FastTuohy wrote:
Maatog ran 4:29.8 while Markezich ran 4:32. Tuohy did start ~10 seconds back. She went roughly 65/66/67/65 and got within maybe 2 seconds of Maatog with 300 to go I think.
I was impressed with how intelligently Maatoug paced that leg. She had to know Tuohy was coming, so it was hardly a matter of being content to pass Notre Dame. She needed to maintain margin while saving a kick. Once Tuohy didn't close her down by 200 I knew it was long gone, given Maatoug's late turn of foot.
I don't think Maatoug was capable of this until about a year ago. That's when her confidence soared during Dutch indoor championships. She was hardly one of the favorites entering that meet. Then during the 800 heats on Saturday she was suddenly running with more confidence and aggression than ever before. It carried over to the final the next day when he bullied to lead on the rail then repelled several challenges over the final 300.
Maatoug had already committed to Duke at that point. They were sharp to find her early. But even if her recruiting had still been open after Dutch indoors I think there's a very good chance Maatoug would have chosen Duke anyway. She is very intelligent and before transferring to Duke she was majoring in philosophy but all emphasis in English, not Dutch.
I saw an interview with Maatoug last winter in which she self-evaluated and said she thought her strengths lended more to 1500, even though she had always prioritized the 800. Then once she arrived at Duke she said the training was vastly different than anything she had experienced. She said in Netherlands it was mostly sprint work, and on her own. Duke was the first time she's had daily interaction with coaches and greater emphasis on endurance than speed.
She'll never be close to Tuohy but a good versatile valuable college stalwart. And at this level she's already national team caliber in Holland, albeit probably more at 1500 than 800. Maatoug race a very strange race in the Netherlands 800 final last summer. She surged to the lead after 200 then stopped the race to almost a crawl. I don't think that helped her. She got boxed, had to shove to create space, and then got badly outfinished. Given such a slow pace the true sprinters had more left: