If they continue to go all in on the racewalk every title will be a joke with them pumping everyone for eternity. Pretty easy when your starting with 20 free points then bringing in 75 big time distance kids
From what I’ve heard the reason Sowder was suspended was because of unsportsmanlike conduct and not for running ineligible athletes. Santorum was turning around and waving his hands in the last 50m of his races (don’t really care about that) and Asslouj was turned around talking to guys behind him towards the beginning of the 3k.
Silva turned around and made some gun gesture at the Cumberlands kids after he finished which in my opinion was ironically hilarious. Also look at that man’s strava.
On the right day Santorum could have a shot at him, especially if he’s fresher than Silva. Don’t forget he ran 4:06 and 2:22 and then was fresh enough to split 1:49 or 1:50 in the DMR. But yeah most likely Silva is pretty likely to get him on an even playing field.
Still no telling how OKC will use Silva for outdoor or indoor for next year.
My bet for outdoor this year would be 1500/5k/4x8. There’s an outside shot of him even throwing a 10k in there instead of a 4x8.
Indoor next year I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he decides to either do mile/3k/DMR/4x8 or mile/3k/5k.
The unsportsmanlike conduct battles between Silva and the Cumberlands guys will be legendary for the next year.
…also any competitive balance is gone with Silva dominating the individual races and Cumberlands dominating team standings. That’s too bad.
Didn't know santorum split 1:50 pretty impressive after that day. But Silva is in his own world out there. It took him less then 400 to close that gap
Will be interesting to see if Santorum is even there next year. I have a suspicion that him, the 3k kid and Bedsen are gone. Although that leaves a bunch of options. Was not impressed by Kipkirui as a supposed 13:30 guy he got toasted by a 14:20 paced race that he was on with the Missouri Baptist kid
As long as Santorum is eligible by NCAA standards I feel like he’s gone.
A lot of these Cumberlands guys have been really unimpressive compared to their past PRs, but Kipkurui in particular is puzzling to me. I almost wonder if it was the wrong world athletics page or if he just stopped training for a little while.
Obviously his 14:09 5k was impressive, but he seems wildly inconsistent. He couldn’t win their conference meet and then nationals was even worse. He looked like he was really struggling and trying to win the prelim against Denslow and couldn’t pull it out.
Then like you pointed out he was somehow gassed out from going through 2k on pace for about 55 seconds behind his PR? I really thought he had to have been just sitting and kicking on Denslow then he also completely died.
And while I appreciate the prelims getting out faster and racing this year as well I was confused when outside of Santorum all of the Cumberlands guys went out and lead in the prelims. It worked out for some of them but a lot of them underperformed.
Schevchenko was apparently not in shape to go lead his 5k prelim and ended up dropping after setting his heat’s pace for 14:40. He was effectively a rabbit he dropped out pretty early.
Didn't know santorum split 1:50 pretty impressive after that day. But Silva is in his own world out there. It took him less then 400 to close that gap
Will be interesting to see if Santorum is even there next year. I have a suspicion that him, the 3k kid and Bedsen are gone. Although that leaves a bunch of options. Was not impressed by Kipkirui as a supposed 13:30 guy he got toasted by a 14:20 paced race that he was on with the Missouri Baptist kid
As long as Santorum is eligible by NCAA standards I feel like he’s gone.
A lot of these Cumberlands guys have been really unimpressive compared to their past PRs, but Kipkurui in particular is puzzling to me. I almost wonder if it was the wrong world athletics page or if he just stopped training for a little while.
Obviously his 14:09 5k was impressive, but he seems wildly inconsistent. He couldn’t win their conference meet and then nationals was even worse. He looked like he was really struggling and trying to win the prelim against Denslow and couldn’t pull it out.
Then like you pointed out he was somehow gassed out from going through 2k on pace for about 55 seconds behind his PR? I really thought he had to have been just sitting and kicking on Denslow then he also completely died.
Well even that 14:09 is pretty far off from his 13:25 PR. Even if it were something like Kipkurui was just doing base training up until his first race I'd expect better.
44 seconds off of his PR is pretty bad and that was by far his best day. That raises a lot of questions to me. I've seen Asslouj's PR listed as a 8:03 for the 3k, and heard that it's as fast as 7:55, so he isn't in peak shape either. Schevchenko's world athletics page shows some really impressive times and a ton of range, which we haven't seen so far either.
I could see a lot of these guys leaving after this year, but I also find it hard to believe Sowder wouldn't just find some other foreigners to replace them.
The prelims going out faster this year showed the issue more than ever that the standards have to get moved up.
