Billy Boy's Rundown #2
Response to 9/24 Coaches Rankings:
Good, it finally looks like the coaches of Virginia's brains are growing, past the peanut phase into the size of an acorn. Maybe by states we'll get as big as a walnut or something. For the AAA boys, I guess you can't really argue with the undefeated TJ boys, especially since they have already beaten #2 Westfield head to head...however, that was back in week one. It would be interesting to see how many #1 votes Westfield got, because right now they are running the BEST of any team, even the boys of TJ. They have an unstoppable 1-2 punch, that not even Landry and Mocko can match at this point. TJ has the advantage of depth over Westfield though, and over any team in state. After Mocko and Landry, in comes 3-4-5 packed followed briefly by 6-7-8. This will help them come November, when four or five guys are fighting to be in that top 7. Right now, Westfield and TJ are simply in their own league...which brings me to the #3 ranked boys of Midlothian. Frankly, I wasn't very impressed at all with their Great Meadows performance. Berlin shocked everyone I think, beating Robbins and finishing the next closest to Walters, and smoking his own teammate Ryan Witt. I noticed this summer on the "Best 1-2 Punch" thread, that the 1-2 of Midlothian was referred to as "Witt-Berlin" when really it needs to be "Berlin-Witt". Like I said in the first week, the gap beaten the two is too great to be a threat oh but wait...how about that nice 3-4-5 pack! Well yeh...it's a pack...a pack in the BACK. It doesn't do much good to pack three guys, if they're all slow...I think Lake Braddock, Maggie Walker, and my personal dark horse Oakton boys will all be surpassing Midlothian in the rankings in the next few weeks, don't be surprised if they drop down to #6 or so. As I was saying, I'm really eager to see my Oakton boys step up to some VA competition. Word is Kruz is recovering slowly but surely, I think he has some sort of knee injury...
Billy Bob's Elite AAA Teams:
1)Westfield
2)Thomas Jefferson S&T(maybe they can figure out a scientific solution to run faster)
3)Oakton(with Kruz back)
4)Maggie Walker(still searching for that 5th man, I'll pay close attention at Maymont)
5)Lake Braddock and Midlothian(Midlo has already won head to head...but let's just wait and see...)
In the AAA individuals, Walters is way out in front. You thought Isabel tore up the state? Hah, nothing compared to Walters, no one's gunna touch him November 8. The Westfield duo remains 2-3, I like them there. Even though I was impressed with Berlin's GM performance...that's all he's got under his belt so far, I'd have to move Christo past him, since Christo is #3 returning in the whole Footlocker South Region, I don't see how he could only be 5th in AAA Va. I'd also have to flip flop Robbins to Mix, Mix is a smarter and more experienced runner and word on the street is he wore trainers at a very muddy FUMA. That's pretty hardcore. CHAPA my AAA dark horse, I'm very eager to see him run this week at Maymont, his first big meet, I think he's going to tear it up, give Robbins a run for his money. Everything else looks like it checks out, I love Sam Rhodes in the top 15, I think he's finally going to have a good year, I actually think he could be around 10 or 11 on that list...and Mocko back into the top 15 is good too, he kept with Christo well at CNU.
Billy Bob's Elite AAA Boys:
1)Walters(Unbeatable)
2)Groff(still shocking)
3)Scheiner(still shocking)
4)Landry(Slowly moving back up)
5)Berlin(Unproven)
6)Mix(Unproven this year)
7)Robbins(Duhhhhhh...)
8)Chapa(Dark Horse)
9)Howard(keep an eye on him this weekend, will probably make a big statement to all Central Region challengers)
10)Legesse(would like to see another GM performance out of him before I move him up)
11)Iverson(take a shower bud)
12)Rhodes(was right behind Stinky at Tech Invite)
13)Mocko(he'll be moving up in the next few weeks, GUARANTEE it)
14)Dilsilvestro(one breakthrough season, coming up!)
15)Hutton(Ditto)
Notables: Young, Stegmaier, Wyss, Witt, Turnbull, Howick, Kruz, Andrews.
AA Boys, James Wood is going to win. I hate to say it, but you just can't argue. They are cocky and quite ignorant with the exception of Printz. However, on the team side, don't be surprised when Christiansburg starts moving up. They're getting a lot of race experience under their belt and also running in some tough races. Their combo of Hatch-Horst is unmatched in AA, and I think Hatch is simply a brilliant runner. He owns everyone in AA. Fort Defiance and Tabb...Brentsville yeh blah blah they all look in place ok, still watch...Christiansburg is my AA dark horse.
Billy Bob's Elite AA Teams: 1)James Wood(stay off the boards, alright?) 2)Christiansburg(they're coming) 3)Fort 4)Tabb 5)BrentsvilleOn the individual side, like I said, it's all Hatch. He's running so strong right now and I don't see him as the type of runner with burnout problems. In AAA I think I'd place him right behind Walters, right on his butt. Horst looks good at second, I always trailing behind Hatch in the races...I would maybe move Printz ahead of Bierlein but it's really a judgment call. Anyone know when Williams is going to 100% again? Ah, so frustrating, I wish him the best of luck this year, maybe he can shorten the hiatus Hatch has put on the rest of the field when he gets back to normal.
Billy Bob's Elite AA Runners: 1)Hatch 2)Horst 3)Printz 4)Bierlein 5)Williams 6)O'Neil 7)Bossman 8)Hanlon 9)Swale 10)ParkinsonOnto the ladies...
