Rojo says winning NCAA XC would mean more to him than making Oly Team?

WTFRojo wrote:

Rojo Quote re Tiernan......

"Are you kidding? I'd much rather win an NCAA xc title than run in the Olympics and bow out in the heats. Much rather. There are way fewer NCAA xc champs than there are Olympic track and field athletes."

Just wondering what other think. I do not agree.

I think a big part of it was that it was the Australian team. I'd think making a USA team would be a bigger deal since we hare Olympic trials is likely a much tougher meet than whatever selection process Australia uses.

Olympians get to party in the Olympic Village. I prefer that.

NCAA XC groupies....think about that for a second.

I agree with jo. I don't think it necessarily reflects that winning XC Championship is more difficult than, say, making the 5k or 10k US Olympic team, but there's something special to being crowned the very best.

WTFRojo wrote:

Rojo Quote re Tiernan......

"Are you kidding? I'd much rather win an NCAA xc title than run in the Olympics and bow out in the heats. Much rather. There are way fewer NCAA xc champs than there are Olympic track and field athletes."

Just wondering what other think. I do not agree.

There are no heats in the Olympic 10,000. If you go there you are on the front stage.

waporeaderman wrote:

NCAA XC groupies....think about that for a second.

Does that actually even happen?

If I had been a baseball player, I'd rather be a so-so player in the majors than be the best in AA playing for some team with a name like the Reno Mudskippers or the Tacoma Fire Ants.

Maybe some people would rather be Josh Rohatinsky than Ben Blankenship. Count me out of that group.

I think that I actually agree. I am more of an XC guy than track though. Something about xc just brings me joy.

If Tiernan had not run in the NCAA and made the Aussie Olympic team, most of us would not know who he is.

swaglord wrote:

waporeaderman wrote:

NCAA XC groupies....think about that for a second.

Does that actually even happen?

I was far from winning NCAA XC, and I had NCAA XC groupies.

NCAA XC D1 is harder. More impressive talent, and a generic NCAA XC D1 champ is more likely to make it to the Olympics, than generic Olympian who ran in college is likely to be an NCAA XC D1 champ.

But when talking to Jane Doe, it goes Olympian > Boston Marathon Qualifier > NCAA XC D1 Champ.

Why doesn't someone email Jorge Torres and ask him if he would have rather been running in the olympics than being an NCAA XCchamp

WTFRojo wrote:

Rojo Quote re Tiernan......

"Are you kidding? I'd much rather win an NCAA xc title than run in the Olympics and bow out in the heats. Much rather. There are way fewer NCAA xc champs than there are Olympic track and field athletes."

Just wondering what other think. I do not agree.

olympics all day wrote: Why doesn't someone email Jorge Torres and ask him if he would have rather been running in the olympics than being an NCAA XCchamp

I once ran a large youth program and each year I would bring in someone to talk at our annual awards banquet. Even if you never stepped foot on an Olympic track, if you made an Olympic team and could show up in your USA kit, I had to pay you a speaker's fee. The Olympics are the only thing kids and the general public knows about. The average person barely knows NCAA cross is a sport. For athletes, the NCAA, the WCs and anyone else, the best you get is your travel and hotel fee. Renaldo Nehemiah is the non Olympian who I can think of who commands a speaker's fee and that's probably because most people think he was an Olympian.