Women's Track

P

Pancho Negro

250+ Posts
just read that aggy signed the #1 recruiting class for women's track. that really has me upset and worried and i'm usually never worried about Bev and her teams.

how does our recruiting look? is there updated rankings on trackshark?
 
I can't answer your question Pancho but it doesn't look good considering last year they had the No. 2 ranked recruiting class in the country. It looks like the Aggies will get the women's track and field indoor and outdoor points in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown for a while. IBut I feel we got a chance to get the Women's Cross Country point the next few years.
 
ATM decided a few years back to pay whatever it takes to outperform Texas in all sports. This includes an emphasis on what are considered the "minor" sports such as track, soccer, swimming, tennis, golf and volleyball.

There are two great women's track coaches in the country, Bev and the ATM coach who was tremendously successful at LSU and who really does not like Bev. I was surprised that ATM was able to pry him loose from LSU.

Bev once won by having the best sprinters in the country with a couple of field superstars thrown in. That formula won't work anymore and ATM will be a women's track powerhouse for years and likely will win the NC before Texas. ATM is also building its men's program and Thornton will have his work cut out to stay ahead of the Aggies.

Fact is, ATM has improved its programs across the board and if anyone thinks "We're Texas" alone will win conference championships, they are sorely mistaken. ATM wants that Lone Star Trophy badly and they are determined to get it.

Thank goodness we landed GG for b-ball and Baskin for swimming and our soccer and v-ball teams have improved. Next areas of improvement vis a vis ATM are softball and, of course, football.
 
Points in men's and women's track indoor and outdoor are gone to Ags for the forseeable future. We cannot stay on the same page with them.
For now we can win men's cc , and women are close in cc.
Especially with us giving them football again, we are likely to lose the Cup Challenge this year.
Our women upgraded coaching in golf, swimming and basketball. Softball and tennis hard for me to figure.
 
Actually our men's team will be very good! I believe Kilmartin will be competing next year and then we add the two Kansas Transfer twins that will be scoring points in the BIG XII meet for sure. If Jamaal Charles decides to run again, he will add even more points in the sprints. There are a few guys from our CC team that will be able to compete in various middle distance, long distance races that will add depth as well. I believe the Men's team did add a few frosh players that look like they could be able to grab some points for us too. The men's team are in great shape!

The women's team is a big question mark. Word is that there could be a "secret" in the roster. It is kind of looking like Bayne, Carter, Chapple will be able to compete since they are still listed as part of the roster. Indoor season starts soon and the roster hasn't changed. if anything, maybe they didn't include any possible 'transfers'. I haven't heard of any, but we did get Bayne last yr. Wouldn't be surprised to expect big things from Bianca Knight. She could be like Sanya Richards, Marshevett Hooker, etc... who will rack up ton of points for us.

I believe everyone is expecting Bev to recruit big time this year. Too bad there is no more early signing for track so we won't know who verballed until Spring, but I do expect Bev to Hook some big recruits next year
 
There is no question the Aggies have pulled out all the stops in an effort to propel their women's program to the next level. Specifically they want to win national titles and have done a good job recently on the track and swimming fronts. Their soccer program has been good for a while and they won two NCAA softball championships in the early and mid-80's. Their basketball program has come along way also and some consider them the team to beat in the Big12 this year...we will have to see what happens as the season unfolds but they are probably not a national title contender yet imo.

That said I believe our track and swimming programs will be better in the years ahead, though not this season in swimming. The Aggies should have their best squad ever and are likely a top 5 program in '07-08. Not quite good enough to win an NCAA team title however, and I think the Horns will be back on top next season. Our recruiting class features several world class athletes who will be immediate impact swimmers and the current squad is developing nicely...Escobar and Chang had great swims this weekend. We also have transfer Morales, a former NCAA finalist and All-American, and NCAA diving champion Livingston will return for her senior year after taking this season off. I believe Brackin has an NCAA championship squad in the making and we should see great things during the 2008-09 season.

As far as Bev and the track program are concerned, I believe we are in great shape. In fact, I predict a national championship, and possibly two, this season. The only question mark is Chantae Bayne (Carter is no longer on the roster); I don't know if she is eligible for both Indoor and Outdoor seasons, or will only compete during one of the two. If she is eligible for the Outdoor season both relays should win NCAA titles. Our sprint roster looks very strong with Anderson, Bayne, and the nation's top recruit, Knight. We also have Lee and newcomers Hall and Reed. I expect the squad to score a minimum of 40 points in the sprints and relays at the NCAA meet, and very likely more. NCAA champ Hooker returns in the High Jump, and NCAA finalist/top 8 finisher Kincy is back in the 800. I can easily see this squad scoring 60 + points at the Outdoor meet and if that happens, they should win the title. Odds are good on them winning the Indoor title also. Of course anything can happen, and often does at the national meet/s, but all squads face the same issues and potential pitfalls.

I give the Aggies credit for recent advances but to date they have won two NCAA team titles in a single sport, and those came more than 20 years ago. The Horns have 23 National titles representing seven different sports, the most recent occurring in 2006. Moreover we have better coaches in every single sport and that's not ever going to change!
 
