Good strategy wrote:
Neale was in 20th, 19th and 10th at 2, 4 and 5k.
Schweizer was in 4th, 4th and 8th, which means she was breaking the wind for the chase pack for at least the first 4k
of the race. Considering she has a light build (like many runners), no wonder she felt the effort at that point.
I think that is what happened to her. She went out too fast and was leading too much.
Here are the splits.
What is this nonsense? Any runner is going to feel the hurt from breaking the wind, regardless of build. She had to stay near the front if she wanted to compete for the win, as Kurgat wasn't exactly tucking in behind the back waiting to make a move. I was at the race and Schweizer was tucked behind the women right in front until she dropped off. The splits show that she was caught in no-mans land for a bit at 4k after she dropped of the 3 woman lead pack, so that may have taken something out of her for the finish.
By the way, NAU's Matt Baxter and Tyler Day broke the wind for pretty the whole race and ended up 2-3. Baxter almost pulled off the upset. Knight had to work really had to keep up and beat him.
Schweizer just didn't have today in any conditions. End of story. Everybody was affected by the wind. But she held on for 11th despite seeing the dream slip away long before the finish. That shows the type of fight that has won 3 NCAA championships. Lesser runners dropped off the lead pack and ended up way further back.