That race surprised me more than anything, while sampling today's results. The second heat looked stronger on paper. Yet it ended up with 5 qualifiers from the first heat and only the 3 automatic qualifiers from the second, with Willis out and Goriaran out. The BYU women's coach seemed stunned herself, when asked about the 800 prelims after their DMR victory.
The 800 races are not on YouTube yet, nor the mile prelims
Willis ran at the front for most of the race, leading out in 29.high then slowed significantly as if running a 1500...she got passed by Whitaker and another at the bell, then pushed hard with 100 to go and was almost close to grabbing third but strangely seemed to give up with 10 meters to go with a slight look of surprise on her face.
...she missed 3rd Q in her heat but was a full second off of q which came from Congdon in the faster first heat. The second heat didn't put in the effort at all during lap 2&3 to allow any chance of q happening.
I wonder when the decision was made not to put Willis and Whittaker on the DMR. That could partly explain Willis' finish -- maybe she was trying to conserve energy for the DMR, but shut things down before realizing Kitching was right there. But I also think she just didn't have it today, and ran out of gas. So my guess is that's when they decided she wouldn't do the DMR, and since they knew they couldn't win without her, they took Whittaker out too so she'd be fresh for tomorrow.
I wonder when the decision was made not to put Willis and Whittaker on the DMR. That could partly explain Willis' finish -- maybe she was trying to conserve energy for the DMR, but shut things down before realizing Kitching was right there. But I also think she just didn't have it today, and ran out of gas. So my guess is that's when they decided she wouldn't do the DMR, and since they knew they couldn't win without her, they took Whittaker out too so she'd be fresh for tomorrow.
Your theory is not correct. Whittaker said in her interview immediately after the race that the decision to not use Willis and Whittaker for the DMR had been made before the meet started.
She made a few tactical errors and missed the final by .0003.
Rose is going to destroy the field in the final.
She missed the final by .003, not by .0003 .
And the only tactical decision that really ended up mattering was her decision not to lean at the line. The other woman was slightly behind Willis but leaned and got her shoulder ahead of Willis.
It's amazing how many distance runners have years of experience in top level races but it doesn't occur to them to lean.
Nick Symmonds made a whole video about the time he got outleaned in a race by .01 and after that he started practicing his lean in practice. Maybe now Willis will start practicing her lean in practice.
She made a few tactical errors and missed the final by .0003.
Rose is going to destroy the field in the final.
She missed the final by .003, not by .0003 .
And the only tactical decision that really ended up mattering was her decision not to lean at the line. The other woman was slightly behind Willis but leaned and got her shoulder ahead of Willis.
It's amazing how many distance runners have years of experience in top level races but it doesn't occur to them to lean.
Nick Symmonds made a whole video about the time he got outleaned in a race by .01 and after that he started practicing his lean in practice. Maybe now Willis will start practicing her lean in practice.
From a coaching perspective it's even more important to teach your runners to race through the line as if you're running an 805 meters. Of course the lean is important in tight races but part of that is carrying as much speed through the line as possible. This is important for athletes trying to pr also. Additionally, racing through the line is important lesson for those athletes that often stumble and fall at the finish line...which is falsely thought by some as a last great surge but is actually uncoordinated deceleration. Race through the line!!
This girl had an immense amount of pressure on her even as a senior in high school with regard to obtaining a OT qualifier.
She had issues at Stanford too in terms of multitasking at nationals.
She is on a high level and with that, probably textbook depression and anxiety.
With her it is probably all or none. When all in, you get an all-time performer on the cusp of world level competitor. When not all in, she cant fake it. Today is evidence. She has all the talent in the world but when not head strong, season is a total scrap.
She has the ability but I think Stanford is too much pressure for her to find the balance she desires.
Ask yourself this: would Roisin Willis pull an all nighter to obtain a passing grade? In my view, she pulls the all nighter every single exam and is probably burning the candle wick at both ends. Today's result probably having something to do with that academic side of the struggle.
Wait until she finds out people manage to go to school while taking care of sick kids and aging parents while also working. How soft can someone be?
To all the people so quick to rip on her and speculate about her, please read this.
This is of course total speculation because I could be misreading her facial expressions and demeanor since I don't know her, but to me she looked upset and miserable on the starting line. I've seen it a lot with HS runners at big meets in my area. My first thought was "this isn't going to go well." Hopefully that wasn't the issue as she ran reasonably well, but it wouldn't surprise me if she is still struggling with race anxiety, which can be a hard nut to crack.
To all the people so quick to rip on her and speculate about her, please read this.
This is of course total speculation because I could be misreading her facial expressions and demeanor since I don't know her, but to me she looked upset and miserable on the starting line. I've seen it a lot with HS runners at big meets in my area. My first thought was "this isn't going to go well." Hopefully that wasn't the issue as she ran reasonably well, but it wouldn't surprise me if she is still struggling with race anxiety, which can be a hard nut to crack.
I also don't think there's any reason to call out the Stanford coaches. Roisin has run well at Stanford and obviously there's a lot going on with her. Also, as someone else said, Santos does not coach the women.
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