Is Ben Saarel Getting Worse?

Why would you expect a sophomore to be the top guy on the best xc team in the NCAA?

He takes his easy runs too easy is why.

The only time he was #1 on the team last year was at nationals. Could see something similar.

he looks about 4-5 pounds heavy.

plumplestiltsken wrote:

he looks about 4-5 pounds heavy.

Definitely not the condom stretched over the skeleton look!

reed wrote:

Why would you expect a sophomore to be the top guy on the best xc team in the NCAA?

Perhaps because he was the top guy on the best xc team in the NCAA as a freshman last year (8th at NCAAs)?

I'm not worried about Saarel. He had a good track season indoors and finished higher at Pre-Nats this year than he did in '13 (though he was lower at Pac-12s). I'll agree that he hasn't made a huge leap in '14 like many expected, but he's still one of the top 15-20 runners in the NCAA. Let's see how he does on Saturday.

The academic schedule Ben has chosen is as tough as it could be. Like many in his Major he is taking multiple classes that are totally insane and a round the clock non-stop cram and study till dawn again and again. Personally, I don't see how he could train at all. All natural sciences. I would bet you could count the sleep hours a week..on two hands sometimes. Brutal stuff. IMHO.

totougher., wrote:

The academic schedule Ben has chosen is as tough as it could be. Like many in his Major he is taking multiple classes that are totally insane and a round the clock non-stop cram and study till dawn again and again. Personally, I don't see how he could train at all. All natural sciences. I would bet you could count the sleep hours a week..on two hands sometimes. Brutal stuff. IMHO.

Well, that probably explains working hard for school, so much so that he's just managing, with all hisit. You know what? Colorado should be just fine as it is. If he's content w talent, to stay in the black, for team performance, than all power to him and the team and program. Still got two more years ahead.

Maybe towards the end of his collegiate career, having taking care of other life duties as he saw fit he will be able to move to the next level of performance with all the more satisfaction, focus and confidence.

Making a bit of a compromise or sacrifice on training and running performance is all fine, but skipping out on sleep, if true, is unfortunate and undesirable.

(I know, for instance, Sophomore year for Biosciences typically brings about a tough lineup of classes, as it goes for most people's undergraduate sequence) According to the team's page, he's engineering physics. "Saarel is majoring in engineering physics. He recorded a 4.00 GPA in his first semester at CU and owns an impressive 3.977 GPA."

Perhaps from a pure talent-development standpoint of the national interest of cultivating elite American runners, his school pursuits could retard his running progress not just this year but three more years. But he's an individual and not just a talent prospect. When people take care of personal business and duties, it can bring a balance to their life that can help motivate them all the more when they focus exclusively on running.

I'm ruminating out loud because, actually, even thinking about it for another person (a complete stranger tremendous running talent in another part of the country of a younger generation) I'm divided, besides having been debating and divided on these matters for myself and close friends, my entire life. It would be interesting to hear others' perspectives.

Nationals performer wrote:

The only time he was #1 on the team last year was at nationals. Could see something similar.

not enough people realize this. Nationals was literally the only race he beat Theroux in last year

Yeah I've been wondering about this as well. Hard to criticize since he's a top 15-20 xc guy right now, but I did expect more from him this season.

I think he's improved some from last year, but that improvement has been overshadowed by the fact that several of his teammates have made bigger jumps.

I think either this coming track season or xc next year he's gonna have a major breakout and put himself in the NCAA title discussion.

Holding that GPA in his classes is even more time and effort. He must be trying to get every point in every test, quiz or paper. If there is an extra credit impossible question he must be going more hours to get it. I think he is running incredible. If and when he gets freed up some I think he will come on.

Aside from his classes it's prudent to keep in mind that "improvement" at Saarel's level often comes almost like an epiphany; seemingly instantaneous fitness gains that are hard even for the athlete to fully understand.

You don't just get faster by waking up every day when you're already one of the best in the nation. It takes time, discipline and patience, all of which are at his disposal, thankfully.

Here's what makes people great - when Adam Goucher became #1, he stayed #1. That's my only worry with Saarel, he doesn't have that drive to be great. Ritz as well... once he became #1, he stayed #1. That's what it takes.

you guys crack me up... Saarel not running well because he's taking classes? He's obviously limited academically. He had the running ability to go to Stanford, but obviously not the academic ability. If he cared about "taking hard classes" he would not have chosen Colorado, which ranks as one of the lowest academic institutions in the Mountain Region.

