who will coach Levins, Derrick, Puskedra, etc as pros?

Fernandez will definitely join Salazar.

I could see Nike hiring Jason Dunn like they did with Schumacher. Elliott Heath and Chris Derrick are both so good.

Nike and the other companies are going to have to make a lot of cuts. These new guys coming out of college are as good or better than a lot of the current pros.

It's a no brainer to cut Bairu and Brent Vaughn and replace them with Levins and Derrick. Such better performers. I don't understand how Bairu and Vaughn haven't been cut. What have they accomplished? Bairu broke the Canadian 10k record at a Stanford meet (placing like 5th?) and also placed ~13th at World Cross. What is that doing for the sport though? Those guys barely race and should be expected to show up when they toe the line. Teg, Solinsky, Jager, Lomong, and Bumbalough know how to perform.

I don't think salazar is enough of a high mileage coach to be very compatible with Levins. He seems like a treats his athletes with kid gloves in comparison to how he himself trained as an athlete. He kept rupp at ~80 mpw for so long, I don't know if he's going to know what to do with a 160 mpw guy. I can see Levins getting on well with Mahon and Shumacher. Also perhaps hudson.

Also, Puskedra's 5-18-3-6 finishes at ncaa xc as well as his half in January and performance in the NCAA 10k this year prove that he is in the same ball park as pretty much anyone in the ncaa

the only one I'd sign is Levins

and the sneaker gravy train is over Webbster

J.R. wrote:

Levins' best choice is to stay where he is and with his current coach, Eric Houle.

Puskedra would do well training there too, if they were agreeable. I bet Nike and Alberto would love to have Eric Houle as one of their coaches.

i don't think people should get too hot on houle. most people won't be able to do the mileage levins is doing, and there's no evidence that houle would be a coaching success without that.

maybe nike will let cam stay down there for now, but i think as soon as he has a bad season or stops improving they'll be clamoring for him to join a group

dasfadf wrote:

Nike and the other companies are going to have to make a lot of cuts. These new guys coming out of college are as good or better than a lot of the current pros.

How exactly do the cuts work? Do most of these guys (Bairu, Vaughn, etc.) have contracts that end this Olympic year?

You will see a lot of sponsorless athletes in a few months. Unless they take less money. Olympic year means contracts are up. Those who performed stay. Those who didn't get tossed aside for the new guys.

Dont forget GF wrote:

What about German Fernandez, where will he go ??? I hope he goes with Alberto, maybe Salazar will figure out how to keep German injury free and fine tune his talent.

Are you sure Salazar or Schu would be a good choice for injury-prone Fernandez??? Seems to me, alot of athletes under Salazar and Schu seem to get injured...(Ritz, Goucher, Webb, Kohl, Jager, Solinsky, Bairu) With Salazar, Galen and Mo are the exceptions.

Puskedra has no hope whoever is coaching him. I can tell by his wonky stride.

Puskedra will be down in Dago.

Derrick is moving to Mammoth since you can train BMX and fish in the summer.

Levins is staying put in Polygamy Town USA.

Actually not a crazy idea - before Houle came to SUU, he coached at the same high school (Judge Memorial, in Salt Lake) that Puskedra attended - although Houle had left by the time Luke came through.

Levins will stay where he is for the time being, but I see him eventually joining Saladbar. As for Puskedra, I see him joining Schumacher, and Derrick with Schumacher as well.

Puskedra's stride is so choppy. If he ever gains weight that stride could make him pay for it.

I don't follow the news around here often, so I may be getting my facts mixed up, but doesn't Levin's already do 140 miles a week and Derrick does 80 miles a week? That's a 60 mile difference. If anything I would go with Derrick being the better of the two based on what effort they have to put in to receive such fast times.

Not sure if my information is correct, but that's my first observation.

Quit sucking up DeVries, or is that you Dunn?

I agree, that Levins high milage approach would not fit with most training programs. If he goes with a club I'd say the best fit would be Mammoth so he could train with the marathoners and have someone to run with during his 160 mile weeks.

I wouldn't knock on Houle too much, anyone remember Baumgartner? Random 3rd place at NCAA XC a few years back...

Looking at TFRRS, his roster has some solid marks, especially on the women's side. Don't recognize any big names coming out of HS.

Keep in mind that D-Rick has a NCAA post collegiate scholarship that is good towards one year if grad school. Given that he is the brainy type, I could see him staying in Palo Alto for some time post graduation. That being said I think he eventually needs to get away from Dunne, who has never showed he can coach winners.

Levins - the next Adrian Royle. Who? Exactly...

t94bell wrote:

I don't follow the news around here often, so I may be getting my facts mixed up, but doesn't Levin's already do 140 miles a week and Derrick does 80 miles a week? That's a 60 mile difference. If anything I would go with Derrick being the better of the two based on what effort they have to put in to receive such fast times.

Not sure if my information is correct, but that's my first observation.

What.

The better person is not the person that trains the least. It's the person that wins the most.

Maybe if Derrick upped his mileage then he'd be better.