Sam Tanner of UW / New Zealand has gone pro early and signed with PUMA. Career best NCAA finish - 10th.

Plenty of good surf in nz

ck. wrote:

rhimby wrote:

"finding fitness" is not always that easy, especially when you've lost it. But hopefully he can find it again!

Yeah, it’s because Andy Powell didn’t work enough with him on strength. He eventually lost what he had as the year progressed. Thankfully he’s back in NZ with his former coach. Uber talented.

No doubt Tanner will have Hayden Wilde yapping at his heels during some of his workouts too to keep him honest haha

IfOnly wrote:

He ran that time towards the end of last years indoor track season and then was straight into his build up for the Olympics. After the Olympics he was straight back to NZ for some downtime and I believe he's also just got married. Hasn't had the opportunity to replicate that race. Give him time, he's only 21.

at the end? it seemed more like the beginning/middle and that is why he was so hyped up for the ncaa indoor where he didnt even make the final. i understand the olympic training, but it didnt stop hocker from winning ncaas, winning the trials and making the final in tokyo nor nuguse from running well at the former two. sam didnt even have trials to run so its really not much of an excuse. for whatever reason he fell way off after the 334, but hes young so it would be silly to write him off just yet.

Feel like the headline is misleading & OP walked it back in their initial post.

A 3:34 NR & making it to the Olympics warrants a pro contract. Seems like a good move from PUMA because Tanner should be making 1500 teams for the next decade.

The NCAA system isn't conducive for consistency. Clearly Tanner was fit when he ran 3:34 last February but all of the racing & peaking you have to do for NCAAs isn't good for anybody.

His 10th at NCAA Outdoors was his 6th 1500 in less than a month with a ton of travel & I'm sure too many workouts mixed in. 3:34 & making it to the Olympics is more impressive than 10th at NCAAs.

There was once an American who turned pro at the age of 19 after a freshman year that resulted in an 8th place NCAA finish in the 1500m. A lot of people (full disclosure, myself included) were completely confused and wondered why the hell shoe companies would invest in a kid who was clearly talented but also very unproven.

Within a year the kid made a world championship team in a different event and now has multiple international medals and is considered the dominant US force in his event. I would say that Evan jager turned out ok.

honestly is this the tall poppy syndrome at its finest , If anybody believes what Sam showed post his 3.34 is anywhere near his max potential then think again . Sam is the most talented under trained athlete since Nick Willis decided to get serious !!

usnspecialist wrote:

There was once an American who turned pro at the age of 19 after a freshman year that resulted in an 8th place NCAA finish in the 1500m. A lot of people (full disclosure, myself included) were completely confused and wondered why the hell shoe companies would invest in a kid who was clearly talented but also very unproven.

Within a year the kid made a world championship team in a different event and now has multiple international medals and is considered the dominant US force in his event. I would say that Evan jager turned out ok.

Reminds me of the time Chris Lukezic went pro and Rojo went nuts saying nobody deserved to leave early for a pro contract unless they won an ncaa championship.

Odd logic, that Rojo.

Great time trialer. Needs to learn how to make it out of rounds