22:52 8k just behind Conner Mantz's 22:50, beating out Clinger and Nuguse. Does he have a top-10 finish in him?
22:52 8k just behind Conner Mantz's 22:50, beating out Clinger and Nuguse. Does he have a top-10 finish in him?
oqew wrote:
22:52 8k just behind Conner Mantz's 22:50, beating out Clinger and Nuguse. Does he have a top-10 finish in him?
Top 5. That kid is unreal
Don't count on it. Not saying he won't, but it definitely is not guaranteed. He may need a year or two to adjust to the collegiate scene. Maybe he won't develop as much as people think he will. Pressure to make top 10 is a lot for a college frosh.
Obviously no one can say for sure, but the exciting thing is that no one can say for sure it will not happen. It is super cool to see a high school stud everyone was excited about begin to pan out so soon. I personally think top 10 may be a bit much for him this soon, but it's not unlikely at all.
He lost by 2 seconds to a guy who could win it all. I predict
1-Kiptoo
2-Teare
3-Grijalva
4-Mantz
5-Bosley
6-Young
is cooper allowed to run because he chose to do indoor track?
Yes. Meets are in Arkansas and Ok State and the schedule was coordinated so that runners can do both.
I am excited to see how he does. Could well be that Goucher/Ritz type runner that is able to place in the Top 10 their first year. I tend to think it's a bit harder to do in 2020 than it was in the 1990s, but I'm not sure why I think that. That said, I would expect a freshman getting used to the higher mileage of NAU to be better in a 8k than a 10k so I don't necessarily think he'll beat all these dudes when the racing gets longer.
No one will match King Ches, but Young has the talent (or more talent) of a Puskedra/Derrick type, and they went 5th and 7th in 2008. Ben Saarel was 8th in 2013. Grant Fisher was 17th in 2015. Was Lawi Lalang a true freshman when he won in 2011?
I think Nico's talent seems on par or a bit above all those guys, so I would think 10th or better is very doable, and he could do as well as 2nd - 5th depending on the day. I don't know that I think he is any worse than, say, Klecker was last year when Klecker got 2nd. Also, Nico may benefit from the fact that guys like Teare will run indoors instead of XC, and from a lack of competition in general.
+1 Solid post.
Except for the part about someone being competitive at 8K, but less so at 10. The same guys are always at the front at both distances.
Sounds like he has adjusted to the NCAA. 22:52 is unreal but even if the course was short, he was within 2 seconds of Mantz and way ahead of a lot of great xc runners. Looks like a contender to me.
themildrunmaster wrote:
Don't count on it. Not saying he won't, but it definitely is not guaranteed. He may need a year or two to adjust to the collegiate scene. Maybe he won't develop as much as people think he will. Pressure to make top 10 is a lot for a college frosh.
Cheserek won the NCAA championship race his first year of college.
oqew wrote:
22:52 8k just behind Conner Mantz's 22:50, beating out Clinger and Nuguse. Does he have a top-10 finish in him?
No way. He's going to burn up. Good attempt though
Well Mantz was top 10 as a freshmen. And Young was 2 seconds behind Mantz today. So I’m gonna say yes. Also I think that despite Grijalva beating him earlier in the year, Mantz will win the XC title this year.
NAUUU wrote:
He lost by 2 seconds to a guy who could win it all. I predict
1-Kiptoo
2-Teare
3-Grijalva
4-Mantz
5-Bosley
6-Young
I would throw Patrick Devers and Peter Lynch in there somewhere too. 11 and 13th at ncaas last year
Dairyland wrote:
NAUUU wrote:
He lost by 2 seconds to a guy who could win it all. I predict
1-Kiptoo
2-Teare
3-Grijalva
4-Mantz
5-Bosley
6-Young
I would throw Patrick Devers and Peter Lynch in there somewhere too. 11 and 13th at ncaas last year
Y’all remember Disney’s “Hercules”?
“A word of caution to this tale,
If Grijalva runs,
You shall fail.”
Didn't Issac Rodriguez of Oklahoma St. place 4th as a freshmen in the NCs in 2018?
post race interviews on Flotrack both BYU and NAU are seem to be saying XC is the focus, top guys might not even run Indoors. Mantz said he didn't feel that great during the race, so he just sat and kicked vs pushing the pace harder.
SDSU Aztec wrote:
Except for the part about someone being competitive at 8K, but less so at 10. The same guys are always at the front at both distances.
I don't think it's unusual to see freshmen adjusting to mileage/college training do slightly better at the 8K than 10K their first year, since they are used to 5K in HS. Happens fairly often.
ck3237 wrote:
Didn't Issac Rodriguez of Oklahoma St. place 4th as a freshmen in the NCs in 2018?
He was a redshirt freshman. But technically, yes. I was only counting true freshman. Guys like Isai had a year and a half to train at the college level.