Lukas V Moves Up to the Senior Ranks

Honestly, if he competes in a handful of CC races and does well (i.e. top 5), he could gain enough points within this year to make those races. It's a stretch, but definitely possible. That doesn't mean he will be competitive on the next level though (not saying he wouldn't be). LV is currently competing against other US athletes for points. Each federation is giving X amount of spots for WC and WCS races, so he only needs to be one of the top US competitors.

One thing to note, the US has a few of their higher ranked guys in La Paz as well (Collins, Heurta, etc.). This will be a good benchmark to see where LV ranks among the better triathletes in the US.

If he falters in the triathlon, he'll be back in running. To go to triathlon just because he thinks the competition is weaker shows his character (at this age). He's gone back and forth between tri and running several times now, each time he has a setback, losing a track or tri race. I'd like to see him go back to running, as he is a very rare talent with a sub 4 and sub 8:30 in high school, not triathlon, where he is a relatively weak swimmer and not a great cyclist.

What are the chances that he competes for Lithuania at the Olympics?

I'm predicting a repeat of his collegiate performances. Kid has undeniable talent, but doesn't have the heart to race well when there are people around him that can actually keep up. Sadly, I just don't see his career going anywhere, especially not the 2012 Olympics.

Raptured wrote:

I'm predicting a repeat of his collegiate performances. Kid has undeniable talent, but doesn't have the heart to race well when there are people around him that can actually keep up. Sadly, I just don't see his career going anywhere, especially not the 2012 Olympics.

What? Doesn't have heart when people can keep up? That's ridiculous. He looked like he had a ton of heart in his last place finish in the Pre Classic 2 mile, or in his 2nd place finishes at both the Shamrock Shuffle and the B.A.A. Mile last spring.

His collegiate performances were definitely hampered by trying to rush back in after World's in the Triathlon. The kids a winner. I bet he's not the last prep distance phenom to pursue Triathlon rather than track in college.

everyone but him knew that there was no reason for him to take his poor finishes at ncaa xc meets seriously, given that he was out of shape. yet, he took that as an excuse to drop. in truth, he probably was ready to drop after winning world juniors in the tri.

The kid has a legitimate chance to be a world/olympic champion in triathlon instead of being another also-ran white guy in track. If we're all being honest with ourselves, the likelihood of Lukas (or any other american runner) winning any olympic medal in any track and field event is next to nil. The only reason people are judging him so harshly is because he bailed the sport. Like someone else pointed out earlier, Centro left Oregon too and no one is hacking him. As for screwing Oregon, pretty sure they would have still been shithouse with him on the team this season. Get off his nuts.

naia champ wrote:

What are the chances that he competes for Lithuania at the Olympics?

Wouldn't that preclude him from competing for the US in tri's afterwards? It might also stop any rushing of his citizenship by US officials. Also might lose training facility privileges. So as a guess, I'd think not.

I should start running Triathlons. I ran better than him in the cross races he ran. I want to go to Argentina. Tris must be eeaasssyyyyyyyyy

Eligibility rules are lame

LV ran 13 seconds faster at 2M and quite a bit faster at 1M in high school than Centro, but Centro already has a bronze medal at 22 and LV has no chance at a medal in track, you say???

I'm embarrassed to call myself a runner after reading this thread.

Your mom can do better

Congratulations to LV. Let's face it dreams become reality with hard work and his young man has demonstrated that. A true asset to the human condition!

Why do people attack and defend Lukas V and continue to fight over how bad/great he is...I'm pretty sure he doesn't care what anyone says/thinks about him. He's a "pro" triathlete now so it doesn't matter. Yes he has enormous talent and has run times most of us can only dream of ever running and yes he is immature for not giving running a real chance at the collegiate level and peacing out on his "team" but sh*t happens. So why does everyone care so much about what he does, if he wins what's it do for all his supporters? They don't get a medal, he does and he won't ever thank any of you personally. And to all the haters, why are you so spiteful and bitter and jealous of him, so what he's faster than you were get over it, in the end its his choice and decision and he should do what makes him happy, not what makes his "fans" and "haters" happy. No one can judge him until they've been through what he's been through, which is no one so leave the kid be, I'm tired of hearing about the "what if"s. I'd like to talk about our sports "real" runners.

Sincerely, Dellort