Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner to Villanova

[LSU-Nit]

Irish middle distance star Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner is registered for fall 2014 classes at Villanova, according to the Villanova student directory. Gigantic talent. Biggest recruit from Ireland since . . . . ?






This post was edited on 7/29 9:42 AM by LSU-Nit

 

[whitecat]

LSU-NIT.

Do you have times for her personable bests or
can you tell me where to find them?

 

[LSU-Nit]

Hi Walt:

Her PRs are:

400: 55.57 (2013)

800: 2:03.81 (2013)

1500: 4:22.37 (2013)

Siofra C-B won 6 consecutive Irish Schools XC national titles; she was undefeated in prep-only competition (in XC and track): never beaten. Made World Juniors 800 semi-finals in 2012 as a 16 year old (Juniors = U20). Took silver over 1500m in 2011 at European Youth Olympic Festival. She's the Irish junior 800i record holder.

Most prominent Villanova recruit from Ireland since Sonia O'Sullivan.



This post was edited on 7/29 8:57 PM by LSU-Nit

 

[sebastianc]

Great signing by Villanova.

They are still reasonably competitive at Penn. Maybe this encourages some of the other talent in the British Isles to come. Think about it. It is about the same distance as the east coast is to the west coast where all the blue chips seem to be heading.

Congrats to Marcus and Gina.

 

[NovaUSMC01]

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves or to place any unrealistic expectations on this young lady but could she have a Sheila Reid type impact for the program? Please go easy on me, I am not an expert on these things.

 

[TheFoyeEffect]

Hard to tell without knowing about her training. One of the things that Sheila had on her side coming out of high school is how undertrained she was relative to girls who were running comparable times to her. I think she ran less than 30 miles a week. One thing Siofra has that Sheila had coming out of HS is speed, which is something that you cannot recruit. Oftentimes, high school girls run very fast in cross country and distance because they've run a ton of miles, but the ones who have natural speed tend to be the ones who progress.

 

[whitecat]

TFE,

Right on.

 

[Or1on]

"Please go easy on me,"

Ok, the answer is no she is not in Reid's class. Other than all-time greats Huber, O'Sull, Reid is unchallenged as far as a combo T&CC talent goes. That said I'm glad things worked out and she's coming. I see her more of a Lipari type.

I don't expext S C-B to be an impact Fr. in CC. She has not been particularly impressive in the Euro's (the continent's most important competition). Winning Irish schools titles in CC was a piece of cake for her. You do well in the fall if you put in the mileage over the summer. With other things going on like the trip to Eugene I doubt she's done much of that.

It will be more interesting to see what she does indoors and spring 2015. She won't impove on her 2013 pb's until then.
Since Irish athletes have a free pass into the OG's if they can meet the "A" standard, I'm sure her college goal will be to pick up 1:59.9 /4:06 times as a 2016 longshot possiblity. But that's very tough to do as Ciara McGeehan found out.

 

[sebastianc]

Guess my response is more along the lines of TFE - wait and see.

I do not believe Reid was the top recruit during her first couple of years at VU. Believe it was Callie Hogan. Hogan got hurt and was never the same. Reid blossomed.

Siofra C-B has more speed (800) right now than Reid ever showed at VU.. That says something. A couple of years ago, she finished second to Sarah Collins in I believe a national junior XC championship. Collins finished 10th at NCAAs as a frosh (she is entering her junior year). Again, says something.

So again, it is too soon to say, but she definitely has great possibilities. In Reid's class? Reid wasn't even in Reid's class as a frosh or soph... Did she red-shirt one year?

Loved Lipari. Give her the stick and she would find a way to bring it home. Believe her role as a frosh was crucial to VU winning XC championship. This year's team is not as good. (Thank you Venables, Chapman, ...) Siofra may be asked to play more than a complementary role. Again, depends on what her training has been.

The recruit to pay attention to is Armstrong. I believe the similarities with Reid, at this stage, might be greater. Both from Canada with somewhat similar backgrounds. Not saying she is another Reid. That is asking an awful lot of any runner. Reid was outstanding. How many win NCAA mile and XC?
This post was edited on 8/1 7:42 AM by sebastianc

 

[whitecat]

sebastianic,

Why are Siofra's personal bests from 2013?

