Men's Cross Country picked 4th for this weekend's MVC Champs

[goshox74]

For the past few years the WSU men's Cross Country teams has struggled but it appears 2nd year head coach Kirk Hunter has the guys heading in the right direction. They were picked 4th in the pre-meet poll (7th last 2 years).

This is a team that has been steadily improving all season and wouldn't surprise me to finish in the top-3. That would be a terrific accomplishment with only one significant senior on the roster. Marcos Bailon, Jackson Toroitich, and Tomas Cotter could all finish towards the top of the conference and if the talented Jake Wike and one of the freshmen can have a good race - the Shocks could do very well in Terre Haute (site of the NCAA Championships).

Good luck fellas! SHOCK the MVC this weekend!

[1972Shocker]

The men's improvement has been impressive this year and is great to see. Coach Hunter appears to be doing a great job.

What does Indiana State have that allows them to routinely host the NCAA Championships? Do they have a course designed solely for and dedicated solely to XC racing?

Seems like they have become the Omaha of College XC. Not that XC draws many spectators but nevertheless an event of this magnitude is no doubt a nice get and a nice economic boost for a community the size of Terre Haute.

BTW, good luck Shockers.

:onthego:

[goshox74]

1972Shocker,
Yes Indiana St does have a dedicated cross country course - a fantastic one at that! It is very spectator friendly and has been a great venue for hosting many NCAA Championships. In fact, Terre Haute has named itself Cross Country Town, USA. Check out the website: xctownusa.com

[1972Shocker]

Good overview of this weekend's MVC Championship by Coach Hunter:

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205323296&DB_OEM_ID=7500

Looks like they are expecting a cloudy (but dry) morning with temperatures in the mid-40's and winds of around 10 mph Sunday morning.

[Kung Wu]

I hope they get some Wichita winds. Something our team is used to, but would drive the mountain dwellers crazy. :)

[goshox74]

I believe the race with be streamed live here: http://www.livestream.com/sycamore_sports

Not sure of the quality or if you will be able to get team results but it's better than nothing.

[WuDrWu]

Close finish withDrake sophomore Brogan Austin capturing the MVC title. Tough to gauge the team finish, but WSU did not have anyone near the front.

I suspect a 4th place finish is out of the question.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Men do, indeed, finish 4th.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks do manange to capture 4th place, up from 7th place last year.

Good job, guys. That will help in the All-Sports Trophy race.

[WuDrWu]

Men's team finish:

Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Drake, WSU. The Shocks were a distant 4th with 114 points and Drake I think had 68.

[WuDrWu]

Shocks do manange to capture 4th place, up from 7th place last year.

Good job, guys. That will help in the All-Sports Trophy race.

Indeed.

[WstateU]

Indeed.

Speaking of the All-Sports Trophy, I was impressed with the 'new' (maybe I've missed it before?) display case in Koch Arena near the ticket office entrance housing the numerous AST's. Kudo's to the athletic department and the people that made this happen. Hopefully we continue to add to it.

[1972Shocker]

Yes, Doc it is new. I think that was put in about the time of this year's VB 101 dinner.

Off to a good start in 2011 with a 2nd and 4th place finish in CC vs 1st and 7th last year.

Hopefully, Volleyball will finish at least 3rd.

Men's Basketball picked 2nd and Women's Basketball picked 3rd would be a net improvement if they can live up to or exceed those predictions.

Men's golf looks to be very strong and I assume will be MVC favorites. Not sure how Women's golf will fare. They had a nice 2nd place finish (by 1 stroke) in a rain-shortened MVC Championship last year.

Women's tennis looks to be very strong again and should be favored to repeat as MVC Champs. Men's tennis looks to be improved with David Cavalcanti and Matt Periera playing very well this fall. However, Drake only lost 1 player from last year's MVC Championship team with the Shocks finishing 2nd. Hopefully, the Shocks can at least repeat that 2nd place finsih this spring.

Not sure how the Track and Field squads will shake out but I assume the Women will be right in the mix for another championship. Not sure about the guys. Can't improve a whole lot from last year's 1st and 3rd place finishes.

I think the Baseball team has the pitching to compete for a Championship. Not sure about the offense though. Shocks finished 2nd last year.

I think Coach B has breathed a little life into the softball program but it remains to be seen if we have enough pitching to improve on our 7th place finish last spring.

[WstateU]

Yes, Doc it is new. I think it has been there for about a month.

I've (@WstateU:) been living in a cave. I count 18 AST's. Two thumbs up... impressive indeed.

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=591127&SPID=2849&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=205028001

[goshox74]

The WSU men ran just ok this weekend and to finish 4th with an average race tells a lot about the direction that the program is going. Unlike the women, who lose a lot to graduation, this men's team will be almost all back next year and I know they were disappointed they didn't finish higher. They improved 3 places from last year, let's hope they improve 3 more places next year! :) Nice job guys!