Claire Walters leaves NC State

well if this is a conversation about Claire, I'm going to discuss that.

I don't think Claire transferring really impacts their chances at another title. Claire wasn't in the top 7 last year and it didn't look like she competed much in the last couple of years.

I always wonder about this. Schools who get all the top high school recruits--like if you are running Claire Walters times, you could impact most D1 teams. But at a school like NC state you don't even break top 7. It's gotta be hard to go from 4th in the nation to not even varsity.

I hope she goes somewhere where she can have an impact.

FM alums don’t improve much in college

They'll be so far ahead they'll take a point off and become the first team to score 14.

I remember an article in a college football magazine during the 80s that had a picture of the 120+ strong Nebraska football team stretching out on their field before practice and the article was titled something like, "So, what's it like to find out you are nothing more than just another high school hot shot?" Nebraska was a perennial top-10 at the time and probably every guy on the field could have started on a lot of other teams but most were simply riding the bench at the best program in the nation. That happens to a lot of HS stars who go to top programs in their respective sports. She may be a #1 runner for another school next season but would never crack NC State's top-7.

Yep. Maybe injuries, maybe loss of interest or the stress of college life. Maybe she just could not progress. Who knows? She is certainly not the only good high school runner that this applies to, and that includes others in her class that were rated higher. She had the three top 5 finishes at NXN, but never really had the track times. Good luck to her.

She always came though at NXN, and the anchor leg on the DMR at Penn Relays was a time she never approached before or after as far as I know. She could deliver for the team.

Roe and others beat Wade

Who? What?

You have to feel for runners coming from top high schools like FM or Saratoga. I knew a runner that went D1 from a similar caliber high school. When he got to college, he realized that most of the other recruits were running similar times off of significantly less strenuous training. When you attend a high school that trains like a college, physical & mental burnout is much more likely. Other recruits will improve much quicker off the same training plan, and that has to kill the drive for many athletes. I’m sure it was a tough transition but I wish her the best.

It's not necessarily burnout. It could just be getting close to your natural ceiling. Some people probably think it's bad to hit your ceiling in high school, but if your ceiling is a 17 minute 5k, you're not going to be that useful in a competitive D1 setting anyway. The people who are most successful in college are always going to be the people who are talented enough to run competitive high school times on lighter training.

I partly agree. I think dissing on kids who run hard and well in HS is pointless. It is nearly impossible to tell who will keep improving the most. Maybe a kid running light in HS shows there is room to grow and lots of untapped talent. But maybe it shows they can’t handle high mileage. Maybe a kid running hard in HS shows they have the genetic talent to withstand higher mileage training.

You never really know who will explode in college until they are there.

Let’s face it folks. FM girls do not run well in college, almost never, does not happen.

why would any college coach recruit an FM kid?

Yes, they are often disappointed to find the college training is less than high school and that commitment of coaches and teammates just isn't there.

Um yea, keep using that excuse.
I’m sure the training and the athletes she was training with at NC State were not up to the level of the cult at FM.

sorry, the FM kids are done by the time they graduate, it is the programs fault.

come on, if the kids had any pride and integrity they would continue to at least stay on the same level except for the fact that they are toast.

uh this is a ridiculous thing to say. As the poster above mentioned, NC State was the NCAA champions and it's hard to imagine that teammates like Tuohy, Steelman, Elly, Dominique, Marlee, and others weren't "committed"

it might be true that not every college program has the buy in that FM did but the schools that FM runners choose typically do.

LMAO what are you on? need some of it

cant believe someone thinks im an ok state and dudek fan

man, Tuohy fans ride HARD for Tuohy.

I like Katelyn Tuohy, but it's okay to root for others at the same time?

I think walters has gotten a lot out of her ability. Not that this always means anything, but I can remember being at the state meet in 2019, and thinking how strong Tuohy and Rauber looked compared to Walters.

How much Rauber progresses remains to be seen as well