AAA girls teams, I would have to disagree again with the #1 team, and instead go again with Westfield. I don't know what they're eating up there, but whatever it is you better keep it to yourselves. They dominated FUMA...other than Western Albermarle, beating Maggie Walker by nearly 30 points I believe. I don't think Herndon has the power to do that. Once again though, Herndon has the power of the pack, Hart leads the way for the Hornets but after that they're all pretty much interchangeable. The girls are a little different then the boys though, I think AAA teams go 3 deep with the Lady Trojans of Midlothian. With Patterson simply running away from any AAA competition that gives them an almost guarantee 1 point for the state meet. Her top AAA challenger pretty much got dusted in the last mile of GM. After that, I was very impressed with two time Central Region 800 champ Erin Prillaman stepping it up in CC. Besides Fahey and Motor Mouth Slekis, that's the next best 1-2 punch their is in AAA. After Westfield, Herndon, and Midlothian you have Maggie Walker and...oh how can James River be #5? I bet Forest Park could step up and whoop these ladies...speaking of whoopings... if you wanna see one just head down to Cary N.C. this weekend for the Great American CC Festival. I won't go to into detail(see "Great American" thread on the boards) but basically the JR girls are in the ROC...which means trouble for you that don't know. ROC, Race of CHAMPIONS, champions being the keyword their...these are national big dogs, and at worst, at least top 3 in the state teams. In addition to their already doomed fate, word on the street is they have an injury in their top 5, which makes their 4th and 5th runner 24+ minute 5k runners...hmmm you do the math.
Billy Bob's Elite AAA Teams Girls: 1)Westfield 2)Herndon 3)Midlothian 4)Maggie Walker 5)Forest ParkOn the individual side, like I said, Amanda Patterson owns AAA. The lack of AAA girls actually greatly disappoints me. If you look at AA, they have 6 or 7 ladies that have met the same credentials or have performed better than Patterson. Not taking anything away from her at all, she will be AAA state champ, barring some sort of sickness or injury. After that the order looks fine for now, there hasn't been enough racing to really determine much. I like Prillaman in the top 15 I think that'll happen. We'll see how Ward performs despite her team this weekend at GA. Sherbak and Porto need to step up, they could very easily be higher on that list...
Billy Bob's Elite AAA Girls: 1)Patterson 2)Fahey 3)Ward 4)Dewey 5)Slekis 6)Read 7)Sherbak 8)Milot 9)Porto 10)Webb 11)Lynn 12)Vaughan 13)Snowden 14)Prillaman 15)ThomasI'm not going to talk about AA Girls teams, it's a waste of time and energy for my brain to function and my fingers to type. Western Albermarle, that's all that needs to be said.
I love looking at the AA Girls, they are so DEEP. Bowman is supposed to be making the trip down to Great American this weekend, that will be a good indicator on how she stands up against the nations best competition. She does return the fastest girl's mile time in the country...noting that mile was run after waking up from a nap at Southern Track, hearing the calling of the girls mile, and jogging to the line without warm-up or anything. Amazing. Bowman doesn't exactly steal the show from the rest of the AA girls though. They are so talented, Harrison and Hagen stand a good chance of being Footlocker finalists. Three girls from Va, that would really be something. Before last year their had been a big gap I believe in even having one girl runner qualify. It kills me to see Beaury out though. Hopefully she can recover and regroup for an excellent track season. The Fanning sisters have been making strong statements, at FUMA and Tech. Watch out for them too. Anna Chase was a bit of a let down after hiding out for a while. She ran at the Tech Invite last weekend, it didn't look like a full strength Chase...does anyone know if there's been an injury or something?
Billy Bob's Elite AA Girls: 1)Bowman 2)Hagen(kept up with that Footlocker finalist last weekend) 3)Harrison 4)Either Fanning 5)Either Fanning 6)K. Stafford 7)Endres 8)Chase(?) 9)Beardmore 10)Shenk 11)S. Stafford 12)Rolley 13)Zwart 14)Novara 15)Stewart
So that's all I have to say about the Coaches Rankings...let's look at some other stuff...
Billy Bob's Thoughts and Feelings:
Meets to Watch:
Great American: Bowman to dominate, James River to uh...uh...yeh...
The big one this weekend is Maymont, go check it out. It'll be a great showdown for many individuals and teams:
Atlee Benedictine Brooke Point Chancellor Colonial Heights Frank W. Cox Deep Run Dinwiddie Edison Academy Franklin County Forest Park Douglas Freeman Gar-Field Goochland Hanover Henrico Richmond Virginia Commonwealth Concord College Hampton Longwood Marshall Radford Roanoke College William & Mary Hermitage Kellam John F. Kennedy King George Landstown Maggie Walker Governor's School Manchester Maury Meadowbrook North Stafford Northumberland Nottoway Osbourn Park Paul VI Powhatan Prince George Princess Anne St. Catherine's St. Christopher's St. Gertrude Stone Bridge Trinity Episcopal J.R. Tucker Varina T.C. Williams Trinity Episcopal Varina Warwick Western Albemarle WoodsideThose teams have been entered for a while and word on the street is more teams from NOVA are creeping down that aren't on the list. Hey, I wander if the runners will run by the buffaloes...then they can be Running With the Buffaloes...wow I crack myself up(it's a book incase you didn't know).
So that's all folks, hope you've enjoyed, see ya next week same time, same place.