The old sophomore "slump". There are many potential reasons why he has not catapulted to national contender level this year - but we should withhold judgement until NCAAs. He may yet make that jump.

Perhaps he has made the "next logical step" in his training and that has left him with a bit more fatigue than last year. It may just take time for that training to click and carry over to races.

On the other hand, if he came in training at a high level and took that yet another step in his freshman year - the jump may not be as big as we might expect. The guy grew up training at altitude - just with that he started at a much higher level of training than most freshman.

totougher., wrote:

Holding that GPA in his classes is even more time and effort. He must be trying to get every point in every test, quiz or paper. If there is an extra credit impossible question he must be going more hours to get it. I think he is running incredible. If and when he gets freed up some I think he will come on.

Agreed. Totougher and others have sensibility and understanding of the rigors of university study and athletics.

To all you folks questioning this kids ability. Question your own and even what you once had or think you had. That's right... Ben Saarels' athletic and mental ability is at a different level.

eCo wrote:

you guys crack me up... Saarel not running well because he's taking classes? He's obviously limited academically. He had the running ability to go to Stanford, but obviously not the academic ability. If he cared about "taking hard classes" he would not have chosen Colorado, which ranks as one of the lowest academic institutions in the Mountain Region.

Dude, I know you're just trolling (and probably drunk), but come on. Ben Saarel is anything but academically limited. You, on the other hand, sound like you've never immersed yourself in a challenging academic program 100%.

The top students at Colorado are just as good, if not better, than the top students everywhere. Acceptance rates and SAT scores for freshmen are measures of the average, not the individual, and Colorado is a strong state university. I went to an Ivy League school for undergrad, and it only illustrated to me that all the rankings really measure is research output and perceived prestige - both factors that have little bearing on the undergraduate experience. Upper level classes - math and science especially - are going to be difficult at most good schools (and Colorado most definitely falls into that category).

"We could easily make this story about Ben Saarel The Straight A Student. The worst grade he's pulled in high school is a single A-minus as a freshman (what, they can't give the kid a mulligan?). His cumulative GPA is 3.99, with an honors curriculum.

...

Saarel comes from an academic family. His parents, Doug and Tess, are both Princeton graduates, and Emma attends Swarthmore College, the famous brainiac school. Tess is a cardiologist and Doug a stay-at-home father and former employee of Columbia Pictures."

"Then along came Saarel, a built-for-endurance freshman who last fall could have breezed into any college that offers a high-caliber education and a high-profile running experience.

“There were some very, very big academic opportunities for him,” Wetmore recalled. “I’m sure anybody who thought they had a chance (to sign him) wrote to him. He probably narrowed his choices from over a hundred to the five he visited.”

Those five: CU, Wisconsin, Princeton, Stanford and Michigan. “Tough choice,” said Saarel, now 19. “But I have no doubt I made the right one.”

Saarel, of Park City, Utah, arrived in Boulder already in the passing lane. An engineering physics major with an interest (bet on it not being mild) in chemistry, he earned a 4.0 GPA in his first semester. And that, said Wetmore, was because “you can’t get a 5.0 . . . he finishes practices, takes his shoes off and goes to the library.”"

Saarel could have gone to any school he wanted. With his excellent high school record, his Princeton alum parents, and his running ability, I guarantee that his acceptance would have been one of the easier decisions the Princeton or Standford admissions offices made that year. He obviously liked the program/Wetmore at Colorado and perhaps wanted to stay at altitude and a bit closer to home.

And your statement that Colorado is one of the weaker schools in the mountain region? Did you even look at the list of schools in the mountain region?

1 Colorado 45

2 Northern Arizona 68

3 BYU 121

4 Southern Utah 128

5 Colorado State 140

6 UTEP 156

7 New Mexico 158

8 Weber State 191

9 Air Force 202

10 Wyoming 243

11 Utah State 288

12 Montana State 308

13 Utah Valley 324

14 Texas Tech 396

15 New Mexico State 396

16 Montana 460

17 Idaho State

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Congrats on getting me to respond, by the way. But still 0/10.

Goucher went from 2nd as a freshman to 6th as a sophomore - I wouldn't sweat it too much just yet.

Thanks for the great post. So much good information. Of course, you'll still probably get a lot of crap from people who are just talking out their asses.