You get better at racing by racing. Jerry doesn’t realize this. He forgot that all the pros he coached ran full cross, indoor, and outdoor seasons (including doubling).
Grant and Sean Mcgorty didn’t race indoor that often. Hell Stanford hardly raced indoor season for most of their guys those years unless if they were older. Coach milt never raced the full team in cross until Wisconsin as well…Oregon already raced everyone, some ran unattached (Andy Powell always did this for kolas purposes). Stop throwing out misinformation. We live in a different time now than even 5 years ago. Jerry has figured out the system and is probably training them under a modified program that his PROS train under.
Why hasn’t that team raced at all this season. They ran one home race and the rest of their group is just no where? Why do they even redshirt their guys? They could be so good instead they waste talent by training them all for what? Redshirt years?? They’ll get stomped come ncaas
Probably training and getting ready to take top 3 at west regionals and take top 15 at nationals. Mediocre day but will do it with guys that will go on to run 3:34/ 1:45 during the outdoor season…where has OSU been? Oh yeah they’re not coached by Jerry, so we can’t trash Dave smith…
They’re also probably enjoying the luxuries of a underwater treadmill, receiving better nutrition and recovery than a lot of pro athletes, and in term receiving connections to coach, be an agent or work in the athletics world.
You know…just how cooper Teare, Cole hocker, Charlie hunter all got stomped in cross yet make the most now out of the peers who stomped them in cross and were the big shots (with the exception of Grant fisher of course, who also got stomped)…Yared, Mario, Geordie and oli weren’t QUITE that good in cross.
Charlie Hunter has done absolutely nothing. Teare got 9th at Nationals the year before he blew up and won Bill Dellinger the year he did. Cole was a sophomore. What's the comparison here...?
Oregon: we want to do better, winning pac12s and NCAA track titles is not good enough. we want you to coach.
Jerry: okay, don’t expect anything for three years though, at least. In fact, things will be worse for while because it’s not possible for a new coach to immediately do better than the old coach despite every resource imaginable.
Oregon: great here is a three year guaranteed contract
If I was a senior and I only got to race or or two times this season, I'd be pissed....
I agree.
These aren't professional runners. The majority of X-C rosters are kids who were exceptional high school runners and would like to maximize their potential over 4-5 years (+ or - a redshirt year). By and large, 99% of collegiate runners WANT to race, and they should. A solid program should include a good number of races. A solid Cross Country program should include 7 races which include regionals and nationals. You can have your elite group sit out one meet if necessary, that still gives you 6 races over a 3 month period. 4 races to prep for regionals and NCAA's.
Bad for the sport that UO isn't racing? Yes. It's bad for fans. But Jerry has shown his entire career that he cares 0% what fans think. Jerry is a great coach. We'll see if he can actually build and maintain a top college program anymore though.
I find the lack of racing infuriating too. Not sure why Jerry insists on doing it this way. I can kinda, sorta maybe understand it for professionals. But having 19 and 20 year olds only race 3 times over an xc season is insane. And imagine if you weren't top 7 for regionals and NCAAs? Why even both doing cross country at that point - it's just turf tempos and long intervals until the cows come home with no hope of competing...
It's ridiculous how little Jerry runs these kids. IMO he has a obligation to the kids, parent, fan and donors to travel and compete. The Dillinger meet is the only opportunity the majority of his athletes have to compete? I feel bad for his athletes. My fondest memories of XC and Track were the many weeks of traveling around the region and country with my team. Van rides, planes, hotel rooms, eating dinner at the local Italian restaurant, shenanigans after the meets are over... These kids are missing out big time....
You get better at racing by racing. Jerry doesn’t realize this. He forgot that all the pros he coached ran full cross, indoor, and outdoor seasons (including doubling).
His Wisconsin athletes also did a limited amount of racing, before he even moved out to Oregon to coach professionals. Argue about whether it's a good idea all you want, but it was his MO before he became a pro coach.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
I find the lack of racing infuriating too. Not sure why Jerry insists on doing it this way. I can kinda, sorta maybe understand it for professionals. But having 19 and 20 year olds only race 3 times over an xc season is insane. And imagine if you weren't top 7 for regionals and NCAAs? Why even both doing cross country at that point - it's just turf tempos and long intervals until the cows come home with no hope of competing...
And how can he know for sure he's even got the right top 7 to send (especially with all the freshman)? Yeah workouts and time trials can be indicators but every team I've ever been on had guys that were better or worse in the real races compared to how they stacked up against other teammates at practice.
Why hasn’t that team raced at all this season. They ran one home race and the rest of their group is just no where? Why do they even redshirt their guys? They could be so good instead they waste talent by training them all for what? Redshirt years?? They’ll get stomped come ncaas
It's weird that they didn't run Nuttycombe or Pre-Nats, but other than that, isn't barely racing how all top-tier ncaa cross operates these days?
1-2 Local meet(s) without full roster
Prenats/Nuttycombe
Conference
Regionals
Nationals
So Oregon just skipped one meet out of the usual season structure
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
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