Just saw that the running sites are starting to post some Pac 12 Conference previews, so thought I'd start a thread on it.
First, all of the scheduling and coverage information below is from the Pac 12 championship website http://pac-12.com/cross-country/championships/2014-pac-12-cross-country-championships . This website also says- “You can follow the race in real time via live results on Pac-12.com, where you'll also find exclusive video, photos and recaps throughout the day.”
Location, Date AND Time- The Race is scheduled for this Friday at the Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland, Calif., with an 11:00 Mountain Time start. Specifically, the women’s race is scheduled to start at 11:00 AM MT, followed by the Men at 12:00 PM MT. (Of course, that equates in Pacific (race local) time as a 10:00 start for the women's race and 11:00 for the men's.)
If you’re a Buff fan in the Bay Area and your schedule allows it, maybe some of you can head over to Oakland to help root the Buffs on?
Coverage:
Live results will be available at http://rtspt.com/events/pac12/xc2014/ . I assume the CU Buffs twitter ( https://NOPE/cubuffstrack ) will also be a nice resource for Buff-centric updates and other news.
Note it sounds like there will NOT be LIVE video coverage of the race available. Instead, the races will be shown the following Monday (11/3) on the Pac 12 networks starting at 7:00 PM (MT) (6:00 PT). The women’s race is to be shown at 7:00 and the Men’s at 7:30. (Note- for those who DVR/ TiVo things, at least on my Comcast listings, the two races are scheduled as two separate listings.)
The article and video previews I've found so far:
1) Letsrun.com written preview- http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/10/pac-12s-preview/
2) flotrack.com video preview (4 minutes, 19 seconds)- http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/251665-Whos-1/video/752705-Whos-1-Pac-12-Edition#.VE7ESfnF_ng
Various notes about the Pac 12 Championships and Buffs cross country in general:
1) Scoring- Assume most people reading this know A LOT MORE about running than I do, but just in case, scoring in cross country can be explained as follows (largely from Wikipedia)- “In the United States, the most common scoring system is seven runners, with the top five scoring. Points are awarded to the individual runners of eligible teams, equal to the position in which they cross the finish line (first place gets 1 point, second place gets 2 points, etc.). The points for these runners are summed, and the low score wins. Individual athletes, and athletes from incomplete teams, are excluded from scoring. … The lowest possible score in a five-to-score match is 15 (1+2+3+4+5).”
2) Distance difference between the Pac 12 race and the future major races the Buffs will be running - Both these Pac 12 championships and the already ran Pre-National Men’s races are “only” 8 kilometers (km) (~4.97 miles). Then, the NCAA regional and national championships are 10km (~6.21 miles). I believe all the main Women’s races are 6km (~3.73 miles).
3) Men’s Race/ notes:
a. The 10/21/14 Coach’s Poll #1 ranked Buffs are heavy favorites. Other ranked Pac teams are Oregon (#2), Stanford (#9), UCLA (#11), and Washington (#12).
b. The other poll I could find is the Saucony Flo50. The Buffs are also #1 in that poll (dated 10/20), but there are differences behind them, with Stanford leading the other Pac teams at #6, followed by Oregon (7), Washington (12) and UCLA (14).
c. The Saucony Flo50 also ranks individuals nationally. In the latest (10/20) list, the Buffs have a VERY impressive 5 runners ranked in the top 13- Sr. Blake Theroux (#3), Soph. Ben Saarel (7), Jr. Ammar Moussa (11), Sr. Jake Hurysz (12) and Jr. Pierce Murphy (13).
d. In addition to the Buffs, the Pac 12 is well represented with top individuals in the 10/20 Flo50 rankings, with the following ranked in the Top 10- Edward Cheserek (Oregon, #1); Maksim Korolev (Stanford, #2); Eric Jenkins (Oregon, #5); and Joe Rosa (Stanford, #8).
e. For the individual race, Mr. Cheserek, who won every major race last year, is considered in the Letsrun article a pretty heavy (“lock”) favorite, with any of the highly ranked individuals I named above likely also expected to also place highly in this race.
f. As I noted in another thread, it’s looking like 1 of the top 2-3 Buff runners from last year, Sr. (or maybe Jr.?) Morgan Pearson, may be redshirting this year, which if true should help the Buffs also field a very strong team next year. (He ran unattached and finished 4th in the Rocky Mountain Shootout this year, and then didn’t run in the Pre-National race. Last year, Mr. Pearson was the 2nd Buff finisher in their national championship winning race.)
