I dunno, have you actually seen BYU’s facilities? For a G4 school, there’s much to be desired, especially their Indoor Track. I’ve seen tiny D1 programs with better facilities. Obviously they do just fine with what they have, but imagine if the deep pockets of the LDS church actually invested in better facilities for them. They’d pull some even better talent, they’d be totally unstoppable.
it may just be I don’t pay enough attention to other sports, but to me it feels like American running as a sport has an unusually large amount of elite athletes who are LDS. Like, it just seems weird that a small fraction of our population happens to fill 2 of the 3 spots on our Olympic marathon roster, usually has a couple podium finishers at NCAAs if no champions, and usually has a few elite HS runners every year.
Is this happening in other sports or am I noticing something unusual here?
You make a good point, there is a lot of good LDS talent in the distance ranks on the national scene at least. In addition to Mantz and Young in the marathon, BYU athletes Rooks and Corrigan made the U.S. steeplechase Olympic team with Rooks perhaps being the biggest surprise in one of the most thrilling races of the games. Is this the LDS factor or the Eyestone factor or a combination of the two?
People in college complain about them being two years older but the fact is as missionaries they are out of running for two years in their prime and some never regain their pre-mission fitness. For those that do make it back to fitness, they have two added years of maturity but two years of lost training. Age is not an advantage on the national scene once they are out of college so no complaints once they are pros. Eyestone has had success with non-LDS athletes as well so probably chalk the success up to a great system, continuity, altitude, facilities, support, talented athletes and a tradition of winning that instills belief that they can be the next great thing. Most LDS believe that there is a higher power assisting them which can be a powerful psychological advantage as well.
Do people in college really complain about aging BYU runners? Rono was a 24-year old freshman but rather than resentment, people were in awe of him.
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The outdoor facilities are pretty good. The indoor track and other stuff not so great. Here's a video posted about Mantz and Young. Starting at around 9:15 they are indoors to do a 3X 1 mile workout. They video the whole thing and you can see the whole indoor track facility. Definitely could use an upgrade or a whole new facility built that is track specific. But hey, they make it work and get the results.
Ive always wondered why they havent built an indoor facility. BYU's endowments are in the billions and they own all the land on that campus. plus running is huge in the Mormon culture. maybe moving to the Big 12 will inspire them to get going on that.
The outdoor facilities are pretty good. The indoor track and other stuff not so great. Here's a video posted about Mantz and Young. Starting at around 9:15 they are indoors to do a 3X 1 mile workout. They video the whole thing and you can see the whole indoor track facility. Definitely could use an upgrade or a whole new facility built that is track specific. But hey, they make it work and get the results.
A few years back BYU purchased the old Provo High School across the street which also includes a very nice track. I always thought it would be a cool idea to set up a bubble over that track and then add a banked 200m track in the center. Would be an amazing set up where distance athletes would be less likely for injury because they don't have to work out on sharp turns while still getting the chance to do some work on a banked track so they are used to it come championship season.