I'm really annoyed with a lot of these 10k guys. You know Kipkurui can close in 55.8. You know Habtom Samuel has a mean kick. And you know they have another 5k to run on Friday. Why would you sit and kick so that you can collect 6th, or 10th or 14th place, or whatever?
Some of the guys in that race did not qualify for the 5k. This is their only race. And they are capable of running low 28 or high 27. Dare Kipkurui, dare Samuel to go with you. Say I dare you to run 27 high today, and be burnt toast on Friday. Because that was your only shot of winning, is these New Mexico guys go out too conservative, and they settle in fighting for top 5 instead of the win because they want to conserve for the 5k. You have nothing to conserve for.
Maybe you go out in flames, and that's embarrassing. But most of them just ended up getting outkicked by underclassmen anyways. Letting it be a slow race just guaranteed that you would lose. And for a number of these guys who are seniors, if this is going to be your last shot ever at a college title then why not go for it?