The new regional poll came out yesterday and the new national poll came out an hour ago. What a difference a week (and having Sally Kipyego run) can make in the national poll!
WOMEN
The Tech women had fallen all the way down to 29th in the nation prior to the Chile Pepper Inv. After winning that meet and having Sally K run for the first time this year, Tech bounced all the way back to 11th, which is probably pretty accurate for this team. I do think the talent is there for a possible top-10 finish at nationals, but 11th is probably pretty accurate going into the conferene meet. The only other top 30 teams from the Big 12 are Baylor at 17 and Nebraska at 27. In just one year, Colorado has fallen from the beast of the conference in 2007 to a team that might be lucky to finish in the top 5.
The regional poll also reflected the strong Tech showing in the Chile Pepper Festival. Tech had fallen in the regional poll all the way to 6th, but they bounced back up to 1st in the Mountain Region! The teams just behind Tech in the region are New Mexico, BYU, Northern Arizona and in 5th place in the region, Colorado. Most of the Big 12 teams are in the South Central Region.
MEN
The Tech men are a completely different story. The Tech women have 3 seniors in the top 7, including the 2-time defending national champ. The Tech men do not have a single senior in the top 9. The team is young and very green, experience-wise. Breaking into the top 8 at conference would be victory for this group of young runners. In the national poll, there are currently 4 Big 12 teams - Oklahoma State ranked at third has a legit shot at the national championship, Colorado at 17, Texas A&M at 18 (with a huge shot in the arm from graduate student Shadrack Songok, who was one of the top distance runners in the nation for the past 3 years for TAMU-Corpus Christi), and UT at 30th.
In the Mountain Region poll, the Tech men dropped from 9th to 10th. The top of the poll has some really strong nationally ranked teams - No. Arizona (now famous because of Lopez Lomong, the former lost boy from Sudan who represented the U.S. in the Olympic 1500), BYU, Colorado (still a national contender on the men's side), UTEP, Air Force. I believe that Tech could contend for a top 8 spot at the regional meet.
Then, in 2009, with Silas Kemboi and Zach Quinones returning from redshirt years and another year of experience for the returning runners, this team probably becomes a contender for top-4 at conference and maybe even top-4 at the regional meet.
If there is any scholarship money available in 2009-2010, I would also love to see Tech land Fred Samoei from South Plains. Add Fred to the mix and suddenly, Tech is even a national contender, in addition to being a top 3 team in the conference and regional meets.
WOMEN
The Tech women had fallen all the way down to 29th in the nation prior to the Chile Pepper Inv. After winning that meet and having Sally K run for the first time this year, Tech bounced all the way back to 11th, which is probably pretty accurate for this team. I do think the talent is there for a possible top-10 finish at nationals, but 11th is probably pretty accurate going into the conferene meet. The only other top 30 teams from the Big 12 are Baylor at 17 and Nebraska at 27. In just one year, Colorado has fallen from the beast of the conference in 2007 to a team that might be lucky to finish in the top 5.
The regional poll also reflected the strong Tech showing in the Chile Pepper Festival. Tech had fallen in the regional poll all the way to 6th, but they bounced back up to 1st in the Mountain Region! The teams just behind Tech in the region are New Mexico, BYU, Northern Arizona and in 5th place in the region, Colorado. Most of the Big 12 teams are in the South Central Region.
MEN
The Tech men are a completely different story. The Tech women have 3 seniors in the top 7, including the 2-time defending national champ. The Tech men do not have a single senior in the top 9. The team is young and very green, experience-wise. Breaking into the top 8 at conference would be victory for this group of young runners. In the national poll, there are currently 4 Big 12 teams - Oklahoma State ranked at third has a legit shot at the national championship, Colorado at 17, Texas A&M at 18 (with a huge shot in the arm from graduate student Shadrack Songok, who was one of the top distance runners in the nation for the past 3 years for TAMU-Corpus Christi), and UT at 30th.
In the Mountain Region poll, the Tech men dropped from 9th to 10th. The top of the poll has some really strong nationally ranked teams - No. Arizona (now famous because of Lopez Lomong, the former lost boy from Sudan who represented the U.S. in the Olympic 1500), BYU, Colorado (still a national contender on the men's side), UTEP, Air Force. I believe that Tech could contend for a top 8 spot at the regional meet.
Then, in 2009, with Silas Kemboi and Zach Quinones returning from redshirt years and another year of experience for the returning runners, this team probably becomes a contender for top-4 at conference and maybe even top-4 at the regional meet.
If there is any scholarship money available in 2009-2010, I would also love to see Tech land Fred Samoei from South Plains. Add Fred to the mix and suddenly, Tech is even a national contender, in addition to being a top 3 team in the conference and regional meets.
