Natalie Cook - 15:25

Has her form gotten any better?

Back at RunningLaneXC I cringed with every step she took.

I just put up videos of Natalie's track 5K and her RunningLane XC race side-by-side ... the form looks basically the same, but her track form seems to be a smoother version of that form ... maybe because an XC course might disrupt anybody's stride?

Guys I would seriously temper your excitement with some realism

I mean hopefully things work out for her and she's a really strong runner in college as well but

How many of those phenoms have been improving on their high School times lately?

There was a load of college girls who ran almost the exact same fast times and then completely disappeared like denner...

What kind of times has brown and Hutchins and massarelli run recently?

I wouldn't exactly say it's a big plus that she has a unusual training regime as it might make it tough to fit into a college system

I mean, maybe she can keep that going in college but it's definitely a little bit tougher when you don't, or can't, do the normal workouts

Anyway she certainly looks like she could be a great distance runner, but I'm just saying it's a little silly to get all Gaga when we've seen the track record of what 90% of high school phenoms maybe even more

FWIW, equivalent to 4:29 mile and 9:39 two mile, so better than any high schooler not named Cain. And she is better at XC/5K than Cain ever was.

Cranny and Efraimson also both had faster mile equivalents. But the 2 mile, yes.

She is in that realm — hope she goes the way of Cranny instead of Alexa/Mary.

She reminds me a lot of Koko... It will be interesting to see how she transitions to college... Who knows it's all a crapshoot, look at all the predictions people made about certain girls being the next great hope... All we can do is wish her the best

WOW!

Where are the videos?

flotrack

Her PR is faster than Tuohy. Not HS Tuohy, lifetime Tuohy. And talk about stagnation, Tuohy has been running the same 5k time for 5 years. She has less improvement than any of the 16 women in the NCAA 5k.

Tuohy was just runner up in the NCAA indoor 3k and 5k and then opened outdoor with a fast 1500. It’s obvious she’s going to contend for NCAA titles from this point forward. why penalize her for being a stud in HS?

Your negativity is purposeless. Everyone knows not all high school stars become college stars or professional stars. you are not delivering any informative news to anyone here. but what she did less than 24 hours ago deserves praise NOW and our response shouldnt be "oh we shouldnt be impressed by this amazing accomplishment because she may suck later".

And by the way, why do all the negative Nancies like to site Brynn Brown every time they trip over themselves to mention high school stars disappearing in college. Brown is doing just fine thanks. I dont think third in the ACC as a true freshman indicates career ending oblivion by a long shot.

Dude it's not purposelessness. I'm just saying put it in perspective and don't go crazy

There will literally like 20 or 30 people going crazy when Sydney massarelli ran a great season of cross country and they were saying she's the future and all that

Same thing for Bryn Brown and Jenna Hutchins and dudek

I'm just saying put it in perspective you know it's great she ran a great time but so did denner and chemiel, and Nichols and a bunch of other college girls ran basically the same time... And honestly... Most of these girls won't end up being professional runners...

I mean the hype train is such a broken record. Look at all the girls that were hyped and basically 90% of them are way slower or not even running.

Maybe you can point out where in this thread someone said she would go on to greatness, or win some future event? The young lady ran a great time and people are recognizing that. The other predictions done in the past for other runners - well that is another thing. For better or worse there seems to be some who just want to point to someone being better that Tuohy in the future. But I don't see that here, other than the one poster who decided to compare this time to Tuohy's current pr.

the same idiot makes this point like a broken record every thread... Tuohy is such a talent, it's not even worth responding... 2e has completely transformed herself from a time trial type runner to a sit and kick runner who's going to completely dominate college running... I think it's the disgruntled dudek fan... This guy was going on and on about how dU deck is the greatest college runner... Honestly tuohy just outkicked several 404 1500 m runners... It was a great sign on a windy day, people didn't realize how impressive it was because the time wasn't that great because of the conditions... Tuohy will lose very few if any college races from this point forward... Tuohy just beat pros while cook and wayment just loss to them... BIG DIFFERENCE!!!

Tuohy was just national runner up, so trying to shade her is silly. Had she run the 5000 at the Boston meet and not the 3000 chances are she would have the U20 in the 5000 right now. The runners she outran at Nationals were not helped by their better lifetime PRs.

All I say is good luck to everyone. This sport leaves nothing for granted. When Katelyn ran her sole high school 5000 as a sophomore, would anyone have anticipated she would not run another until after she graduated? Running at a high level season to season, year to year is not easy.

Hey man if you can't take an open and honest discussion... Then I don't know what to tell you, but what do you want people to just dish out superlatives?

It's not negative to be realistic and to look at things in a sober light

The fact is a lot of people are thinking the fact that she has a really Unorthodox training regiment is a positive when it's going to be difficult to maintain in college

I'm just being realistic I mean she definitely has a lot of positives and she has a great build and certainly has a lot of strength and bounce in her step

But I'm just saying it's certainly pretty sobering to look at what has happened to the majority of runners who have been touted here on the girls side

Anyway it's definitely a great run but I'm just saying, after that when you look at the totality of the situation... I've just given my two cents about some potential challenges that lie ahead... I mean isn't that the whole point of a discussion thread to give different perspectives and analysis

If there is anything worth a superlative, I would say it is a new record.