MVAL's

[chs]

Any predictions for the MVAL's?

[Two Point Swing]

yeah how long ago was that?

[thecommunist]

yeah PD, thats how you break out some 2005 shenanigans....

[sizzlinsizzler]

honestly i can say that MVAL's has always been a mystery to me. i mean, what is the actual point of them? anyway, this year i think the races should be more strait forward.

for the Antietam conference i think clear spring should clean house.

chesapeake should be led by urbana followed by what looks like westminster and TJ

piedmont is kinda obvious who will win. FSK looks to be the strongest team in the area by far and as to whos behind them i dont know.


this was just the guys predictions. ill leave girls up to someone else

[CoachSpongeBob]

Nothing is ever "obvious". Last year Liberty beat FSK by 46 points at the SC Invite (this was about average for the season), but at MVALs FSK won. Liberty also lost to Westminster at the SC Invite by 43 points, but won the County title by 1. Everybody trains for champs. It doesn't matter what you did in the "regular season" meets, the next 4 meets are the only ones that matter.
Now is when champions truly shine.

[fskfanatik]

Let's go Key!!!

[sizzlinsizzler]

sorry sponge i still think keys gonna win pretty easily.

i mean their top...what, 5 are at or above your top guy and im not seeing other teams in that conference look too strong.

[hasercentury06]

I'm gonna agree with Jake on this one. FSK looks much better than Liberty now, much more than Liberty looked to be above FSK last year. Key will take the MVAL meet handily.

Certainly don't count Liberty out; they always have a strong team come Championship time.

[sizzlinsizzler]

hey um i know this is totally unrelated but i wanted to bring it up on an active thread. how is it that ER's girls team is ranked #1 by a LOT and yet i've yet to even hear of a race they're been in this year. they werent at bull run if im not mistaken. have they just been doing REAL HIGH caliber meets all season? whats the scoop?

[CoachSpongeBob]

Only 3 guys have beaten our #1 all year in the county - so FSK does not have 5 guys ahead of our #1. But we're not the only team in the conference, South Carroll has closed the gap some.

Actually, FSK during the "regular season" which means nothing, was about the same amount ahead of SC as we were ahead of FSK last year. So anything can happen. Nobody is so good that they can just show up and win.

As for ER - they ran at the Manhattan Invite (only 2.5 miles), also ran in a relay meet (also not a 5K), and did win a meet in Virginia I believe, but it was a fast course against teams nobody around here really knows about. They do only have 5 girls - so like many teams, if someone gets hurt, it will show. Depth in xc is a big deal, because typically someone does get hurt at some point.

[l2mmcoach]

sizzlinsizzler

Regarding Eleanor Roosevelt's girls team, their goal this year is more national recognition, based on last year's solid finish at NTN and having all runners return. So their schedule includes mostly out-of-town meets where they run against ranked schools. They won in Virginia at Brentsville Relays and Maymount in September against a number of Southeast top-ranked teams, and finished second up at Manhattan this past Saturday ahead of some great schools, including Saratoga Springs and Hilton. Point of reference, at Maymount they won with 39 points, and John Carroll (a top Maryland school) scored 185.

I don't believe Bull Run is an important meet for NTN ranked out-of-state schools. Most schools seem to opt for meets in Virginia, Great America, or Manhattan.

We should know more about them in the coming weeks, as ER will be competing in-state at their county and regional meets before running at States, where you can judge them first hand.

Coachspongebob is correct in that they don't seem to have a lot a depth at this point. And they plan to peak at NTN in early December, so hopefully they can avoid injuries before then.

They are very good and deserve their rankings.

Anyway, good luck Friday at MVAL.

[sizzlinsizzler]

thanks for the info. i was figuring they would be competeing in better meets than the local ones and it sounds like they've been tearing the competition apart.

as for MVAL's, good luck and good health for everyone

[libfan]

Let's hear your thoughts/observations on MVALs yesterday.

Wow, did you see Nick Hruch??!

So glad to see Eric Liberatore finish a race, and a good one at that!

Sisler finished farther down than I thought he would.

What did you think?

[SCMiler09]

MVALs were a lot of fun, though we were disappointed in our team's performance. Congratulations to Liberty and Nick Hruch especially. Why were Sisler and Dulaney so far back for Westminster? Also, was the course 3 miles or 5k? Good luck to everyone at counties.

[fskfanatik]

How about Key winning by around 40 points in a small field, not bad. Congrats to them and all of the teams who ran in MVALs, lookin forward to counties now...