BIAS STANFORD ENTRIES

... This entitlement has got to stop.

You got that right buddy - though you didn't realize it. The slow pokes who got in, did so because they are "entitled." Absolutely, this entitlement has got to stop. But market forces will work it out and the faster non-entitled runners will go to the Mt. Sac and SF State meets and people will laugh at the Stanford meet.

Good job pointing that out!

Mt Sac is fast. It's better than Stan Inv.

Thats kind of f'd up if thats true what happened to Bijan

I would normally say go DI to get into DI meets.

But if you are really at a mid major that makes me mad. It is an Invitational though, and they can choose whoever they want. To a degree it does help the pedigree of the meet to have the Power 5 schools there, and the Power 5 are more likely to consistently come if more athletes beyond their top 2 guys get in.

Truthfully, though I would take any 30:30 DI guy over a 29:50 from smaller programs. Faster than that and they should probably be in.

Lucky for you SF State has been a great showcase for non DIs as well as up and coming DI underclassmen the last few years. Some guys will run a Regional time in the morning 10Ks. Wake up early and caffinate and you should be fine if you are truly ready for a sub 29:45.

Mt Sac, dude

how do i smell wrote:

correct me if i am wrong, but the fact that Bijan is from Wellesley is simply not relevant to the Williams program or endowment. I know it can be hard to make inferences sometimes but that's what is happening here.

My post had nothing to do with how wealthy he or his family was. You are the one making that inference. I was only pointing out that he has gone to a wealthy high school and now a wealthy college. At both places funding for sports is not an issue.

Agree with much of this except for the seeding. Entries are via Direct Athletics and require a real time with a real reference to that result.

Dazed & Confused wrote:

I'm surprised a D1 coach or someone who knows how this works hasn't responded yet...(btw I am not a division 1 coach or coach in college at all)

This is what happened -

Stanford invites teams to come to their meet (sort of). There are many racing options for those big schools that weekend, so in order for it to be worth those teams' time, they need to accept several of their runners. Not just one or two. Some coaches want to be there when their athletes race and not split up squads. Will slower runners from "invited" teams get in? Yes If their coach has a good reason to seed him at a time faster than his PR due to good faith, Stanford will accept it.

Maybe some coaches have more leeway with that than others.

They did let one DIII kid in, Ian LaMere from UW-Platteville. Don't know why they'd let him in and not Bijan.

Use to JUCO wrote:

Truthfully, though I would take any 30:30 DI guy over a 29:50 from smaller programs. Faster than that and they should probably be in.

This makes absolutely no sense. If anything, a 30:30 D1 guy has had more opportunities to get in a fast race and lower his PR.

"You know, I would rather be/take a 4:06 miler at a D1 school than a 4:01 miler at a D3 school"....?

You're saying you don't buy this? I'm sorry you feel that way. But this is definitely how it works. The team I was on sent many a runner to Stanford and we consistently got into heats with seed times (faster than our PRs) that were what our coach thought we could run. Only 1/3 times did I actually exceed that time but I digress.

If we weren't allowed to do that then our team would have gone to another very popular meet that weekend and skipped Stanford. I promise you the powers that be at Stanford did not want teams to snub the distance carnival just because they wouldn't let a few extra runners in.

You do realize if schools host meets they want the best schools to come? Meets will pay team entry fees, hotel costs, etc for top college teams to bring their squad to their event.

Former D2 runner wrote:

I fought this battle for many years. The D1 favoritism has always been incredibly blatant. It's all politics. Fortunately, I had avenues to also play the political game that I could usually squeeze my way into the meet and eventually bump up a couple heats to be in the heat I belonged (not to mention beating many athletes originally accepted over me by 30 seconds to 1 minute in the 5k).

I also love how the entry fee is non-refundable. If you are going to blatantly discriminate against smaller schools, at least give them the entry fee back.

Mt. SAC is run much better option. Also, I've noticed the SF State distance carnival has been getting better each year. Many people are starting to just give up on the Stanford politics and just go to SF State instead.

Politics?? I seriously don't think you understand politics if you think that this is a political issue...

pops..... wrote:

What you do in High School doesn't decide who becomes a professional buddy.

Tell that to German Fernandez.

Coffee Black wrote:

They did let one DIII kid in, Ian LaMere from UW-Platteville. Don't know why they'd let him in and not Bijan.

Probably because Ian Lamere smashed the DIII field at xc nationals. He doesn't have the PR's of Bijan, but he went wire to wire for a 23:35 at nationals.

Benjamins wrote:

Coffee Black wrote:

They did let one DIII kid in, Ian LaMere from UW-Platteville. Don't know why they'd let him in and not Bijan.

Probably because Ian Lamere smashed the DIII field at xc nationals. He doesn't have the PR's of Bijan, but he went wire to wire for a 23:35 at nationals.

While this is true, and I don't doubt that LaMere will run better than Bijan, the last time the two of them raced a 10k, LaMere won by 0.007 seconds, and Bijan has a better 10k PR, and actually raced at a high level this winter. Maybe LaMere got in because he was seeded better.

Maniacaldart wrote:

Benjamins wrote:

Probably because Ian Lamere smashed the DIII field at xc nationals. He doesn't have the PR's of Bijan, but he went wire to wire for a 23:35 at nationals.

While this is true, and I don't doubt that LaMere will run better than Bijan, the last time the two of them raced a 10k, LaMere won by 0.007 seconds, and Bijan has a better 10k PR, and actually raced at a high level this winter. Maybe LaMere got in because he was seeded better.

Right but after they were separated by .01 sec LaMere made a jump over the summer that Bijan did not make. LaMere did not do indoors which makes me think he has just been gearing up for this sub 29 attempt. I'm sure his coach (who is very respected in the T&F community) had him seeded at 29:00, and Stanford respected that seed.

chalk this up to a valuable life lesson.

Most of us are drawn to running because it is a pure form of completion. Line up, start racing. No excuses...

At most levels of the sport that is a reality.

The "injustice" (I use that term lightly for your scenario) you have encountered is a reality of life. Instead of bitching about it, you really have two choices:

1) get bitter and come commiserate with likeminded whiners, staying in the rut

2) use it as fuel to prove the transgressors wrong and rise to a new level

You'll find the rest of your life will be filled with similar situations, any walk of life.

Politics, class, status, etc. are unfortunate, yet permeate through our culture of relationships, business, sport, and so on. Observe, figure out ways to overcome and change the system if you believe strongly enough and have some balls.

Watching you try to bring attention to your situation is pathetic. You called out several outliers that are clearly not outliers, don't be petty. This tactic will never get you anywhere.

Lace 'em up and keep working.

It sounds like you are trending in the right direction and are positioned to get in races of this caliber very very soon. Good luck.

Joel Reichow was an all-american this year in XC...

Benjamins wrote:

Maniacaldart wrote:

While this is true, and I don't doubt that LaMere will run better than Bijan, the last time the two of them raced a 10k, LaMere won by 0.007 seconds, and Bijan has a better 10k PR, and actually raced at a high level this winter. Maybe LaMere got in because he was seeded better.

Right but after they were separated by .01 sec LaMere made a jump over the summer that Bijan did not make. LaMere did not do indoors which makes me think he has just been gearing up for this sub 29 attempt. I'm sure his coach (who is very respected in the T&F community) had him seeded at 29:00, and Stanford respected that seed.

To be fair, as a former UWP runner (from a long time ago) I'm a big fan of Ian (and of Coach Antczak). I'm very excited to see Ian take a crack at sub 29. Just a bummer that another very good runner (Bijan) was given the run around and doesn't have the same opportunity.