NICO YOUNG COMMITS TO NAU!!!

They all believe that they will go pro.

Why????? wrote:

Why would someone with so many available offers choose northern Arizona????

Because he is all-in with running, which means his options are very limited. Anyone who is all-in and built for the marathon should be at altitude if at all possible. If he were a miler I'd say fine you can be at sea-level even if you're all-in, but not for someone like Young who is unlikely to ever have sub-50 400 speed.

Given he needs altitude and similarly talented teammates, that leaves him with BYU, CU and NAU.

BYU: If you're not LDS (Mormon) then you're unlikely to go to BYU, although you don't have to be to go there and I'm sure BYU would have loved to have him AND I'm confident he would be developed very well there. But the religion thing is too much of a turnoff for most. The altitude they are sleeping at is pretty marginal, but it's still something and maybe they get up higher in training sometimes. Some discount training at higher altitudes, but it's mostly people who have never done it and only believe whatever the latest fad is for "research". If you do enough research you can support just about any belief you have, so I lean towards the research that fits in with the experience I've had.

CU: Better elevation than BYU, but still not ideal. Having coached a runner that went on a recruiting trip to CU, I would say they give off a very no-nonsense vibe and for a recruit it can be scary to see that "no, college isn't like some big exciting party like you see in movies. it's really hard. training is hard. classes are hard. balancing everything is a lot harder than it is living at home in hs." I don't think Wetmore tends to chase recruits either, so if someone isn't feeling it they aren't going to try hard to talk them into it. I wish more schools recruited in this fashion.

NAU: At the low end of ideal elevation for a runner truly all-in, but better than the other two schools so immediately the balance is shifted in NAU's favor. They've got a very young squad with three freshman in their top 4 at this year's championship. That should suit Young well as he can run with those guys for 3 years potentially and it goes to show NAU will let a true freshman run which means Nico won't be sitting the bench if his fitness shows he deserves to race.

Bosley is NAU's top returner from NCAAs and he went 0-2 vs Young last season head to head. Young ran 8:40 to Bosley's 8:49 at Arcadia. The faced off before that at NXN and Nico got him 15:04 to 15:22. In the mile last year they showed very similar talent with Nico running 4:08.82 his very first track race of the season (Mar 23) and Bosley went 4:07.03 (Jun 8) in the ending stages of his season. If Bosley can make NAU's top-7, it's pretty reasonable to think Young will too.

I like his chances at NAU

Your entire post has to do with geography yet you can't understand that California would allow for a better training environment than Wisconsin when comparing Young and Bosley. It is nearly impossible to train outside until March 1 in Wisconsin.

Old news. Most of us knew this before Nico did.

Why????? wrote:

Why would someone with so many available offers choose northern Arizona????

The degree from there is worthless.

Why do you think? Like most HS elites, he wants a national championship and a stepping stone to eventually go pro. The fact that the degree there is not worth the paper it's written on is not even a factor. It's much akin to what the University of Arkansas once was: an athletic powerhouse with a trash education. Many of us have been there st one time, and the siren song of athletic glory is difficult to turn away from. Though, his 45 year old self may just well be wishing his degree had come from Stanford.

He's already training at high college level, if you look back at his workouts, and is good enough to be top ten as a freshman, maybe even top five, although NCAA is very competitive now. He won't get the same training stimulus jump as Bosley, who was more lightly trained in hs, but he is very, very ready for NAU and will likely run low 13:20s as a freshman. Compare to Ritz: two-time Footlocker champ, 8:40, and 13:44, then 13:27 as a freshman. He's that big of a talent, I think.

NAU is not a trash degree in any sense. It is just no Stanford. That he's going there anyway says two things: the altitude and the program give them a big edge over Stanford, which is not developing its top flight recruits the way it did under Vin.

Perhaps he really believes in Mike Smith’s coaching, system and environment. Maybe school isn’t for him and wants to just focus on running?

