tonto

That Macon Co. course is always fast. I'd say at least 40 seconds faster than Steeplechase...I think it's more like 2.9 and really quick. Not to knock the runners...it's also usually extremely hot with no shade or breeze. How's everything shaping up in the Midstate?

Congrats to the two that advanced, but a great time for Knox who doesn't have quite as much hype as the other guys but is quietly a contender for next year...best of luck Opedawg...keep working hard.

It's Regions 3 and 4 combined...Section 2-AAA. Congrats to McMinn and Tullahoma.

CERTAINLY not debatable...and I can't wait to see that strong finish. However...you guys at Tullahoma keep working hard...you're on pace to be a pretty good team for the next couple of years if you can add a couple more guys. Who is gonna challenge yall in that region from now on? With the Oakland split and Cookeville losing 4 of their 5, it could be interesting to see if these teams replace their guys or if somebody else steps up or neither. Who is Oakland losing? Hurder could be a real contender in a couple of years.

What up Keg, this is Pauli. Hey Nelio and Bird, I'll be back in town (so will Rao) in a couple of weekends...the 15th or somewhere in there. Anyways, sometime during that week, I'm gonna have to come hop in a workout with y'all. And join in the post-practice festivities...I assume you haven't let that legendary tradition die. Anyways, keep working hard and don't let me down...bring home that MVP Nelio...I wanna see some :52s and some sub-2:00s in this class...out of the 5 guys that yall have that are capable, surely one of you can do some work and bust it out. How are workouts going and when is your first meet? Y'all keep tearing it up and I'll see ya soon...Peace out dirty.

If he doesn't feel like there is gonna be that much competition for him then maybe he should use those races as training runs...he could train right through them. Then maybe he'll be better prepared for the races where he is gonna be pushed...those are the ones that matter anyways. So I'm guessing you run for Lebanon?

I don't really understand what you mean about what will he do without Birdwell. It's not like Birdwell was the only one challenging this kid. Birdwell was a whole minute ahead of that guy at regions and there were six people between them: 1. JUSTIN BIRDWELL COOK 15:45 2. BRAD SHELTON TULL 16:05 3. KC THOMAS TULL 16:22 4. JOHN FISCHER COL 16:29 5. MICHAEL WELSH TULL 16:32 6. JIM HURDER OAK 16:39 7. JEFFREY LISEA FC 16:43 8. CLAY HANNAH LEB 16:46 9. DAN MANTOR RIV 16:47 10.BOONE LANCASTER COL 16:48 He might want to worry about those guys in front of him such as Thomas, Fischer, Welsh and Hurder that are coming back next year (I don't know if those other guys are returning). I would say Hurder and Welsh will have themselves a nice little duel the next couple of years in Region 4. Anyways, the point is that there are plenty of guys that will be in front of him and therefore, he will definitely be pushed...you make it sound like he'll be all alone out there. Do you run for Lebanon?

Well, it would depend which terminology you use. Where as some people refer to the round with 8 divisions as 'sub-regions" and the round with four as "regions" (obviously this is the terminilogy you use Kenwood) some people call the 8 division round "regions" and the 4 division round "sections." I would say fifle uses the latter since he is obviously speaking of the Murfreesboro region. The region/section terminology is used in that section most often. I'm still not too sure which is correct, but the region/section thing is what they are officially called in the Chattanooga section. To answer your question, as far as distance goes Justin Birdwell, Jim Hurder (Oakland), Alan Knox (Coffee Co), Welsh/Thomas/Shelton (Tull), and John Fisher (Columbia) should all be good in the longer distances. Oakland has a lot of other good distance guys as well, I just don't remember all their names...they're all pretty young. Any number of those guys could move down and challenge Lebanon's 800 guy in a pretty good race. That guy should have sub-2 potential if he trains hard enough. Cookeville has quite a few talented distance/mid-distance guys, but I don't know what events they'll be doing. Oakland should have a good 4x8 team. I don't know much else those are just a few things I can think of. What about sprinters? What about in the field?

