KYTrackXC.com

AAA Boys-Butler, St. X, Trinity, Daviess Co., N. Hardin. Not in any particular order, but I like Butler's chances!

quickslick

jonathan said:Anyone want to take a shot at the top 5 teams pre-season for any of the classes.

Nope .... but I could probably guess one that won't be in the top 5!!!!

Don't be so sure

jonathan

quickslick said:jonathan said:Anyone want to take a shot at the top 5 teams pre-season for any of the classes.

Nope .... but I could probably guess one that won't be in the top 5!!!!

Don't be so sure

I am pretty sure ... besides ... Redhawkjay already came up with the master list. I think that that would be pretty hard to beat.

Either way .. it should be an "interesting" year.

quickslick

Nope .... but I could probably guess one that won't be in the top 5!!!!

Actually, years back, I remember there used to be a bottom 10 ranking for NCAA football teams, i.e. the 10 worst teams in the country, that used to come out each week of the season. Maybe Jonathan should add that to his ranking list?

It would be more interesting to have a ranking of the bottom 10 coaches statewide. Where would that list start????? Any ideas

Just because a coaches team has won two AAA titles in a row does not mean he could not be on the list or a coach who puts skull & crossbones on his team's uniform.

I can think of a few that qualify. How about the track coach that will not take his team to invitationals because "he doesn't work weekends"!!!!

Sorry quickslick, I believe Connor will also be a contender!

MOTMAN

I can think of a few that qualify. How about the track coach that will not take his team to invitationals because "he doesn't work weekends"!!!!

Haha, apparently we're psychic twins, because I was thinking exactly of that particular example myself.

Maybe a better version of that list would be called "most entertaining moments in KY track and CC history" - kind of like a VH1 "I love the 80s" thing. It could include good or bad stuff, as long as it was at least somewhat entertaining, haha.

Such a list would surely include:

1. The CC coach who lit up a cigarette amidst his/her athletes as they were waiting on one particular CC meet to begin.

2. The CC coach who yelled "Sprint, you pussies!!!" as his/her last few athletes just kind of jogged toward the finish line.

3. The Track coach who had athletes DQd for a uniform violation, and I'm told protested the DQ on the grounds that his/her runners shouldn't be DQd if another team was allowed to run with athletes who wore socks that didn't match.

4. The CC coach who told his/her athletes to do some strides before a race, saying, "Run from here to that fat kid and back".

redhawksjay

Sorry quickslick, I believe Connor will also be a contender!

Nah ... I think that your first list was right on the money.

Here are my "real" thoughts for the boys:
1a: Butler
1b: St. Xavier
1c: Trinity
1d: Daviess County
1e: North Hardin
1f: Dupont Manual
1g: Dunbar
1h: Grant County

Then a whole boatload of teams fighting for those last 2 top ten spots.

The truth of the matter is ... our team would have a great chance for success if they would let us blast some 80's hair metal like Motley Crue or Guns 'N Roses during the races (which would remind us of our "Hebron WT Roots")

I'll take a crack at preseason predictions for all classes and levels; I don't know what to do with Muehlenburg so I didn't list them. My analysis used the automated rankings but also looks at kids moving up as well and any other data I have:

3A Girls- 1 is solid; 2-4 are close as are 5-6
1. Assumption
2. Sacred Heart
3. Bowling Green
4. Oldham Co.
5. Daviess
6. Manual

3A Boys- St. X in a landslide, 2 and 3 will be close, a dog fight for spots 4-7, really too close to call
1. St. X
2. Trinity
3. Butler
4. Conner
5. Daviess
6. Greenwood
7. Apollo

2A Girls- What a barn burner! About 20 points separate the top 6 teams.
1. Presentation
2. Spencer Co.
3. Mason Co.
4. North Oldham
5. South Oldham
6. Lloyd Memorial

2A Boys- NO easily if they stay healthy, otherwise the next 4 are tight
1. North Oldham
2. Covington Cath.
3. Webster
4. South Oldham
5. Pendleton

1A Girls- 1 and 2 are solid; 3-6 are too close to call
1. St. Henry
2. Walton Verona
3. Fairview
4. Green Co.
5. Holy Cross
6. Trimble Co.

1A Boys- 1 and 2 are very tight, slight edge to St. Henry on depth, 3-5 also very tight
1. St. Henry
2. Bossart
3. Owensboro Cath.
4. Villa Madonna
5. Trimble Co.

MS Girls- If BG's top five stay healthy no one can touch them
1. Bowling Green
2. North Oldham
3. East Oldham
4. College View
5. South Oldham

MS Boys- Pulaski returns their top 6 from last year's 6th place team, spots 3-5 are separated by less than 20 points
1. Pulaski Co.
2. College View
3. North Oldham
4. Holy Trinity
5. Owensboro

Elementary Girls- 1 and 2 will be tight, big gap to the rest of the field
1. Pulaski Co.
2. Locust Grove
3. Goshen
4. Harmony
5. Dorothy Sayers

Elementary Boys-The first 3 are close
1. Owensboro
2. Chance (if they use 6th graders)
3. Holy Trinity
4. Hite
5. Goshen
6. Pulaski Co.

I don't see how you see Owensboro catholic beating villa

It is very close, a couple points. Owensboro Cath has more horsepower up front. They put 2 in front of VM's #1 guy. However, they are not deep, any injuries or an off day and VM beats them.

They had one in front of our guy, and at the state meet, he ran a 1006 2mile. He was hurt at state and fell. We also gain 10 freshmen.

I agree with MOTMAN, there is reason to doubt with Owenboro Catholic's front two and who knows what freshmen they will have. Great analysis MOTMAN, I would look for a girls' team in 3A to slip into that group, but I'll keep that one quiet for now. Good thoughts across the board. You are very right about Class AA girls' being a crap shoot. Middle school additions may make the difference for the Oldham County schools as they don't use them while in middle school normally.