In the 5k 18/38 athletes (48% of the field) either DNFed or ran over 15 mins. Only three mores athletes were even within 10 seconds of the last finals spot. So 55% of the field wasn’t even close to having a shot in the final.
Pretty similar for the 3k only 12 of the 35 athletes were under 8:40. There was a 6 second gap from the last finals qualifier (time qualifier) to the next person out.
If we’re going to need to have prelims for those longer events we shouldn’t have 3 full heats. Around 24 athletes is fine. Having 3 heats is going to eliminate some of the top athletes who get into the wrong heat.
the 3k/5k racewalk is an olympic event? when did that change happen?
Its a niche event that people are staring to game to win national titles. im not saying the whole event needs to go away but it needs to go the way of the marathon. Give them theyre own championships at olympic distances doing it on the roads somewhere.
the 3k/5k racewalk is an olympic event? when did that change happen?
Its a niche event that people are staring to game to win national titles. im not saying the whole event needs to go away but it needs to go the way of the marathon. Give them theyre own championships at olympic distances doing it on the roads somewhere.
and its not just the gaming of the event with recruits. theres not enough knowledgeable judges to officiate regular season so alot of the times that get into nats are likely bogus. its a joke
Well it’s not officiated very carefully at nationals either. That’s part of the reason so many people hate it. It’s just walking fast and not following the rules in NAIA.
Well it’s not officiated very carefully at nationals either. That’s part of the reason so many people hate it. It’s just walking fast and not following the rules in NAIA.
I mean hell. You have to look no further then Cumberlands own Instagram to find a post at nats where one of their race walkers is violating the rules.
I'm pro-racewalk but against having people who just cheat beat out those that put in the work to be good at it. Also 4 red cards in 3k to get DQd is laughable.
My previous comment was also just related to facts. If you're getting 20 free points from the walk then invest that heavily in the foreign distance kids you're basically guaranteed to get enough points to win.
As people have said their distance kids didn't improve much the only two really being the Moroccan kid and Santorum. Them along with Bendsen and Madeo had great races at nats the rest of them either straight up bombed or raced below the rankings coming in. They basically had a B- nats and won off their racewalk cushion and bought points
After last year I think having another thread is a good idea, and I’m starting this one a bit earlier. There were a good amount of posts last year and it provided a lot of information about teams that I don't think many...
Well it’s not officiated very carefully at nationals either. That’s part of the reason so many people hate it. It’s just walking fast and not following the rules in NAIA.
I mean hell. You have to look no further then Cumberlands own Instagram to find a post at nats where one of their race walkers is violating the rules.
I'm pro-racewalk but against having people who just cheat beat out those that put in the work to be good at it. Also 4 red cards in 3k to get DQd is laughable.
My previous comment was also just related to facts. If you're getting 20 free points from the walk then invest that heavily in the foreign distance kids you're basically guaranteed to get enough points to win.
As people have said their distance kids didn't improve much the only two really being the Moroccan kid and Santorum. Them along with Bendsen and Madeo had great races at nats the rest of them either straight up bombed or raced below the rankings coming in. They basically had a B- nats and won off their racewalk cushion and bought points
Actually it takes 3 red cards to get disqualified, not 4. And I am not so sure I agree with the idea that it is not officiated well. The judging at nationals is always stricter to judging seen at regular season meets and the judges at nationals are all USATF certified, so they know what they are doing.
Based on what footage i saw from the 3k RW at nationals last weekend (for the men), there were a couple guys in the race who were very visibly violating the rules, but both of them were disqualified.
Well it’s not officiated very carefully at nationals either. That’s part of the reason so many people hate it. It’s just walking fast and not following the rules in NAIA.
I mean hell. You have to look no further then Cumberlands own Instagram to find a post at nats where one of their race walkers is violating the rules.
I'm pro-racewalk but against having people who just cheat beat out those that put in the work to be good at it. Also 4 red cards in 3k to get DQd is laughable.
My previous comment was also just related to facts. If you're getting 20 free points from the walk then invest that heavily in the foreign distance kids you're basically guaranteed to get enough points to win.
As people have said their distance kids didn't improve much the only two really being the Moroccan kid and Santorum. Them along with Bendsen and Madeo had great races at nats the rest of them either straight up bombed or raced below the rankings coming in. They basically had a B- nats and won off their racewalk cushion and bought points
If the Moroccan kid you’re referring to is Asslouj, he didn’t improve. His 3k overseas was 7:55 allegedly, its listed as 8:03 on world athletics.
Hauke Trost improved a good amount but kind of bombed at nats.