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Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 25th, 2019, 2:10 pm
by builderguy135
TheCrazyChemist wrote:
dholdgreve wrote:
SOPomo wrote:
It's something I've considered doing with my team. We're a middle-third NorCal B team, but I honestly don't know what that means compared to other states so I always toy with the idea of fundraising enough to go to another state that's a middle-third Nats competitor and getting away from all these CA powerhouses for a tournament. Awards can sound pretty monotonous at times when it's "Miller, Kraemer, Churchill, Kennedy, and a B team of those four for 5th place" and so I'd like to see somewhere else. Washington placed 17th this year, Colorado 27th... maybe there's an invite there we could make. The Vegas one is only C this coming year. I don't think it'd be much more than the multi-day charter bus / Six Flags trip we do to SoCal each year.

Anyway, I agree that most schools don't have a powerhouse fundraiser like me working their teams. Would be nice to see more cross country competition. If for no other reason than because SO will never let a 3rd team go from a state so nobody gets to see just how strong a Churchill type team really is except for us Californians.
Pomo,
If you are looking for some relatively stiff competition outside your home state, save up a little $ and head to Dayton Ohio, home of the Centerville B & C Invitational. It is the level of Nationals or above.
Rustin is also pretty competitive, although it's farther than Ohio. Its usually where most of the competitive northeastern teams go as well as lower tier northeastern teams.
Agreed!!! I think (?) it was the largest invitational this year as well.

Other than distance issues, Rustin is a pretty solid invy.

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 25th, 2019, 2:19 pm
by sciolyperson1
TheCrazyChemist wrote:
dholdgreve wrote:
SOPomo wrote:
It's something I've considered doing with my team. We're a middle-third NorCal B team, but I honestly don't know what that means compared to other states so I always toy with the idea of fundraising enough to go to another state that's a middle-third Nats competitor and getting away from all these CA powerhouses for a tournament. Awards can sound pretty monotonous at times when it's "Miller, Kraemer, Churchill, Kennedy, and a B team of those four for 5th place" and so I'd like to see somewhere else. Washington placed 17th this year, Colorado 27th... maybe there's an invite there we could make. The Vegas one is only C this coming year. I don't think it'd be much more than the multi-day charter bus / Six Flags trip we do to SoCal each year.

Anyway, I agree that most schools don't have a powerhouse fundraiser like me working their teams. Would be nice to see more cross country competition. If for no other reason than because SO will never let a 3rd team go from a state so nobody gets to see just how strong a Churchill type team really is except for us Californians.
Pomo,
If you are looking for some relatively stiff competition outside your home state, save up a little $ and head to Dayton Ohio, home of the Centerville B & C Invitational. It is the level of Nationals or above.
Rustin is also pretty competitive, although it's farther than Ohio. Its usually where most of the competitive northeastern teams go as well as lower tier northeastern teams.
UT although rather small, is early - both Beckendorff, Kealing, and Kraemer attend. Although a bit far, it's fairly closer than east coast or south east invies.

Rustin is the largest invy in the east coast. Although I don't think it'll be as competitive next year, it serves as a great performance indicator to those who prefer larger competitions.

Cornell is another great competitive invitational in upstate NY - although it doesn't have as many teams, it was pretty competive this year, with Solon, CMS and Beckendoff attending. Not sure if it'll be just as competitive next season, however.

Sylv. Northview is another great div B and div C invitational; Troy, Boca, Mentor, Mason, and Solon attend for C, and Meads, Baker, Mccord, and Westlake go for B. It's a great early invitational in Ohio.

Centerville is yet another B/C invitational in mid-January. Many of the top Illinois and Ohio teams regularly attend.

Kenston, Westlake, Southview, and Mentor are also great choices for Ohio invitationals. Depending on your team availability, these Ohio invitationals are held almost every saturday between early January and Mid-February.

West Liberty is also a great invitational, although it's usually held in early March. Although there may be less teams, most of the top teams like SSA or Solon are still present.

And yes, Rustin was the largest invy in the 2018 season (for div B), but Centerville usually gets 60 as well (team's didn't go due to weather, I believe).

Hope this helps.

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 25th, 2019, 7:29 pm
by PioBoy
What do y’all think of Solon invitational, is it a big invitational?

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 25th, 2019, 8:31 pm
by builderguy135
PioBoy wrote:What do y’all think of Solon invitational, is it a big invitational?
Definitely large. I think my brother just forgot it tbh.

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 25th, 2019, 8:50 pm
by PioBoy
builderguy135 wrote:
PioBoy wrote:What do y’all think of Solon invitational, is it a big invitational?
Definitely large. I think my brother just forgot it tbh.
Thanks...one more question: is Solon or Centerville the better invy to go to, if one had to pick?

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 26th, 2019, 5:13 am
by dholdgreve
PioBoy wrote:
builderguy135 wrote:
PioBoy wrote:What do y’all think of Solon invitational, is it a big invitational?
Definitely large. I think my brother just forgot it tbh.
Thanks...one more question: is Solon or Centerville the better invy to go to, if one had to pick?
Depends on what you are looking for... Solon runs B and C same day, but in 2 separate schools. Both are well run with very good competitions but be prepared for cold and lake effect snow. This invitational is usually the first Saturday in Feb.

Centerville is a very large high school. Both B and C are run in the same building, with some events sharing the same venues. There will be approximately 60 teams in each Division, so expect a little chaos even when it doesn't snow! Another usually well run tournament, but with that many tests to score, awards are sometimes (usually) delayed. At both Solon and Centerville you will not only see many of the top 10 teams in the Nation, but also their second teams as well... Most of these second teams will still mop the floors with 90% of the teams in the country. This is why I feel that these invitationals are actually more challenging than the National Tournament, as the really great teams are limited to just one team at Nationals.

