2015 USA XC Champs! Official Live Discussion Thread!

george oscar bluth wrote:

george oscar bluth wrote:

Men's predictions:

1. Derrick

2. Ritz

3. True

4. Riley

5. Smyth

6. Vail

7. Quigley

8. Gray

9. Heath

10. Rono

Revised to include Heath.

I agree with your top 4. I think 5th will be VAIL and 6th will be CURTIS.

Although I also believe that RITZ will not go to China and it will go to 7th place GRAY.

RitzenheinTrueDerrickRiley Vail CurtisSmythBook it!

Real TB wrote:

george oscar bluth wrote:

Revised to include Heath.

I agree with your top 4. I think 5th will be VAIL and 6th will be CURTIS.

Although I also believe that RITZ will not go to China and it will go to 7th place GRAY.

Derrick FTW.

And we don't care about the women because....?

New Balance doesn't run the meet. They sponsor it. USATF ultimately I bet has control of when both races are. The thinking is the races will largely attract different runners.

Abby D, one of the New Balance's best, was basing her season on USATF XCs until she got hurt, so I wouldn't blame NB at all. They clearly were letting one of their best athletes skip the major meet of the year they sponsor. How about a pat on the back for that?

I care about the women.

My pick for the win: Sara Hall.

Ever since her appendectomy last summer she's been fantastic, highlighted by an almost a 2-min 1/2-marathon pr at Houston.

And, most important for this race, is altitude trained. Was in Ethiopia/9000ft in December/early Jan before Houston, has been in Flag/7000ft since, so will be coming down to Boulder.

Plus, she's the 2012 champ, beating none other than Molly Huddle in a sprint finish, so she knows how to win this race.

If she makes the team, she may have to make a decision about China as the LA Marathon is 2 weeks before. However, Deena Kastor did something similar, I think running World XC a couple weeks after a marathon, so Sara could chance it and do the same.

I also see Sara making the Bejing team this summer in either the steeple, 5k or 10k.

Our women's preview and prediction is now up on the front page:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/02/2015-usa-xc-championships-womens-preview-big-names-absenst-title-taking/

Hall is a good pick but Brianne Nelson is on fire and is altitude trained. I think it comes down to a race between Thweatt and Nelson. I also think they missed the mark on Neely. She had a rough fall because she was coming off of surgery over the summer and she is a good mudder.

1. Nelson

2. Thweatt

3. Hall

4. Spence

5. Pagano

6. Bottorf

Good informative women's writeup.

Looks like a really good quality field for the top contenders.

Similar to men: Rupp & Mead missing, Flanagan & Huddle missing.

Only wish AlSal would turn loose Jordan for this race.

Some rich guy who once ran xc and still likes the sport should put up $100,000 for all 12 senior team members who actually go to World XC and complete the race. Plus, a $1M bonus if we have a winner. No more "I'm speed training on the track indoors" or "I'm focusing on outdoor track" or "I'm just doing this because it fits in with my marathon training" excuses then.

Ritz--three time Olympian; made every World team in XC and track for which he competed; three time XC US champion; two time Footlocker champion; etc. This hardly sounds like someone who doesn't show up when it matters: quite the contrary.

Didnt run world xc in 2013

Skeptic/Sceptic wrote:

Ritz--three time Olympian; made every World team in XC and track for which he competed; three time XC US champion; two time Footlocker champion; etc. This hardly sounds like someone who doesn't show up when it matters: quite the contrary.

Making the World XC team is not the same as competing in the World XC. I read all the time on this site that Ritz does not do well in big races. But only once has he failed to make an Olympic or World team--when he came in fourth at the last marathon trials, at which he ran a PR (if I remember correctly) after missing most of two years.

pewow wrote:

Didnt run world xc in 2013

Skeptic/Sceptic wrote:

Ritz--three time Olympian; made every World team in XC and track for which he competed; three time XC US champion; two time Footlocker champion; etc. This hardly sounds like someone who doesn't show up when it matters: quite the contrary.

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned Sage Canaday?

Iowakidscanrun wrote:

What is up with the Ritz love fest? Derrick will own this field.

Well said.

True perhaps has an outside shot. Ritz? His time has past - he will never beat Derrick again.

You don't "know" that, you're guessing. If you were that confident, you'd post your name as then you'd come back post race boasting of your superior knowledge...but you won't. Nobody knows if Ritz will beat Derrick or Derrick will beat Ritz.

Gonna Have to Agree wrote:

Iowakidscanrun wrote:

What is up with the Ritz love fest? Derrick will own this field.

Well said.

True perhaps has an outside shot. Ritz? His time has past - he will never beat Derrick again.

Nah...NO wrote:

You don't "know" that, you're guessing. If you were that confident, you'd post your name as then you'd come back post race boasting of your superior knowledge...but you won't. Nobody knows if Ritz will beat Derrick or Derrick will beat Ritz.

Gonna Have to Agree wrote:

Well said.

True perhaps has an outside shot. Ritz? His time has past - he will never beat Derrick again.

1) I don't "know" that, I'm guessing. TRUE

2) If I were that confident, I'd post my name. FALSE*

3) If I were that confident, I'd come back post-race boasting of my superior knowledge. FALSE (It's not a very outlandish pic - nothing to boast of. Besides which, I am not a boastful sort of guy)

4) Nobody knows... Really? You figured that out all by yourself, did you Sherlock?

* Just for kicks, here's my real name - Bruce Egeland. But note that I don't post it for the reasons that you state. I post it just for kicks.

Didnt run world xc in 2013

Skeptic/Sceptic wrote:

Ritz--three time Olympian; made every World team in XC and track for which he competed; three time XC US champion; two time Footlocker champion; etc. This hardly sounds like someone who doesn't show up when it matters: quite the contrary.

Yeah sure Bruce Egeland. Come back after the race and you can tell us all how you're so much smarter than the rest of us. What a retarded post you've just made. Ever break 3 hours?

Gonna Have to Agree wrote:

Nah...NO wrote:

You don't "know" that, you're guessing. If you were that confident, you'd post your name as then you'd come back post race boasting of your superior knowledge...but you won't. Nobody knows if Ritz will beat Derrick or Derrick will beat Ritz.

1) I don't "know" that, I'm guessing. TRUE

2) If I were that confident, I'd post my name. FALSE*

3) If I were that confident, I'd come back post-race boasting of my superior knowledge. FALSE (It's not a very outlandish pic - nothing to boast of. Besides which, I am not a boastful sort of guy)

4) Nobody knows... Really? You figured that out all by yourself, did you Sherlock?

* Just for kicks, here's my real name - Bruce Egeland. But note that I don't post it for the reasons that you state. I post it just for kicks.

Sage is an animal and might be able to take on Ben, Chris and Dathan. What a beast.

Hometown Hero wrote:

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned Sage Canaday?

Anyone who doesn't have Joe Gray in the Top 5 is gonna have pie on their face. Actually, I didn't realize this was such a wimpy xc course. Remember Max King's course, with off-camber turns and everything? That was legit.