Ben Saarel will be one of America's best soon

Only if he drops out of school pronto and hooks up with AlSal.

jerkstore wrote:

Only if he drops out of school pronto and hooks up with AlSal.

Ha if hes interested in Drugs, manipulation, and being training fodder. Hes with Americas best distance coach already. Stay in Boulder for as long as he can.

He could always go pro with Salazar, then return the money he made, then go to college to win some NCAA championships, then finish college, then go pro v2, and then spend years working to almost finish his degree.

cbenson4 wrote:

Sub-13 5k in the future. No question. 7:52 3k already as a freshman. He has everything needed to be world-class. Awesome endurance, top-notch finishing speed. He will be a contender on the world stage if he continues to stay healthy.

He obviously doesn't have awesome endurance and top-notch finishing speed if he's only running 7:52. That's a great performance for someone at his level, but let's not exaggerate it.

is this a troll wrote:

He obviously doesn't have awesome endurance and top-notch finishing speed if he's only running 7:52. That's a great performance for someone at his level, but let's not exaggerate it.

You know what I meant. For a kid his age, that is awesome stuff. Last year he consistently closed his races in 54 for the last lap. He ran an 8:45 3200m last year with a sub-2 last 800.

cbenson4 wrote:

You know what I meant. For a kid his age, that is awesome stuff. Last year he consistently closed his races in 54 for the last lap. He ran an 8:45 3200m last year with a sub-2 last 800.

No, I don't know what you meant. Say what you mean next time.

you are right. this kid has tremendous potential. 8:45 w/54 close indicated much better and he's already done it indoors. 7:52 is worth sub 8:30.

Ben Saarel wasn't the only freshmen to go under 8 this weekend...

UVA first year Adam Visokay won the Iowa State Classic in 7:57 beating good competition in Craig Forys (2nd).

is this a troll wrote:

cbenson4 wrote:

Sub-13 5k in the future. No question. 7:52 3k already as a freshman. He has everything needed to be world-class. Awesome endurance, top-notch finishing speed. He will be a contender on the world stage if he continues to stay healthy.

He obviously doesn't have awesome endurance and top-notch finishing speed if he's only running 7:52. That's a great performance for someone at his level, but let's not exaggerate it.

You obviously didn't watch the race. He closed way faster than the winner. He just isn't as experienced yet. But just wait.

afromanmiler wrote:

Ben Saarel wasn't the only freshmen to go under 8 this weekend...

UVA first year Adam Visokay won the Iowa State Classic in 7:57 beating good competition in Craig Forys (2nd).

The future of American distance running looks bright.

haha wrote:

You obviously didn't watch the race. He closed way faster than the winner. He just isn't as experienced yet. But just wait.

If only the winner had waited for him.

cbenson4 wrote:

afromanmiler wrote:

Ben Saarel wasn't the only freshmen to go under 8 this weekend...

UVA first year Adam Visokay won the Iowa State Classic in 7:57 beating good competition in Craig Forys (2nd).

The future of American distance running looks bright.

Visokay is a redshirt freshman. Graduated in 2012. However, according to his old interviews on milesplit, he essentially didn't take running seriously until the middle of his junior year of HS, so plenty of potential there.

Depends on what you mean by soon. I agree that he might end up an all-time great, but the US is actually pretty stacked right now. I don't see him making any US teams during college unless Wetmore lets him not focus on NCAA's (something quite possible). The US is too good right now in the 5k for him to run a full "NCAA type" schedule and still run well enough that late into the summer.

he needs to learn to be a little tougher mid race if he wants to get some serious times. Great performance but he's gonna miss out on opportunities by waiting to wake up until 800 to go everytime. Watch the race, with real competition and help Dunbar and that other guy would have been out of Bens reach who didnt respond to their moves. It's hard to not get caught when you're pushing for a good time from 1000 out like Dunbar (33% of the race). Those 2 guys would have benefitted greatly from being able to relax behind others like Ben did the whole race...but if they had they everyone would have run 7:55 and be staying home

cbenson4 wrote:

Sub-13 5k in the future. No question. 7:52 3k already as a freshman. He has everything needed to be world-class. Awesome endurance, top-notch finishing speed. He will be a contender on the world stage if he continues to stay healthy.

You are correct. I suspect some of the people posting here have never watched Saarel run. If they had, they would know he is one of the most intriguing American-born prospects to come along in awhile. His range is impressive. He was able to win the Dream Mile last yr with a last lap of 52 seconds, then finish 8th in the NCAA XC championships this fall.

I was happy Colorado took down OSU and their collection of international exchange students this fall. Score one for Ben Saarel and the American-born kids.

^i thought saarel's last lap in the dream mile was more like 55 or 56. not 52.

anyway. the most impressive thing about that race was that he was able to run 4:03 in those conditions. It was windy, raining, and cold. not good conditions for a mile. he was without a doubt in shape to run 3:57 or 3:58 with even pacing and ideal conditions.

number ln e wrote:

^i thought saarel's last lap in the dream mile was more like 55 or 56. not 52.

anyway. the most impressive thing about that race was that he was able to run 4:03 in those conditions. It was windy, raining, and cold. not good conditions for a mile. he was without a doubt in shape to run 3:57 or 3:58 with even pacing and ideal conditions.

Raining and cold are great conditions for distance races. And unless he was front-running, the wind is a non factor.

the mile's not a distance race when you run it in 4 minutes

number ln e wrote:

the mile's not a distance race when you run it in 4 minutes

Yes it is.