The question must be asked, has Mike Smith failed Colin Sahlman?
Luis Grijalva was correct when he stated running for Smith is a long term process. Nico is now benefiting from that process, so is Big S . Quad’s 13:16 today was almost as fast as his dad ran, his process has been slow, but steady.
Non-track people are going to use this to say Nico could run 3:47.
Only a moron would say that. Nico Young is a 5k guy who can move down well to the 3k. He is in no way a miler. Not sure why some people have a hard time with this.
Not saying he cannot run a competitive mile (3:52pt?) but its clearly not his event.
12:57.1 is extraordinary. Just 21 yrs old. Hard work pays off.
Non-track people are going to use this to say Nico could run 3:47.
Only a moron would say that. Nico Young is a 5k guy who can move down well to the 3k. He is in no way a miler. Not sure why some people have a hard time with this.
Not saying he cannot run a competitive mile (3:52pt?) but its clearly not his event.
12:57.1 is extraordinary. Just 21 yrs old. Hard work pays off.
Brian Musau looked great at BU in December in the 3k, just behind Nico and closing fast in a time, 7:38, that was a faster pace than his 1500m "pr" of 3:50. I expect low 3:50s in the right circumstance for him in the mile, namely, a quick pacer and some competition.
Nico crushed Colin Sahlman by six seconds at altitude, Sahlman runs 3:53 at BU, and you're only winning to grant Nico a 3:52??? It's not just Sahlman who ran faster at sea level in the mile. Kang Nyoak dropped nearly as much, 9.57 seconds, to run 3:57 at BU yesterday. But Nico would only drop five seconds? After seeing him run 12:57, a 14 second drop from his pr, you're doubling down to say he could only run 3:52. That makes no sense.
Brian Musau looked great at BU in December in the 3k, just behind Nico and closing fast in a time, 7:38, that was a faster pace than his 1500m "pr" of 3:50. I expect low 3:50s in the right circumstance for him in the mile, namely, a quick pacer and some competition.
Yes today the competition was fine (his teammate) but around 56.3/1:55mid for his first two quarter splits definitely was too crisp a pace. Better to go out too slow than too fast in a mile early in the season. I dont think his current time is safely in so i bet he goes again for a time.
Nico crushed Colin Sahlman by six seconds at altitude, Sahlman runs 3:53 at BU, and you're only winning to grant Nico a 3:52??? It's not just Sahlman who ran faster at sea level in the mile. Kang Nyoak dropped nearly as much, 9.57 seconds, to run 3:57 at BU yesterday. But Nico would only drop five seconds? After seeing him run 12:57, a 14 second drop from his pr, you're doubling down to say he could only run 3:52. That makes no sense.
The early results are pretty darn promising for NAU and the validity of the NCAA's altitude conversions, even for athletes living at altitude. Sahlman dropped 10.04 seconds from NAU last week, winning, and closed in 28/27 (55.80). Kang Nyoak ran 3:57.31 in the 2nd heat, dropping 9.57 seconds from 4:06.88 last week. He had a really strong end to his xc season, probably should have been chosen for nationals, and he has improved immensely on the track so far. Maybe Nico is ready to run 3:48-9.
Incidentally, the Exeter high school, Byron Grievious, ran 4:08.10.
Results PlaceAthleteTimeHeat1 1 1 Colin Sahlman Northern Arizona 3:53.17 12 (3rd, second heat) Kang Nyoak Northern Arizona 3:57.31
NAU Lumberjack Team Challenge 1/19
Event 12 Men 1 Mile Run Name Yr School Finals Finals 1 Nico Young JR Northern Arizona 3:57.33 2 Colin Sahlman SO Northern Arizona 4:03.21 3 Theo Quax SR Northern Arizona 4:03.33 4 Kang Nyoak JR Northern Arizona 4:06.88 5 Aaron Las Heras SR Northern Arizona 4:10.04 6 Travis Feeny JR Southern Utah 4:12.04 7 Erik Le Roux SO Northern Arizona 4:12.20 8 Santiago Gaitan JR Southern Utah 4:15.09 9 Riley Human SR Northern Arizona 4:15.79 10 Zack Munson FR Northern Arizona 4:16.85 11 Aidan Puffer SO Northern Arizona 4:18.66
I wouldn’t say the validity of conversions is proven. I would say the validity of Mike smith being an amazing coach is proven again. Plenty of other Colorado schools get crazy altitude conversions. If you switch focus to D2 most of the top results are altitude converted. Then those poor kids get waxed at ncaas because they never once ran a step in their races at their converted times. Happens every year.
