Why do so many HS stars get so hyped up, go to a great school, and then vanish off the earth once they compete?

1. Now they're in a bigger pond.

2. College is a dramatic jump from HS. They're busier than they used to be.

3. Overexcited coaches slam athletes with their bad training ideologies and workouts while throwing all these races down their throat and burn them out.

You sort of missed the point. Times have exploded after the improvement in shoes. High school runners are running great times but many seem to stagnate or even regress in college. Your list predates the shoe and resultant time explosion.

Minute mark 3:07

There are so many things going right when you are going great. As soon as ones leaves the precise environment that made greatness, it’s always a fragile transition to keep the same flow going.

Personally, I averaged 42mi a week my senior year, with 8 hours per night of sleep and zero beers. A few months later, 80mi 4hrs and 15 beers weekly.

those are key factors that are measurable. But just as crucial is no longer being number one on your team and many other factors that derail the psychological set point.

It is a hard transition. Maybe each senior in high school should have a mentor help them on picking a college that makes a good fit.

A lot of kids get to college and simply decide that they would like a life beyond running. Very few runners will ever make a living out of it, and they give up a great deal to remain in shape and attend practices and meets. I get it.

I think there is a risk with HS stars that they love the results and do not love the process. Top HS runners are typically a confluence of talent and opportunity. They are usually at a school with a very good team and solid coaching. The talent side means that improvement and success in racing comes pretty easily. When they get to college, they are suddenly confronted by the fact that not only are they competing on a national and international level, they are competing against fully matured adult athletes who are 1-4 years older than they are. Now, they only have two options, train their brains out and see whether they can make it to the top or just go along for the ride to keep the scholarship. The intensity of Div. I makes it very difficult to fall in love with the process if you haven't already. Those athletes end up just doing only what is necessary to keep their coach happy and never buy in 100% to the program. And it is also a fear of failure that keeps them in a place where they do not improve. You will not be a failure if you never really go all in with your training.

I was a CO state champ, not a prodigy but very good recruit. I spent the first 2 years of NCAA xc&track sucking. Eventually I got a normal girlfriend, made nationals, etc, but in the first 2 years here is why:

1) big time drinking culture on the team, particularly by the older guys. I didn’t drink much in HS and know limits.

2) food and food knowledge in the 1990s cafeteria was a horror show - many meals were cereal or other garbage.

3) studied engineering against kids who weren’t spending their weekends in vans or at track meets. Like Indias and Chinese levels of smart. almost failed out.

4) There are so so many hot chicks at CU, it was like wack-mole. 3M years of genetics requires hot chicks to be more interesting than statics homework.

5) training was heavily influenced by football culture - it was more about ‘getting tough’ than eliciting a training response.

Dumb. They achieve heights 99.99% of you could never imagine even with their so called "sub-par" college/pro careers and yet we still get drivel like this.

Why have you not met all of your goals for yourself in your life? Same reasons?

Every single one of those minus maybe 5 is your fault and no one elses. Not sure what the point of this post was.

I think it has a lot to do with the logistics of maintaining the doping regimen under new supervision.

Responding to BBalben above, Stephen Strasburg actually had a very solid Major League baseball career, in spite of injury. His larger point is correct, however. Phenoms across every sport/endeavor often encounter difficulties as they leave high school. Only a small percentage continue to develop into national & world class performers, for a multitude of reasons. Sustained passion is certainly a key factor, however. Think of Bill Walton (RIP). He suffered debilitating injuries in high school and college, yet continued on into the NBA with just as much competitive fervor and love for the game. He ended up spending more than half of his NBA career in rehab and was injured virtually every season, yet came back for 14 of them before becoming a Hall of Fame basketball announcer. That's passion for you.

This is awfully close to my story, ouch!

That is a really profound point. College coaches should take notice. Who knows if they do however. Being self critical is difficult. But if that many kids are actually slower, clearly points to something that is happening, or not happening, in college.

Cause they go to college and realize that college sports isn't all that. Especially when you're a freshman who has to compete with kids who are four years older than them and everyone you know is going out to party on the weekends.

It's a long slow grind to the top and a lot of kids just don't really care that much if they don't have a succesful first year which is really hard

Facts. Overrated ass school

No one cares about the 800m.

College is harder when the coach is trying to bang you all the time

Which is why everybody needs to calm the hell down about Quincy Wilson. Swear to god people treat the kid like he's a messiah.

Who's "no one"?? You mean just you? 😂😂