Engels: almost quit running because of NC State

Someone who was actually there wrote:

Now it is Craig's 3rd year in college. He runs decent in XC. Always in the top 7. He is not chosen for Nationals. Craig drives up to NCAAs with teammates who also didn't make meet to cheer on team. While he is there he and the coach get into it. The relationship that was rocky is now over.

It is SHOCKING that so many people have supported this untrue account of what happened. A couple things:

- Look at the 2014 NCAA cross country results - NC State has one finisher on the men's side so clearly did not qualify as a team. So if you try to deny everything else in this post, you can't deny that Craig was not actually left off the team after finishing top 7 every race...there was no team to leave him off. Results here to save you the time looking it up:

- Instead, what happened is one guy (Sam Parsons) from NC State qualified for nationals. The coaches allow him to take a teammate with him to nationals so that he has company during the trip, someone to warm up with, etc., to make it feel like a normal race. The person selected is Craig.

- Craig gets in trouble for drinking on the trip while he is officially traveling as part of the team, which is very different than just driving up to watch. You can't drink while on an official team trip and it's grounds for being kicked off the team

- So guess what - the coaches kicked him off. It wasn't some random argument like you said

You are right I forgot it was regionals they didn't run Craig and the team didn't qualify because of it.

I tried to keep this classy, but since you want to post under a bunch of names. I'll be honest.

Geiger was lucky to have Craig, he messed it up. He treated Craig like crap, they never got along. Craig was not the only person who suffered this fate.

Jacob Thomson was also on that NC State team, transferred away and ran great after (SEC Champ). You bring up Sam who has run so much better since graduating. Ryan Hill was hurt the whole time he was there, he just had so much talent he overcame it. He blew up after graduating. People leave NC State and their lives get better.

NC State had Engels, Thomson and Parsons on a team that didn't qualify for nationals.... WTF

Craig at NC state (2.5 years)- Never made an NCAA meet. Never scored at a conference meet. (PRs all from HS)

Craig at Ole Miss (2.5 years)-5 time All American. Multiple Time SEC Champ. (PRs- 3:37, 1:46)

someone who was there wrote:

You are right I forgot it was regionals they didn't run Craig and the team didn't qualify because of it.

Thanks for clarifying! Also you mentioned before that he was "always in the top 7" - maybe worth clarifying that he only ran in one race with their A team before regionals, where he finished 6th of 7 runners at ACCs. Looks like they decided to remove Sheehan's redshirt to run him instead of Craig - it's not like they subbed in people he was consistently beating (which you implied). It's quite a jump to say they missed nationals because he didn't run.

It's fine to make the other points about not developing talent - just want to make sure any facts you share are actually accurate / not misleading.

Too True wrote:

CheckURselfCraig wrote:

They had Shanklin qualify for NCAA's in the 5k as a true sophomore. Craig also isn't telling the complete truth about why he left NC State

It’s always easy to rewrite history after the event - by now Craig has probably even convinced himself he did nothing wrong at NC

He probably convinces himself he did nothing wrong by that no-show at Pan Am games. I cant help but think of all those guys who would have loved to have gone in his stead.

Here's a quote from the lead-off article about him after missing a team USA spot before Rio:

"...while obviously disappointed to miss the chance to have USA across his chest, Engels was thrilled to have mixed it with the best professionals in the country"

and more:

"..there's a man with an incredible amount of honor, respect, and confidence, not only for himself but for the sport. He's constantly thinking about the state of the sport and how to attract new fans to to athletics."

So sad. He's already forgotten himself.

They love Engels so much down at Ole Miss, they still have him listed as a senior!! (bottom of the page) And still wearing an Ole Miss jersey!

Might have something to do with the Ole Miss team just finishing 11th and 12th at SEC track (?) and nothing better to write about.

Truth comes out wrote:

someone who was there wrote:

You are right I forgot it was regionals they didn't run Craig and the team didn't qualify because of it.

Thanks for clarifying! Also you mentioned before that he was "always in the top 7" - maybe worth clarifying that he only ran in one race with their A team before regionals, where he finished 6th of 7 runners at ACCs. Looks like they decided to remove Sheehan's redshirt to run him instead of Craig - it's not like they subbed in people he was consistently beating (which you implied). It's quite a jump to say they missed nationals because he didn't run.

It's fine to make the other points about not developing talent - just want to make sure any facts you share are actually accurate / not misleading.

Also, it's really not strange to pull a 800/1500 6th man out when the distance moves up to 10K. Hard to see it as an insult.

But, even if it was designed to "send a signal", there must have been some reason. Coaches don't set out to rock the boat with hyper-talented athletes for the hell of it. They REALLY want those guys to succeed.

Basically, all Engels needs to say when asked about NC State is some variation of: "I struggled for two years and felt I just needed a different environment. NC State has a great program, but I didn't feel that the program was a great fit for me. I probably wasn't the most mature 19 year old on the planet, and that didn't help anything, either. "

I was today years old after finding out Craig Engels ran for NC State.