Don't know what you call recruiting, but I thought he never contacted anybody. I thought he always said that it was up to the athlete to be interested enough to make the first contact.
Don't know what you call recruiting, but I thought he never contacted anybody. I thought he always said that it was up to the athlete to be interested enough to make the first contact.
Ted Casteneda, or Steve as he was known then, was highly recruited as the state champ in the 2 mile.
I don't know of a Mike Nahom, but that is not the answer.He is before Casteneda.
John Lunn '68
Correct, Lunn, father of Jason Lunn of Stanford ran as a walk-on and became the first All American for coach Don Meyers in 1968 finishing behind Shorter in the NCAA meet in NYNY.
Wrong!
You ever worked on a farm? the work never ends and somehow I was able to put in doubles all summer; it's a matter of priorities. 8-4:30 is half a day's work where I come from.
If Wetmore is known for taking "walkons" to all american status, there must be a list that is available. I still say BS.
Well then congrats to you. However, you grew up in that environment, I take it. So therefore, adding doubles was just an added stress onto your daily schedule of your farm duties. This is understandable, if I had been painting for years before I added doubles to my routine I definitely would have been able to do both. In fact this summer was my second summer painting and I would have been able to double if not for being injured. It is all a matter of being able to handle the stress that you place on your body. I needed to adapt to working and running, then working and running twice a day. Besides, I said that it was easier for me to run my mileage in one run a day rather than in two. If you can handle a rough physical job with somewhat long hours (albeit an 8 hour day maybe short to some people) and still run twice a day then more power to you, I am not denying that it is possible, hell I even did it for a while before tanking and switching to one run a day, it let me sleep in an hour or so later. That's what my argument was, sometimes the job that someone has makes it hard for them to double, whatever the reason, and therefore singles make more sense to that person. Does this mean that that person is not dedicated, no unless the person decides to train less because of his job. But that's an argument for another time.
At CU under Mark Wetmore arguably the first walk-on was Jay Cleckler who earned an AA honor in cross country in 1994 when Wetmore was an assistant for Jerry Quiller. Or take Scotty Larson, who emphasized soccer at Boulder's Fairview high school and took 34th for AA at NCAAs cross in 1993 for CU, the first year Wetmore came on board (Wetmore was hired in 1993). Cleckler never broke 10:00 for 3,200-m in high school, but he worked as hard as anyone who's ever gone through CU. Another walk-on was Mike Friedberg, a triathlete from Maryland who ended up busting a 28:52 for the 10,000-m in college. Or Matt Napier (4:27 for 3,200-m in high school where he played football); Aaron Blondeau of Salida (13:51 for 5,000-m in college, not much in high school). Wetmore never turns anyone away from the first workouts, but if they can't cut the mustard, things usually sort themselves out.
whoa buddy....Blondeau was a FootLocker finalist...that counts as something in hs. Other than that though your right on....from what I gather Friedberg didn't break 4:40 for 1600 in hs...28:52 is about 4:40 per mile for 6.2
How does a list of 4 build a reputation?
Didn't Friedberg go to school in Steamboat Springs after hs so that he could get in state tuition and transfer credits without starting his eligability. Wasn't he like a 21 year old freshman? He didn't get on that program without some recruiting. Now you have a list of 3.
OK, here's some names from this year's team.
Keenan Robbins. Keenan has posted on here at times, he's a Colorado freshman from Mankato MN who placed 46th in last year's MN state meet with 16:46. I don't remember his track times but I don't think his 3200 was much faster than 10-flat.
Matt McCue. Matt's from Regina HS in Iowa City Iowa, he was 3rd in the 2000 State small-school class in 16:24. I believe his track times are in the high 4:20's and 9:30's.
Both of these young men are listed in results of some of the meets as being members of the Colorado team, not unattached.
You tell me that these are recruited runners?
These are obviously young men who have a dream of running at the highest level and are out there working to see if they can make their dream come true. Good for Wetmore for giving them a chance. From what I know of other top programs, guys with times like this wouldn't be given the time of day.
Tell when they are all americans. I maintain that the "reputation" is without foundation!
Interesting that under the program that Wetmore is running now, Larson would not have made the cut in the opening time trial and no one would ever know of him.
What do you say about the Elmuchio's that he has produced?
Hodgie-san wrote:
All praise to Wetmore for not trying to re-invent the wheel.
He is directly related to Lydiard and cites him as his most important influence.
I agree whole heartedly that what most athletes need is that
100m per week for a year before they have the necessary conditioning to reach their potential. The groundwork.
