German Fernandez will Henry Rono up at the the NCAA'S Cross

His injury was racing too much and then being tired... AND my 2nd point... Derrick is also the smartest runner in NCAA D1, and thus, he was using his cunning ability to lull Fernandez into a false sense of security... and my final point... F-dawg will need to be 145% mentally ready and 215% physically ready if he wants to beat derrick

German's injury was racing too much? How many times has he raced since entering college? 13 maybe? in 15 months? He's extremely injury prone, but it's hardly reasonable to argue that over-racing is to blame for his injuries. Over-training maybe, but not over-racing.

I agree that Derrick is a beast this year. A totally different runner than a year ago. I'm not sure, though, what his intelligence has to do with anything. I agree he's much more intelligent than German, but not on the track/course. German has an innate ability to judge pace and a competitive drive rivaling Derrick's. I don't buy the argument that Derrick's book smarts give him an advantage on race day.

You might be on to something here. Since I can't make my prediction on the contest I would like to say here that I think German will win on Monday. His gun to wire win in the 1500 was the most impressive race I saw last year and i think they have been sandbagging him this fall.

Have to agree with you on German's NCAA 1,500 win...one of the smartest and most confident wins I have ever seen. He threw the old "don't lead from the gun or you'll get out kicked" theory right out the window. How many dumb ass milers have we watched over the years jog the first part of the race just to get out kicked anyway?

I don't know if they are sandbagging him this year or not but I still haven't heard what the actual injury was. I hope he does well but Smith sure seems to over think things during cross and I think that gets in the athletes heads.

Nasty Nate wrote:

His injury was racing too much and then being tired... AND my 2nd point... Derrick is also the smartest runner in NCAA D1, and thus, he was using his cunning ability to lull Fernandez into a false sense of security... and my final point... F-dawg will need to be 145% mentally ready and 215% physically ready if he wants to beat derrick

Geez, what is it with some people who think that all white people must be super intelligent? Not only that, but they attribute all their successes to their intelligence. Pau Gasol can dunk a basketball. Wow, he's so intelligent. Stephan Holm can high jump. My God, he's a genius. Derrick has not won a single championship track race race in his college career. Man, he is the most intelligent racer ever.

I can't at all figure out the relevance of a 10k run thirty years ago to this week's event. I can't get the connection..

For those that do want to recall great racing though, the best race I have ever seen was at the Sunkist 2 mile indoor event in 1978, where Henry Rono, Suleiman Nyambui and Nick Rose ran an insanely competitive last mile with the victory going to Nyambui. All 3 were absolute champions in their demeanor and competitiveness. Rose's NCAA XC win in Bloomington was impressive, too - very, very few XC champions run off and hide from the field like he did.

Let's just hope that we see more great racing - these older guys really did help peak interest in the sport - and it would be nice to keep it that way.

Dempster wrote:

Have to agree with you on German's NCAA 1,500 win...one of the smartest and most confident wins I have ever seen. He threw the old "don't lead from the gun or you'll get out kicked" theory right out the window. How many dumb ass milers have we watched over the years jog the first part of the race just to get out kicked anyway?

I don't see how this race was any indication of "smartness." To me, it simply suggest confidence and, perhaps, smart coaching. How much intelligence does it take to look at a field and decide that you are the strongest SOB out there and that your best chance of winning is to make everyone hurt so much that they can't stay with you much less outkick you.

Similarly, I'm not sure what makes Derrick so extraordinarily smart in running. Just like Fernandez last year, Derrick has been the strongest runner in every race this year except Pre-Nat. Derrick has run the same race every time. Stay with the pack, help pace the team then go for the victory.

One common trait that both these gifted runners have is they both run within their abilities. Both runners, especially Fernandez, have incredible sense of pace. I haven't seen either of them blow up in races (I don't count GF's NCAA injury DNF) or have a bad race.

Tomorrow should be fun.

old memories wrote:

I can't at all figure out the relevance of a 10k run thirty years ago to this week's event. I can't get the connection..

For those that do want to recall great racing though, the best race I have ever seen was at the Sunkist 2 mile indoor event in 1978, where Henry Rono, Suleiman Nyambui and Nick Rose ran an insanely competitive last mile with the victory going to Nyambui. All 3 were absolute champions in their demeanor and competitiveness. Rose's NCAA XC win in Bloomington was impressive, too - very, very few XC champions run off and hide from the field like he did.

Let's just hope that we see more great racing - these older guys really did help peak interest in the sport - and it would be nice to keep it that way.

It's about being genetically gifted that's all. Rono was not 100% fit for that race. By all accounts German is not 100% fit for tomorrow. In 1982 ALSAL was a the top of his game as Derrick is today. My point is that German is so talented and mentally tough that he can over come his supposedly lack of fitness, as Rono did, and defeat Derrick tomorrow.

Nasty Nate wrote:

Derrick is also the smartest runner in NCAA D1, and thus, he was using his cunning ability to lull Fernandez into a false sense of security... and my final point... F-dawg will need to be 145% mentally ready and 215% physically ready if he wants to beat derrick

And yet that Japanese freshman still ran faster for the last 8k of a 20k than Derrick did for just 8k the same day at pre-nats.

German Derrick wrote:

One common trait that both these gifted runners have is they both run within their abilities. Both runners, especially Fernandez, have incredible sense of pace. I haven't seen either of them blow up in races (I don't count GF's NCAA injury DNF) or have a bad race.

Tomorrow should be fun.

German is a machine when he is on the track, running even splits. In XC, he is vulnerable as results from Footlocker, 2008 Midwest Regional, 2009 XC races, show. He has had bad XC races, don't kid yourself, there is no way he should have been a distant 3rd at Footlocker, etc. He went from being invincible at his state meet, where he could control the pacing, to being the paper tiger trying to limp his way to the finish after being wounded from the fast first 800m through the mud.

German has not even trained for this CC season. He is just doing enough to help out the team. Vail however, has been running 120 miles every week for the last 1 and 1/2 years( according to Smith) so Vail should destroy everyone today. 120 a week for last year and a half...RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uber cool

Adi