Steeple:

I'll be interested to watch for that in AAA, I see two possibilities, one more likely than the other.

I appreciate the props in MOTMAN's 3A girls ranking, but here are some things to remember - maybe things you all are alluding to above.

Manual will have the Hale twins, two of the best MS kids to move up into HS this year. Having picked up at least one of the best MS runners in the State for 3 of the past 4 years (Anderson, Barker and now the twins), I'd say you can't overlook this team.

Eastern has the potential to be very good through 3 and definitely solid through 4. If they pick up any new kids with at least a little talent, then that could instantly make Eastern into a potential top 5 team.

Prof:

That was news to me, its much tougher with JCPS and the privates, kids are not locked into a school to progress to. With those two strong runners that will put Manual in a position for 3rd or possibly 2nd. I agree on Eastern, they are one of the two I mentioned to watch.

The addition of new runners is always a major factor especially on the girls side. Freshmen obviously a difference on the boys side more so in A and AA. I think some of these choices for preseason top 5 are very helpful to me because there are a few schools I had not glanced at for preseason top 10. A few not many.

2009 Schedule
ky.milesplit.us/meets/calendar/2009/cc

I have it updated through the 20th of September. Most of the major invitationals are in there as of right now. If you meet information, email it to me at jonathan@kytrackxc.com

I will do my AAA boys Top 10 Teams with my explanation for my picks.

1. St. X - I think this team could possibly have 4 guys in the 15's. That is pretty amazing. I am going to go out on a limb and say no other team has done that. If that happens it could be the greatest achievment in Ky cross country history. This team in a landslide unless something miraculous occurs and I just happen to believe in divine intervention, so anything is possible.

2. Butler - Losing one key runner but gaining a multi-talented runner. He should fill that void quite nicely. But my biggest reason for putting them so far up is because they have proven runners up front and may be as deep as anyone in the state. Someone will step up and make this team a contender.

3. Trinity - This was a tough call between us and Trinity. One because I have absolute total respect for Coach Waggoner and two because they have very tough group of kids. They lost quite a bit from last years squad but their younger guys should be able to fill spots.

4. Daviess County - They lost too much not to fall back a few spots. But I don't think it will be as much as some may think. They have tradition and the Red Line, they don't rebuild they reload. They had some good Juniors last year and a strong freshmen class. Not to mention I believe Evan Eranhiem will become one of the states top runners.

5. Apollo - Fire power up front but not much depth to back it up. I would have them in the same mix with Butler and Trinity, but I am a firm believer in running track to improve for cross country. John Gleason and Jeff Rowe didn't do that. I believe this will limit their improvement, if not regress them a little.

6. Connor - A very solid team with two big guns up front. They have a good supporting cast but doesn't look like they are as strong 1-5 as the others. Again, I run into a bit of a disappointment in not seeing Ben Turner all track season. He had a great end of cross season and I thought that he would build on that through track and step to the big time this season. Crusham seems to be the guy that needs to step up for this team to move up the ranks. Plus, I don't care what others say, they are well coached.

7. Greenwood - They are as strong as anyone 1-3. But they have the least amount of depth of anyone in the top 10. They are already relatively weak at the 4 and 5 spot, if one person gets injured they fall out of the top 10.

8. Paul Dunbar - Couple of strong runners in the front and a decent bunch after them. Just not strong enough in their top 5 to make a real arguement to move up. Of course many thought the same thing last year and they became the surprise team of the state meet. But, how many times can that happen???

9. Shelby County - They lost a lot of talent with Depasco and Zaremba. Stacy will be back fighting for a state championship on the individual side, the group behind him is talented but young. They will probably need another year to develop before becoming serious threats, problem is they lose Stacy, which may negate their progress as a team. They also don't seem to put much stock in track. I just can't see any team being a serious threat without putting in a year round committment.

10. Meade County - I saw a lot of improvement from this team during track. That is why I see them leap frogging some of the teams that could be in front of them. They have a nice little core of runners that seem to want to be good. If they have a good summer of training they very well could move up even further. I have a feeling Sean Breeds may return to his old form this season. Could we see those old Stacy and Sean duels again. It sure would be fun.

There's my not so scientific but rather well thought out and somewhat logical explanations for my top 10 team list. I hope you enjoy and feel free to trash my opinions, as long as we can get some discussion on this board. I challenge others to do better. Have fun.

By the way, in case you didn't catch this from the explanation from the rankings, you don't stand a chance if you don't run track and that is vice versa for a middle and distance guy in track.

This weekend is going to be interesting. Lexington Catholic is the stud meet for KY and usually there are very few meets that match up against it. But look at that weekend right now:

10/17 Bardstown Invitational
10/17 Chuck Vitatoe Classic
10/17 Dragon Invitational
10/17 Green County Invitational
10/17 Kentucky River Conference
10/17 Lexington Catholic Invitational
10/17 NCKC
10/17 NKAC Championships
10/17 Russell Red Devil Invitational

My top 20 rankings of the individual boys for AAA with reasoning for the selection. Hope you enjoy and please don't take anything to personal.

1. Ryan Eaton

[quote=butlercoachxc]10. Joey Brendel

Butler you might have unleashed a wild animal with that list. But I am loving that thought you put into the team and individual list. It is nice to see a coach go out on a limb and talk about his team and the competition.

Here is a short writing with some key links on the upcoming cross country season.

ky.milesplit.us/articles/24274

Yep Prof, that's what I am saying.

I am sure you read what I wrote in the italics. This is based off the knowledge that I have on the runners. I know just about every detail of Mr. Berry's running career, I only know from results what Joey is doing. I also looked at more than just the state meet results from cross last year.