4) Women’s Race/ notes:
a. The Women’s teams in the Pac 12 aren’t as highly ranked as the men, but as of the 10/21 Coaches’ Poll still contained in the Top 30 Oregon (#3), CU (#7), Stanford (#11), Washington (#17), ASU (#22), and UCLA (#29).
b. The other poll I could find is the Saucony Flo50. In that poll (dated 10/20), Oregon also leads the Pac 12 with a #4 ranking, followed by the Buffs (#7), Stanford (#12), , Washington (16) and ASU (#23).
c. Just because the Buffs are the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] highest ranked team in the Pac, it shouldn’t be assumed they’ll easily get 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] in the Pac 12 championships. Per an interview with Coach Wetmore, he doesn’t feel the #7 rankings for the Buffs have accounted for the fact (as I mentioned in another thread) the Buffs leader/ captain and presumed #1 or 2 runner, Junior Carrie Verdon, is out for the year with a broken foot.
d. In the Women’s Saucony Flo50 ranking, no individual Buffs are ranked nationally in the Top 25 list (dated 10/20). However, based on how they seemed to emphasize the last races in the ranking, I assume Soph. Erin Clark is very close to being rated. (The 6[SUP]th[/SUP] place finisher at the Pre-National Race is ranked #23 nationally, and Ms. Clark finished 7[SUP]th[/SUP] in that race.)
e. Overall, there are three Pac 12 runners nationally ranked in the Saucony Flo50 Top 25. Sr. Shelby Houlihan of Arizona State is the #1 ranked runner nationally, with freshmen Elise Cranny (Stanford, from Niwot High School, ranked #10) and Bethan Knights (Cal, #20) also ranked.
f. Based on the rankings and her experience as a senior, it’s assumed Shelby Houlihan is likely to win the women’s Pac 12 race if she runs a good race. Other than her, the Letsrun article I linked to above noted Ms.’s Clark, Cranny and Knights as possibly also being in the equation for the top places.
First, all of the scheduling and coverage information below is from the Pac 12 championship website http://pac-12.com/cross-country/championships/2014-pac-12-cross-country-championships . This website also says- “You can follow the race in real time via live results on Pac-12.com, where you'll also find exclusive video, photos and recaps throughout the day.”
Location, Date AND Time- The Race is scheduled for this Friday at the Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland, Calif., with an 11:00 Mountain Time start. Specifically, the women’s race is scheduled to start at 11:00 AM MT, followed by the Men at 12:00 PM MT. (Of course, that equates in Pacific (race local) time as a 10:00 start for the women's race and 11:00 for the men's.)
If you’re a Buff fan in the Bay Area and your schedule allows it, maybe some of you can head over to Oakland to help root the Buffs on?
Coverage:
Live results will be available at http://rtspt.com/events/pac12/xc2014/ . I assume the CU Buffs twitter ( https://NOPE/cubuffstrack ) will also be a nice resource for Buff-centric updates and other news.
Note it sounds like there will NOT be LIVE video coverage of the race available. Instead, the races will be shown the following Monday (11/3) on the Pac 12 networks starting at 7:00 PM (MT) (6:00 PT). The women’s race is to be shown at 7:00 and the Men’s at 7:30. (Note- for those who DVR/ TiVo things, at least on my Comcast listings, the two races are scheduled as two separate listings.)
The article and video previews I've found so far:
1) Letsrun.com written preview- http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/10/pac-12s-preview/
2) flotrack.com video preview (4 minutes, 19 seconds)- http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/251665-Whos-1/video/752705-Whos-1-Pac-12-Edition#.VE7ESfnF_ng
Various notes about the Pac 12 Championships and Buffs cross country in general:
1) Scoring- Assume most people reading this know A LOT MORE about running than I do, but just in case, scoring in cross country can be explained as follows (largely from Wikipedia)- “In the United States, the most common scoring system is seven runners, with the top five scoring. Points are awarded to the individual runners of eligible teams, equal to the position in which they cross the finish line (first place gets 1 point, second place gets 2 points, etc.). The points for these runners are summed, and the low score wins. Individual athletes, and athletes from incomplete teams, are excluded from scoring. … The lowest possible score in a five-to-score match is 15 (1+2+3+4+5).”