The Aggies are smart in this. Whoever controls track has good control of the State Farm Showdown competition. Remember track has 6 points available with men and women's indoor, outdoor and cross country. If they can get all 6 of those points that is almost 1/3 of the available points and puts them within 4 points of winning the competition. We must try to avoid this dominance and try to at least keep control of the men's competition.
 
I believe that A&M will win a few national championships in years coming, but so will Texas. It will be a big rivalry and very close in points just like it was when the current A&M coach was back at LSU.

What concerns me though is that Bev is perceived as a hard coach and has "favorites" and is now losing out on some of the top talent in Texas. I even heard from a former runner on how Coach Bev is hard to run for. (But she wasn't complaining after she won a national championship)

The bright side I see is that Coach Bev can go out and cherry pick a national recruit. I have no doubt that she can build a supporting cast around a star runner.
 
Bev is no harder than most collegiate coaches; she is better than everyone else, however. She has delivered 6 NCAA Titles for Texas and would have had won several more had Marshavet not been injured and then left school early to turn pro. I think the word that best describes Bev is inspiring, and she has taken many athletes to levels they would not have attained elsewhere. She will continue to attract top recruits for that very reason.
 
I heard Bev is an intense coach. I don't know how she compares to other track coaches, but it's shown in the past that those who are committed to her coaching style have really benefited and become Professional track stars.

I'm not too sure how athletes compare now and in the past, but it kind of seems like more young athletes might believe they are already big-shot track stars without the work ethic...... Bev's work ethic seems to be Work Hard and Reward Large.

If Bev can get her hands on some stars that have the drive to work hard, she can turn them into All-Americans. I actually don't think Sanya Richards was the best (but still one of the best) out of HS but Bev made her into a track stud and many others.

I think the second semester enrollment will take place in 2-3 weeks. I wonder if we should be looking out for any transfers for next semester. Should be ineteresting.
 
Arizona St. is favored to win the outdoor national championship on the women's side. We've had a drought in bringing in top talent from Texas. Examples are Lacy-UCLA, Cross-South Carolina, Alexander is committed to USC. Not getting top talent right here i the state has created depth problems, and hopefully in the near future the pipeline for talent in Texas will again be UT.
 
with the addition of knight the horns have a stellar sprint lineup this season. with bayne returning texas has the potential to rack up the points in the 100, 200 and both relays. anderson, bayne, knight, chapple, lee, hall and reed....we have some of the nation's top sprinters, and perhaps more importantly, depth. again, i don't know the details of bayne's eligibility, but until someone posts otherwise i'll assume she is competing both indoor and outdoor seasons. chapple is back also; an ncaa finalist in the 400 as a freshman, she seems to have been injured quite a bit during her career, and has competed in the shorter sprints and relays as well. i don't know where we'll see her this year but i hope she is healthy and in form. granted there are a lot of unknowns with this squad but i believe the potential is there to be a national title contender. if we can rack up the points in the sprints and relays, and get strong performances from hooker, kincy and one or two others, we should be in the mix for a championship.
 
We will again be challenged because the names you mentioned don't constitute true depth in my opinion. For depth like I'm talking about take a look at the LSU roster. If you look at only the 4x100 and 4x400 its a crap shoot to fill out both of those teams and still have ladies who are competing in the 1,2,4. We have 2 ladies that run 100 hurdles who can't help out in the 4x100. The loss of Janine Davis and Devon Williams will hurt us in the 4x400 and 800. Chapple only has indoor eligibility left by my calculation so if we have any injuries at all the 4x100 will be shorthanded. Hopefully a strong 2008 class will solve these problems in the future.
 
One of Texas best sprinters for 2008, Erica Alexander from the Houston area, has committed to the USC Women of Troy. That's gotta be a tough pill to swallow for both UT and A&M . . .
 
The trend continues..Texas athletes who could greatly help the hometeam going elsewhere. It would be okay if the roster was stacked you could understand the hesitation. Now, it causes me to ask whats wrong with the team chemistry, coach, etc. that this trend continues.
 
There have always been in-state athletes who chose to go elsewhere...in every sport. It would be nice if they all came to Texas but that won't ever happen. Bev continues to bring in world class athletes, including this years top national recruit Bianca Knight, and I expect that trend to continue for a long time to come. Recent success is on a par with past success...the Horns have won two of the last six Indoor and Outdoor national titles. If you look at the last decade Texas has won 6 of a possible 20 national titles, more than any other squad during the same time frame. LSU is second with 5 titles during the past 10 years, UCLA has 3, AZ State 2 and several others have one a piece. I expect Bev and the Horns to be in the mix for both titles again this season. That's what happens when you're Texas and you have the best coach in the country to boot.
 
"something" is out of sync these last three years or so.
While the Aggies hired a great coach from LSU and they have loaded up on both quality and quantity, we have been under-recruiting and are middle of the pack nationwide. USC, So Carolina, LSU, others have replaced us at the top. Many top girls in-state and out don't visit. Have no idea what "something" is, and strictly looking from outside, but it worries me.
Men's team has similar issues it seems. We have relied on three or four national individual winners to keep us in top 5-10, but that is pretty much over. Virtually no sprinters/hurdlers or relay teams.
 
