Mantz - Feature Article - "BYU’s Conner Mantz is one of the best distance runners in the world"

If the 24 year old college senior Mantz is one of the best distance runners in the world, then 18 year old Nico Young is the second coming of Jesus Christ with upside that can only be described as "biblical".

If you're a guy running a sub 17 minute 5k you are probably in the top 1 or 2% in the world and are thus one of the best runners on the planet. This is a ridiculous argument. If you wanna change the goal posts fine but no one in the media comes out to talk about NCAA athletes that way even bigtime players. Imagine the title of an article declaring Michael Beasley one of the best players on the planet when he was at Kansas State. Yeah he's doing extremely well in the NCAA and it would be fair to write best in the NCAA but everyone knows he's not one of the best on the planet and has little chance of being a big star in professional basketball. And that's a guy that was doing better than Manzt individually at 19 years old while Mantz is 24. Is Mantz a great runner in his own right? Of course and much faster than I'd ever hope to be. Is he one of the best on the planet? No. All of that to finish off by saying I like the guy and the way he races. It's just that we all know there's a thousand guys in East Africa that have never heard of him and as soon as he turns pro they're likely gonna mop the floor with him.

malmo wrote:

LateRunnerPhil wrote:

Never knew that Mormons also don't drink coffee, .

Oh they do. Mormons have flexible rules without having to go full Jack Mormon.

That is simply not true. There is no flexibility around drinking coffee, though some few may do it anyway. If you know a few who are active Mormon and drink coffee, that is really the exception.

Many do, however, get plenty of caffeine from other sources such as soda and caffeinated energy blocks and goos. It isn’t a caffeine restriction, it’s a coffee and tea restriction. Any statement that the lack of caffeine drinking is relevant to BYU runners is just not relevant for the most part.

It is entirely possible some BYU runners avoid caffeine for other reasons, like many people. The fastest cyclist I know avoids having caffeine in his system while he is riding.

Cool Article. I didn't know he ran sub 1:20 HM in middle school. But this is obviously written by someone who knows nothing about running. Mantz is an excellent NCAA runner and has been remarkably consistent. But he always seems to be a couple steps behind the top couple of studs in the nation.

Also, very surprised he's thinking about going pro after this year. I figured he would stick around at least for XC next year. I can't imagine the money he would be offered is THAT good.

800 Metres 1:56.80 Provo, UT (USA) 17 MAY 2014 841

1500 Metres 3:45.39 Azusa, CA (USA) 19 APR 2019 1035

One Mile 4:07.63 Icahn Stadium, New York, NY (USA) 14 JUN 2014 983

Two Miles 8:53.81 Shoreline, WA (USA) 20 JUN 2015 967

5000 Metres 13:29.73 Palo Alto, CA (USA) 02 MAY 2019 1103

10,000 Metres 28:07.70 Los Angeles, CA (USA) 29 AUG 2020 1120

Legend

* Not legal.

Indoor

Discipline Performance Wind Venue Date Records Results Score

One Mile 4:18.25 Nampa, ID (USA) 25 JAN 2014 906

3000 Metres 7:56.72 Birmingham, AL (USA) 09 MAR 2019 1098

3000 Metres 7:50.90 * Seattle, WA (USA) 23 FEB 2019 0

5000 Metres 13:51.45 Birmingham, AL (USA) 08 MAR 2019 1073

5000 Metres 13:28.00 * Dempsey Indoor, Seattle, WA (USA) 12 FEB 2021 0

Mantz is a very good runner but I think he would need to improve his under distance times to some extent to be more of a player on the big scene. For example, he would need to get his 1500 m down to about 339 or equivalent to run the 356 or 357 mile. This would then help him to become A 1315/ 2730 (5000/10,000) type runner. This would then point to 61 minute half marathon and around 208 for a marathon. Now, in the super shoe era, everything is possible.

alot of pro runners drink coffe religiously.

CoachB wrote:

He is very good. He seems likeable enough and his racing styke is fun to watch, but hes not even the best runner in the NCAA (maybe not even top 5), much less the entire world.

He's DEFINITELY top 5 in the NCAA. He was #3 a year ago in XC. The field is much stronger this year and he is still easily top 5.

But yes, he is not one of the best runners in the world, and most definitely not even close to top 5 in the US when he goes against the pros.

The author of this article is someone I've read in my small local newspaper for decades. He covers local amatuer sports. He knows nothing about running.

Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:

If the 24 year old college senior Mantz is one of the best distance runners in the world, then 18 year old Nico Young is the second coming of Jesus Christ with upside that can only be described as "biblical".

Um, he's a 24 year old sophomore with eight years of eligibility left.

he's a grampa wrote:

Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:

If the 24 year old college senior Mantz is one of the best distance runners in the world, then 18 year old Nico Young is the second coming of Jesus Christ with upside that can only be described as "biblical".

Um, he's a 24 year old sophomore with eight years of eligibility left.

LOL! This is why I always bet BYU to take the NCAA Masters team title every year.

knees_on_borrowed_time wrote:

malmo wrote:

Oh they do. Mormons have flexible rules without having to go full Jack Mormon.

That is simply not true. There is no flexibility around drinking coffee, though some few may do it anyway. If you know a few who are active Mormon and drink coffee, that is really the exception.

Many do, however, get plenty of caffeine from other sources such as soda and caffeinated energy blocks and goos. It isn’t a caffeine restriction, it’s a coffee and tea restriction. Any statement that the lack of caffeine drinking is relevant to BYU runners is just not relevant for the most part.

It is entirely possible some BYU runners avoid caffeine for other reasons, like many people. The fastest cyclist I know avoids having caffeine in his system while he is riding.

