It’s Cross Country! Who really cares about XC? It is a season that is basically just for training purposes. Track and times in Track are all that matter when it comes to running
It’s Cross Country! Who really cares about XC? It is a season that is basically just for training purposes. Track and times in Track are all that matter when it comes to running
The fact that several NAU guys underperformed suggests that they didn't taper much for this race. That would be a pretty confident move considering how important everyone says Nuttycombe is. So going into the championship, despite the fact that they only lost one key scorer, suddenly everyone sees them as the underdog, rather than a team primed for a three-peat. Perhaps not a bad plan.
I'm sure they didn't plan for Kusche and Quax to run that poorly -- Corey Gorgas was just 10 seconds slower than Quax in the B race in 24:15. They may not be the favorite, but in over a month, I still think they are contenders.
Sahlman has a really interesting bouncy lope, even when he runs the 800. I think he has more endurance and range than he's being given credit for, and will prove it sooner than later.
Great runners regularly transition from being a 5000 specialist, like Kipchoge was, to marathon. I think Sahlman can handle a 10k.
It’s Cross Country! Who really cares about XC? It is a season that is basically just for training purposes. Track and times in Track are all that matter when it comes to running
Cross country is more of a team sport. Track is more for individual accomplishments
Looks like he was beaten by Tom Brady and Brendan Fraser, celebrities who are both well into their 40s and have virtually no experience with distance running. Sad.
How many more professional football players is Michigan gonna recruit?
60th is an embarrassment. He didn’t train this summer or he just went out too hard and paid for it. Look at Ritz’s True frosh XC season or even Diego Mercado’s: mixed it up with the big dogs and went for it. Reminds me of Verzbicas who bombed then quit Oregon soon after. If he can’t do it at 8k if he’s on the team at Natty’s with a 10k in the mud he will finish 150th. Interested to hear thoughts.
Didn’t train over the summer? Didn’t he go to big bear with NP?
Some of you are completely clueless and have no idea how deep XC is right now.
There were 60 scoring places in 22 seconds from 52-112 as an example, it's insane out there. Sahlman is a really great talent and this was his first XC race, and surely in the deep end of the pool.
Scorers were literally tenths apart, tons of them He will be better, although not sure 10K will look much better.
Horrific take. He is a true freshman adjusting to college life, training, longer race distance, etc. If he ran 15 seconds faster he would have finished 40 places higher. Not a very big jump for a freshman to make during the course of his first college cross country season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the top 30 at nationals.
Also, let’s not forget that Colin was heavily focused on 800m racing until mid-June. Who was the last 1:48 high school guy you know who got to college and immediately mixed it up with the top guys in cross? Alan Webb maybe, but I’m not sure there are any others.
If Sahlman wasn't ready then letsruns favorite genius coach Mike Smith wouldn't have raced him. NAU is in trouble this year.
In trouble because they may not win NCAAs or only finish 2nd or 3rd? The latter sounds like a fireable offense to me.
Some SoCal high school runners don't transition well from road and hard packed "cross country" races to actual races on grass and soft dirt. IMHO, California does its young athletes a big disservice by holding most events on super manicured courses built exclusively for fast times. Some will rise to the occasion and learn how to race on real terrain while others can only perform on tracks/roads. I grew up in the heartland racing on grass and we got excited about golf course races because they would be easier and faster. When I went to college in California, I was shocked to find that XC was basically a road race with a few short patches of grass, dirt, or bark chips thrown in. The vaunted Mt. SAC course is just a hilly dirt road race. When we had a rare all grass race, I would always place higher because I knew how to pace myself on it. This is why I don't get all amped up over the NP boys when they get to college. They have amazing talent but they will need a year or two to figure out real XC.
So true, I have seen over the years runners who do well on courses like Mt. Sac or Woodbridge, or even Crystal Springs, do poorly on courses like Stanford which is all thick grass.
How many times do we have to do this, people? Every year, almost every season, there is at least one thread about a good runner who runs a mediocre race in the beginning and/or middle of the season, and like clockwork they usually return to form when it counts. Likewise, there are also examples every season of guys who overperform and have one-off performances that are never talked about the rest of the season.
Be honest, it was a bad race. At the end of last year in cross he would have been top 40 in the NCAAs already.
Nearly every runner who has been at Sahlmans as a senior in high school has finished top 10 at NCAA nationals. He should have finished no worse than 20th here.
This just makes me laugh at all the NP fanboys who last year were saying how last years NP team would not only qualify for the NCAA Champs but also place very high.
Be honest, it was a bad race. At the end of last year in cross he would have been top 40 in the NCAAs already.
Nearly every runner who has been at Sahlmans as a senior in high school has finished top 10 at NCAA nationals. He should have finished no worse than 20th here.
I agree, Maybe Colin is more a pure 1500/miler, but there’s no way around it, he is going to judged in comparison to Nico. Nico was 4th at NCAAs as a true freshman (albeit racing 4 months later than usual). In light of this, anything less than a top 10-20 finish for Sahlman at the end of the year has to be viewed as an under achievement and disappointing. 60th at Nuttycombe does not suggest that Sahlman is close to this level right now.
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