All I'm saying is Cohen became an Olympic hopeful after switching to D1. The proof is in the pudding. So many butthurt small division guys taking their anger out on me here but facts and facts.
and Wes Ferguson is an Olympic hopefull and he's still d2. Would he be an medal contender if he went d1 this year?
It's not being "butthurt", but pointing out that ONE case does not 100% prove your point. Case in fact: Ryan Wilson ran 1:45/3:40 as a D3 runner at MIT in 2023, this year at Duke he ran 1:49/3:44. why didn't the D1 magic rub off on him?
Gteat Ryan Wilson point.
Also: Cade Flatt?
Also: I work at a DI uni that had been an absolute graveyard for top CA/US talent (ie you come in, and you NEVER progress no matter how talented you are...take a guess).
Vin should get the credit here. Not "going DI". LOL. OP a moran.
What about schools like Portland State University? Academically mediocre at best, dumpster fire running program, but NCAA Division I. There are also many more such examples to be found all over this nation. I wouldn't find any of these institutions "superior" to schools in other divisions simply because they have some delusion that their men's basketball or football team will one day catch fire and become a middling power.
I digress. Major football and basketball realignment will turn most DI institutions into glorified DII in short order.
You're cherry picking with one example. One.
Look at entire D1 conferences that are superior in cross country / track and field and academics across the board: the Big East, ACC, the Ivy League for example.
Since you listed the ivy League, I'll cherry pick the RMAC if you want to compare which conference is better in men's and women's cross country.
Denisha Cartwright ran a windy 12.37 100 m hurdles, which is the #2 hurdle time in the WORLD in 2024, all conditions. It was #1 in the world at the time of her race. She’s D2, Minnesota State. Pretty sure Cartwright will be making the Olympic team for the Bahamas.
I'm not reading all these testimonials. The fact that people are posting anecdotal stories to prove their point is laughable. Unless you guys can show a large sample size of data with D2 being better than D1 I'm not seriously considering your nonsense. Over 50.athletes went as fast in D1 over 1500 as the top 1500 runner in D2 lol don't tell me it's the same.
1. You started this thread with an anecdotal story.
2. No one here has said, “the numbers of qualifiers in D2 are the same as D1,” literally no one.
I'm not reading all these testimonials. The fact that people are posting anecdotal stories to prove their point is laughable. Unless you guys can show a large sample size of data with D2 being better than D1 I'm not seriously considering your nonsense. Over 50.athletes went as fast in D1 over 1500 as the top 1500 runner in D2 lol don't tell me it's the same.
1. You started this thread with an anecdotal story.
2. No one here has said, “the numbers of qualifiers in D2 are the same as D1,” literally no one.
There's nothing anecdotal about decades of high quality performance compared to D2 and much better coaching.
Since you listed the ivy League, I'll cherry pick the RMAC if you want to compare which conference is better in men's and women's cross country.
The RMAC? With the 2024 conference meet where the first seven finishers in the men's 10,000 were all from the same school? What kind of a joke is that?
Look at his progression his first outdoor at Tampa. One week he runs 2:03 literally a week later 1:49
For outdoor track in my junior year of HS, I ran my first 3 races in 2:06/7. I thought that was the best I could do back then and my best time before that was a 2:08 indoor. In my fourth race of the outdoor season I was the SMR anchor leg. None of us thought we had a shot at the W because 2 teams had runners who posted much faster times than us. Well, the sprinters in my squad pulled through and gave me the stick with a good 15 meter lead. I have never run so scared in my life.. ended up splitting a 52 (my best 400 was 50.5 then) and hung in there with a 63. Of course in that last 200 I experienced unreal pain and saw Jesus and Mickey Mouse before the finish line. That is how these jumps in the 800 happen. In my next meet I dropped my mile time from 4:48 to 4:26. A lot of speedy runners don't get comfortable enough with pain to see what they are really made of.
Look at his progression his first outdoor at Tampa. One week he runs 2:03 literally a week later 1:49
For outdoor track in my junior year of HS, I ran my first 3 races in 2:06/7. I thought that was the best I could do back then and my best time before that was a 2:08 indoor. In my fourth race of the outdoor season I was the SMR anchor leg. None of us thought we had a shot at the W because 2 teams had runners who posted much faster times than us. Well, the sprinters in my squad pulled through and gave me the stick with a good 15 meter lead. I have never run so scared in my life.. ended up splitting a 52 (my best 400 was 50.5 then) and hung in there with a 63. Of course in that last 200 I experienced unreal pain and saw Jesus and Mickey Mouse before the finish line. That is how these jumps in the 800 happen. In my next meet I dropped my mile time from 4:48 to 4:26. A lot of speedy runners don't get comfortable enough with pain to see what they are really made of.
Nah man you got faster because your balls dropped. Not the same thing.
The fact that Wes Ferguson exists disproves this argument. A legitimate contender at last year's USAs, likely to be a contender at the trials this year. D2 runner.
Take a look at last year's USATF 800m results. A DII runner won his semi-final in the 800, only to be DQ'd for stepping on the line in the first 100m of the run. Don't sleep on Mr Ferguson!
So here's the question. Why would anyone transfer from a top D2 school (say a Grand Valley St, Adams St, West Texas, etc) to a crap D1 school (say Chicago St or any place without facilities and only 1 or 2 coaches)? You would lose great facilities, coaching, and budget just to say you're D1? You're 100% going backwards if you make this move.
The fact that Wes Ferguson exists disproves this argument. A legitimate contender at last year's USAs, likely to be a contender at the trials this year. D2 runner.
Nah, this just means he'd be a 1:42 guy at a D1 school obviously.
So here's the question. Why would anyone transfer from a top D2 school (say a Grand Valley St, Adams St, West Texas, etc) to a crap D1 school (say Chicago St or any place without facilities and only 1 or 2 coaches)? You would lose great facilities, coaching, and budget just to say you're D1? You're 100% going backwards if you make this move.
Although Chicago State does suck, you're coming up with a hypothetical. Why would a 1:48 guy go to Chicago State? They would obviously be going somewhere else with much better facilities and funding to travel wherever they need to go.
I agree, you would be going backwards if you made that hyper-specific move from Grand Valley to Chicago State lol
“I still can’t really believe it. Being at a Division I school, let alone a national champion — I just remember watching these guys on YouTube.” “I’ll get back to the basics and hopefully can make it to the final on Sunday. Maybe book my ticket to Paris.” ‒NCAA 800m champ Shane Cohen
Congratulations to Shane Cohen, who ran a PB 1:44.92 for 7th place going into the finals. If Wes Ferguson had run his PB from June 9, 2024 it would have put him in 8th place at 1:45.06. Both really incredible marks (this month) for college athletes.
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