2) Distance difference between the Pac 12 race and the future major races the Buffs will be running - Both these Pac 12 championships and the already ran Pre-National Men’s races are “only” 8 kilometers (km) (~4.97 miles). Then, the NCAA regional and national championships are 10km (~6.21 miles). I believe all the main Women’s races are 6km (~3.73 miles).
3) Men’s Race/ notes:
a. The 10/21/14 Coach’s Poll #1 ranked Buffs are heavy favorites. Other ranked Pac teams are Oregon (#2), Stanford (#9), UCLA (#11), and Washington (#12).
b. The other poll I could find is the Saucony Flo50. The Buffs are also #1 in that poll (dated 10/20), but there are differences behind them, with Stanford leading the other Pac teams at #6, followed by Oregon (7), Washington (12) and UCLA (14).
c. The Saucony Flo50 also ranks individuals nationally. In the latest (10/20) list, the Buffs have a VERY impressive 5 runners ranked in the top 13- Sr. Blake Theroux (#3), Soph. Ben Saarel (7), Jr. Ammar Moussa (11), Sr. Jake Hurysz (12) and Jr. Pierce Murphy (13).
d. In addition to the Buffs, the Pac 12 is well represented with top individuals in the 10/20 Flo50 rankings, with the following ranked in the Top 10- Edward Cheserek (Oregon, #1); Maksim Korolev (Stanford, #2); Eric Jenkins (Oregon, #5); and Joe Rosa (Stanford, #8).
e. For the individual race, Mr. Cheserek, who won every major race last year, is considered in the Letsrun article a pretty heavy (“lock”) favorite, with any of the highly ranked individuals I named above likely also expected to also place highly in this race.
f. As I noted in another thread, it’s looking like 1 of the top 2-3 Buff runners from last year, Sr. (or maybe Jr.?) Morgan Pearson, may be redshirting this year, which if true should help the Buffs also field a very strong team next year. (He ran unattached and finished 4th in the Rocky Mountain Shootout this year, and then didn’t run in the Pre-National race. Last year, Mr. Pearson was the 2nd Buff finisher in their national championship winning race.)
4) Women’s Race/ notes:
a. The Women’s teams in the Pac 12 aren’t as highly ranked as the men, but as of the 10/21 Coaches’ Poll still contained in the Top 30 Oregon (#3), CU (#7), Stanford (#11), Washington (#17), ASU (#22), and UCLA (#29).
b. The other poll I could find is the Saucony Flo50. In that poll (dated 10/20), Oregon also leads the Pac 12 with a #4 ranking, followed by the Buffs (#7), Stanford (#12), , Washington (16) and ASU (#23).
c. Just because the Buffs are the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] highest ranked team in the Pac, it shouldn’t be assumed they’ll easily get 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] in the Pac 12 championships. Per an interview with Coach Wetmore, he doesn’t feel the #7 rankings for the Buffs have accounted for the fact (as I mentioned in another thread) the Buffs leader/ captain and presumed #1 or 2 runner, Junior Carrie Verdon, is out for the year with a broken foot.
d. In the Women’s Saucony Flo50 ranking, no individual Buffs are ranked nationally in the Top 25 list (dated 10/20). However, based on how they seemed to emphasize the last races in the ranking, I assume Soph. Erin Clark is very close to being rated. (The 6[SUP]th[/SUP] place finisher at the Pre-National Race is ranked #23 nationally, and Ms. Clark finished 7[SUP]th[/SUP] in that race.)
e. Overall, there are three Pac 12 runners nationally ranked in the Saucony Flo50 Top 25. Sr. Shelby Houlihan of Arizona State is the #1 ranked runner nationally, with freshmen Elise Cranny (Stanford, from Niwot High School, ranked #10) and Bethan Knights (Cal, #20) also ranked.
f. Based on the rankings and her experience as a senior, it’s assumed Shelby Houlihan is likely to win the women’s Pac 12 race if she runs a good race. Other than her, the Letsrun article I linked to above noted Ms.’s Clark, Cranny and Knights as possibly also being in the equation for the top places.
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