You do not need rocket science or even a coach to accomplish that, only desire & a love of running and a view to the competitive efforts ahead.
Another subtle dissing of exercise science by an old guy. Love this hypocracy!
So Wetmore's advanced degree in Exercise Physiology has nothing to do with his success? Get real.
Simply (and simplistically) desiring and loving running hasn't gotten a large percentage of coaches and teams very far since the eighties. Maybe people will learn from good examples like Wetmore a fine combination of the art AND science of distance training.
The greatest benefit of having an exercise science background is the better grasp of the parameters of recovery: how far to push and how long to take before pushing again. A coach with a legit background in exercise science is a better chance for the avoidance of overtraining, especially involving anaerobic work.
Name a D-I program in which every "Elmuccio" has improved and remained a viable part of the team. This is a tough sport that gets tougher as you get higher on the food chain. Some decide that the extra effort isn't worth it.
And who said anything about EVERYBODY in a program becoming an All-American? There was a question a few posts back about whether a runner with HS times of 4:20 and 9:20 would have a chance at Colorado. Someone on the board said NO; this evidence points to the contrary.
My point is that I admire the fact that Wetmore is allowing runners who are not world-beaters chase their dreams while being a part of his team. Most top programs don't have room for those who aren't All-Americans. To cite one example:
I love Jerry Schumacher, but when a 6th man from an NCAA qualifying team (Kevin Cullen) is told he's "there's no room for him on team anymore" when he returns from a year of overseas study something is dead wrong. And it's not Schu's fault; it's the system he works for. Wisco's interpretation of Title IX is so draconian that only a very small number of athletes are allowed to be part of the team. And the UW-schools in Division III, for fricking crying out loud, are limited in the number of male runners they can have on their team. I know an Iowa HS runner who's times are equivalent to Keenan Robbins' who was told he's "not good enough" to run at one of the DIII UW schools.
This is not meant as a dress down of the UW programs, which I admire very much. But it's refreshing to see that Wetmore has found a way in this day and age of gender quotas to give a chance for someone to be on his team who's not an All-American and probably never will be.
You may know more about the program that I do; I'm just citing evidence that I can see from the results.
Here is the deal. Don't believe everything you read. One thing that seems common with the under 30 crowd is that if they hear or read something twice, it must be fact. On the issue of taking runners from "walk-on" to All-American has happened maybe 3 times. Other coaches have done the same thing without the walk on water image. The system that is in place now at CU would have shit canned Larson and yet people use Larson as an example. Just because Lear printed it in a book doesn't make it fact. The fact is, CU has produced All-American runners from material that no one else wanted for decades. This did not start with Wetmore. Wetmore did not invent running in Boulder.+
Colorado's or Wetmore's first Colorado walk-on All-American?
Hao Pan from Manhattan Beach, CA and via Villanova walked on the Colorado team this year and competed for Colorado in a few meets. I'm speculating, but I think it can safely be believed that Wetmore probably didn't recruit this guy - his mile time in high school was over 4:40 and his two mile p.r. was about 10:20.
At Villanova, he didn't compete for the school, but did run some road races, which were on par with his high school PR's or slower.
But Wetmore obviously let Hao compete. So walk-on's are welcome.
Putting in the necessary background (as Wetmore suggest) does not require rocket science or even coaching.
This is the base for all future training and success using any legit means necessary.
Can you comprehend that?
LOL, I think you're more interested in arguing than facing reality Run In The Buff (a Stanford tradition at Yosemite, no?). Three-fourths of what you've said so far is BS. Hate to break it to you but all the top programs have different angles but they really respect eachother.
*Mike Friedberg was not a "21-year-old frosh" at CU and he walked on as a triathlete from the Buffs triathlon team.
*Coach Wetmore obviously didn't cut Scotty Larson from the team as he became an all-American during Wetmore's first year coaching (1993).
*Other unrecruited Colorado walk-ons to All-Americans (Jon Cooper) 1994 and 1995 XC; Patty Roberts (16:14 for 5,000-m, 33:56 for 10,000-m, all-American in XC 1994); the list goes on and there are far more than 3 walk-ons to AAs as you state, of course in your original post you said there were zero.
What other coaches and athletes have Wetmore's walk-on to AA track record? Cite specific examples. Name one coach who has produced more walk-ons to All-Americans in the NCAAs than Wetmore and who are they? And Wetmore only recruits American runners so that will limit your field even more.
BTW: The earth is not flat either.