What's up Bird? I tried to call you yesterday, but you never returned my call. I think I'll probably be in town this weekend and I'm gonna run the course if you or Nelio want to come. When are yall starting practice? Well, give me a call in the next couple of days...take it easy bud.

Thanks for the kind words Kenwood. When are you guys starting back up? Look forward to seeing your boy run in some meets up here in Knoxvegas. I see the team working out when I'm down at the track. It's unreal to say the least. Let me know if you come up here to catch a meet, I'm sure I'll be around. There's an indoor coming up next Friday.

Hey, sorry man, I wasn't trying to bash you or say I never made a mistake, I just didn't want people thinking that a classy runner like Birdwell was talking smack. I'm sure it was an honest mistake and you were just saying what you heard. I meant no offense to you, Fifle, and look forward to hearing your comments in the future, especially since you obviously have ties to midstate running and that is where I come from. So who do you run for? [Edited by tonto on 2-11-03 12:02P]

Actually, a few years ago at the regions in Tullahoma, Chris Jones ran something like a 10.45, and they had an FAT system, but no windgauge...so they didnt count it as a record...i dont know for sure about all of that, but i think i'm correct.

i don't know who fifle is, but anybody that knows Bird would never say some crap like that. although he's a great runner, he's way too humble to say junk like that....besides, Bird will never meet Bumbalough on a track....Cookeville never goes to any races that BA goes to, unless they both entered Great Eight, or Cookeville ever became a private school, in which case they might meet at regions or something...Bird doesnt even know what he's gonna run this year.

By "Eric Lott" do you mean Eric Locke?

That's alright man, no shame in that. Watching him just made me thankful that I was a distance guy.

I believe Waller also plays football at Middle

To speak only of the three guys from the midstate, it's hard to say one or the other when they were all so impressive. Everyone knows how impressive Scales was in 2000 and he's continued that success in college. Chris Jones has certainly yet to see his potential, I saw the guy put up a 10.46 at sections in 2001 and everyone knows he was cruising in the final 40m of that 46.82 (could've definitely been in the 45's). And as far as Waller goes, it's hard to argue against an athlete who scored 110 points at the state meet in 4 yrs, scored enough points to win the team title in 2002 (52), and won 5 state titles and 4 runer-ups.

Sean Waller didn't ALMOST win state single-handedly, he DID. Waller 52, Melrose 51. Sorry it's been so long, I've been pretty busy with stuff up here...state XC was awesome, sorry I didnt get to see you kenwood or peacemaker, but I hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I did...that was the first time I have ever watched a state meet. It was unreal.

Ben Pauli...I just graduated last year from Cookeville...so we were in many of the same races, I just don't think we ever met...but I remember you from all those races. Where are you going to school? I'm up in Knoxville.

Hahaha, I was just giving you a hard time for that BOLD prediction early on...all in good humor. Big day tomorrow...Good luck Coach, have them on top of their game and y'all should fare well. And I gotta holler at all the senior guys at CHS running their last races...y'all know I wouldn't miss it...leave it all there. GOOD LUCK!

Coach, I definitely don't think it's the kind of stage for Regions, but I hope it works out for yall. I'm definitely with you that nothing can replace Tompkins farm...what a great place for a meet. It almost makes me sad for younger runners that they don't get to experience that tradition, but I guess that's life and new traditions are made and become classic like Tompkins has. Mike, to answer your question, it's kind of a runner's opinion what kind of weather he likes. Some like hot and some like cold...but most prefer the weather not to be extreme either way. On Saturday as long as the sun comes out and it doesn't rain too much it should be a pretty quick race...but only if the ground has time to get firm from the rain that came through (what's the forecast as far as rain goes for nashville). If the ground is too mushy it could slow times up a bit...but the beauty of it all is that everyone has to endure the same conditions. At least the dust shouldnt be too bad Saturday (I hate when that place gets all dusty).

