Age cheat much?

agecheatmuch? wrote:

So you usually hear about BYU having 25+yo seniors and consider them age cheaters etc. Well the guy who just one the NAIA xc championship (zouhair talbi) is a 25 year old morrocan “freshman”. He is essentially borderline pro having competed in a few diamond leagues and ran better prs than most of the NCAA superstars. Is it just me or does it seem a bit sketchy that someone with such great prs that could basically go pro would opt to naia with less competition than ncaa were the better competition is at? Somwthing doesnt add up...

I ran track and cross country at an NAIA school some years ago and competed against athletes from many foreign countries. I don't believe the NAIA has any specific age requirements. I started college early and first competed at age 17, but we had one runner on the women's team in her 30's. So I'm not sure where you are coming from talking about "age cheating." As far as choosing an NAIA school when you are a very accomplished athlete, many of the foreign athletes I knew chose their schools for academic and cultural reasons. The ones I knew personally were very serious students.

So what you are saying is you dont believe there is no advantage being a 25 year old “freshman” as oppose to 18 year old?

agecheatmuch? wrote:

So what you are saying is you dont believe there is no advantage being a 25 year old “freshman” as oppose to 18 year old?

Your writing is horrible, dude.

“One”? “Oppose”?

Really?

It is allowed in the rules of that particular organization , therefore not cheating. Unfair? Perhaps, but everyone else technically has the chance to do the same thing but won't so they cry unfairness.

25 years old? Just a youngster. Compare him to this guy who competed for Oxford in the University Boat Race in 2008. And, to add insult to injury, he wasn't even British.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/mar/29/uk.uknews

Raddison wrote:

25 years old? Just a youngster. Compare him to this guy who competed for Oxford in the University Boat Race in 2008. And, to add insult to injury, he wasn't even British.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/mar/29/uk.uknews

That's accepted though.

The boat race has been full of quasi-pros for a long time now.

Maybe he plans to make a living from a career that he has as a result of his education rather than from running.

Seems smart to me.

Zora??

Isn’t the alabama freshman 25 years old?

What are the financial advantages to choosing to be an unpaid amateur athlete if he could credibly be a professional runner as you claim? You're seriously overvaluing collegiate athletics if you think this is even worth doing intentionally. He chose to go to college at 25 so he is a collegiate runner. It's a collegiate championship, not an under 20 championship.

agecheatmuch? wrote:

So what you are saying is you dont believe there is no advantage being a 25 year old “freshman” as oppose to 18 year old?

We're saying no one gives a crap about NAIA.

The financial advantage is when you graduate college and get a real job. Not too many people making bank being a pro-runner.

loldistance wrote:

Isn’t the alabama freshman 25 years old?

Eluid Kipsang is trying to go pro instead of pursuing another NCAA season after this outdoor season. Source: a personal friend of him from the same training camp in Kenya.

Additionally, This kind of thing happens all the time in NAIA.

It always amazes me why people in the "running community " are so concerned with someone's age. I've always thought that as a runner you get better by training,racing against better competition. NAIA rules are a little different so maybe thats why he went that route.Guys back in the day like Salazar became great runners being able to compete against Henry Rono..and other World class athletes while still in college.

NAIA doesn’t have many rules. After I finished my bachelors degree I knew a couple NAIA coaches who wanted me to run at their schools because I only ran two seasons of track and three cross country due to injuries. The real difference is NCAA has the clock rule. Which means eligibility starts when you enter college regardless if you compete or not (with religious exceptions that BYU exploits). NAIA has no clock rule so you can go pro after high school and then run NAIA at 30 when you retire from professional track.

sbeefyk2 wrote:

NAIA doesn’t have many rules. After I finished my bachelors degree I knew a couple NAIA coaches who wanted me to run at their schools because I only ran two seasons of track and three cross country due to injuries. The real difference is NCAA has the clock rule. Which means eligibility starts when you enter college regardless if you compete or not (with religious exceptions that BYU exploits). NAIA has no clock rule so you can go pro after high school and then run NAIA at 30 when you retire from professional track.

Literally anyone can do the same thing as BYU. Why does no one understand that lol.

he first competed on the junior college level for 2 season before going naia

westsouthrunner wrote:

[quote]sbeefyk2 wrote:

Literally anyone can do the same thing as BYU. Why does no one understand that lol.

Don't BYU runners usually go straight into college from college and then take their retreat break within college? I think the runner the OP is referring to seems to have done some pro racing prior to even attending college hence not even starting eligibility. Could be wrong but it seems like two different scenarios.