What’s up with Colin Sahlman?

I actually don’t think it’s a physical thing at all, Colin seems to be progressing well time wise (7:37, 3:52, 1:46, 47.9 relay all indoors this year), I think the problem is tactical.

Colin seems to be a runner who can both run fast times and has a good kick, which would lead one to think he would excel in championship races, but that is not always the case. I think he does well in two racing scenarios: time trials where he can sit on his competitors in a single file and close hard and championship races where he’s the fastest guy or one of the two fastest guys in the field.

I think in championship races where there are 4-6 people as good as him he races sort of like Kiprop did in the 2016 Olympics. He’ll get pinbalked around the field because he doesn’t protect his position and jostles too much and then he’ll waste energy surging around runners he got knocked behind. He needs to work on staying calm, getting in a good position and trusting his kick, because he has a good kick. Notice how Cole Hocker never panics and wastes energy when he’s in a bad position because he trusts his kick, whereas Colin does seems to panic and waste energy.

I knew it would only be a matter of time before some smartazz hinted about how so-and-so school is much more academically challenging than NAU yet still turns out runners who improve with collegiate training. Sure, some schools are obviously more difficult than others academically, but every individual responds to that kind of pressure differently. There are suicides and dropouts at Duke and at NAU and at Podunk Community College. Some thrive on the added pressure, while others crumble...turn to self-destructive ways, etc. Colin Sahlman likely isn't anywhere near the latter extreme, from what I can see.

And maybe the kinds of runners who gravitate to schools like Duke are ahead of the average when it comes to both maintaining a strong Grade Point Average and improving athletically.

I was as surprised as anyone about Sahlman's NCAA results but we all heard this stuff about Mike Smith failing him last year and then he went out and ran 1:45/3:33 outdoors. I expect he'll do even better this year. As for Bosley, he's a few steps slower still than when he ran his NCAA 3k record indoors a couple years ago, but I expect that he's not been healthy long enough yet to get all the way back there. Smith has a really good track record of getting his guys at their best at the end of college. Young is doing great. Grijalva has run probably the 72nd best time ever in history at the 5000m and contended for a medal in championships. And Nur can absolutely contend again this year against that field with his finishing speed if he's healthy, a big if. What other programs are producing more American contenders than NAU?

Sahlman is typically the one doing the bumping. Every major race he has been in, he gets into a shove match of his own design. I guess part of being "too good" in high school is never learning how to handle people being around you. He handles that by trying to shoulder people from getting in front of him. It's pathetic and I'm glad it didn't work out for him. Sucks to see him do as bad as he did though. Probably a woman's fault.

University of North Carolina, Georgetown, University of Virginia, University of Washington, Villanova, ... I can keep going if you'd like.

Let's just be honest about this. Mike Smith is an excellent coach in one of the best places to train in the world. It is where a low-academic university is, with abundant scholarships for distances. In sum, it's pretty hard to fail, but scoring one point at the NCAA national meet is an abject failure this time around. And that's not even discussing the demise of Galen Rupp and the horrendous Paris results of the pros. My point is this: Every program has ups and downs, and there are great places for everyone to live and train. However, worshipping Mike Smith and NAU is probably not helpful to Coach Smith and the NAU program.

Like every other young man or woman, Sahlman needs to grow up a little. If he figures this out, it won't be because of coaching or his location; it will be because he has matured as an athlete/person and taken the time to self-reflect on whether or not he wants to do this.

What a ridiculous load of caca you have posted, the hum of the peace bowl! While every program does have its ups and downs, let's be honest about this (to use your words). You hate Mike Smith (despite having bitten the bullet by calling him an "excellent coach") and NAU and are probably a snooty, elitist blue blood graduate of one of "those" universities that are oh so much more academic, and thus "better" than NAU could ever in a million years pretend to be. 100% of NAU graduates, after all, are utter failures in life, right? Even the ones whose talents propelled Mike Smith's distance program skyward during an up period.

