what are you talking about? she's a professional runner. that's her job. if i were able to quickly calculate after the semis that there really were only 4 women (5 if you count uhl) with As so, if the pace were slow, the only thing that would matter would be to beat one of them, she and her coach should have been able to figure that out too. i thought the Bs would have organized beforehand to sit at 73 pace but, after the first couple of laps, it was clear that they didn't and that the As could control the pace to keep the Bs out.
conley said in her interview that she was 9:20 at the 3k and thought to herself that she couldn't run 6:00 for the last 2k but that she would go for place. lucas should have done the same calculation and said "we have paced this thing perfectly to keep the Bs out so now i just need to focus on beating one of the other As." again, she is a professional runner and it's her job to know these things and to be able to make adjustments during the race. it's not like this was a high school county xc race.
with all that being said, i watched her interview and i do feel badly for her. she was completely stand-up and admitted that she blew the race. unfortunately, that thought is going to haunt her for a long time. it probably would haunt me the rest of my life. she clearly has a lot of talent so hopefully she bounces back next year.