What a race! Hasay's freshman record goes down to Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley with 16:41... absolutely amazing. Not to mention the second place finisher not too far behind. Potential footlocker champion??
What a race! Hasay's freshman record goes down to Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley with 16:41... absolutely amazing. Not to mention the second place finisher not too far behind. Potential footlocker champion??
Ugh, as if XC course records weren't meaningless enough, they had to invent XC class course records.
awesome stuff wrote:
What a race! Hasay's freshman record goes down to Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley with 16:41... absolutely amazing. Not to mention the second place finisher not too far behind. Potential footlocker champion??
Yes, that is quite awesome.
o,kskdjkk wrote:
Ugh, as if XC course records weren't meaningless enough, they had to invent XC class course records.
what's a matter? no one come your HS invite this year? Mt. SAC does a great job of marketing cross countr and building champions.
o,kskdjkk wrote:
Ugh, as if XC course records weren't meaningless enough, they had to invent XC class course records.
It's on one course, a famous course run by many greats every year. It's not that different than having class records on a track at a big meet really. XC records are mostly only messy when you're comparing them to eachother. For the most part they are quite comparable to different years...of course you can have rain and different temperatures, just as you can on the track...although granted not mud.
No where near as big a deal as you're making it. It's a good thing for races like this.
what's a matter? no one come your HS invite this year? Mt. SAC does a great job of marketing cross countr and building champions.[/quote]
Mt. Sac is about marketing and not cross country.
J. Haze wrote:
what's a matter? no one come your HS invite this year? Mt. SAC does a great job of marketing cross countr and building champions.
Mt. Sac is about marketing and not cross country.[/quote]
Ummmmm. Marketing what?
Sarah sounds like she is from he south.....maybe not..but she has that straight forwardness.
RuKiddingMe! wrote:
Sarah sounds like she is from he south.....maybe not..but she has that straight forwardness.
Race starts at 3:38.
2nd place was also 9th grade.
i dont know about mt. sac....it seems like the times just keep on getting faster and faster...I remember 2005 when breaking 15 was considered a massive accomplishment both state-wide and nationally. Now today, about 30 guys broke 15(exagerated numner)....so i have concluded that mt sac has shortened the course every year, most notably the valley loop. They have done this for both marketing purposes, which was stated earlier in this post, and for money. I mean who wouldnt want to easily break 15 on a course that is said to show elite caliber talent. this could also lead to scholarships for athletes.....the Mt Sac directors are great business people !!!!
I don't know if you've noticed, but times at EVERY level are getting faster and faster.
I don't know if you've noticed, but times at EVERY level are getting faster and faster.[/quote]
Yes, but running a certain time at Mt. Sac use to convert to a certain time on the track. It was a great indicator for the years 1977 - 1998. Then in 1999, all of a sudden the times seemed 20 to 30 seconds faster. It also seems strange that the two mile mark that was on the top of "poop out hill" got up and moved 200 meters down the road. Yes, times are faster at every level, but we don't call 1500 records mile records.
I read an article either here or on flotrack about how they did shorten it due to the fact that there were so many people now and the turns were too tight right at the beginning for safe running. So they made the turns wider and shortened it somehow.
I read an article either here or on flotrack about how they did shorten it due to the fact that there were so many people now and the turns were too tight right at the beginning for safe running. So they made the turns wider and shortened it somehow.[/quote]
Pasadena Star-News Online
College: Mt. SAC thrown a curve
Course improvements call into question the validity of new marks
October 18, 2001
By Richard Gonzalez
Staff Writer
October, 2000: Glendale Hoover High's Anita Siraki stuns the national prep
cross country community when she breaks the Mt. San Antonio College course
record by a stunning 17 seconds.
November, 2000: Big Bear High's Ryan Hall runs the Mt. SAC course in
14:28, slicing four seconds off Jeff Nelson's 22-year-old boys course
record.
November, 2000: Don Lugo High's Erick Maldonado smashes the sopre boys
course record as five of the six fastest 10th-grade course times in
history are achieved. All told, a whopping 39 revisions are made to the
all-time grade lists.
Oddly enough, these standout runners have enjoyed ample success before and
since, but not quite to the degree achieved recently along the revered
2.95-mile Mt. SAC course.
Well, maybe it's because the course had been shortened to 2.91 miles.
Mt. SAC cross country women's coach Doug Todd has confirmed in three
separate interviews since last November that the course has indeed been
shortened, an end result of safety concerns, course upgrades and
environmental effects.
"We struggled not to make the changes, because the Mt. SAC course and the
meet are so steeped in history," said Todd, who oversees this weekend's
conclusion of the 54th annual Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational, the
nation's largest.
"Some changes were unavoidable, but it doesn't make accepting the changes
any easier."
The most notable change was reconfiguring a portion of the "Valley Loop"
as a safety matter. With the number of entrants swelling to match the
meet's growth in popularity, maneuvering along the original course's
sharp, jutting turn less than a minute into the race created logistical
problems.
Mt. SAC staff changed it to a sweeping and easier to navigate path, which
Todd estimates cut about five seconds off each loop or 10 seconds per
runner off the double loop. If his estimate is accurate, that translates
to roughly a 50-second team-time (five runners) improvement over
"pre-renovation" years.
Additionally, heavy rains a few years ago caused erosion along some
patches of the course. Throw in the beautification steps imposed in recent
years a wider running path, planting of shade-producing trees along the
route, and considerable landscaping to improve footing and the
once-imposing course becomes a more inviting one.
"We try to respect history and tradition, yet safety becomes a factor too
... a much more important factor," said Mt. SAC men's coach Mike Goff, who
is the one entrusted with the upkeep of the course.
"If course historians have a problem with it, I understand," Goff added.
"At the same time, if we can improve the course to maximum conditions for
runners, that's great, too. Bottom line, the best teams and runners will
still win."
The only drawback now is that the ever-popular time comparisons by
generations of runners might lack integrity, since the course has changed.
It used to be when one California runner would meet another, the first
question was: "What's your best time at Mt. SAC?"
Regardless, the course still offers a tough test to challengers.
"Well, Mt. SAC's been too hot, too dusty, too slow, too crowded, too
hard," said Goff, echoing some critics over the years. "And now... they
say it's too fast. That's a new one."
J. Haze wrote:
Pasadena Star-News Online
along the revered 2.95-mile Mt. SAC course.
Well, maybe it's because the course had been shortened to 2.91 miles.
Mt. SAC cross country women's coach Doug Todd has confirmed in three separate interviews since last November that the course has indeed been shortened, an end result of safety concerns, course upgrades and environmental effects.
That was prior to Hasay's time.
Sarah Baxter's time is faster for a same distance course.
2.95 mile course, ohhh. I thought they were running a 5k..
2.93 course
What the hell was #3 girl doing with her arms at 7:26?