He Does It Again- Ben Saarel 7th

What do you mean stepped up? If you didn't have Saarel in your top ten then you're crazy.

He did run well, but let's give credit where credit is due: Moussa stepped up more than anyone else for Colorado today.

162430 wrote:

He did run well, but let's give credit where credit is due: Moussa stepped up more than anyone else for Colorado today.

Nice to see Moussa finally running as well as he did in high school

Top three really impressive today. Having the potential is one thing, and doing it is another.

Hey Wejo ,

When you didn't predict Ben Saarel to finish in the top 10 ten this year. your reasoning was, " He didn't do anything this year to suggest he'll be in the top ten" ..I have news for you.. He didn't do anything thing last year to suggest he when he placed 8th..the bottom line is that Saarel is a winner . he steps it up in the big ones!!!

Saarel is one of my favorite runners. Always rooting for the guy to be honest.

HUGE improvement, 8th to 7th...stop those presses

and that gives him sub 13 potential?

Please

There are guys who showed more ability that have never been near 13 flat

Lomong, McDougal, Curtis , all were top 4 or better at this meet with BETTER mile times none have sniffed 13 flat

Trialswatcher wrote:

HUGE improvement, 8th to 7th...stop those presses

and that gives him sub 13 potential?

Please

There are guys who showed more ability that have never been near 13 flat

Lomong, McDougal, Curtis , all were top 4 or better at this meet with BETTER mile times none have sniffed 13 flat

He missed several weeks of training this fall.

Trialswatcher wrote:

HUGE improvement, 8th to 7th...stop those presses

and that gives him sub 13 potential?

Please

There are guys who showed more ability that have never been near 13 flat

Lomong, McDougal, Curtis , all were top 4 or better at this meet with BETTER mile times none have sniffed 13 flat

Uuuuh Trialswatcher ....You're on the wrong thread. This is the Ben Saarel 7th thread ..not the Ben Saarel sub 13 thread...

asd wrote:

162430 wrote:

He did run well, but let's give credit where credit is due: Moussa stepped up more than anyone else for Colorado today.

Nice to see Moussa finally running as well as he did in high school

I cuncur, Moussa ran to his potential.

Gzustinz wrote:

asd wrote:

Nice to see Moussa finally running as well as he did in high school

I cuncur, Moussa ran to his potential.

Moussa was ranked 20th by the LetsRun Pool. The lowest of the top 10 today. In most people's mind, Moussa stepped it up the most for the guys that finished in the top 10 today (scores a -15)...

- wrote:

Always rooting for the guy to be honest.

Really? I think he's more entertaining when he cheats on his girlfriend, talks endless amounts of bullshit, and steals from his teammates when their backs are turned.

Missing, comma wrote:

- wrote:

Always rooting for the guy to be honest.

Really? I think he's more entertaining when he cheats on his girlfriend, talks endless amounts of bullshit, and steals from his teammates when their backs are turned.

making stuff up on the internet is fun!

C Parker wrote:

Missing, comma wrote:

Really? I think he's more entertaining when he cheats on his girlfriend, talks endless amounts of bullshit, and steals from his teammates when their backs are turned.

making stuff up on the internet is fun!

Nope, he was joking. - was missing a comma and said he was "rooting for Saarel to be honest," rather than "rooting for Saarel, to be honest." Therefore, his sentence implied that Saarel was sometimes less than honest, hence the cheating, talking bullshit, and stealing. It's a terrible joke, but Missing, Comma was speaking facetiously.

Back on topic: I'm also always one to root for Saarel (and McGorty, actually). Good performances from each today.

haha wrote:

What do you mean stepped up? If you didn't have Saarel in your top ten then you're crazy.

Not true. He hadn't done a whole lot - just 5th at Rocky Mountain and 8th at Pac 12s.

Ocin11 wrote:

Hey Wejo ,

When you didn't predict Ben Saarel to finish in the top 10 ten this year. your reasoning was, " He didn't do anything this year to suggest he'll be in the top ten" ..I have news for you.. He didn't do anything thing last year to suggest he when he placed 8th..the bottom line is that Saarel is a winner . he steps it up in the big ones!!!

I talked to Wetmore after the race about Saarel. We'll upload it later but he said that Ben had been plagued by illness for most of the season. He couldn't quite shake bronchitis.

Wetmore said that and his super demanding major - Saarel could have gone Ivy (his mom is a princeton grad) - made it tough on him. Wetmore said something along the lines of , "The other day he slept 7 hours, instead of his normal 4, and said he felt so much better."

So Saarel stepping it up may not just be 'he's clutch.' It could be 'he's sleeping and not sick.'

Please don't misunderstand us. I'm the biggest Saarel hyper in history:

The way I look at it, CU has a huge advantage with being based at a decent altitude and ability to train at higher elevations. I would love to crown Wetmore the greatest XC coach ever and Ben Saarel the hottest talent but I wonder where CU or Saarel would be if every team had the same luxury of training full time at altitude.

I live and train at altitude and I've never had many bad runs at sea level. It's a different world. The training advantage is huge. The speed disadvantage that Wetmore mentions is true for shorter faster stuff but these college kids are not touching those speeds in a 10k XC race.

Fun trivia:

Hometown elevations...

Saarel, 7000ft

Goucher, 6000ft

Coburn, 8800ft

and our CA transplant, Ammar, had altitude stints in HS.

I would submit Wetmore's 'secret' is altitude and talent from altitude.

let's not get carried away with Saarel. There are sea level kids who will respond favorably to altitude training poost-collegiately and match his times.

to get top ten both as a true frosh and soph is a major achievement and not a lot of Americans have done it in recent years. I think that Derrick and Puskedra might have done this. And to do it when you are sick most of the season, not breathing well (bronchitis), and not sleeping is an achievement.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^