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?
its a moot point. even if someone decided to push and go out hard the Kenyans would be able to hang and STILL outkick them - these are NCAA runners, not diamond leaguers. they're not ready yet to push the pace of a 10K like that. Kipkurui and Samuel are on a different playing field, simple as that.
Make them do it. Make them have that mental conflict, that mental dialogue. Habtom was very content sitting towards the back of the pack to start and Ishmael was in the middle back range. They very clearly didn't want to go whatsoever until 4k left. If the pack got strung out enough, at a bare minimum you create the hesitation in them and the mental dilemma where they have to decide "do I go with this move, do I not go with this move?" Letting them sit and kick all the way is way too easy for them.
And even if. Even if Habtom and Ishmael still go with the move. Let's just assume you know you can't beat those two. Maybe you cause hesitation in other guys like Ernest Cheruiyot and David Mullarkey who also have to double the 5k. Maybe they don't cover the move and they don't go with the lead pack. Maybe you take the kick out of Evans Kurui, who you know you can't outkick because he's got a 13:16 5k. Maybe you accept Habtom and Ishmael still go 1-2 but you get 3rd place, or you get 4th place.
4 of the top 6 guys are doubling the 5k. 4 of the top 5 guys are underclassmen. That should not happen. A lot of guys had a shot at, at a minimum, a top 5 finish. And mental gamesed themselves out of it. Because even if we accept that Samuel and Kipkurui, if they go for it, are uncontestable as the top 2, a lot of folks gave up valuable spots trying to be too tactical.
57 years of improvements in track technology, technique, strength and speed regiments, nutrition, and shoe quality has led us to long jumpers who are still three feet behind Bob Beamon.
...and one of the examples why they haven't held the Olympics at an altitude of 7,400 ever again. Robbed Ryun and propped up an Olympic Record for 57 years.
Watching NCAA cross country and distance events is like watching African championships. The 5k will be exactly the same. It's not remotely interesting and has to be demoralizing for American runners, who don't stand a chance.
Graham Blanks has won the past 2 NCAA cross championships. Nico Young won both indoor distance races last year.
57 years of improvements in track technology, technique, strength and speed regiments, nutrition, and shoe quality has led us to long jumpers who are still three feet behind Bob Beamon.
Track simply doesn’t pay enough to pull great athletes from basketball and football
57 years of improvements in track technology, technique, strength and speed regiments, nutrition, and shoe quality has led us to long jumpers who are still three feet behind Bob Beamon.
...and one of the examples why they haven't held the Olympics at an altitude of 7,400 ever again. Robbed Ryun and propped up an Olympic Record for 57 years.
What altitude is Tokyo at again?
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Watching NCAA cross country and distance events is like watching African championships. The 5k will be exactly the same. It's not remotely interesting and has to be demoralizing for American runners, who don't stand a chance.
Graham Blanks has won the past 2 NCAA cross championships. Nico Young won both indoor distance races last year.
And Parker Wolfe won the outdoor NCAA 5k last year beating both Africans and Nico Young and Blanks. Some of these LRC posters would rather have a contrived JV meet with only Americans competing this year. If Americans want to beat the Africans then they have to rise to the level of Blanks, Young and Wolfe to do so. There is no reason to weaken the field just to ensure an American wins. Between the Nationalist whiners and the "every race needs to be a record" retards, some LRCers continue to reveal just how fragile they are.
Watching NCAA cross country and distance events is like watching African championships. The 5k will be exactly the same. It's not remotely interesting and has to be demoralizing for American runners, who don't stand a chance.
Graham Blanks has won the past 2 NCAA cross championships. Nico Young won both indoor distance races last year.
Maybe this is a distinctly XC bias of mine. But I love running styles like Graham Blanks and Conner Mantz. Both 2x NCAA Champs. Because they make definitive moves, they go for it, and they make the field react to them. And sometimes it blows up in their face but they go out on their terms.
And usually when they fail, they still fail upwards. Commentators were questioning Blanks going out so fast in the Ten, but even though he didn't win he still hung on and got the World Championship standard. Mantz blew up in Boston but he still ran 2:05:08. When you go big and blow up you still give yourself a chance to fail upwards.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Graham Blanks has won the past 2 NCAA cross championships. Nico Young won both indoor distance races last year.
And Parker Wolfe won the outdoor NCAA 5k last year beating both Africans and Nico Young and Blanks. Some of these LRC posters would rather have a contrived JV meet with only Americans competing this year. If Americans want to beat the Africans then they have to rise to the level of Blanks, Young and Wolfe to do so. There is no reason to weaken the field just to ensure an American wins. Between the Nationalist whiners and the "every race needs to be a record" retards, some LRCers continue to reveal just how fragile they are.
Agreed. The problem is that LRC posters have no issue with non-African runners dominating the NCAA. Just look at the women 1500 field. All the top contenders are foreigners but I don't hear a damn complain.
And Parker Wolfe won the outdoor NCAA 5k last year beating both Africans and Nico Young and Blanks. Some of these LRC posters would rather have a contrived JV meet with only Americans competing this year. If Americans want to beat the Africans then they have to rise to the level of Blanks, Young and Wolfe to do so. There is no reason to weaken the field just to ensure an American wins. Between the Nationalist whiners and the "every race needs to be a record" retards, some LRCers continue to reveal just how fragile they are.
Agreed. The problem is that LRC posters have no issue with non-African runners dominating the NCAA. Just look at the women 1500 field. All the top contenders are foreigners but I don't hear a damn complain.
Appleton, Congdon, Foerster are all from USA right? As are Barnett and Hansen just to name a couple more. Perhaps a foreigner will win but hardly an almost sure thing.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Agreed. The problem is that LRC posters have no issue with non-African runners dominating the NCAA. Just look at the women 1500 field. All the top contenders are foreigners but I don't hear a damn complain.
Appleton, Congdon, Foerster are all from USA right? As are Barnett and Hansen just to name a couple more. Perhaps a foreigner will win but hardly an almost sure thing.
Barnett is “Swedish”. Also, none of those besides Appleton are contenders.
Are there any video interviews in English of Kipkurui saying anything other than “Yes” or “No”? He most definitely can write in English (he’s in college), but can he speak it? Not to the level of Habtom Samuel, but to the level of… something?
How are you so sure he can write or communicate using the English language? Doubtful.
Is this how Patrick Tuohy’s career ends? in a slow semi final at NCAA…
Trackflation so bad people are getting clowned on for running 1:47s
No. I was simply hoping that he would get in a fast semi final and get the US championship qualifying time, so that he could extend his running career by one month or so.
He had a great progression in the past couple of years. Would have liked to see how fast he could go.
I didn’t see the race, but from the split times, it looks like he was caught behind a fall on the first lap and that he pushed to catch up, but never got there. Simply assuming here
Appleton, Congdon, Foerster are all from USA right? As are Barnett and Hansen just to name a couple more. Perhaps a foreigner will win but hardly an almost sure thing.
Barnett is “Swedish”. Also, none of those besides Appleton are contenders.
you say that with such certainty. I wish I was so smart. Congdon and Foerster were just 1 and 4 against Kazmierska and Aayildiz 2 and 3 in W regional heat with 1 second between 1 and 4 (4:05.7 to 4:06.7) with Hansen just 1 second further back in 5th. Chamberlain who I did not mention matched O'Sullivan 0:59 last lap in the other slower heat. Congdon and Foerster have a SB within 0.1 seconds of Appleton and faster than anyone else out of the west region. But you must be right, they can't be contenders.
This post was edited 11 minutes after it was posted.