Laban Kipkemboi ran only 4:03 two weeks earlier and now he runs 3:56, a seven second drop (both at Arkansas), giving Musau some competition. Musau might well have run faster with a 58/58 start but he wasn't ready to go low 3:50s. I was wrong. Later in the season, who knows? This is a guy who came into OK State with a 3:50 1500m pr and has now run two 1500s back to back at a faster pace (7:38 3k) and a 3:55.52 mile. And while I am not a fan of how Dave Smith built his XC NCAA championship team, there has never been a doubt in my mind about his coaching ability. Kipkemboi, like Musau, dropped enormous amounts of time after just a few months being coached by Dave Smith.
I wouldn’t say the validity of conversions is proven. I would say the validity of Mike smith being an amazing coach is proven again. Plenty of other Colorado schools get crazy altitude conversions. If you switch focus to D2 most of the top results are altitude converted. Then those poor kids get waxed at ncaas because they never once ran a step in their races at their converted times. Happens every year.
Okay, fine. Here are the top D2 indoor mile qualifiers last year. Those with @ have converted times. The # is a conversion from a flat track. Four of 16 were run at BU, one at UW. One at Spire, which I think is at least 300m, like UW (307 or 309). Eight were run at altitude and converted down. That's 50%. I think all of those were run by athletes from Colorado colleges.
Mile 2023 Indoors NCAA DII Prov 4:10.39Top↑ AthleteYearTeamTimeMeetMeet Date1 Coca, Miguel 3:56.84 #@ SR-4 Adams State RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Feb 24, 2023 (pr is 4:00, 1500m pr is 3:41, which is closer to 3:58-59) He WON D2 nationals in the mile indoors last year in 4:07. He also ran 7:52 at BU last year. His 3:56 converted time was actually a 4:10 mile, so he got a 14 second converted drop by factoring in the altitude and the track type, and he has not yet come closer than about 4 seconds to the conversion. But it did properly place him as the best D2 miler. 2 Dannatt, Charlie SR-4 Simon Fraser 3:58.54 2023 Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invite Feb 10, 2023 This is his pr mile. He was 5th outdoors last year with 3:54 1500m. He ran a 3:41 1500m pr outdoors. He is not listed as competing at D2 indoors last year, despite the seed time. However, he was 3rd at D2 outdoor nationals in 2022 in the 1500m and 5th indoors at mile. 3 Julian , Luke SR-4 Colo. Sch. of Mines 3:58.62 2023 Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invite Feb 10, 2023 2nd indoors, 1st outdoors last year. 4 Riddle, Ryan JR-3 Missouri Southern 3:59.25 8th Annual Indoor Gorilla Classic Feb 10, 2023 6th at 3k last year indoors, no other nationals last year in track 5 Powell, Dillon SO-2 Colo. Sch. of Mines 3:59.65 @ Colorado Invitational Jan 27, 2023 1st indoor 5000m last year. 6 Graff, Evan SR-4 UC-Colo. Spgs. 4:00.22 #@ Colorado Running Company UCCS Invite Jan 21, 2023 7th indoor nationals 2023, 11th outdoor 7 Cardenas, David JR-3 Adams State 4:00.81 #@ Mountaineer Open and Multi Dec 9, 2022 6th indoor 800m 2023 7 Scomparin, Loic SO-2 Colo. Sch. of Mines 4:00.81 @ Colorado Invitational Jan 27, 2023 8th at 3k indoor nationals 2023, 3rd at 10k, 9th at 5k outdoors. 9 Majeski, Hudson SO-2 Colo. Christian 4:01.10 #@ Mountaineer Open and Multi Dec 9, 2022 8th at D2 Indoor mile, 17th outdoors 1500m. 10 Chahid, Hamza FR-1 Wingate 4:01.80 2023 Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invite Feb 10, 2023 He's a freshman. 11 Kreft, Zach SR-4 Walsh 4:03.07 SPIRE Midwest Open 2023 Jan 21, 2023 4th at indoor 3k and 5k last year 12 Duigou, Clement SR-4 Adams State 4:03.12 #@ RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Feb 24, 2023 5th and 7th at 3k and 5k last indoors, 3rd steeple outdoors 13 Hutton, Hunter JR-3 Western Oregon 4:03.26 2023 Husky Classic Feb 10, 2023 9th indoor last year at mile 14 Nord, Tyler FR-1 Western Colorado 4:03.40 #@ Wes Lavong Open Jan 28, 2023 3rd 3k indoor, 5th 1500 outdoor 15 Haviland, Dillan SO-2 Northwood 4:03.75 G-MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Feb 24, 2023 4th indoor mile (considerably better than seed), 12th outdoor 16 Kurz, Hunter SR-4 Mississippi College 4:03.98 2023 Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic Jan 27, 2023 12th indoor mile 2023
In general, the seeds converted from altitude stood up very well in placings, whether at the mile or other events. It should be noted that these guys did not compete at high profile sea level qualifiers like BU so we didn't necessarily see top pr's, but the first few guys all ran 3:41 1500m outdoors, so they were legit sub-4 type guys at sea level.
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