Well I do think this year is an off year, as was last yr. The team has dropped off in depth the past couple of years. When we won the outdoors, we did with 7 (i think) awesome athletes. Each of them successfully contributed in mulitple events. It will be hard to match that talent with a small core.

From my understanding, there are 'stories' flying around about Texas and Bev. To me, I really don't buy them, but there has been a buzz in the track world in regars to our program.

I will say this though, Bev won't let us down for the 2008 recruiting class. We probably won't hear about them cuz of the spring signing rule now, but there will be a few good names that will have immediate impact to our program... and they are in-State Ladies!!
 
When you say last year was an off year you are probably referring to the '07 season as the Horns won an indoor national title in 2006. Interesting that an off season for Texas women's track means not winning an NCAA championship...the squad still finished top 8 at both the Indoor and Outdoor (6th) national meets. That's a problem most programs would love to have and says all you need to know about Bev and the Horns. When you say it will be hard to match the talent, and seven athletes, who won won the '05 NCAA outdoor crown with this season's "small core," I disagree. I think we may have a larger group of contributors this season. What made the 2005 championship so special, and such an amazing feat, was the fact our seven athlete roster included those competing on both relays ; we only won a single individual title at the meet, something we are more than capable of matching or exceeding this year. We did win both relay crowns, which we are also capable of doing this season, and with Anderson, Bayne and Knight in the lineup we could easily rack up more points in the sprints that we did in 2005.

Another poster mentioned a couple of athletes who left the program but that happens at all schools, and perhaps more often in track given the large rosters and number of events contested. Stanford and USC's losses (Bayne and Lee) were the the Horn's gain, and both of these athletes have contributed more to the program than the two that transfered at the end of last season. Transfers work both ways and they have worked to our benefit far more than often that they have to our detriment. When I look at the list of NCAA champions who have graced our roster in recent years I think it's clear why top athletes continue to choose Bev and Texas; the results speak for themselves. As far as stories are concerned, that comes with the territory...especially when you're at the top and winning national titles. The champions Bev has developed wouldn't trade their success or NCAA, National and World titles for any other program or coach. That's why top recruits will continue to choose Texas and follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.

I don't argue that other programs have done well on the recruiting front and perhaps have more depth than the Horns, but as we've seen that doesn't necessarily translate into winning championships. Depth is certainly more of a factor at conference meets where lesser competition means squads with large rosters can rack up points at the expense of those with smaller overall numbers (but better quality at the top). That's why we've seen Texas finish 2nd at the Big12 meet on numerous occasions only to come back and win the NCAA meet a few weeks later. I wonder what those squads who won the league title those years would have preferred....a Big12 title or the NCAA National Championship. I guess we all know the answer to that question! Of course the Horns have won 19 conference titles under Bev so we're doing well on that front also; just making the point that she knows how to win NCAA titles. That's what we all want and expect. When we don't win we are usually close and seldom finish outside of the top 10. I look for the same in 2008.
 
Another thing is that just a few years ago we lost the Big 12 Championship to Nebraska but won the National Championship a few weeks later. I would take an NC over a conference championship any day even if it cost us a state farm lone star showdown point.
 
Overseas,
I hereby nominate you to be Bev's PR manager.
Bill Little couldn't have done any better with your last post.
Don't mine me I'm still mad we couldn't reel in Tiffany Townsend last year.
 
You know thats just how some folks are. I want all the top recruits to strongly consider Texas, because I know what Bev can do with them if they train hard and stay the course. Alot of the ladies I went to school with on the 40 were coached by Terri Crawford. I can only dream what kind of times they would've ran under Bev and on Myers Stadium track.
hookem.gif
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but track scholarships can be full or partials? It's up to the coaches to determine what they want to offer a particular athlete. If Bev wants to give larger scholarships to a smaller group of athletes whereas other programs are willing to spread it out, that's a strategic decision on her part. I don't think we can fault her on her decision making over the last 10+ years.

As for men's track, when have we been a power in the sprints? Baylor and TCU have always had a strong presence in our state.

IMHO
 
2222,
I think the concern is that most people realize that the landscape in women's track is changing. Arizona State & Florida are now major national powers with their success in the throws and multi events. These two teams also have a good enough showing in the hurdles & relays to have a shot at the title. (Arizona St. won outdoors last year)
A&M is on their quest to capture the Texas Cup so they have had great recruiting classes in the sprints & hurdles recently. Now ladies who may have looked to go out of state to LSU, etc if they didn't chose Texas are going to A&M.
The addition of regional meets makes it more difficult than years past to pull off what Bev has been known for winning NC's with a few choice sprinters who also ran relays. I think you need balance, and hopefully we can turn the corner with a strong '08 class.
There is no doubt that Bev can pull it off but the natives are getting restless. I'm hearing about it more and more these days, especially since arguably the best athlete in the jumps and short hurdles in the country just committed to A&M also, she's from California.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top