CHARLES HICKS TO BOWERMAN

Stanford has Robinson & Sprout back . . . now a Big 2 . . . as well as upperclassmen Boyden, Burke, DiDonato, Topper twins, and Sherry twins.

Only lose Hicks and Meika B-R from the travel squad.

Stanford will still be a podium squad competing for the title this fall.

They lose Devin Hart too. That's their normal 1, 4, 5 (was 1,3,4 at nationals with Sprout's injury/blow up).

I was expecting this but at the end of the cross season. I think he’s leaving to have a year to prepare for the Paris Olympics. That’s the bigger goal he’s talking about.

it’s the right move. He has nothing left to prove at NCAA. He has his degree, individual title. Only thing was a team title but even if he stayed it wasn’t guaranteed and would’ve been time wasted when he could have been prepping to qualify for the Olympics instead. Curious to see if Robinson follows. He’s in a great position as well to make a run at the Paris Olympics!

On paper they may still have signs of a podium, but they've choked it up year after year since 2016. Every year they were ranked top 3 at some point but then they end in 4-5.

Losing half their scoring team and their leader is honestly worst case scenario for them. Having to hope rookies or guys minutes off their old scoring team can pull through for them sounds like a sign of another 5th place

Bullsh** what you write, degree. Even without a Stanford degree, Hicks might have a load of legitimate reasons to leave Stanford.

Oh, I'll take that back. He went to Stanford, so if a person departs Palo Alto without that glorious "free ticket" diploma, his or her life is probably all but over. Why, without a Stanford degree, it is highly likely that a job at McDonald's could be secured. And thank GOD Hicks didn't earn a degree from Oregon...or Washington...or Northern Arizona...or Michigan...or...or...or (fill in the blank), because THEN, for certain, his life would have been all but over. Without question. Without debate.

By the way, degree, you apparently posted "good for him" based on plop's anonymous post, which only said that, counting his redshirt year, Hicks had only been at Stanford for 4 years, and "he's fine". That's not proof that Hicks earned a degree (though others have since chimed in that he did).

Note to degree: don't apply to Stanford. Ever.

Buddy, it’s okay if you didn’t go to college.

"Why, without a Stanford degree, it is highly likely* that a job at McDonald's could be secured."

*UNLIKELY

NO, you're wrong. To be anything above a professional nose picker nowadays, one HAS TO GO TO COLLEGE. And, of course, that college has to be Stanford. Not even Hah-vahd is a worthy comparison to a Stanford education. (Now, excuse me while I puke at what I just wrote, because I don't mean a word of it.)

this 'degree' guy's IQ must be below 70

But he did go to college - Barber College!

A perfect fit. White 5k pretty boy from Stanford goes to BTC. Who would’ve thought.

Charles received his degree.

I'm sorry to see him leave before they could take a shot at a xc championship with what could have been the strongest xc team in history. Hicks is defending champ. Robinson just crushed everyone in the 5000m and sports a 13:11i to his name. They would have had three returning 27:40s guys (or really, quite a bit better now) plus the 16th World Jr XC finisher, his twin brother, who merely has the high school national record at 5000m in 13:34 and may still go 13:20s this year, plus their "roster filler," which is a stacked group of guys with the ability to run 22s for 8k again. I am a huge fan of Charles Hicks, as a Florida runner who is extremely bright and has a champion's mentality. However, I don't know that he has much to gain by going pro now in that he already had an NIL from last year; he was already training with guys at his level or better (Robinson could beat him in any given race); he isn't likely to make or at least place at world's this year; and he'd have the chance to build his name and fan base much further with a second individual title and a possible team title. What he loses in the short-term from going pro now instead of after xc is money, pr's, a possible spot at world's from better pr's, and six months of time to adjust to Jerry's training. So, he wins and he loses from the decision, like all decisions.

I should have said that what he loses now in the short-term if he delayed going pro until after xc would be money, pr's, a possible spot at world's, and a key six months of training adjustment time with Jerry's group.

Only, Sprout and Robinson delivered. No one has done well in a big meet.
I'd probably give it to Oklahoma St now. Last I checked, Shay Foster had eligibility, Faoud Massoui, Alex Maier, Viktor Shi**sama, and Rory Leonard are returning. I just watched the 2021 championship and Shi**sama was listed as a sophomore even though he was listed as a senior in track. Ryan Schoppe also had a good season last year

Nico Young would have been even happier to hear this news a year ago.

Ky just ran 13:20.96 at Lausanne yesterday. Since he competes for Australia his selection to his national team is easy, so he can remain on the Stanford team without jeopardizing his selection. He could go pro but 13:20 these days is far down the rankings so he wouldn't get a good deal. He should remain in school. He is majoring in "Management Science and Engineering" - whatever that actually means it has the words "management" and "engineering" so having a Stanford degree with those two words on it will provide lifetime job opportunities.

There's plenty of time in life for degrees if it comes to that.

And life has a way of preventing people from finishing things. Better and easier to do it now while he is there and on scholarship. Most people here (LRC) know how little the vast majority of professional runners earn - even the top elite runners take home peanuts compared to other professional sports. How much is Stanford tuition these days? Last time I checked years ago it was $72,000/year, must be around $80,000 now. Does Ky want to spend $80,000 of his hard-earned endorsement money years from now, along with having to reapply, relocate, convince his future family to move?