Casey Clinger Can BEAT Andrew Hunter

So Hunter and Clinger had a exchange on twitter. Went like this. Hunter: I must bury you, Clinger: I'll tear you apart, I'll dislocate all your toes and fingers, I'll make you my girlfriend. Hunter: You will lose. Clinger: I must defeat all man. There you have it we are right back to the start of this thread. Oh well.

Carter Blunt would have been a solid contender to compete against Clinger if he ran NXN and didn't get injured after state.

He easily won every meet this season and early on beat Reed Brown by about 20~ seconds.

Not likely that he would end up in Oregon. I'll let you think about why not. Hint: What state does he live in?

Right... Same state as Luke Puskedra. And it is well known that Clinger HATES Puskedra.

Narcissus wrote:

Not likely that he would end up in Oregon. I'll let you think about why not. Hint: What state does he live in?

funny eyes dude wrote:

I know I'm going to get crucified for this, but Casey is the most talented dude I've ever seen. He has the Jim Ryun body type. He is very talented and minimally trained. I see him surpassing Hunter and Fisher's achievements and accolades, but not in high school. In college, and beyond if he decides to go pro. But for now, that's far off and I do believe that Clinger could not beat Hunter in high school.

re: "He has the Jim Ryun body type"

Perhaps they look somewhat similar in build, but Clinger's leg movements is loopy like a distance runner, whereas Ryun had a much more powerful looking stride more akin to a MD runner or sprinter. Btw, Ryun ran the equivalent of a sub-22 200m on a dirt track... Clinger and Ryun are in fact quite different. With that said, Clinger probably could have beaten Ryun in a hilly 3.1 mile XC race; Ryun never trained for or excelled at any distance beyond 2-miles.

Lots of Respect for Clinger, as he is the number 2 guy in the country, but look who Hunter Has defeated:

Grant Fisher:

Sub 4 miler, one of the greatest high school athletes of all time, NCAA all american.

John Dressel:

NCAA all american as a freshman.

Just to name 2 guys clinger never beat.

(but of course, clinger rarely races out of the state of Utah).

BYU BOUND. He'll come back and be an all american at the age of 26 lmao

Does he really HATE Puskedra? Why?

Ok do I think it will happen? Absolutely not.

is there a chance that this happens? yes but it is incredibly slim

BUT I will not say you are an idiot for posting this and be bold because if someone were to say grant fisher were to lose to hunter last year I wouldn't have believed it. Fisher was too good at winning and I did not think anyone (like pretty much everyone else) could break his winning streak.

Clinger will:

-Break Ben Saarel's Utah state record of 4:07 (at altitude)

-Break Ben Saarel's Utah state record of 8:48 (at altitude)

-Win a Dream Mile title

-Win another NXN title

-Break 4:00 before graduating

-Will go to BYU

...I called he would beat Tamagno, I know all these things will happen

Clinger will also:

-Set the Simplot Games 3200 record (9:00, at altitude, held by Ben Saarel)

-Run a sub 1:53 at altitude

As a fellow Utahn, American Fork very rarely races outside of Utah. They don't go to Arcadia, Mt. SAC, Indoor Nationals... pretty much anywhere other than Utah and Idaho unless it is NXN, so it is hard to compare him to other athletes.

That being said, Clinger definitely IS WITHOUT A DOUBT the #1 runner in the country.

Not to take anything away from Hunter or Tamagno, they both are unbelievable athletes. Hunter will go sub 4:00 and Tamagno has the potential to be really close.... (Although he may not be the king of California anymore, that may now belong to Rocha, but that is a different discussion)

There are so many incredible athletes in this country, just because somebody is the #1 doesn't mean any less of any other athlete.

696969 wrote:

Not to take anything away from Hunter or Tamagno, they both are unbelievable athletes. Hunter will go sub 4:00 and Tamagno has the potential to be really close.... (Although he may not be the king of California anymore, that may now belong to Rocha, but that is a different discussion)

There are so many incredible athletes in this country, just because somebody is the #1 doesn't mean any less of any other athlete.

Clinger is not #1. End of story.

In What?

you don't even know wrote:

This is a weird one, but one I'll stand by.

Case Clinger is the purest racer I've seen. In any sort of national race where tactics come into play, that dude has the close to beat anybody. I think if they were in a tactical 5k, Clinger could change gears faster than Hunter. People will say that Hunter will easily win in an overall fast race, but I think Clinger has a strength that many don't know about. It would be tighter than ppl think.

Just my two cents, from a guy that's seen a lot of Casey's races.

I have a grand plan wrote:

696969 wrote:

Not to take anything away from Hunter or Tamagno, they both are unbelievable athletes. Hunter will go sub 4:00 and Tamagno has the potential to be really close.... (Although he may not be the king of California anymore, that may now belong to Rocha, but that is a different discussion)

There are so many incredible athletes in this country, just because somebody is the #1 doesn't mean any less of any other athlete.

Clinger is not #1. End of story.

Yes he is and all of my predictions, including those about Hunter and Tamagno WILL happen

Fisher spread himself too thin last winter/spring. He ran a several indoor races between 4:04-4:07, including a one in a college field where he got tripped up pretty bad entering the last lap (recovered very well to beat the guy that tripped him up). Then ran a solo 4:04 at his state meet. Then tried to threaten 4:00 at indoor nats (would've hit about 4:01.low had he not tripped on the rail and nearly gone down on the final turn). Then he traveled out to run a 1500m at Stanford outdoors mid-season (which certainly wasn't necessary). Then he ran a 4:00.26 1600m solo time trial in a light rain at his state meet (awesome to watch- the whole stadium was into it). Then doubled back to win the 3200m in 8:53 over another Footlocker qualifier. Then 4 days later he heads out to St Louis to finally get his 3:59.38. A lot of people on LR were saying that this was a bad move after his state meet double. Then he goes 4:01 at the Dream Mile to win in predictable fashion.All the while, Hunter is training just for the end of the season. And it showed. He was hungry, Fisher was not.

runnerbro wrote:

BUT I will not say you are an idiot for posting this and be bold because if someone were to say grant fisher were to lose to hunter last year I wouldn't have believed it. Fisher was too good at winning and I did not think anyone (like pretty much everyone else) could break his winning streak.

All of that is certainly true, and I think most would agree Fisher was spread then, but there are three important facts you didn't mention:

1. Hunter ran 4:02 despite tripping at the dream mile.

2. Hunter ran 8:42 with a 4:14 last mile and 54 last lap.

3. Hunter ran a 1:50(!) last 800 at USA juniors to beat Fisher and only lose to Blake Haney.

Hunter may have beaten a slightly weakened Fisher, but the way he did it was legendary, and Clinger simply doesn't have that kind of firepower, at least as a junior.

Sorry, but that is just false... don't post unless you know what you are talking about. Have you ever seen Clinger run? He closed his final 400 in a 1600 (as a sophomore, at altitude, while it rained) in a 57. Nobody we have talked about ever did that as sophomores AT 4500ft ALTITUDE

696969 wrote:

Clinger will also:

-Set the Simplot Games 3200 record (9:00, at altitude, held by Ben Saarel)

-Run a sub 1:53 at altitude

As a fellow Utahn, American Fork very rarely races outside of Utah. They don't go to Arcadia, Mt. SAC, Indoor Nationals... pretty much anywhere other than Utah and Idaho unless it is NXN, so it is hard to compare him to other athletes.

That being said, Clinger definitely IS WITHOUT A DOUBT the #1 runner in the country.

They don't call you "Utahns" do they?