My statement is 100% true albeit based on a sample of one: Henry Marsh.

runnER/DR wrote:

CoachB wrote:

He is very good. He seems likeable enough and his racing styke is fun to watch, but hes not even the best runner in the NCAA (maybe not even top 5), much less the entire world.

He's DEFINITELY top 5 in the NCAA. He was #3 a year ago in XC. The field is much stronger this year and he is still easily top 5.

But yes, he is not one of the best runners in the world, and most definitely not even close to top 5 in the US when he goes against the pros.

The author of this article is someone I've read in my small local newspaper for decades. He covers local amatuer sports. He knows nothing about running.

Are the Oregon guys going to run Cross or Indoors? I'm thinking Grijalva and Teare are certainly better. He can't run away from them and he can't out kick them. Nico Young was dangerously close a couple of weeks ago. Nur ran much faster than his winning time on the same course.

He was 3rd in a tough, mudfest....which is perfect for a grinder type guy. Put the race on better footing so some of the guys with kicks can hang in.......

malmo wrote:

knees_on_borrowed_time wrote:

That is simply not true. There is no flexibility around drinking coffee, though some few may do it anyway. If you know a few who are active Mormon and drink coffee, that is really the exception.

Many do, however, get plenty of caffeine from other sources such as soda and caffeinated energy blocks and goos. It isn’t a caffeine restriction, it’s a coffee and tea restriction. Any statement that the lack of caffeine drinking is relevant to BYU runners is just not relevant for the most part.

It is entirely possible some BYU runners avoid caffeine for other reasons, like many people. The fastest cyclist I know avoids having caffeine in his system while he is riding.

My statement is 100% true albeit based on a sample of one: Henry Marsh.

Is that the Ponzi scheme con man Henry Marsh? Did he also drink cola and beer? Cheat at cards?

Didn't need to tell me coffee might help performance. I chug that sh!t like water because it's sterile, and I like the taste.

DirtyT wrote:

This title is incredibly misleading. He’s probably not even top 50 in the world at any event.

I think the title is meant emphasize one of the points made early in the article.

"Mantz continued to hammer the pace and crossed the finish line in 13:28.00 — the fastest time in the world this year by more than nine seconds and six seconds faster than the BYU indoor school record."

That and I think it's a title that helps garner some local interest the story.

It's all relative, if you're covering the NBA then maybe among the worlds best means making the all star team. Covering professional basketball, then maybe NBA players are the worlds best. Covering basketball in General, then maybe any professional player could be considered among the worlds best.

So covering "distance running" for a local community who may have little to no knowledge or visibility into the ins and out of the sport. In that context it's not very misleading to me considering the audience.

If this article were written for a LetsRun audience on the other hand.. Sure.

he's a grampa wrote:

malmo wrote:

My statement is 100% true albeit based on a sample of one: Henry Marsh.

Is that the Ponzi scheme con man Henry Marsh? Did he also drink cola and beer? Cheat at cards?

I dont know anything about a Ponzi scheme. He did not drink cola or beer that I know of. .Mac Wilkins did catch him cheating at Risk. He's lucky it was 1978 rather than 1878 or a gun fight would've broken out.

he's a grampa wrote:

malmo wrote:

My statement is 100% true albeit based on a sample of one: Henry Marsh.

Is that the Ponzi scheme con man Henry Marsh? Did he also drink cola and beer? Cheat at cards?

Good to know that Marsh has principles that won't let him drink a Coke after he has defrauded little old ladies.

“The Mona Vie juice scam is the newest creation of noted multi-level marketing scheme architect, and prior ‘super juice’ creator, Henry Marsh, after his last venture was halted by the Food and Drug Administration because of false and misleading advertising,”

Multiple suits were filed by customers and sellers, alike, resulting in class action settlements. MonaVie’s direct employees also sued, claiming they were saddled with massive debt after the company defaulted on a $186 million loan to its own employee stock ownership plan. The three principal shareholders, Dallin Larsen, Henry Marsh and Randy Larsen, were the only remaining defendants at a point in one lawsuit. The Defendants agreed to pay $19.8 million to settle the employee stock program suit. The proposed settlement also allegedly included a payment of $3.8 million from the three founders.

Even their insurance company, Torus National Insurance, sought to deny coverage. Simply put, they pyramid collapsed. And yet they build another one.

To borrow a quote from Johnny Carson "I did not know that."

While MLM is not inherently a scam, there are shady individuals who will exploit the basic structure of it for fraud. Dinwoody doing this does not surprise me at all. In fact it was almost expected.

Mormons seem like genuinely wholesome people to me, but it makes you wonder why so many predatory financial scams originate from UTAH.

DirtyT wrote:

This title is incredibly misleading. He’s probably not even top 50 in the world at any event.

Lol. uhhhh, his 13:28 is the fastest 5000 indoors this year. No one has gone faster. I think they can say he's one of the best in the world.

malmo wrote:

To borrow a quote from Johnny Carson "I did not know that."

While MLM is not inherently a scam, there are shady individuals who will exploit the basic structure of it for fraud. Dinwoody doing this does not surprise me at all. In fact it was almost expected.

Mormons seem like genuinely wholesome people to me, but it makes you wonder why so many predatory financial scams originate from UTAH.

Couple of reasons why Utah is the fraud capitol of the world:

Mormons are obsessed with getting rich quick, even if it forgoes working hard or honestly for it. They are taught that being rich is being most in favor of their gods. It is significant that the largest and most prominent building in Utah is where the "church" leaders count the money they extract from the believers.

Mormons are childishly gullible and naive. This goes back to the very beginning of their cult where they were conned by the most successful fraudster in history - JS.