***OFFICIAL LUKAS IS LEAVING***

You're and idiot if you think lukas could compete in the higher distance triathlons. I personally know a few professional triathletes and they are on a different level of athleticism than lucas.

You need to be able to run 30 minutes off the bike to be able to compete on the world level and lukas isn't even close to that. Sure, he can run 15:10 off the bike on the sprint triathlon, but the elite triathletes are running less than double his 5k tri pr and killing the bike and the swim.

He's an idiot for leaving oregon. He should have stayed and developed aerobically. Like i said above I know a lot of ELITE triathletes and they say that the running is the most difficult, a close second is swimming and the easiest is bike. it would have best served him to stay and run.

Agree. The Brownlee Brothers are running 29s off the bike and swim a lot faster.

As tough as his two months at Oregon were, they're nothing like what he's headed into. Dumb. Naive.

what is really disappointing is he quits the team 2 days before regionals and 10 days to NCAA totally unfair to his teammates as he had been there 3rd to 4th runner, if he wasn't top 7 on his team it would not matter as much.

and i dont want to hear he needs those 10 extra days of just triathlon training as it is critical to his triathlon career. that would be baloney.

Craig Lutz is cheesing right now.

At least the Oregon guys, Vin in particular, showed a lot of class in how they handled this...

http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205331333

I wonder if Lukas isn't a bit homesick, spoiled, and not mature enough to handle getting it handed to him by some of the talented youngsters at Oregon (i.e Stinson, Elkain).

college experience wrote:

College studying likely had an impact as well. College is a lot of work. LV seems to be after what makes him the most comfortable. Competing in a sport he really likes, and not worrying about class work and tests. There is nothing wrong with that. Hopefully he will do well with his choice.

He's going to be going to school in Colorado Springs though...

It is horrible to leave Oregon when they are counting on Lukas to help them make it to the NCAA's, but it does seem like something else is up. No one in their right mind would quit with NCAA's 10 days away. I hope he knows what he is doing by letting his entire team down. As for his move to Colorado Springs, I will be attending UCCS in the fall of 2012, so there is a plus for me personally! I wish him the best of luck in whatever he may do though.

I think I agree with most...why would you leave your team like that. He obviously was never really apart of it, he has problems! If you can't handle losing you will never succeed!

verzbicas demonstrates here the marks of a great champion / person.

champs have their own mind and follow their instincts when the going gets tough / situation is critical.

most en devours require you to be ruthless too. verbs is.

lucas speaks his mind, is passionate about friendship and does not bend to popular opinion.

great guy, good luck to him.

bguyj2009 wrote:

Why did Ritz transition so much easier into college running, but Verzbizcas can't? Verzbicas is no doubt a great running talent than Ritz.

LV's talent comes no where near Ritz or German Fernandez or any other HS kid that's ran sub 8:50. Yeah, He was 2x Footlocker champ and ran 8:29 at a pro meet but he's been micromanaged to a T, probably since he was born. He trained like 4 times a day and his mother and step-father did everything for him. He probably never did what other HS kids do like drink at weekends and smoke joints. College training was a step down for him and then when he starts getting his ass kicked by Lutz and Moussa, his massive ego can't take it so he quits. Please, that's pathetic. German and Ritz lived normal HS lives and trained like normal HS runners and could still set HS records and win Footlocker champs. Face it people, LV ain't as good as y'all think.

Agree, 100%

Leaving the team sucks..But really college running and academics are not for everyone. I hated the Div 1 day in and out grind especially with structured workouts that didn't suit me.

college experience wrote:

College studying likely had an impact as well. College is a lot of work. LV seems to be after what makes him the most comfortable. Competing in a sport he really likes, and not worrying about class work and tests. There is nothing wrong with that. Hopefully he will do well with his choice.

I don't the the idea of being comfortable meshes well with being a world class endurance athlete

Brianruns10 wrote:

One of the outstanding talents of the last 25 years, and now he is diminishing that talent, diluting it by doing triathlons? What a waste of natural, god given ability, in a sport where I and so many struggle so hard, knowing full well we'll never be worth anything, never amount to more than fifth rate amateurs never-wases, because we haven't the natural talent.

It is a slap in the face, and i hope he fails, and gets a stress fracture.

+1

Sad to see him go but do what you like and forget the rest.

wicked wrote:

You're and idiot if you think lukas could compete in the higher distance triathlons. I personally know a few professional triathletes and they are on a different level of athleticism than lucas.

You need to be able to run 30 minutes off the bike to be able to compete on the world level and lukas isn't even close to that. Sure, he can run 15:10 off the bike on the sprint triathlon, but the elite triathletes are running less than double his 5k tri pr and killing the bike and the swim.

He's an idiot for leaving oregon. He should have stayed and developed aerobically. Like i said above I know a lot of ELITE triathletes and they say that the running is the most difficult, a close second is swimming and the easiest is bike. it would have best served him to stay and run.

Keep in mind that Lukas is not drafting on the bicycle when he runs his 15min 5k. It makes a huge difference. Of course, if his swim sucks then he won't be drafting in the draft legal races either.

Oh please, you can't compare LV with Ritz and German, because they only had one sport that they were pursuing. Where as LV's main sport was triathlon and transitioned well into running. LV is a very talented athlete!! I believe that he has made the right choice, it just so happened that he committed to Oregon before having the best Tri race of his life.

There are no east africans in the triatlon. That is why he is making the switch. He is not developed in his distance running so we have no idea what he can do. He does not do much mileage so maybe he just doesn't want to do the miles. Maybe he will come back to running if he gets a gold in the tri in 2016. Good luck to him if that is his dream. I would like to see him develop and take on the Africans but that is my dream and obviously not his.

LV most likely decided to leave Oregon after finishing 60th in Wisconsin. Remember he tried to run with the big dogs and faded to 60th. Projecting this outcome to the NCAA cross final places him about 120th. His response after Wisconsin was he would have to rethink things. The decision to quit can be assumed to have been made then. The second race was to go out on a high - that didn't work out too well either - 23rd. One question to ask: was LV tested for PEDs after either the 3:58 mile or 8:29 two mile. Just asking.