| Fraud in MoCo |
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He sure looks like the 20 year old that he said he was many times in 2007. Semunguse, 20, has been living with his sister, Naomi, in McLean the past two months, during which time he has raced repeatedly with the hope of earning a few dollars and more importantly, attracting a manager. Yesterday's race offered no prize money, and Semunguse was further disappointed not to receive a waiver of his entry fee. That doesn't sound like a legit foreign exchange student to me. Image: http://images.dyestat.com/8in/Nike%20Indoor%20Nationals/saturday/b5000DYE_4099haile.jpg |
| Danny Almonte |
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You're right. What difference does it make as long as you train harder and run faster? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Almonte |
| wjw0006 |
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the local dc fox station should do a full blown investigation into this. that could resolve this matter once and for all. |
| Tom Hanson |
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I realize that people in hs think that hs running is the end all and beat all, but seriously. If he was college-aged, don't you think he'd just go to college? Hell, he could call up Scott Simmons and I'm sure he could get him admission and a full scholarship. I sure wouldn't put up with the bs of high school, with rigid rules and seven periods a day if I didn't have to. Maybe he's part of a 21 Jump Street reality show. |
| Fun Bunch |
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Yeah that's what I don't get - if he really is 20 or older, then why would he want to be in high school? The h.s. record can't be that important to him. |
| Give me your tired, your poor |
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Are you an idiot or what? He's in high school because there's nothing else for him. It's a free education in America. If he learns English well enough to take SATs he can get another freebie, a college scholarship in America. |
| Fun Bunch |
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Sorry, I didn't realize that high school was the only avenue for a 20 year old. |
| Give me your tired, your poor |
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What other avenue is there for a 20 year old from Ethiopia without a high school education who came to America to make some money and find an agent? |
| He is a fraud |
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True. And to be blunt, they know they can play the race game and call anyone white who questions them a "racist". That's why some of the posters bend over backward to be snide and protect this fraud. They're desperate to show they're not racists. You should see Haile in person. He's not a teenager. |
| also thinker abouter |
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I looked about 25 in high school because of my goatee and deep voice. I only ran 18:45 in high school. You really can't look at someone and judge that they're 20, not 18. That's ridiculous. The evidence shows that this kid is probably over 20, considering the age he put down in road races. How is this cheating to get a scholarship? Schools take many Africans who are older than American students. |
| Red B. |
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1) You guys should really get a life. It's high school track and field, WHO REALLY CARES. If your sons and/or friends won't be able to make the last spot in the state championship b/c some kid "who you KNOW is 20+" is "cheating the system" then....train harder or GET OVER IT! 2) I find it hard to believe that someone would want to come to America for HIGH SCHOOL, even if they do have a lack of education and came from Ethiopia. Have you seen some of the D-II standards lately? People who can't speak a lick of English and can't complete half of the academics are getting admitted these days and "somehow" passing, so there's no doubt in my mind he would have not only been able to skate by at some D-II or JuCo school, but also would have been accepted. 3) Do you really think someone would call out racist? Over THIS? NO ONE in the African American society really even cares about high school track and field, I'm sure this would be the LAST thing on there minds. Where is a precedence that you can recall where someone screamed that about high school track? Grow up and stop thinking of excuses. For those who say "you should see Haile in person, he's not a teenager" you are more laughable and ridiculous than the drug cheats who claim "I swear I didn't know what I was taking." You can't tell a person's age by looking at them, you can't say he shouldn't be in high school just because he's blowing alot of people in your mind, and I'd just like to re-ask one more time, WHO CARES? In the big picture, even if he was older I'd PREFER for him to be in high school and claiming 18--it's more important for these individuals to get an education under a false pretense than enter our society at a higher level, uneducated, and therefore further the demise of our already dismal state here in the U.S. |
| punk |
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If he's 20 (in ethiopian years)-->(23 in American) and enjoys racing highschoolers thats fine by me....whatever gets you off....im not saying that i approve of it but if thats really what he wants, and no one's gonna stop him, why should he stop?? No 16 year old can take down a fit 20 year old...acutally nevermind, in the real race last weekend some american schoolboys took him down...hes the one who ends up looking rediculous. Its one of those things that takes a baby asking their parents (in front of him) "daddy, why is that old man racing with the little boys?" |
| Sol Haile Fraud |
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A 20 year old African high school junior with a 9:00 2 mile doesn't have potential, he's already reached his peak. If he was 20 years old last year, then he should be 21 this year, and 22 next year (his senior year of high school). How many schools take 23 year old college freshmen? |
