Barraza goes down HARD in steeple ++ Where do you rank it in terms of agonizing defeats?

Luv2Run wrote:

How is it people can change subject lines? That was not the subject I wrote.

People cant. Only Wejo and Rojo can and for no apparent reason. This one got changed because Wejo just thought it was a better subject line. Very confusing.

He ran the race that everyone likes to see. I believe that he would have won and PRed. I don’t fault his strategy for his fall. Steepelers fall frequently whether they are pushing the pace or not and at various points in the race. He may get 2nd at USATF if he recovers. He looks capable of 8:20.

I steepled in college. On the second lap when he had a huge lead I told my husband “he’s going to bite it later.” The last 2 laps of the steeple always suck but they really suck when you a) went out too fast and b) have been running alone the entire race.

Also, I hate when people say “he/she deserved to win.” No one deserves to win.

I have followed Brian casually since he started at Houston as a freshman. I have seen him when he has run at our local college cross country invitational. I was not watching the meet last night and checked later to see how he did. I was initially disappointed in his placing. Then I looked at the splits and realized how strongly he went for it and how long he led. While I am still disappointed that he did not place higher, I am again reminded at how talented and how he went for it. I remain as proud of this young man as ever. Houston as a team did not win, but they are doing something right up there. 3 guys in the 100 finals? Just think what that 4 x 100 relay would have run in good conditions.

Just like people will continue to fall in the steeple, the trolls will remain heavy on this board-always.

Definitely feel bad for the kid but it did look like the first 2-3 guys behind him were going to destroy him the last 200, he was hurting before he fell

It's hard to take these "he really went for it but just fell" takes seriously, as if the fall was unlucky. He ran off the front to his detriment because he couldn't get his lead foot over the hurdle with a lap to go. It may have been ballsy but it wasn't smart. Had he faded to third that's a different story. But he ran too far off the edge to finish the race. Sure that takes guts but the result isn't unlucky the result is because of that decision to push too hard regardless of what his PRs are in any events.

Maybe they should lower the barriers to 30"?

All of you are in Lala land. He had the fastest lap 7 of the entire field if you look at the NCAA splits.

It’s easy to say he was falling apart because he fell but the reality is he was maintaining his speed at the minimum. Would he have held on. You or I don’t know.

Kid is a warrior. If you think otherwise, you’re a sports fan that belongs in a Chili’s ?

spokane xc wrote:

It's hard to take these "he really went for it but just fell" takes seriously, as if the fall was unlucky. He ran off the front to his detriment because he couldn't get his lead foot over the hurdle with a lap to go. It may have been ballsy but it wasn't smart. Had he faded to third that's a different story. But he ran too far off the edge to finish the race. Sure that takes guts but the result isn't unlucky the result is because of that decision to push too hard regardless of what his PRs are in any events.

Agreed, if he was so in control and running well he wouldn't have hit the barrier in the first place.

What's the rules for clearing the jump? Are you allowed to use your arms to climb over? He was far enough ahead to do that.

Run up to it, hands on, swing the body over real fast.

It’s egun wrote:

I am so sorry to say this, but that was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen in the steeple.

Three second lead, stutter steps a hurdle and face plants...

Ridiculous.

Exhibited absolutely NO athletic ability, felt sorry for himself, and jogged walked it in...

Pathetic.

Oh and yes, I have run as fast as him, and CAN comment.

Pathetic exhibition of steeple.

You win. You are better than he is.

spokane xc wrote:

It's hard to take these "he really went for it but just fell" takes seriously, as if the fall was unlucky.

I actually find it really hard to take seriously these claims that if you run too hard, you're going to fall. Sure, a hard pace might increase the RISK of a fall, but falls are still low odds events even when people are hurting bad. And in this case, he was actually looking really strong. If anything, it looked to me like the kind of fall that you see when someone knows they're having an amazing day and loses concentration (e.g., Jager in Paris 2015), rather than a fall caused by exhaustion.

Anyway, what's he supposed to do? Run slow enough to absolutely minimize the risk of a fall, while at the same time guaranteeing that he won't have a shot at any of the big points spots that Houston needed?

Absolutely heart breaking. The guy who did end up winning was flabbergasted when ESPN reporters ambushed him immediately after finishing. You could tell it was an emotional struggle between the elation of winning an NCAA title and knowing he didn't deserve it. Later on in post race interview he talked about his kick and how he was going to hunt Barazza down but there was no way he was making up that much in the last 200. You could tell in post race interview he was still feeling guilty about lucking out and stealing the win.

sadboi wrote:

Absolutely heart breaking. The guy who did end up winning was flabbergasted when ESPN reporters ambushed him immediately after finishing. You could tell it was an emotional struggle between the elation of winning an NCAA title and knowing he didn't deserve it. Later on in post race interview he talked about his kick and how he was going to hunt Barazza down but there was no way he was making up that much in the last 200. You could tell in post race interview he was still feeling guilty about lucking out and stealing the win.

0/10

We're giving 0/10 now for people who make valid points?

sadboi wrote:

Absolutely heart breaking. The guy who did end up winning was flabbergasted when ESPN reporters ambushed him immediately after finishing. You could tell it was an emotional struggle between the elation of winning an NCAA title and knowing he didn't deserve it. Later on in post race interview he talked about his kick and how he was going to hunt Barazza down but there was no way he was making up that much in the last 200. You could tell in post race interview he was still feeling guilty about lucking out and stealing the win.

Totally deserved win. Who crosses the line first wins. The high risk for a fall is a part of the strategy to go out way too hard, so you can't run the race hypothetically without the fall.

By the way, I love Brian Barraza and think his strategy was good. But he knew it was risky and it just didn't pay off this time. He knows he wasn't just unlucky, he knows he put himself out there and came short. He will succeed many more times in the future even though this was hard.

2 things about this. First off while it does seem like not the best idea to go and front run it from the gun, have you not watched the steeple final over the past couple years? Kibichy and Ferlic both hit it hard from the gun and won the race. Second off I think him missing that hurdle was a sign of fatigue more than anything. I think he was gonna get caught either way. Definitely wouldn't have gotten 10th but I don't think he had enough in the tank to finish the race in first.

It’s egun wrote:

I am so sorry to say this, but that was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen in the steeple.

Three second lead, stutter steps a hurdle and face plants...

Ridiculous.

Exhibited absolutely NO athletic ability, felt sorry for himself, and jogged walked it in...

Pathetic.

Oh and yes, I have run as fast as him, and CAN comment.

Pathetic exhibition of steeple.

was looking up all time steeple times and couldn't find the name "it's egun" anywhere.