Or maybe you're just a jealous coaching rival of Mike Smith's whose own program has yet to have an up period during your tenure.

You might try putting calamine lotion on your sunburned nostrils, from having turned your head skyward way too often.

How is it that you are so smart about racing strategy and Smith/Sahlman are so dumb? Is it not possible you are a Monday morning quarterback?

Very simple explanation: it is much easier to analyze race tactics looking from the outside and from retrospect without any pressure of being in the situation yourself or having to react with split second decisions in the moment. It didn't take a genius to see that Colin raced inefficiently swinging wide multiple times, wasting energy with unnecessary moves in that race.

Chill out, man. NAU (men's team) had a lousy season by their standards. Nothing in my comments speaks to them being unable to rebound; they have an "excellent" coach. My post was in defense of Mike Smith and NAU.

Now, regarding the academics of NAU, the facts speak for themselves. NAU has an acceptance rate of 91%. I'm all for high admission rates and loath the gatekeeping at academic elite universities. NAU serves an excellent academic and educational purpose for Arizonians. Furthermore, the Big Sky Conference has relatively lower eligibility requirements than major conferences. This means NAU can cast a much wider net domestically and internationally when recruiting talent - and they have the scholarships to dole out. It's by no means an unremarkable achievement to win back to back to back NCAA XC titles; however, to be a podium team every year and score a handful of points in the distances at all championship track events should be given due to the advantages that NAU has: A great coach, high altitude, excellent training environment, and a haul of relatively unrestricted global talent. Just call it what it is. They sucked this winter, and I bet Mike Smith would be the first to admit it. Peace.

“It didn't take a genius to see that Colin raced inefficiently swinging wide multiple times, wasting energy with unnecessary moves in that race.”

When comes to training/racing, Smith is a genius and your advice of staying close and being on the rail, is the strategy of any kicker, but it’s easier said than done.

I agree that Smith is a genius when it comes to training and racing. And, it's not like Colin is tactically inept either, I think he ran very soundly at last year's outdoor 1500 nationals, he just didn't have the fitness and barely missed the podium. However, some people are clearly not as comfortable running in a pack as they are at the front: see Athing Mu.

Sahlman seems to be among the current group of super fast distance and mid d runners in the NCAA that perform very well in time trial type meets but woefully underperform at actual racing in important meets. He does have incredible range and has PRs in the 400 and 800 plus great strength that would indicate he should be among "the best" at the mile, 3k/2 mile and even podiums at 5k ...but he has never won anything beyond conference titles and underperforms at championships every time. He is not at all comparable to Nico Young as you state. Nico was always close to winning championships until he actually won some. Sahlman hasn't been close at all. ...Blame Mike Smith?? Perhaps. I'm pretty sure if Powell or Linanna, or Miltenberg had him he would be on the podium at least.

He also qualified in the 800. Only dude in the NCAA to qualify for the 800 and the 3000, let alone all 3 (including the mile.)

Add this to the list of "has X coach or program failed Y athlete" threads that will age incredibly poorly within the next 2 years.

The explanation could be as simple as, perhaps other people are just better than him as of this moment. People put huge expectations on him out of high school and perhaps it's time to shift those to other people.

Mike Smith doest get athletes ready when it really counts. He’s a good coach with bad race plans.

I’ve noticed the same thing. Nico Young blew the 5000m outdoor last year and Colin Sahlman blew the 1500m and he was the fastest in the field. NAU gets way too many injuries too. I hope Smith isn’t giving them tactics because they are ruining their chances to win

I was at the NCAA meet and Salhman did not look comfortable at all. He had to kick hard just to make it out of prelims in the mile. In the final, he looked strained with his facial expressions and seemed like he had no energy whatsoever. I don't even know why he ran the 3k.

Bosley at least put himself in the mix and showed some racing ability. He just got dropped very quick and it was over. At least he showed some heart.

Abdalla and all the Arkansas distance runners looked horrible. It was odd. They just looked lost and like they didn't want to be there.

Just bump the thread from 2023.