but its so small wrote:
how the hell does a state as small and connecticut have six classes? six?!
Haha, good question! You'd think we could just have 3. I don't make the rules though.
but its so small wrote:
how the hell does a state as small and connecticut have six classes? six?!
Haha, good question! You'd think we could just have 3. I don't make the rules though.
Yeah, not private schools. The private school results for SC are even worse
pretty sure that mark blackmon kid in aaaa ran 15s in middle school.
"Dude gets on front page of letsrun for running 17 flat"
Drewinsc wrote:
Yeah, not private schools. The private school results for SC are even worse
Actually, the kid in high tops would likely have been beaten by the winner of the SC private school meet, who runs sub-17. And if the private schools ran in their enrollment class (class A), then two of the top three teams would have been the private ones. The class A champs (Landrum) are pretty even with the best schools in SCISA, and ran better times at their state meet. But when they raced the SCISA runner-ups head-to-head earlier in the season, they got beat.
The problem is that (a) running in general in SC isn't at a high level; and (b) most of the smaller SC schools (public and private) are pretty weak. But you could take the better class A and SCISA schools and place top 10 in the AA or AAA meet, and around top 15 in the AAAA meet.
Reasons why this is a pretty remarkable run:
(1) He is wearing loosely tied basketball shooes.
(2) Sandhills is the name of the course where the SC State Championship is run. Sandhills, as you might imagine, has lots of sand, hills, and sandy hills.
(3) The kids looked like he just ran as hard as needed to win (click through the pics and you'll see him do a last second surge).
Put him in racing spikes, with two years of adequate training (30-40 mpw), on a track (not sandhills), and that young man could probably run sub-15.
Incredible talent. Very cool, indeed!
Lobsterboy wrote:
Too much made of shoes. Big deal. Call me old skl but back in the day, before there was a Nike, adidas were impossibly expensive for kids. So lots of high school kids wore a version of low-cut Converse All-stars or Chuck Taylor b-ball sneakers for x-ctry and indoor track (the track was concrete with wood banks in the corners. (Boston Armory).
The big deal is nearly everyone else was in spikes (see 2nd place) or running flats.
I think he read born to run and realized that the natural flex of the air jordans mimicked that of barefoot running.
runfootdoc wrote:
The big deal is nearly everyone else was in spikes (see 2nd place) or running flats.
Yeah, we get it. He's saying that point is not as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be. If you're fast, you're fast. Throw Air Jordans on Bekele and he's still going to fly.
In SC, Class A are public schools with <500 students. Private schools in SC have their own league, SCISA.
I coach in SC 2A (500-1000). The successful coaches in 1A and 2A have the ability to reqruit well within their school. The difficulty comes with a small talent pool and other sports that take away potential runners. Recently we have had success in recruiting basketball players and wrestlers to run XC.
In SC, football is huge and many of the school's athletes play it. That eliminates large amounts of talent that could potentially run XC.
The sandhills course is tough. It has sandy footing in some areas. ALso, it will punish you if you go out faster than your ability level allows.
In years past, 1A/2A/3A have combined in the state meet. More recently, it has just been A/2A
Incidentally, the A/AA girls chamionship team this year was actually a 1A school.
The guy won the race. He is a state champion. His accomplishment should not be diminished in any way.
several years ago I won a High School city championship wearing soccer shoes (with 19mm studs)......
It was frozen ground, but it warmed up during the day, so was slippery for normal running shoes. I did not have any spikes and I went home to get the soccer shoes.
They were very stiff on the hard paved sections, but huge grip on the mud...
Damn states and their god damn class divisions. The so called "Champions" from 2A down wouldn't have made it out of my Sectional.
Scottieboy1023 wrote:
Damn states and their god damn class divisions. The so called "Champions" from 2A down wouldn't have made it out of my Sectional.
I actually coached the 2A champion and he is a champion in every way, on the field and in the classroom. He did not set the rules, he only competed under them. He did what it took to beat the competition and he won the race.
Based on your language, you don't appear to be a Christian, but 2 Timothy 2:5 states "An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules..."
None of the SC athletes set the rules, but they all competed according to them. (in Air Jordans or whatever)
realistic man wrote:
but its so small wrote:how the hell does a state as small and connecticut have six classes? six?!
Haha, good question! You'd think we could just have 3. I don't make the rules though.
Thee are currently 174 schools with xc teams in CT. In the past there have been as many as 178. I would think it would be a bit rough to put 55+ teams on that course at one time.
Also, there have been individuals from S and SS that have won state opens, but yes only 1 team has made it to New Englands (on the boys side) Thomaston? over the past 5 years.
Ray wrote:
Thee are currently 174 schools with xc teams in CT. In the past there have been as many as 178. I would think it would be a bit rough to put 55+ teams on that course at one time.
i have a solution: don't let every single team qualify for state.
goddamn. the state doesn't need more than 3 classes. stop being ridiculous.
Ok, for arguments sake I'll agree with you. so how does a top individual qualify for the state meet if their team sucks?
Ray wrote:
Ok, for arguments sake I'll agree with you. so how does a top individual qualify for the state meet if their team sucks?
In my state we have a regional qualifier. Top half of teams and top 20 individuals qualify for the state meet.
Wait, Ray, does CT not have some kind of district or regional qualifier for the state meet? Everyone just goes to the state meet?
Three size divisions for the state, divide the state into 2-4 districts/regions and viola! you have a qualifier in which an individual can make it to state without his/her team.
We don't have a regional qualifier. The season is short. We can not compete before the 2nd week of September and then most leagues have their championshipthe 3rd week of Oct. State class last weekend in Oct. State Open first weekend in Nov. New England Meet 2nd week of November. That schedule is locked in and nobody would listen to reason and try to change it.
pluss wrote:
I post here and don't consider it a real sport. Yes, it's a skill-laden activity, but it's hard to call it a true sport.
You're definitely in the minority... not to mention an idiot.