| Danny Almonte |
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No they didn't. Haile won his heat. In indoors and outdoors, Haile is undefeated in NIN/NON competition. |
| Red B. |
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What looks "rediculous" is "Americans" like you who STILL haven't mastered the English language (and subsequently, how to spell in that language). Perhaps there should be MORE 20 year olds still in high school....whether they came over from Ethiopia or not. |
| wrong |
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"What I say is important because I USE ALL CAPS!!!!" |
| punk |
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He ran the two mile...and got beat by normal aged KIDS |
| Danny Almonte |
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You're wrong. Solomon won the first section. Add that to his win in the indoor 5000, he is undefeated in NIN/NON races. Section 1 1 Haile, Solomon 09 Silver Spring, MD 9:07.66 2 Abdalla, Mohamed 08 San Jose, CA 9:08.61 3 Lovelace, Luke 08 Chapin, SC 9:18.61 4 Krause, Elliot 08 Appleton, WI 9:19.00 5 Springer, Andrew 09 Westerly, RI 9:21.13 6 Bodary, Chris 08 Downingtown, PA 9:23.45 7 O'Donnell, MacLean 08 Oak Ridge, TN 9:25.15 8 Udland, Tyler 10 Short Hills, NJ 9:25.80 9 Lachowitzer, Kevin 08 Perham, MN 9:26.62 10 Bosshard, Joe 08 Crested Butte, CO 9:36.33 11 Hernandez, Francis 10 Windham, NH 9:41.53 -- DelBene, Colby 08 Patterson, NY DNF -- Beabout, Ryan 08 Wheeling, WV DNS Section 2 1 Fernandez, German 08 Riverbank, CA 8:34.40S 3000 Split 7:59.83 2 Puskedra, Luke 08 Ogden, UT 8:47.06O 3 Lowe, Colby 08 Southlake, TX 8:47.07O 4 Finnerty, Robert 08 Burnsville, MN 8:50.96F 5 Williams, Kevin 08 Lakewood, CO 8:51.30F 6 Darling, Maverick 08 Ovid, MI 8:57.80F 7 Aprill, Bobby 08 Dexter, MI 8:59.50F 8 Unterreiner, Miles 08 Gig Harbor, WA 9:02.48F 9 Kaulbach, Max 08 Philadelphia, PA 9:06.44 10 Keveren, Sean 08 Brentwood, TN 9:06.59 11 Medrano, Francisco 08 Lafayette, IN 9:06.75 12 Hill, Ryan 08 Hickory, NC 9:07.36 13 Smith, Douglas 09 Succasunna, NJ 9:11.48 14 Bazell, Graham 09 Columbia, MD 9:13.06 15 Nicolls, Bobby 09 Parker, CO 9:23.42 -- Sheinbaum, Julian 08 Scarsdale, NY DNS |
| i disagree with i disagree |
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Well, Red B, I think you're getting a little carried away. 1) These guys probably have a life. Small parts of that life are spent on the letsrun message boards, discussing a hobby or a passion. "It's high school track and field, WHO REALLY CARES" seems like a silly question when you consider your audience, or look at the abundance of fernandez/greer/finnerty mentions on the boards the past week or so. As for your second "point" here, students who've been held back repeatedly or are for any reason 20 years old while still in high school are never allowed to compete. Why should this 20 year old be any different? Because he pretends he is 18? Let me clarify. There are rules in place about over-age high schoolers because the people whose opinions actually do matter have deemed the advantages that come with several years additional maturity unfair. Nobody is saying he can't go to high school, just that he shouldn't be lying about his age and competing in high school athletics when he isn't even a junior. 2) Really? You don't think upping your recruitment stock by winning a couple national HS titles, thus putting yourself in a D-1 when you would've been relegated to D-2 is a possibility? I'm not saying he's doing that but maybe his choice of attending an American high school isn't a choice of "HS over D-2" but more "D-1 on hold over D-2." I think you could've figured that one out. 3) You are wrong. Somebody would call racist if a big deal was made of this. Maybe not somebody very loud, but someone would. If they knew the right people there would be a public outcry. You're right that it is not at all an issue of race, and the vast majority of blacks/whites/pinks/blues whatever can see that, but you're naive to think nobody would toy with the race card if this turned into a fuss. And wtf are you talking about?? Nobody in African-American society cares about track and field?? Have you ever been to a track meet? A high school or college track meet, even? Maybe you went to pudunk liberal arts school and lived in the suburbs your whole life but jeez even if you just ran summer track as a kid, I don't know how you could keep a straight face typing what you just did. There's much more to track than white distance runners. One more time, who cares though, right? I care. If a rule is to have any meaning at all it should be applied consistently. Would you be pissed if wealthy white parents started botching their kids birth certificates so they'd have a better chance at a D-1 football scholarship, coming off a stellar 23 year old senior season beating up on high schoolers? If you answered yes, maybe you should take a good look at why you feel any different about this situation. |
| doug burke |
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actually some parents of high school athletes, football players in particular (especially in texas) do have their kids left back a year or two to increase their kids chance of getting a scholarship. also in high school wrestling there is a school in new jersey (blair) that lets kids who have completed high school somewhere else can go to blair for a year after the kid has his high school diploma, what it is, is a defacto redshirt so a kid who wrestles (blair has an outstanding wrestling program) can go to blair and then after that they can go to a university where they have 4 years of eligibility and another redshirt. blair is not allowed to compete for the new jersey state title, although blairs overage kids can compete in national high events, blair also can and does recruit the top wrestlers from all over the country. so if the solomon haile kid is overage remember there are lots of americans who are doing the same. |