if he wins on the 23nd as a sophomore, the pressure to stay on the top could be very difficult for him the next two and half years. Not just physically but emotionally. I hope he can take the heat that comes with winning a major championship at such a young age (19) What say you?
Then again Sammy may have something to say about that.
Perhaps but Bob Kennedy won as a freshman and didn't win again as a senior.
Won some NCAA track titles however in between.
Not guna happen. Derrick is about par with a 4-week healthy Fernandez. Unfortunately for Derrick, Fernandez has been healthy for about 6-weeks. If Derrick plays his cards right he has a shot at second and that is not bad for a sophmore.
I think Derrick very well could win the title. Yes, the pressure would be heavy on him, but he seems to be the kind of kid whose head is screwed on straight and the kind that would be able to just go about business as usual and not pay attention to the "pressure."
To the guy above who said Derrick is on par with a 4-week healthy GF, Derrick looks like an entirely different runner this year. He seems to have come a long way since ncaa and world xc last year. You saw what he could do in track. Yes German upped him later on. But to me, Derrick really looks like he's made a huge leap forward. I don't think German wins this battle this year. The future is up for grabs, but this year I think is Derrick's over German. It may very well be Derrick's over the whole damn field.
F. Booth wrote:
Perhaps but Bob Kennedy won as a freshman and didn't win again as a senior.
Won some NCAA track titles however in between.
He won as a freshman and then won again as a 5th year senior on his home course. He barely won as a freshmen with a great finishing kick, but as a 5th year senior he destroyed the field. In between he had high finishes, but it took him four years to get back to the winners circle. His freshman year he was only 4th or 5th at regionals and then came back and won nationals.
mighty porn stache wrote:
To the guy above who said Derrick is on par with a 4-week healthy GF, Derrick looks like an entirely different runner this year. He seems to have come a long way since ncaa and world xc last year.
It's great that you are basing that he will win on his appearance, but I'm basing it on facts. Derrick has improved since last year, as we expect young runners to do. But German is still a better runner and he is healthy. When he is healthy, he beats Derrick. It's not like Derrick received some magic fairy dust over the summer and German didn't.
No, Derrick didn't receive magic fairy dust. He received a full summer of training uninjured while German was injured and only got going full speed well into the school year. The two have not raced each other this year, so neither you nor I nor anyone else KNOW who is going to win the race or which of these will finish higher. And yes, based on the facts of this year, Derrick has shown right now to be the better runner. Derrick has won every race he's lined up for, against great competition along the way, including Chelanga, Puskedra, the rest of the Stanford team, and arguably the best region in the country. GF has yet to be the top finisher for his own team. So what facts are you basing anything on for this year? Every fact you have is from last year, before his injury of the summer. I expect German to be near the front, but I don't think he can win or beat Derrick this year. Not THIS year.
Tedese Zersenay has always been close to Bekele. In 2009 Tedese ran injury free for the whole year while Bekele had a lengthy injury. Yet at world champs Bekele manages to win again. If they are both healthy Bekele wins and it doesn't matter what they did over summer vacation. Just the same way, if German is 6 weeks healthy, he wins. Everything else is irrelevant.
we'll see in 7 days.
The Betrayed wrote:
mighty porn stache wrote:To the guy above who said Derrick is on par with a 4-week healthy GF, Derrick looks like an entirely different runner this year. He seems to have come a long way since ncaa and world xc last year.
It's great that you are basing that he will win on his appearance, but I'm basing it on facts. Derrick has improved since last year, as we expect young runners to do. But German is still a better runner and he is healthy. When he is healthy, he beats Derrick. It's not like Derrick received some magic fairy dust over the summer and German didn't.
Just like he did in the Stanford 5k last track season, right?
It seems like they were both pretty healthy then, to me.
The Betrayed wrote:
Just like he did in the Stanford 5k last track season, right?
It seems like they were both pretty healthy then, to me.
He was 4-weeks healthy. Didn't you read my previous post?
I cannot help you if you do not read my previous posts.
The Betrayed wrote:
He was 4-weeks healthy. Didn't you read my previous post?
I cannot help you if you do not read my previous posts.
You didn't say anything about Stanford in your original post.
Either way, German is certainly rounding into shape, but I'd have to put my money on Derrick right now. So far as I can remember, they have only raced a small handful of times, and German has been beaten (or DNFed) several times.
close... wrote:
The Betrayed wrote:He was 4-weeks healthy. Didn't you read my previous post?
I cannot help you if you do not read my previous posts.
You didn't say anything about Stanford in your original post.
Either way, German is certainly rounding into shape, but I'd have to put my money on Derrick right now. So far as I can remember, they have only raced a small handful of times, and German has been beaten (or DNFed) several times.
NCAA'S- CD, USA JR X- GF, W JR X- GF, Stanford 5K-CD thats 2 to 2. Even.
I still believe SC will win. CD is a stud. GF seems to get fit at the right time and make the doubter believers inside(not they would admit to on the ouside). I will say this. I think SC hammers it from the get go and GF will shadow CD and go with CD when he makes his move. Or I could be totally wrong and GF has been sandbagging all fall and he goes with SC.
The problem with a dual between Derrick and Fernandez will be that German will probably fall down when the going gets tough.
Didn't they run junior cross together last year, how did that go.
Teddy Graham wrote:The problem with a dual between Derrick and Fernandez will be that German will probably fall down when the going gets tough.
Most likely, the going won't ever get tough, and then your ilk will contort yourselves differently and whine some nonsense about time-trialing.
Go Derrick, take down GF and his faux-hawk
What is the point of this post? Is the original poster suggesting that Derrick lose to avoid future pressure to win?
I think the entire field has less than a 2% chance of beating both C. Derrick and S. Chelenga at 2009 NCAA X-Country Championships. It wouldn't surprised me if they stays healthy and I could see them running sub 13:12 C. Derrick for 5000m and S. Chelanga sub 27:20 for 10000m in 2010.
[quote]The Betrayed wrote:
Tedese Zersenay has always been close to Bekele. In 2009 Tedese ran injury free for the whole year while Bekele had a lengthy injury. [quote]
uh.....his name is Zersenay Tadese.
I will now call you Betrayed The.