

20:19 sophomore xc, 5:20 sophomore track (20 sec improvement), 19:16 junior xc
19:29 sophomore xc, 5:23 sophomore track (13 sec improvement), 18:32 junior xc
19:38 junior xc, 5:10 junior track (11 sec improvement), 18:04 senior xc

Granted, these runners also put in some major off-season work

[silverfish9]

Granville is unquestionably the best D2 school returning in the Central District, and I expect they will win the region as well. They have 2 girls returning who ran 11:50 3200's in track last spring (freshman I believe).

After them my guess is River Valley, London, Bexley, Buckeye Valley, and maybe the team I am helping with Licking Valley to be regional contenders.

I can speak for our team, our number 1 who fell at the 2 mile mark last year in the state meet was in 18th place and faded to 28 after getting up and losing her mental edge. She also ran a 5:06 mile in the spring and placed 6th in D2. We added a new junior who has been training with our number 1 and really working hard, and we have a freshman who should be the no. 3 runner that will be tough. Our 4th is training hard, but I don't know what to expect during races she has a completely different demeanor than last year so hopefully we'll see big improvements. We've got a battle for the 5th spot, and we need at least one of them to step up to challenge for what I can only expect will be the 4th and final D2 regional team spot out of Watkins.

[ejog]

The region includes Zane Trace. Should be interesting.Sheridan might have an opinion on a regional title.