Rankings

[RockyRegion]

I actually felt the rankings were fair, good job!

The only ? I had was I believe Campbell County has 4 guys under 9:40 for two-miles and 7 under 10:20. Races will tell.

[byga]

Some one explain to me why Ft. Collins isnt ranked.

[watchout]

Some one explain to me why Ft. Collins isnt ranked.

4 reasons:
Noah Shannon
Tyler Abbey
Paul Brown
Jon Kittel.


now, I expect FC to out-perform the rankings, but ...

they return exactly 1 runner within a minute of Shannon last year. And then two more that were over 90 behind. If they are going to win, it'll be because of their awesome depth ... not because of a dominating front pack like last year.

They'll probably be top-5 in Colorado again. Possibly top-3.

[mountainman]

the Los Alamos rankings confuse me. I would put their boys no better than 5th in New Mexico and their girls no better than 4th. I would replace Los Alamos boys with Gallup or Cibola(if their transfer pans out). I would replace Los Alamos girls with Eldorado and move them up with Academy.

[watchout]

the Los Alamos rankings confuse me. I would put their boys no better than 5th in New Mexico and their girls no better than 4th. I would replace Los Alamos boys with Gallup or Cibola(if their transfer pans out). I would replace Los Alamos girls with Eldorado and move them up with Academy.

I thought Cibola's transfer can't compete this xc season

[mountainman]

well, the kid's going to be a senior and so I can't imagine him transferring without planning on being eligible. Also, the coach at Cibola is fairly well connected. I wouldn't rule out him being or becoming eligible until his name fails to appear in the state meet results.

[nmrunner]

How many transferres is Cibola getting this year? maybe we keep an eye and make it public in the papers

[mountainman]

I didn't mean to imply that there was any wrongdoing going on. They only have the one West Mesa kid transferring that I know of and the coach won't break any rules as he's a good man. But if the kid can legally be eligible by state, I'm sure he will be. Not sure what all has to happen for him to become eligible. Maybe its already a closed case but usually there are appeals etc that go on and it could be a while before there is a for sure answer one way or the other.

[nmrunner]

How can a kid transfer to another school during the H.S. years and be eligible. I think there is a free first choice in NM high school athletics and that choice I am assuming would be WM due to the varsity participation. I think it is a little fishy that a athlete can be elgible to participate in a school district that it borders. It is going to be interesting to see if any other students have transferred in to run for a "coach won't break any rules as he's a good man", only time will tell if we start to see names from other schools appear on the Cougars teams (running).

[505runner]

isnt cibola way overcrowded? why are they accepting transfers?

[eman]

Denver South is no longer affiliated with Brad Barnes and has none of his runners running there.

[watchout]

Denver South is no longer affiliated with Brad Barnes and has none of his runners running there.

well that changes things...

[WYODistance]

I actually felt the rankings were fair, good job!

The only ? I had was I believe Campbell County has 4 guys under 9:40 for two-miles and 7 under 10:20. Races will tell.

Well Eastcoach i can inform you that your information is incorrect. I know from personally experience, they have beaten the crap out of me on a regular basis. I'll give a better update on their XC form on saturday as I race against them tomorrow in Casper, WY. All I do know is they have 1 9:30 guy, another 9:40, and a third 9:50 after that they have maybe 1 other guy under 10:20 then they have nothing as far as I know. But i suppose i'll really find out tomorrow. wish me luck in beating them:D !

[watchout]

In regards to what Campbell County ran:

1. Sr Paul Burke (1:56, 4:14yd, 9:30)
2. Sr Taylor Kelting (2:00r, 4:30, 9:43)
3. So Dominick Robinson (2:07r, 4:38, 9:54)
4. Fr Spencer Pecha (5:05 as 8th grader. Doesn't like track)
5. Sr Eric Strand (49.4, 1:52.7, 17:37xc) Last year was his first time running xc, and he didn't put in very many miles. He'll probably run between 45 and 60 seconds faster this year
6. Jr Mark Zollinger (4:58?, 10:39) Has potential, but never tries to develop it.
7. So Greg Waetzig (2:12 as 8th grader, 18:36xc)

only performance not ran at 4k-5200' was Burke's mile.


