Dumbest Racer in the NCAA

The only Kohlberg I can find who was an all-american is Kyle Kohlberg, but he was a baseball player!

I'm not real good at internet searching though.

Thanks for the attack, but to disappoint you I must tell you that I did better then she has ever done. I missed a national championship by 3 seconds. Maybe I should have gone out faster?

was there wrote:

That picture is taken at about the 500m mark. If you were at the race, you know that the building in the background is about 400m into the race. I think the picture is a little misleading too, Shook is not really that far in the front. Besides, this approach to racing only gets criticized by the "Monday morning" quarterback if it doesn't work. It's known as "ballsy" if it works. To paraphrase Chevy Chase, "she's an All-American, and you're not".

In the mid-90s. I have never mentioned it unless someone questions my "credentials." I apologize if you feel that's bragging.

Me wrote:

(The Kenyan Way) .

Front-running is NOT the Kenyan way. Back in the '80's, lots of Kenyans ran great halfway splits in marathons and then died. Eventually, they learned to pace themselves and the result has been a Kenyan winning almost every major (and lots of minor) marathons all over the world ever since.

Someone else asked about Shook's splits. She was 9:58 at 3K and finished in 20:18.7, so a 10:20 2nd half, which is not too bad. But Kate O'Neil also ran 9:58 and finished in 19:45 to take 2nd. And the girl who finished 1 second in front of Shook (Jennifer Payne of Stony Brook) only went out in 10:04. In fact, half of the girls in front of Shook went out slower than 10:00.

Oftentimes, front-running is not gutsy--it's just stupid.

Not trying to piss ya off, but I couldn't resist saying I was within three seconds of a national title as well in the 100m and 200m

And I was just 3 feet away from the National Title!

In the high jump=-)

Come on, she was a contender for the NCAA title. Except she ran a silly first half of the race. I can respect taking a race out with a strategic reason, except she took out the biggest race of the year with a little more competition than the GL region, or the MAC. No disrespect to her, I wasn't in contention for the National title, nor will I ever be. I just have to feel some sympathy to her for blowing her chance with a stupid beginning.

I see. And you KNOW that she's exactly the same as Kate ONeil (previous poster), you KNOW that she knew she'd slow down as much as she did, you KNOW that if she'd run slower for the first part of the race she would have been faster for the second.

Maybe if she'd run slower at the start, she'd never have picked it up. You can kvetch all you want, but that's the way some people work.

All this second guessing is really nauseating. I'm not defending Ms. Shook or her coach, because neither did anything that needs defense. She used the approach that she felt gave her the best chance at the race.

Although her front running strategy did not work for her in this particular meet, it has earned her five Conference titles (2 in Cross Country, 3 in Track), a Regional Championship and All-American honors twice (this past NCAA XC meet and in Outdoor Track in 2002). It seems like Briana Shook (who was not a H.S. All-American) is doing alright for herself.

I can't beleive you said that "it's a stupid move even if she wins". How stupid is that. It's never a bad move when you win. Who care how she does it if she wins.

What's that old adage about lots of races being lost in the first minute? Always run the first part of the race with your head. Run the *last* part with your heart. It's one thing to get up in the thick of things and try to hang on. It's another thing entirely to peel out of there like Ricochet Rabbit on an octuple dose of ephedrine after being launched from a slingshot and being chased by a swarm of angry, VAAM-fortified hornets buzzing inches from his naked buttocks.

my old coach Ted Hayden at the UCTC used to tell us "it is not where you start but where you finish that counts".

of course he also said to go out hard, hold it, then kick it in...

KOHLBREG-still no sufficient credentials listed per your earlier bragging. My credentials folow: - - - -- - -

i see passion................spontaneous..............stupid in relation to strategy...............but passionate.....if she wants to fully express, she's going to need a bigger base...................talk to wetmore..........................

B. Shook one of the boldest runners in the 2002 NCAA X-Country race. It is very easy to do as S. Flanagan did and run to win because you can; however, it is another thing to want to win and run to win (even when you are not the best/fastest). Briana Shook displayed heart, guts, determination, and focus which in the end was more than most of the other runners. I was so impressed with B. Shook season that I picked her to finish 6th and was not disappointed in her 24th placing because she went for it!

America needs more runners who run HARD and smart, because the object of running is to finish the fastest-one day Briana Shook may not slow down (she reminds me of a neophyte Paula Radcliffe).

Vipam

It's one thing to push the pace, go out in the lead, etc. However, in NCAA track last year she ran the first 400m in the steeple at the same pace as Slattery. That's the difference between guts and stupidity.

Lucky

I would not say she was stupid by no means. When Sammy Kipketer blazed thru the 1st mile in 3:58 of Carlsbad 5k 2001, 4:16 at the Cresent City Classic, or Kenenisa Bekele

2:28 1st 1000m at the 2002 Ekiden noone label them stupid.

When an athlete go out hard and achieve their goal their

brave and when they don't they are stupid (WRONG). They are both brave one just was better prepared or hung on better; however, it takes guts to do what Shook did (something many athletes and runners may never understand).

Vipam

Kohlberg. D1, D2, D3 or NAIA all-American? Or magpie redux...?

Since when have the Kenyans run conservatively? Have you ever seen a World XC championships, the Kenyans actaully have a sacrificial lamb who leads them out over the first mile in sub 4, hardly holding back. In a mass start like that (the WXC or the NCAA) you have to be commited. The whole reason the Africans destroy us is because they have conditioned themselves to cope with this kind of running, brutal strts and crazy midrace surges. Ok so running economically is the most efficient way to run but itsnot necessarily the best way to race, mentally, you can win a race in the first half mile. In the WXC the Americans and teh europeans never ever get a chance to settle, they can't run that way and so they never ever even get on terms with the leaders, they are always playing catchup. Ok so they may be fabulously talented but the nature of the way they attack the race means the Europeans and Americans are already defeated when the race is only a fraction of the full distance.