Bracket Talk

Just yesterday after the brackets were revealed, I filled out a bracket for the NCAA tournament that I expect to fail with flying colors unfortunately as I feel like the 8/9 seeds are really good and the field is so even anybody could make a run at it. I picked my boys of UNC to pull out the win on principle, but ended up with 3 one seeds in my final four and felt pretty wimpy about that.

But all this is kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things because I don't blog about college basketball. If I did I don't think I'd have much of a shot of hitting the 70,000 view mark. Thanks for your support guys, I appreciate it.

So naturally to feed the needs of my reads (or readers I guess but that didn't rhyme), I took a look over at the poll that I created and saw to my horror that we had a near tie in the poll which left me in quite the difficult spot. Team's won out of course by a narrow margin, but in the sense of what teams? Relay teams? XC teams? The combined XC teams that had been previously thrown around?

And of course there was also a clear interest in individuals, as individuals also recieved over 50% of the votes.

The next step was to look back at the comments with more specific ideas. I looked those over and there were some good points made in all of them.

So I was left with a tough task of varying ideas. I thought, perhaps I could put up another poll, but that was really just another big time waster and a serious cop out move on my part.

So here's how I figured it and please don't be too angry with me.

I am working on two new projects now for you guys.

The first will be this bracket which will be of individuals over the past 6 years.

The second will be some mock races. A mock XC race, a mock 4x8 and a mock DMR. If you look back you can see I did these before way back in the day in the archive. They usually turn out pretty cool. I can update them with guys from the more recent years and faster times and stuff like that. So keep that in the back of your mind.

Then it was time for the bracket and to work out a list of names that belonged on the bracket. I decided to limit it to just distance runners. Get more of the names you know on the list and make it easier for a distance specialist like me to seed these guys and such. Soon there will be polls up for the first round of action, I just have to set them up.

First thing was to decide which 64 guys made the list. I'm hoping I didn't leave any top guys out. These guys qualified because of their overall ability in both track and field and cross country. Consider them as a package deal for all of their achievements form all of their grade levels in your voting.

1. Paul Springer, Unionville '07
16. Haneef Hary, Swenson '12

8. Jamar Jones, E and S '07
9. Nate McClafferty, Conrad Weiser '11

4. Nick Crits, Wissahickon '08
13. Tom Coyle, LaSalle '13

5. Jimmy Tarsnane, Perk Valley '09
12. Kevin Hull, Hempfield '09

6. Hong Cho, Wissahickon '11
11. Ivo Milic, Friend's Central '09

3. Sam Havko, Fairview '09
14. Terrence Lee, E and S '08

7. Kyle Dawson, Coatesville '07
10. Elliot Rhodes, E and S '08

2. Dustin Wilson, CHA '12
15. Neal Berman, Lower Merion '09

1. Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland '12
16. Ryan Fink, Strath Haven '07

8. Matt Fischer, Unionville '10
9. TJ Hobart, Baldwin '09

4. Brad Miles, North Penn '10
13. Dan Jaskowak, Grove City '13

5. Joe Beveridge, Bishop McDevitt '09
12. Vince Perozze, Perk Valley '10

6. Zack Montijo, North Penn '08
11. Omar Hyjek, Quaker Valley '11

3. Chris Aldrich, West Chester Henderson '08
14. Jack Huemmler, Strath Haven '13

7. Andrew Rotz, Central Dauphin '07
10. Tom Gruschow, Trinity '11

2. Jason Weller, Boyertown '07
15. Sam Hibbs, Hatboro Horsham '12

1. Tom Mallon, CB South '10
16. Juris Silenieks, North Hills '11

8. Glenn Burkhardt, Unionville '11
9. Greg Kareis, Red Lion '08

4. Vince McNally, Conestoga Valley '08
13. Jacob Kildoo, Grove City '10

5. Tom Kehl, Father Judge '10
12. Ben Hahn, Smethport '07

6. Ben Furcht, Lower Merion '09
11. Kyle Moran, Abington '11

3. Max Kaulbach, GFS '08
14. Brendan Shearn, North Schukill '13

7. Mike Palmisano, Upper Dublin '09
10. Chris Campbell, CR North '11

2. Wade Endress, Altoona '11
15. Alex Beardsley, North East '10

1. Ryan Gil, North Allegheny '11
16. Chuck Lockwood, Dallastown '10

8. Rad Gunzenhauser, Mt. Lebanon '10
9. Connor Manley, CB West '11

4. Will Kellar, Henderson '10
13. Lucas Zarzeczny, Avonworth '07

5. Luke Lefebure, Henderson '11
12. Conner Quinn, Horsham '13

6. Dan Lowry, LaSalle '08
11. Josh Izewski, CB East '08

3. Ned Willig, Great Valley '12
14. Sean Mallon, Ryan '08

7. Zach Hebda, North Hills '11
10. Bobby Micikas, Crestwood '09

2. Mark Dennin, Boyertown '08
15. Tom Trainer, LaSalle '11