WYODistance, keep us updated for sure!! I want to see those results :D

[BLCH]

Cibola's coach is a good guy, just like most coaches in the area. The likelyhood of something "fishy" going on is very, very doubtful. The problem is when somebody talks transfer, people jump to stupid conclusions.

There is a lot of talent in 5A this year, but they are not all on two teams like 4A. It will be interesting to see if anyone can challenge Los Alamos.

[nmrunner]

So just becuase a top 10 or top 5 class 5A runner transfers everyone should turn their head. He is also a senior and the school districts nieghbor each other, come on be real. This coaches father and the know the son are well known for some how receiving transfers and being left alone. Even when I was running LC always had kids running for them from out of district, the tradition is just being upheld.

[505runner]

Cibola's coach is a good guy, just like most coaches in the area. The likelyhood of something "fishy" going on is very, very doubtful. The problem is when somebody talks transfer, people jump to stupid conclusions.



QFE, maybe he just moved into the district. Its not like anyone should blame him for wanting to get out of West Mesa.

[hawaiianfiveoh]

what happened to Barnes at DS?

[eman]

what happened to Barnes at DS?

That is a very good question?

I have part of the answer and some speculation on what happened, but it is not the whole story so I will refrain from rumor mongoring and wait for Brad who peruses these boards to give you the whole story.

[Brad]

Nothing happened, it was just time to move on. I had a great AD at South and Nancy Gregorio and I had a great coaching relationship at South and still talk a couple of times per week. Some of the boy's (4) are still at South and two of the boy's wanted to go to a smaller school and they are at Sheridan. One of which has had to move 6 times in the past year and now lives by Sheridan. One other, who was asked to leave South is also at Sheridan. Coaching in DPS was a unique experience, which took a huge commitment from my wife and kids, time wise as well as financially. The West High School project was started to show that an inner city school could become a nationally ranked team with local kids from the two middle schools that feed into it. Denver South was never in the original proposal. I have often wondered what it would be like to coach in a suburban or private high school. Maybe in a couple of years I can convince my wife to let me run with the ball again. Until then, I will go back to my root's and stay a club coach. This past summer we had 7/8 diff. High Schools represented on our club team and all of the kids had a great time together and built a great base as well. Take care.

[hawaiianfiveoh]

all good things must come to an end.

Best of luck.

[eman]

Now that Brad has said his piece I will state my opinion of the problems he faced while he tried to bring a winning attitude to the inner city schools of Denver, Colorado.

His problems at Denver West were well documented but I still don't think anyone has truly understood the problems it presented. Can you imagine being a 15 or 16 year old and coming from a war torn nation where they practice genocide and fratricide because you are a member of a different tribe and being strongly influenced to join a religious group that isn't your religion by the head coach of the cross country team. Then when Brad tries to rectify the situation by having them transfer to another school no one believes that this is happening. Then when the situation was resolved and Brad was able to bring a state championship to Denver South and had begun to re-establish his program there, to have the administration of the school not support his efforts when he tried to reclaim a student who had had some difficulties in his past but was a very talented runner and was trying to point his life in the right direction. You also had a number of jealous coaches, some of them in the program, who only believed he was winning because he had access to better talent, who constantaly criticized his efforts to the point where they were trying to exert their influence over his athlete's, second guessing his coaching decisions whenever possible.