Just as I read in Touhey thread......a bunch of armchair QBing. What is wrong with NAU? Ha!......unreal commentary. For those that are still competitive runners who are chiming in on his wrong choices, I think your time is better used getting stronger. Although you may think Nico lacks common sense by his college choice, I bet he can lend advice on how to make you a better runner. I imagine his first suggestion would be to get off the messages boards and apply that time to focusing your mind.

paulsthomas wrote:

Just as I read in Touhey thread......a bunch of armchair QBing. What is wrong with NAU? Ha!......unreal commentary. For those that are still competitive runners who are chiming in on his wrong choices, I think your time is better used getting stronger. Although you may think Nico lacks common sense by his college choice, I bet he can lend advice on how to make you a better runner. I imagine his first suggestion would be to get off the messages boards and apply that time to focusing your mind.

Heck yeah Nico great choice.

This is why he won NXN like a G.O.A.T. He makes bold moves without looking back. He isn't like the normal top high school kid. Everything I read and watched on him is very impressive. I can't wait to see what he does over the next few years.

paulsthomas wrote:

Just as I read in Touhey thread......a bunch of armchair QBing. What is wrong with NAU? Ha!......unreal commentary. For those that are still competitive runners who are chiming in on his wrong choices, I think your time is better used getting stronger. Although you may think Nico lacks common sense by his college choice, I bet he can lend advice on how to make you a better runner. I imagine his first suggestion would be to get off the messages boards and apply that time to focusing your mind.

Amen my friend!

xzcvxzcv wrote:

He's already training at high college level, if you look back at his workouts, and is good enough to be top ten as a freshman, maybe even top five, although NCAA is very competitive now. He won't get the same training stimulus jump as Bosley, who was more lightly trained in hs, but he is very, very ready for NAU and will likely run low 13:20s as a freshman. Compare to Ritz: two-time Footlocker champ, 8:40, and 13:44, then 13:27 as a freshman. He's that big of a talent, I think.

Agreed. Can see him running low 13:40s this spring and well below 8:40.

Ritz’s 4th place run as a freshman was so impressive due to how it was done- race went out super fast and he ran evenly and moved up from 40th to top 5 throughout the race. I can see Nico doing something similar, but maybe the field is too deep for a true freshman to place that high now. Who were the last frost to do it? The German, Derrick, Luke triumvirate?

Why????? wrote:

Why would someone with so many available offers choose northern Arizona????

The degree from there is worthless.

It depends on what he wants to do with his life outside of running. If he wants to be a doctor or lawyer than yeah he should of went to a school like Stanford. However, if he wants to be a teacher or nurse than NAU is just fine.

Remember young folks your major should determine where go for schooling. Not the name of the school.

Why????? wrote:

Why would someone with so many available offers choose northern Arizona????

The degree from there is worthless.

By your logic Northwestern should win the Big Ten and Vanderbilt the SEC every year.

How do you know all this? Can you tell by watching a video of him running NXN?

I've never heard of someone choosing to run at a college at altitude because he believes he's too slow for track. Can you name a single runner who said he chose a school at altitude to prepare for a career in the marathon?

NAU has one of the top three or four coaches in the nation and it's a great place to live and train. Great choice. Wish he had gone to Boulder, because I feel Wetmore is the best coach at any level in the nation, but can't quibble with NAU.

Mike Smith kind of reminds me of a less douchey Sean Brosnan as well, so there may be some degree of comfort for Nico having a similar coach.

I've watched him run in person more times than I can remember, but that doesn't really matter. One can tell from his body type and mechanics that he's not going to be an elite 800/1500 runner. Not to mention the fact he's only run the 800 twice during high school and both times it was in league meets. He only ran the 1600 or mile twice last season. He is a true distance runner and those types tend to do best at altitude. I can not name a single runner concerned about the marathon coming out of high school. What I'm saying is that he's more likely to be an elite marathoner than he is an elite 1500 runner and therefore being at altitude absolutely makes sense for him.

Agree wrote:

Why????? wrote:

Why would someone with so many available offers choose northern Arizona????

The degree from there is worthless.

Agree. Why would someone with so many options go there?

It’s mind boggling. The degree will be worthless.

There are tons of degrees at the top schools that are pretty much worthless as well. You can get a solid education or a crap one from pretty much any school. The most important step is to not pick a major with the word "Studies" at the end of it and you are off to a good start.

Sprout ran a 4:04 mile last year, but Young played the kicker role at Arcadia. I believe his top end speed is still an unknown and that he has a chance at 4:00 next Spring.

He could run the 5/10 for several years before considering the marathon. We'll see.