Yeah, I'll bet it was nice to see him get that award...I know it always goes to the winning coach, but I really thought Coach Wrasman(CHS) should've gotten it last year for making such huge leaps...when he took over back in the day, CHS finished near the bottom EVERYHERE they went. He did have a couple of ladies teams that were very good a while back and some Division I ladies recruits, but he just built the men's program from scratch. Anyways, I congratulate the Tullahoma coach. Wow, so where are all the conference meets going to be held? And have you ever seen Macon Co's course (or the backroads it takes to get there)? We're talking major PR's if regions are held on a course that easy...I would say 15-20 seconds faster than Steeplechase. I don't even think it's three miles. It's saving grace, however, is that it is only one lap...making it less taxing on the mentality of a runner.

Speaking of huge leaps...I don't think anyone will make a bigger leap from 2001 to 2002 than Tullahoma...22nd last year.

If you look at the thread titled "fall," (you'll have to go back a little bit)...nobody ever discredits mcminn, in fact i agree with you in that thread about mcminn having a shot this year. you, however, boldly predict that bradley will be in the top 3 (not top 5 as you now say)...and THAT is when kenwood said "going from 20th to 3rd would be a huge jump."...just clearing this up...don't want you to gloat too much thinking that you made all the right predictions...just kidding, have a great trip and good luck to your kid and his team.

You will find one of the most important aspects of our sport to be its unpredictability. I could peg Tullahoma as a definite top ten, but they are a team that is up and down. There are so many factors to consider such as the strength of the competition compared to other years and the way certain teams react to pressure. After rising to the occassion last week, I don't think they'll blow up under pressure (but who am I to say). To put our region's history in perspective, dating back to 1997 when the current regions were aligned, 1997-2000, Oakland wins 4 straight region titles. 2001, Cookeville becomes first team besides Oakland to win. 2002, Tullahoma wins first region title (My guess is that they are pretty pumped about winning regions). Their top three runners are the strength that keeps them near the top at most of their meets. They could be a definite top ten team, but their 4 and 5 guys have been a weakness for them all year. Their top guy, Brad Shelton has a real shot at being all-state (Top 15) if he has a good day, in my opinion. Also, I would say #2 runner, KC Thomas has an outside shot of being there too. Top ten for a middle TN AAA team is a relatively big deal considering the tough competition coming from Memphis and East TN. Right now a state-wide XC expert has Tullahoma ranked as fifth in AAA...that's pretty impressive...We (Cookeville) cracked the top ten on his poll last year a few times, but flopped at state. Tullahoma has a respectable cross country program with a pretty good tradition. Current runner Michael Welsh (#3 guy) is the brother of a former TN XC star, John Welsh (THS), now running Ivy League at Dartmouth. Kenwood was pretty close comparing them to last year's CHS team, however, they are stronger up top and have the benefit of a slightly weaker field. Putting the times that I think they are capable of running into last year's results, I came up with a team score close to 6th or 7th place. All things considered, I would pick Tullahoma to finish between 6th and 11th, but I would CERTAINLY not rule out the first-ever Top 5 finish by a middle TN AAA team (since the DII realignment in 1997). As far as giving you a statewide perspective, the powerhouses in AAA over the years would be Farragut, Science Hill, , Knox West, Oak Ridge, Dobyns-Bennett, Houston, Bolton and others. As you can tell, the geographic layout of the powerhouses puts us Middle TN people at a disadvantage (basically, nobody cares). Seeing a middle TN team in the top 5 would come as a pretty big shock to most observers, and even one in the top 10 is worth looking twice to make sure you read it right (by the way, 24 teams at state). The outlook for their team is bright heading into Saturday...we'll just have to wait and see (by the way Kenwood, I'll be there supporting my boys, I'll holler at you if i see you.) [Edited by tonto on 10-28-02 11:57P] [Edited by tonto on 10-29-02 12:03A]