 

[TheFoyeEffect]

Originally posted by sebastianc:
Guess my response is more along the lines of TFE - wait and see.

I do not believe Reid was the top recruit during her first couple of years at VU. Believe it was Callie Hogan. Hogan got hurt and was never the same. Reid blossomed.

So again, it is too soon to say, but she definitely has great possibilities. In Reid's class? Reid wasn't even in Reid's class as a frosh or soph... Did she red-shirt one year?

1. Reid had the fifth most impressive set of PRs in her recruiting class behind Sarah Morrison, Alison Smith, Callie Hogan, and Amanda Marino.

2. Reid was pretty good right away, as she did qualify for nationals as an individual as a freshman. She redshirted her freshman outdoor campaign and her sophomore cross country campaign after injuring her hip and getting surgery.

 

[sebastianc]

Whitecat, see LSU-Nit's post of 7/29.

 

[LSU-Nit]

Looking at both the NCAA and Villanova performance list for 2014 outdoor season:

(1) Siofra C-B's 800m PR of 2:03.81 would have been the #6 time in the NCAA this outdoor season

(2) Siofra C-B's 800m PR of 2:03.81 compares favorably with Villanova's best open (i.e. non-relay) 800 performances this year:

Nicky Akande . . . . . . . 2:04.56
Emily Lipari . . . . . . . . 2:05.58
Steph Schappert . . . . 2:06.26
Kelsey Margey . . . . . 2:06.85
Angel Piccirillo . . . . . 2:07.45

Also, touching on a theme in previous posts, entering her 5th year at Villanova, Sheila Reid's PR over 800 meters was 2:06.38. Her final outdoor season (2012), Reid ran the 800 twice: 2:09.74 on March 26th (Big 5 Invite) and 2:07.65 on April 6th (Colonial Relays). To this day, Sheila (PR of 2:04.60 from April 2013) has not run an 800 as fast as Siofra.

Now, the 1500 is another story. Siofra has a PR of 4:22.37, which would have been #79 in the NCAA this past outdoor season. Here are Villanova's best 1500 performances from the 2014 outdoor season:

Angel Piccirillo . . . . . . 4:17.63
Kelsey Margey. . . . . . 4:18.83
Steph Schappert . . . . 4:19.50
Emily Lipari . . . . . . . . 4:20.35

So, try as you might, there's no gainsaying Siofra's 800 meter talent. Compare her to Kelsey Margey upon entry to Villanova. In Kelsey's final prep outdoor season (2012), she had SBs of 2:08.80 and 4:25.71 -- and look how well she's developed while at Villanova (2:05.43 and 4:17.14).

As to XC, what to make of 6 consecutive Irish Schools individual titles? Dismiss that by saying that she came 37th at the European Junior XC championships last December? I wouldn't be so quick to discount her here. Admittedly, 800m runners are not usually thought of as stalwarts at 5000m or 6000m XC. Moreover, junior XC distances are usually pretty short (say, 3500 meters). On the other hand, who wins Irish Schools XC titles at age 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18?

Either way, it seems to me that she is the most accomplished Irish recruit to Villanova since Sonia O'Sullivan. She's faster than anyone Villanova has over 800 meters (or has had in many years), and if anyone can bring down her times in the 1500, it's Gina and/or Marcus. Let's see what develops in cross.

Bigger picture: with the failure in the past years to recruit the top Irish talent (e.g., Colin Costello, Ciaran O'Lionaird, Mark English, Ciara Mageean) to Villanova, the fact that Siofra C-B was successfully wooed to Villanova is a major victory. If she does well, look for more Irish elite prospects to follow.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[novaclassof90]

Given those tiems, as she gets older and stronger i see siffra developing into an elite college 1500m runner. Kids have a tendency to move up,in distance as they mature. Compared to reid who i think has a future as a 5k runner on pro circuit, not the 1500. In general, everybody moves up as they get older.

 

[sebastianc]

Re: LSU-Nit post (8/1) ...

Can I get an Amen on that one ...???