Colin Sahlman may not race for NAU in 2022 - "It's probably on the more unlikely side that we are putting him out there."

Sahlman will run XC this season. Why go to NAU for track only. All their distance guys make a name for themselves in XC. National Champs and all the accolades that go with it. Then comes track season with all the talk of an outstanding XC season. He'll run.

Yeah but Henz is a pure 1500m guy. He didn’t even win french u20 XC championship against a bunch of 14 low/sub 3:50 guys just months before running 3:38 and just after running 3:43 indoor. Sahlman on the other hand is really good at cross country and went almost undefeated in XC against guys with far better credentials.

If Sahlman is healthy this year I’m sure he will run something like 13:20 low.

Mike Smith has talked at length in many interviews about the dangers of high expectations/pressure for young runners. He is 100% saying these things to manage the pressure on Sahlman. Now, if Sahlman doesn't race it's not a shock, and if he does it's a bonus.

Just to add my .02, I think Colin should race. he’s not a baby, he’s 18yo. if you want to manage his expectations and reduce the pressure on him then just tell him to go out and enjoy it, no worries about place. but at the end of the day he’s there to run. And all freshmen have to adjust to being at college, so unless he’s having a particularly hard time, that should be a nonissue

Exactly. Bill Parcells famously said, "you are what your record says you are."

If he had academic goals he wouldn’t be going to NAU

Here are schools with their Too many average ACTs. Toomany great runners choose bad schools.

NAU 22
Iowa State 25
Portland 26
Alabama 27
Colorado 28
NC State 29
BYU 29
Wisconsin 30
Notre Dame 33
Standard 33
Harvard 34.

Totally right. No one typically does less with more than Stanford.

Yeah...that's basically the same thing he's saying about Sahlman now. He's super talented, be patient and give him time.

Mike Smith would do well to call Jerry Schumacher and ask him if he regrets sitting Matt Withrow to preserve a year of eligibility that he never used because of injuries later on. Withrow got beat by the upper classmen in the pre-season and Jerry decided to sit a guy who later in the Winter made the US National Senior XC team. And Jerry got second place at NCAAs instead of first because he sat him. With what Stanford will be next year already, I think Smith will regret it if he sits Sahlman at NCAAs. This may be his only chance to top the podium during Colin's eligibility.

There may be some extenuating factors we're not aware of. CS is coming off an amazing year of running and the expectations are very high for him. The adjustment for living and training at altitude are real and is not easy for everyone. He may need more time to adjust and why not give it to him?. Throwing a young athlete into the fire when he may not be ready is foolish.

Clearly, Mike Smith knows what's best for CS and will do what's best for him.

Not running OSU, it appears.

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Could he run unattached in this meet?

If Sahlman is what we all think he is, there is no reason to preserve eligibility for him as he will be next level before his 5th year comes around. If he is doing it because he is truly not competitive yet at the NCAA level or because he wants to protect his confidence then okay. But if he is in the top 5 in practice in November even if he is not now, Smith should run him.

All these ACTs are fine except maybe NAU. I do have a friend who went to NAU undergrad and now is a government lawyer (stable, well-paid job), so I think in general if you have degrees you'll be ok. Not everyone is meant to be or wants to be a Fortune 500 CEO.

"Training for 5k HS XC isn’t that much different than 8k/10k in college."

This sentence shows that Robert Johnson has absolutely no idea what he's talking about.

Wait. Two very rare generational athletes. From the same high school? Sean Brosnan is the best coach ever. Obviously the odds of that are impossible, Brosnan has a great program.

I had a chance to go to Standard, but opted for non-Standard. It worked out OK though since I realized I really wanted a non-Standard career.