Riley and USATF

Riley has run a race.

UW INDOOR INVITATIONAL 2009 - 1/30/2009 to 1/31/2009

1 Alcorn, Kyle Nike 4:00.58p

2 Schmitz, Tommy Wrrt/Saucony 4:00.96p

3 Riley, Jonathon Nike 4:01.19p

4 Bayley, Tim Unattached 4:01.59p

5 Chamney, Thomas Ireland 4:02.29p

6 reale, liam Ireland 4:04.04

7 Perry, Kyle BYU 4:04.74

8 Phillips, Duncan Arkansas 4:05.15

9 Brosnan, Sean NYAC 4:08.84

The USATF is a joke.

Did those other guys qualify in any other event(s)?

He's a former national champion. It doesn't bother me that he's in. No one has more disdain for USATF than I do, but not for this.

Camoo wrote:

He's a former national champion. It doesn't bother me that he's in. No one has more disdain for USATF than I do, but not for this.

Riley has a proven track record, as did Goucher in the 10k at the trials last year, but the point is they didn't run the qualifying times. The qualifying times are there for a reason, and where do you draw the line with who you let in and who you don't? Arbitrarily letting someone in without a qualifyer while not letting in others is getting into pretty gray teritory.

Lagat still hasnt declared in the 1500! Anyone know anything about Andy Martin?

As long as Ian Burrell, Ryan Vail, and Mikhail Sayenko don't declare, then it seems all deserving will be in the 3k.

Dingler wrote:

Camoo wrote:

He's a former national champion. It doesn't bother me that he's in. No one has more disdain for USATF than I do, but not for this.

Riley has a proven track record, as did Goucher in the 10k at the trials last year, but the point is they didn't run the qualifying times. The qualifying times are there for a reason, and where do you draw the line with who you let in and who you don't? Arbitrarily letting someone in without a qualifyer while not letting in others is getting into pretty gray teritory.

I think the qualifier is multi-time national champ in this event. Riley is always competing for a spot on our national teams/ olympic teams in the 5K. He has won this exact even several times and will surely be in contention with 600 to go. Maybe he had planned a 3K and got sick or was nursing injury. I understand what you are saying about the gray area, but I think this one is fairly black and white on if he deserves to be in the race and if he'll have a substantial impact on the race.

I think if there is a gray area, say someone who has never been a national champ or has not run a competitive time in the event in the past year or something then you have a real question and probably don't allow. Riley ran 7:51 or 7:52 last spring in the heat at Adidas.

The system favors the top tier which is completely understandable. But, does that mean USATF should wait to the week of the event to make these decisions? Take the Olympic trials for example. Some people dream to just make this meet! I am local but what about athletes not knowing if they should buy a plane ticket on not until 2 days before the race?

Look, I know guys in this race and this will not be an ideal situation (15 or more for an indoor 3k final?)...

but a change to the 2009 USATF Rules now allows automatic entry to a) last years past champion or b) anyone from the top 3 last year.

Look it up. Riley was top 3.

Does it suck? Yeah. Is it fair? No. Is it legal according to the rules. Unfortunately so.

But now, if one more declares, USATF will have to run heats (yes!) and finals of the 3k.

Did anyone buy a ticker for that circumstance?

I don't see why it sucks or is not fair. He's earned his way in.

I can't believe that he is still sponsored by Nike. Nike make no sense, they drop Colleen DeReuck, granted she is a master, but she is a lot more profile than this guy. I am just amazed that for someone who has totally underperformed as a professional they still keep paying him. He must have the screws on someone over there and are paying him to stay quiet.

Just because something is legal doesn't mean that it is fair or does not suck.

It was legal for TAC to take money from "amateur" athletes. Not fair. Sucked.

It was legal to discriminate against people of color. Nor fair. Also sucked.

Do you see where I'm going?

It is not fair to those qualified to have space taken up on the track by an athlete who didn't bother to get a mark himself. That is not fair as he will undoubtedly have an effect on the outcome. And it is not fair that he has not raced a 3k or 5k in the last few months.

And, yes, that does suck for those who did.

Shame on Jon Riley and his attitude of elitism. But that comes with the swoosh.

(Also not fair, and yes it does suck, that USATF's former CEO, Craig Masback, sold Olympic Trials and US Championships to Eugene and then took a job with Nike)

Maybe they should use these kind of selection procedures for world competitions rather than national champs:

"Positions will be filled from a list of best road 5 km - 15 km performances, as well as 5 km and 10 km track performances based on rank order from May 1, 2008 to October 13, 2008."

oh wait they already have....

Are you really weeping for 8:04 guys?

These guys aren't even NCAA-quality.

Don Veggie Burrito wrote:

Are you really weeping for 8:04 guys?

These guys aren't even NCAA-quality.

No one was arguing who had a chance to place or not. Before you start bashing 'quality', have you taken into consideration that maybe some haven't had a chance to race more than a couple times this indoor season, not to mention if it was against good competition or not?

Track Fan wrote:

I can't believe that he is still sponsored by Nike. Nike make no sense, they drop Colleen DeReuck, granted she is a master, but she is a lot more profile than this guy. I am just amazed that for someone who has totally underperformed as a professional they still keep paying him. He must have the screws on someone over there and are paying him to stay quiet.

I can't believe how much of an idiot you are. He had an off year last year in which he ran 339.02/751i/751/1329. Not to mention in the indoor 3k, he is a 3 time indoor champ, 2nd two years following, and 3rd last year. That's 6 year in a row (i believe at least) that he finished between 1st and 3rd.

He had a down year in which he was still one of our best, and in 2007 he ran his pr in the 5k of 1319. So there are VERY good reasons he is still sponsored. Webb didn't get dropped because he had an off year following 2007. Go be a troll elsewhere.

Get a clue about what you're talking about.

I believe 2007 he was passed with about 200 m to go for the last spot on the world team in the 5K too right?

http://www.globalathletics.com/Athletes/Results/jonathon_riley.php

Not a bad resume, certainly not someone who is going to medal at outdoor worlds but I think he has run between 7:46 and 7:51 over 10 times over the past 8 years with a handfull of other performances between 7:53-7:57.

Like you mentioned 6 top 3 finishes at the indoor national 3k event in the past 6 years, and 3 of those were victories.

The dude definitely needs to be in the race and will likely go on to worlds.

Ferny, there is no Worlds. But thanks for playing.