The question is not why he left but why did he stay for so long.

p.s. There were alot of questions about Mohammed Ige's age and why he didn't qualify to get into a D1 school. First of all I believe Mohammed should only be a senior this year and should not have graduated from Denver South. But seeing that this might have been an issue Brad advised his mother to enter him into school a grade higher than he should have been. One other thing that isn't well publized is that for a period of time either 4 or 5 years he did not attend school at all. So imagine leaving a country where you were in the same house at the time when your father was shot to death and coming to another country where you don't have a primary or elementary education and don't speak the language and 6 or 7 years later you graduate from high school and get into a Junior College where if he continues to progress as he has so far will probably get into a very good division one school. That my friends is truly a success story and as a coach I am happy to have witnessed it and also having gotten to know what I consider a very special young man.

p.p.s. The problems that Mohammed, Aden and all the people who believed in Brad and what he was trying to accomplish are far more extensive and far more troubling then what I know and what I can put down on a message board thread. Suffice it to say I just put down the ones that were obvious to me.

p.p.s. Brad is alive and well and so is his program. Look for Sheridan high school to begin to start to flexing their muscles and start moving up the rankings when they start to compete.

[WhatUpWest!]

Now that Brad has said his piece I will state my opinion of the problems he faced while he tried to bring a winning attitude to the inner city schools of Denver, Colorado.

His problems at Denver West were well documented but I still don't think anyone has truly understood the problems it presented. Can you imagine being a 15 or 16 year old and coming from a war torn nation where they practice genocide and fratricide because you are a member of a different tribe and being strongly influenced to join a religious group that isn't your religion by the head coach of the cross country team. Then when Brad tries to rectify the situation by having them transfer to another school no one believes that this is happening. Then when the situation was resolved and Brad was able to bring a state championship to Denver South and had begun to re-establish his program there, to have the administration of the school not support his efforts when he tried to reclaim a student who had had some difficulties in his past but was a very talented runner and was trying to point his life in the right direction. You also had a number of jealous coaches, some of them in the program, who only believed he was winning because he had access to better talent, who constantaly criticized his efforts to the point where they were trying to exert their influence over his athlete's, second guessing his coaching decisions whenever possible.

The question is not why he left but why did he stay for so long.

p.s. There were alot of questions about Mohammed Ige's age and why he didn't qualify to get into a D1 school. First of all I believe Mohammed should only be a senior this year and should not have graduated from Denver South. But seeing that this might have been an issue Brad advised his mother to enter him into school a grade higher than he should have been. One other thing that isn't well publized is that for a period of time either 4 or 5 years he did not attend school at all. So imagine leaving a country where you were in the same house at the time when your father was shot to death and coming to another country where you don't have a primary or elementary education and don't speak the language and 6 or 7 years later you graduate from high school and get into a Junior College where if he continues to progress as he has so far will probably get into a very good division one school. That my friends is truly a success story and as a coach I am happy to have witnessed it and also having gotten to know what I consider a very special young man.

p.p.s. The problems that Mohammed, Aden and all the people who believed in Brad and what he was trying to accomplish are far more extensive and far more troubling then what I know and what I can put down on a message board thread. Suffice it to say I just put down the ones that were obvious to me.

p.p.s. Brad is alive and well and so is his program. Look for Sheridan high school to begin to start to flexing their muscles and start moving up the rankings when they start to compete.
may i ask where you're getting your information?

[eman]

may i ask where you're getting your information?

That is kind of a hard question to answer. I've been coaching in the DPS for the past 20 years and there are a number of people I have met and have had conversations with over the years that gave me all kinds of information not only about Brad and his distance running program but a number of things pertaining to Colorado cross country and Colorado track and field. Some of my sources of information have been people totally away from the situation but gave me extensive backgroud information. Some of my sources were directly in the center of the storm. And some have been on the administration side. But mainly it was my extensive knowledge of DPS cross country and DPS track and field and being able to discern what was happening in front of me while it was going on.

[WhatUpWest!]

interesting

[BLCH]

So just becuase a top 10 or top 5 class 5A runner transfers everyone should turn their head. He is also a senior and the school districts nieghbor each other, come on be real. This coaches father and the know the son are well known for some how receiving transfers and being left alone. Even when I was running LC always had kids running for them from out of district, the tradition is just being upheld.

La Cueva has the best academics and athletic public programs in the state.

For some STRANGE reason parents want to send their kids to best schools. Cibola is a lot better school than WM. The Henry's don't recruit. Trust me, I know.