DISGRACED Iowa State Runner Transfers to D3 School

rojo wrote:

letsdope123 wrote:

Thanks Rojo. I'd put the chances of your receiving a full FERPA release at 0.0000001%. I also question how forthcoming ISU would be, as they have seemed to want to sweep this under the rug from the beginning. Don't sell this short as "only" a D3 story - it involves doping in the NCAA, major gaps in USADA's purview to regulate the largest American track league, lack of due diligence on the part of Rowan, possibly dereliction of duty to inform on the part of ISU, and a possible international PED supply chain, among other things. This thread alone might very well have been the catalyst for this entire situation getting the coverage it deserves.

We aren't asking for a full FERPA release. We are asking for a limited release. They have publicly stated he was cleared of any wrongdoing. That is a strong statement and it should be easy to verify. If they don't sign it or if they do and Iowa state doesn't respond to it, then the public has a right to know that.

In researching the story, what I've learned about the institutional reforms that need to be made is staggering.

USADA told me they don't have jurisdiction in cases like this. I believe an athlete could put out a tweet on X saying, "Hey I just bought the whole team steroids" and USADA would not be able to suspend them unless they a) are super fast or b) a USATF member.

That's crazy.

And the NCAA rules on doping are nothing like we are used to seeing at the elite level. The whole thing is primarily based on positive tests. So if you test positive, I believe you are banned for a year. But let's say you purchase drugs but claim you didn't use them. There is no mandatory penalty. It's up to each school to follow their own published guidelines. If everyone on the team tells coach they saw a woman on the team use drugs, but she still test negative, I assume it's still not a mandatory penalty. I think it would still be up to the school to follow their own rules but am not 100% sure.

TheProf wrote:

rojo wrote:

We aren't asking for a full FERPA release. We are asking for a limited release. They have publicly stated he was cleared of any wrongdoing. That is a strong statement and it should be easy to verify. If they don't sign it or if they do and Iowa state doesn't respond to it, then the public has a right to know that.

In researching the story, what I've learned about the institutional reforms that need to be made is staggering.

USADA told me they don't have jurisdiction in cases like this. I believe an athlete could put out a tweet on X saying, "Hey I just bought the whole team steroids" and USADA would not be able to suspend them unless they a) are super fast or b) a USATF member.

That's crazy.

And the NCAA rules on doping are nothing like we are used to seeing at the elite level. The whole thing is primarily based on positive tests. So if you test positive, I believe you are banned for a year. But let's say you purchase drugs but claim you didn't use them. There is no mandatory penalty. It's up to each school to follow their own published guidelines. If everyone on the team tells coach they saw a woman on the team use drugs, but she still test negative, I assume it's still not a mandatory penalty. I think it would still be up to the school to follow their own rules but am not 100% sure.

It is also breaking Civil Liability law to expose Seth's email and phone number in the petition.

holdon wrote:

I find the lack of discussion about how easy it is to fake the gmail video is to be odd.

Here's what a fake gmail site I made in about 10 minutes looks like:

Link:bashify.io/i/EalWKg

I have zero experience with web design, coding, etc. and just used AI. The UI is really off because I just went with the first reasonable version, and I put minimal effort into the details. But it is as functional as necessary for the creation of the video that's been circulating.

Even if the video was forged, he is obviously not instantly in the clear. And I have no reason to believe it would be, besides his mom's last name being incorrect (it's pretty easy to find online that she doesn't use his last name anywhere...but it could still be unchanged on her email?). I hope that he is tested throughly and sufficiently, and that any necessary investigation will be able to proceed. And that he will be able to compete and restore his reputation if he is clean, and that he will suffer the consequences if he is not.

But I believe discourse here has been lacking the perspective of how easy it is to create false evidence, especially by people experienced in web design and coding.

holdon wrote:

I find the lack of discussion about how easy it is to fake the gmail video is to be odd.

Here's what a fake gmail site I made in about 10 minutes looks like:

Link:bashify.io/i/EalWKg

I have zero experience with web design, coding, etc. and just used AI. The UI is really off because I just went with the first reasonable version, and I put minimal effort into the details. But it is as functional as necessary for the creation of the video that's been circulating.

Even if the video was forged, he is obviously not instantly in the clear. And I have no reason to believe it would be, besides his mom's last name being incorrect (it's pretty easy to find online that she doesn't use his last name anywhere...but it could still be unchanged on her email?). I hope that he is tested throughly and sufficiently, and that any necessary investigation will be able to proceed. And that he will be able to compete and restore his reputation if he is clean, and that he will suffer the consequences if he is not.

But I believe discourse here has been lacking the perspective of how easy it is to create false evidence, especially by people experienced in web design and coding.

holdon wrote:

I was able to traverse the website in a manner similar to gmail. It displayed the data I uploaded just how gmail would. Again, I feel like anyone with any knowledge about how good AI is in 2026 would know how easy it is to make something like this.

I guess you just have to take my word for it... Just as you'll have to take my word for not being a lawyer :)

I'm sure leblond spent a significant amount of time making his petition. He's a guy who clearly has a lot going for him and going on in his life., as a high level athlete at an elite academic college. I don't think many people would argue that it's unreasonable for him to have put the time and effort into making and spreading the petition! Therefore...

Perhaps someone who felt personally slighted by this whole incident - be it an Iowa State guy, D3 guy, idk - sat down with their comp sci major friend, threw on the new J Cole album, and spent a couple hours cooking something up.

The lack of critical thinking here is actually ridiculous (on both sides. Iowa Sideways you really gotta think what you're saying through bro). This is one of the hottest topics in the world of running right now. I'm taking time out of my day to comment my opinion on who might be the most hated runner in the world (NCAA for sure, at least). And there are plenty of others who feel motivated to do the same despite little stake in the situation - as is made evident by the 42 and growing pages we have here.

cmon man wrote:

Weak testing wrote:

I think it’s pretty safe to say that ANY testing going on in the NCAA is mostly for cannabis and MAYBE something like trenbolone. Even in D1 I’d bet the house they’re not testing for epo

True. The NCAA has a small budget for testing. Their focus is really deterring rather than actually busting. They could do a basic screen for steroids and recreational drugs on 10 athletes for the same price as doing a full screen to catch EPO and other substances on a single athlete. And even then, the non-randomized epo test won't catch 99% of users.
Only 2 real solutions exist, and neither are in budget for the NCAA. 1. Randomized full screen testing year-round. 2. Biological passport to track unnatural changes in blood levels. From a financial perspective this is just simply not worth it for anyone except top professionals. Screening for EPO at national meets would just be a waste of money.
NCAA is in a weird middle ground between your local 5k and the olympics. There's no way to have the 10's of thousands of athletes on a strict leash.