Say it ain't so. Grant Fisher won't do World XC. Nor will Hocker.

Maybe he means one of the meme distances. Like maybe takes a stab at like 2 mile indoor AR or 2000m indoor AR.

At this stage in his career if Grant Fisher is targeting indoor records they’ll likely be world records.

The 2007 kids (who should be better than the HSers) who are in College should be on the team. Anyone seriously wanting to run for America would give up a silly HS meet, if not then I hope they never make a team.

The first one was a race won in 13:26. You’re making the case that Hocker can be the AR holder in every distance from 1500m through to 10000m. I really don’t see him, if he choses to, running 26:30.

This is interesting. Can't be very common, right?

Cole Hocker vs Conner Mantz would've been fascinating.

Needed to incentivize this. Clearly, Grant follows the money based on his foray into the mess that was GST. No judgement, just precedent. Big check for running the race. Big bonus for individual result. Big bonus for team result. Incentivize the individual into bringing in other top tier teammates. USATF is good for the money. Probably. No forward thinking here though.

Pussies

I am not making any claims about ARs. I am making claims about winning races.

A few general thoughts on this:

1. Hocker will be missed. If one wins the world title at 5,000m, you would be just fine in XC, especially the fast course in Florida. I give him a pass on the long course, however, as long as he's going for gold for the indoor season. We can probably substitute him for an equally capable guy over the XC distance. However, he should be racing the 2K. World Cross is in the USA. Make an exception, bud.

2. Fisher will be missed. Really no excuse here. He's an Olympic medalist in the 10K. He's an American. He should be running the World XC Champs in the USA. Scannel seems to be a coach who overthinks things.

3. Running a hard XC race in early January will make no difference to Fisher or Hocker's indoor (March) and outdoor seasons. If anything, it will benefit them, but sometimes athletes and coaches try to get to cute (see above).

3. I like the World XC being where it is now on the calendar, but when it went up against World Indoors, that made no sense.

4. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these American athletes. There truly is nothing like the World Cross Country Championships. It's on home soil. Step up.

5. Nobody talks about the women, but I imagine we (USA) could put together a very solid team with an outside shot of a medal. No low sticks, but some good grouping between 15th and 30th. If there were ever a chance for Cranny or Schwiezer, etc. to win a global medal, this is it.

Hopefully Grant runs Houston. Would prefer him to run cross but I think he gets the AR if he shows up in Houston.

World XC on American soil for first time in 34 years, and never again in the primes of this current crop.

OR

World indoors held in 2024, 2025, 2026... 2028(?) but right before the Olympics so indoors likely not a priority in '28. Indoors far less prestigious given the limited African participation.

Easy call.

Can you blame Cole for not wanting to run knowing he'd get sold by the US women.

Echoing the sentiment on hopes of Fisher running a half. If he's not gonna run a half, while also skipping out on cross, he starts to become very difficult to root for.

Cross is disappointing because we might actually be as good ever right now. outside of that, im just as good with the idea of a half.

Hocker is only great for around 6 weeks per year. If he's good in cross, he's gonna be paying the price somewhere else. And don't forget he has had issues with both achilles.

regarding Fishsr…

Who cares about a half marathon when you can compete in World XC?

why not run a half next fall or even this later spring?

I don’t know about the men but for the women, it won’t be a fun experience. Last time, Kelati was the first American, 1:50 behind.

World XC is not a once in a lifetime experience. If it was, everyone would run it, but WC and Olympic track is far more important to them.

I’m sorry, but if two out of the three American distance Olympic medalists from Paris (the third being Rooks, who nobody is expecting to run xc anyway) are opting out, US XC has become immediately watered down and uninteresting. Hocker the WC 5000, not even willing to participate makes this sport look like a joke. I am almost willing to bet that as we get closer to December, Young, Blanks, and Mantz will withdraw and so will any other actual elite distance star. The race is a joke with no incentives, run in the dead freezing cold of winter, in rugged unpredictable terrain and dangerous footing, and no American male has medaled at World XC since Virgin. One can’t blame our guys for giving US XC the middle finger. The race and World XC have no prestige anymore, and the guys know even if they did well, it wouldn’t mean anything for their careers. US XC is dead and won’t be back anytime soon.

It's not common but it's not unprecedented either. One of the big benefits of an agent of an up-and-coming athlete is getting you into the best races. But Fisher is at a level where he can get into any race he wants. And it's possible his Nike deal isn't up for a few years (it's common for them to expire after Olympic years). So if that's the case, he may not feel he needs a track agent anymore. Jenny Simpson made a similar decision once she got really good. And Emma Coburn has never had an agent. Like Simpson and Fisher, she was good enough for most of her career that she never needed to lobby to get into a race.

Clayton Young isn't quite at their level but he doesn't use an agent anymore either. And then Parker Valby has her dad acting as her agent rather than hiring a traditional track agent.