Breaking: A source I trust just told me Parker Wolfe is out of NCAAs. Update: It's official. He's not running.

FYI, UNC coach Chris Miltenberg got back to me today.

Wolfe has a foot injury. Milt said it was not a stress fracture but they did not feel it was worth risking running on it at regionals/NCAAs.

From Milt:

"Some inflammation popped up in his foot middle of last week and we did not want to force it or risk making it worse. He has way too bright of a future to take any unnecsssary risks. This is heartbreaking that one of the best careers in collegiate history will end this way but it is also just the beginning of the exciting future he has ahead."

Full disclaimer. I love Wolfe and wear his damn t-shirt like 3-4 days a week.

That being said, can we all admit that this DNS proves that track is totally an individual sport and one that is next to impossible to make super popular outside of the Olympics? The idea that Athlos is going to turn it into a team sport is laughable.

Please name a single popular sport where a star NCAA athlete would sit out NCAAs with inflammation. It wouldn't happen. The team has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into you for 4 years - you are playing in the playoffs/tournament almost no matter what.

I'm bummed out.

Personally, I'd much rather win NCAAs than finish top 3 at USAs and get destroyed in Tokyo. But then again he already won an NCAA title last year. It would REALLY suck if he didn't already have a title.

I totally get why they are doing this. UNC isn't in it for the team hunt and he's got hopefully a big career ahead of him, but I think this proves why it's hard to promote track. Every single meet save Worlds/Olympics is optional (or USAs/Kenyan Trials if you are American/Kenyan).

Realistically his injury is much worse than minor inflammation. There is a ton of incentive to down play injuries when someone is about to be shopping for a pro contract. I wouldn’t take this report at face value. No one skips NCAAs their senior year unless the injury is significant to the point that running on it is unmanageable or going to cause long term damage.

Yeah minor inflammation wouldn’t be stretching to 10 days would it…

Simple. Chris is lying and it’s worse than he’s letting on. I’d assume at best it’s a stress reaction, leaning towards fracture.

If we use our thinking caps, Parker sat out some time in cross season also with foot inflammation, later confirmed told to me by a reputable source to be a low grade stress reaction.

Additionally, UNC was in decent points range for men’s team score this year at NCAAs. He would not be sitting out unless it’s a big deal.

You answered your own question when you pointed out UNC isn't in the hunt for the NCAA team title. That makes this situation more analogous to the dozens of NCAA football stars every year who sit out their teams' bowl games if their teams aren't in the college football playoff. Those players don't want to risk getting injured and hurting their chances of getting drafted and making money in the NFL. It's not worth the risk to their future career if their team isn't in position to win a championship.

I think sitting out is the right decision. Wolfe has been battling injuries and/or illness since the cross-country season. His body is telling him he needs to back off, and it's best for him to listen to it rather than make things worse. Hoping he gets fully healthy and has a long, successful pro career.

So your standard for truth is

a) State that you have a source, but don't name it

b) Say you hope it isn't true

c) Give a verifiable source minimal time to refute the accusation and use it as truth

Sure you got it right this time, but remember like three weeks ago when you let the site explode with wild accusations about Parker Valby and then stoked the fires. You were complicit in spreading damaging rumors about someone, hardly apologized, and acted like you cleaned up a mess, even though you largely created it.

I heard from a prominent LetsRun.com member that rojo is a giant blowhard, and he hasn't even responded yet, so it must be true!

And I wish Parker Wolfe all the best on his recovery. He's got a bright future and clearly has people who are looking out for him.

I'm sure it's hell trying to keep up with Strand everyday at practice.

Good thing he got a 5000m title, otherwise he'd be among the best ever not to get one. Wolfe is a gamer and a talent. He'd run his body into the ground if they let him. That's what happened at ACC's. Hansen's coach knew what he was doing. Now NCAA is a little less interesting. Wolfe will probably be trying to hit the qualifier in Europe right after USAs.

If he has a stress reaction or fracture, he isn’t running USAs. That’s at least 5 weeks no running. I still can’t believe what happened in the ACC 5k. Lots of unanswered questions here. I also can’t believe that Wolfe was not given an opportunity to get the 5k standard this year after the debacle last year. Unbelievable

If looking out for his long term pro prospects, why would one have Wolfe run a meaningless 10/5 double at ACC's. Considering his propensity for foot injuries it may not have been the wisest of choices.

That’s at least 5 weeks no running. Not necessarily. All injuries are different. Especially stress fractures.

Humans are weird. We have to have someone to blame for everything.

Are you serious? You don't know why he did the relatively easy 10k/5k double at conference? His team was in it for the team title. They nearly won and probably should have won. To be honest, I imagine they were more likely to triple him than not at least do the easy 10k/5k double which only requires two races.

UNC should have no regrets. If it is just inflammation, I'd argue they are being too conservative now. Let him run NCAAs and take the rest of the summer off. But people don't generally run well when in pain.

Stuff like this is why it was criminal that Wolfe didn't even take the chance to get the standard.

You never know in track injuries happen all the time and you have to strike when the iron is hot.

yup, definitely not a meaningless 10/5 double. they were gunning for the team title and needed the points from the distance guys to win it. almost did, too. also all signs showed wolfe as healthy and really fit that weekend.

i’m bummed we won’t be seeing him at ncaa’s. his career at UNC was the thing that got me (former tar heel runner from forever ago) following the heels with passion again. but i also think taking him out of it was the right decision. something is clearly not right and he needs to let it heal.

This is just blatantly not true. Bones take 6 weeks to heal, often times more. Something like the hand may be on the shorter side, if it’s his foot 6 weeks minimum.

Well it depends whether it's a stress reaction or stress fracture. If it's only a reaction he could be running again in 2-3 weeks, and back to decent training within a month. That's how fast my recovery from a stress reaction in my foot went. But if he trained on it for a few days and it got close to fracturing, then probably longer.

I have to agree with you on that.

And I think long term, the big concern is that this isn't just an "unfortunately it was the last 3 weeks of the season" deal - he's been hurt his entire senior season including indoors, and it seems like he's just been running held together by KT Tape and bandaids.

It's not good when kids of this age get injured and can't get themselves healthy. I can't believe he did the hard thing and made top 3 at the trials and the reason why he didn't run in Paris was because he didn't have either the standard or enough WR points to have him inside the top 45 or whatever it was. If you are top 3 at the US Olympic trials and the NCAA champion you are easily one of the best 45 5000m runners in the world. That could turn out to be one of the worst blown opportunities of all time.