Men running outside of course. DQs coming?

NCAA is a s@#$show right now, doping without consequences and now blatant corner cutting.

Didn’t expect much when looking into this thread. Was absolutely shocked by the video of so many athletes cutting the course.

I think the organizers are to blame. The turns should've been both posted and roped off. They should have seen this coming. I mean hay bales are often put on courses to jump over!

I agree - the organizers dropped the ball on this one. No fence on a turn like that?

I have been involved with organizing quite a few high profile events and I would be sick to my stomach if that happened at event I had been a part of.

I just watched my ESPNU recording and am glad there is a thread on this.

That is the worst case of course cutting I've ever seen.

There was a line drawn the whole way and as others have mentioned, much of the course cutting took place when it didn't need to happen later in the race.

There should be DQs for any runner caught doing this at that point in the race. There were also runners running for long stretches inside the white line and hay bales for no other reason than to gain an advantage.

The course organizers deserve part of the blame but I think it pales to the blame that the NCAA and the men that cut the course deserve.

There were no issues when the women raced nor can I recall that there were any reported issues when the pre-national meet was held on the course earlier in the year.

Rojo said he didn't see it. Rojo, watch the race on YouTube! They are cutting the course on the very first curve.

I saw the post race video with Rojo. Jonathan G saw the blatant course cutting. Rojo definitely needs to watch the race video.

Need to make an example and DQ everyone. Hope someone files for this. Any other sport would take it seriously but I guarantee XC won’t. What a joke.

The women didn’t have a problem with the course. It’s really not that hard to stay between the lines.

What Iowa runners cheated? Expect this issue to go away

I agree with this. They held prenats 6ish weeks ago, ago, they should have realized and then fixed this issue then.

Hay Bales should have been turned perpendicular to the course and not parallel.

This issue falls directly on Jeff Mylinski from the NCAA. He is the one charged with making sure everything is in order. This has been an issue for many years and when he has been made aware that it is his responsibility he has responded in a snarky manner.

They should have just had race tape or fencing up. It was blantant cheating though. Ridiculous. I don't think I have ever seen such bad sportsmanship at the ncaa xc meet before. Those guys probably shaved off 30m in total at least if they were doing it everytime, especially on that one turn where it was so obvious from the drone camera.

Just rewatched 2024 at UW. There are a lot of turns/curves at Zimmer. And somehow everyone managed to stay within the lines.

Maybe others can confirm, but I’m pretty sure that there was a 2k loop on the course that the men ran twice that the women didn’t run on at all because of the differences in distance. The women just ran the 3K loop twice. Were the guys running off course on that 2k loop?

I saw this thread and was like "how bad could this possibly be" - the answer, as you said - the worst case of deliberate course cutting I've ever seen. These are the easiest and most uncontroversial DQ's you could ever make. They are so blatant and clearly premeditated it's almost unbelievable. There is a massive difference between a step or two across the paint on those corners which given the size of the field/terrain etc you commonsensibly give a pass - but these guys were clearly using this as a deliberate means to run shorter and get an advantage.

I was laughing watching it it's so brazen. I also laughed because you wonder what the net outcome really was in terms of benefit given that they went from running on a flat, trampled down surface to running through soft, 4 inch rough - but of course that is beside the point.

First thing that came to mind was Eric Holt getting DQ'd for taking a step on his inside lane during the first 30m of that Olympic Trials semi-final last season, which cost him his spot in the final and wiped out a 0.84 second PR (1.45.05). But we got cats out there at NCAA cross running 40-50m inside the chalk and hurdling damn hay-bales?

This one is so simple - NCAA reviews the footage and the blatant cheaters get DQ'd. No big deal at all.

Too lazy/cheap to flag off the entire course? It doesn't look as nice but a football field and basketball court have clearly marked boundaries that officials can see when players out of bounds.....ahaaaaaaa....not enough officials at critical turns!! Gentleman's honor is not a thing anymore as noted by so many here with a win at all cost attitude for some programs.

There wont be any dq as no protest filed and no official to give their report. Some would probably say no advantage since the grass was taller off course.