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 26th, 2019, 5:40 am
by EastStroudsburg13
dholdgreve wrote:
PioBoy wrote:
Thanks...one more question: is Solon or Centerville the better invy to go to, if one had to pick?
Depends on what you are looking for... Solon runs B and C same day, but in 2 separate schools. Both are well run with very good competitions but be prepared for cold and lake effect snow. This invitational is usually the first Saturday in Feb.

Centerville is a very large high school. Both B and C are run in the same building, with some events sharing the same venues. There will be approximately 60 teams in each Division, so expect a little chaos even when it doesn't snow! Another usually well run tournament, but with that many tests to score, awards are sometimes (usually) delayed. At both Solon and Centerville you will not only see many of the top 10 teams in the Nation, but also their second teams as well... Most of these second teams will still mop the floors with 90% of the teams in the country. This is why I feel that these invitationals are actually more challenging than the National Tournament, as the really great teams are limited to just one team at Nationals.
I would dispute that these invitationals are necessarily more difficult than nationals. At the Solon Invitational C, for example, Solon finished with 167 points in a 70-team field, whereas at nationals with a 60-team field, Solon's score was over 100 points higher. Teams may bring reserve teams, but the sheer breadth of elite-level teams isn't at nationals level. This applies to pretty much every invitational (even SOUP and MIT this year did not have as tough a field as nationals, in my opinion). Certainly, these invitationals are more difficult than pretty much any state tournament.

Anyway, of the two invitationals, Centerville B is a good level more difficult than Solon B (and it's much more difficult to find any info online about the latter). Solon and Centerville C are at about the same level, with the stronger of the two varying from year to year.

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 26th, 2019, 6:03 am
by sciolyperson1
builderguy135 wrote:
PioBoy wrote:What do y’all think of Solon invitational, is it a big invitational?
Definitely large. I think my brother just forgot it tbh.
oops lol, i just ran down the list, must've accidentally skipped it

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 26th, 2019, 8:48 am
by Unome
EastStroudsburg13 wrote:
dholdgreve wrote:
PioBoy wrote:
Thanks...one more question: is Solon or Centerville the better invy to go to, if one had to pick?
Depends on what you are looking for... Solon runs B and C same day, but in 2 separate schools. Both are well run with very good competitions but be prepared for cold and lake effect snow. This invitational is usually the first Saturday in Feb.

Centerville is a very large high school. Both B and C are run in the same building, with some events sharing the same venues. There will be approximately 60 teams in each Division, so expect a little chaos even when it doesn't snow! Another usually well run tournament, but with that many tests to score, awards are sometimes (usually) delayed. At both Solon and Centerville you will not only see many of the top 10 teams in the Nation, but also their second teams as well... Most of these second teams will still mop the floors with 90% of the teams in the country. This is why I feel that these invitationals are actually more challenging than the National Tournament, as the really great teams are limited to just one team at Nationals.
I would dispute that these invitationals are necessarily more difficult than nationals. At the Solon Invitational C, for example, Solon finished with 167 points in a 70-team field, whereas at nationals with a 60-team field, Solon's score was over 100 points higher. Teams may bring reserve teams, but the sheer breadth of elite-level teams isn't at nationals level. This applies to pretty much every invitational (even SOUP and MIT this year did not have as tough a field as nationals, in my opinion). Certainly, these invitationals are more difficult than pretty much any state tournament.

Anyway, of the two invitationals, Centerville B is a good level more difficult than Solon B (and it's much more difficult to find any info online about the latter). Solon and Centerville C are at about the same level, with the stronger of the two varying from year to year.
Concur. No invitational has ever had a competitive field comparable to Nationals. MIT 2016-2018 came close-ish, nothing else is even within range.

Re: 2019 National Tournament: Cornell University

Posted: June 26th, 2019, 8:56 am
by ScottMaurer19
Unome wrote:
EastStroudsburg13 wrote:
dholdgreve wrote: Depends on what you are looking for... Solon runs B and C same day, but in 2 separate schools. Both are well run with very good competitions but be prepared for cold and lake effect snow. This invitational is usually the first Saturday in Feb.

Centerville is a very large high school. Both B and C are run in the same building, with some events sharing the same venues. There will be approximately 60 teams in each Division, so expect a little chaos even when it doesn't snow! Another usually well run tournament, but with that many tests to score, awards are sometimes (usually) delayed. At both Solon and Centerville you will not only see many of the top 10 teams in the Nation, but also their second teams as well... Most of these second teams will still mop the floors with 90% of the teams in the country. This is why I feel that these invitationals are actually more challenging than the National Tournament, as the really great teams are limited to just one team at Nationals.
I would dispute that these invitationals are necessarily more difficult than nationals. At the Solon Invitational C, for example, Solon finished with 167 points in a 70-team field, whereas at nationals with a 60-team field, Solon's score was over 100 points higher. Teams may bring reserve teams, but the sheer breadth of elite-level teams isn't at nationals level. This applies to pretty much every invitational (even SOUP and MIT this year did not have as tough a field as nationals, in my opinion). Certainly, these invitationals are more difficult than pretty much any state tournament.

Anyway, of the two invitationals, Centerville B is a good level more difficult than Solon B (and it's much more difficult to find any info online about the latter). Solon and Centerville C are at about the same level, with the stronger of the two varying from year to year.
Concur. No invitational has ever had a competitive field comparable to Nationals. MIT 2016-2018 came close-ish, nothing else is even within range.
I would say Solon C has been more competitive than Centerville the past 2 years and will be this coming year. Not only do we have more teams and more national attending teams, but we have more NESs and are continuing efforts to recruit more as well as asking nationally awarded alumni to come volunteer.