WOW, Songok with a huge upset!!!

Maybe Rupp was trying to challenge himself and attempt to win it the hard way. It would have been easy* for Rupp to push the pace from the beginning, or even make a long drive with a mile to go. *by easy, I mean more likely that Rupp comes out on top. Not saying that it would be smart, but I respect Rupp's decision if his intent was to challenge himself.

OR, For those of you who read the T&FN article, you should know that Lananna was trying to convince Rupp that he can be a kicker. Maybe Rupp got a little TOO confident.

58, on a pace that slow (for Rupp) shows that he is not yet a kicker. Now he knows...

He DID run down Solinsky in a 5k. Just pointing it out... Though I agree he had poor strategy and I'm really starting to wonder if he'll EVER win a championship event. If he can't win this one, what CAN he win?

Rupp didn't run down Solinsky so much as Solinsky disintegrated in the final straight. Everyone now knows that the best 400 that Rupp can muster at the end of a tactical 10,000 is 58- compared to 60 at the end of a fast one. And his best 400 at the end of a tactical 1500 or 5000 is probably 57. The guy clearly has no top gear, and needs to use his strength to win races.Ultimately he will have to join Hall in the marathon.It's not fun to learn your hard lessons in your goal races.

number 2 wrote:

He DID run down Solinsky in a 5k. Just pointing it out... Though I agree he had poor strategy and I'm really starting to wonder if he'll EVER win a championship event. If he can't win this one, what CAN he win?

warren harding wrote:

Ultimately he will have to join Hall in the marathon.

Sad, but true... He still has a few years of good 10ks, but these days even marathoners need some high end speed.

... Well I'm happy for Songok. I talked with him after Conference Indoors, he's a really nice guy. His teammates tell me that he is SUPER humble. They tease him by saying "Way to go, Mr. All-American!" and he blushes and he tells them not to call him that. He's a good competitor and a classy athlete, good for him for getting this win!

hey , what s the diff between an unexpected result and an upset?

Tacticles wrote:

This is one thing I really dislike about elite level college running. It is clear that Rupp is saving himself for an effort at the US nationals. Why is he then running in a collegiate uniform? He treated this race like it was a prelim...get through it with the minimum effort necessary.

Not that I blame him, but when you get to the point that an NCAA title is so unimportant that you will put it at risk to save up for a professional meet, it is time to go pro.

I think you completely missed the mark with this post. This race was clearly very important to him and he gave it his all. Just look at the flocasts interview. You can tell hes very disappointed.

Well, as usual, the letsrun crowd never ceases to amaze with its idiocy. First, the hullaboo about Webb running the deuce instead of the mile and now this.

The me-me-me-instant-gratification culture wants everything now and, if they don't get it, well then to hell with athlete x or athlete y.

Webb and Rupp are developing athletes who have coaches that are (hopefully) focused on the long term.

Rupp conceivably still has fresh legs, and it will be exciting to see what he can do later in the summer. Ditto for Webb. Here's hoping he's learned to differentiate between early season races that mean nothing and the real season that begins in late summer.

I can't help but think of Tiger Woods. All the guy wants to do is win majors. Everything else in between is preparation. Ditto for Rupp and Webb. Eyes on the big prize in the future, the prize that makes a career. Winning NCAA or Pre does not a career make when you have the talent Webb and Rupp do.

If you don't think that Rupp himself is profoundly upset at his loss, you need to watch the post-race interview again. This was clearly his goal race for 2007. But yes, he is still young. However, he now has to decide whether to go pro in '08 without any NCAA track titles to his name.

Rupp running only the 10,000 at NCAAs was obviously done with the US Champs coming up where the hope is he finishes in the Top 3 for a spot on the world team. The tactics for last night - push it for the last 1200 - while somewhat of a gamble are still reasonable when one considered his recent races where he unleashed a pretty nice finishing kick.

I'm sure there was a lot of confidence in Rupp being able to outkick everyone in the field over 1200m. Looking back on it now perhaps they would have him push it earlier, but easy to say now. You can talk about other scenerios - Rupp running 28:30 pace is one - which might not have been too draining and still allowed him to have a good shot at the win without damaging his chances at US Champs, but they went with the 1200m plan last night. It's over and done with.

In reviewing the race last night don't forget that in the last month Rupp has run several hard efforts. He may be in excellent shape, but you can only run a couple of hard 10,000s on the track a year and Rupp had two already (Stanford Invite and Cardinal Invite) with hopefully two more later this summer. Look at the greats - Geb, Tergat - and you don't see them running more than a couple each year.

All that being said the tactics at the US Champs will have to be far different than last night if he has any chance of making the team. US Champs will have a couple of others - Culpepper, Abdi, Meb to name a few, who can lay it down over the last mile. I'm sure we will see a different race from Rupp in Indy.

popolo wrote:

an east african beating a yank at 10K is never an upset...perhaps somehwat unexpected, but not an upset

that is just the soft bigotry of low expectations talking. until americans expect to beat east africans, they won't.

So we know Rupp can't close at this point. 58 at the end of a slow 10k is not terribly impressive for a guy with his ability. So he knows this now and he better not let it happen again. At the 8k mark he should have started clipping off 61s and 62s.

rupps last three laps were....61,63,58-59

its not really like he was running 70s until the final lap.

that said...if he REALLY had his heart in it, he should have pushed the pace.

Of course Rupp is disappointed. But he is also smart enough to know that he has bigger fish to fry. As for turning pro without an NCAA title, I say, since when do you need to win an NCAA title to turn pro?

AdamLocked wrote:

... Well I'm happy for Songok. I talked with him after Conference Indoors, he's a really nice guy. His teammates tell me that he is SUPER humble. They tease him by saying "Way to go, Mr. All-American!" and HE BLUSHES and he tells them not to call him that.

You've lost all credibility. I believe he is a good guy, but please..........

Mtn Dew wrote:

58 at the end of a slow 10k is not terribly impressive for a guy with his ability.

What? 3:02 for the final 1200 is impressive and a 58-9 for the final 400 after 24 laps is impressive IMO. There are not a lot of runners, especially non-Africans, who can close with a sub-60 at the end of a 10K no matter what the pace. I'd say his last lap was impressive, unfortunately there just happened to be someone else who could run just a little faster.

SHAWN FLANAGAN is doing the coaching at TX A&M-CC. Although he's had more success with his women runners Jody (Dunston) Hawkins and others, but great to see he got his first national title.

Prior to Corpus he coached at UT and was head coach at UT-San Antonio. Not bad for a Wisconsin boy.

For all this bashing of Rupp & McDougal...where did Rohatinsky finish? He had run some pretty sweet 5k & 10k times earlier. Was he ill and/or injured?