Where should Conner Mantz sign?

Ehh, at this time last year he had been out with a stress fracture, so I think it's safe to say he has room to grow. I don't think he's completely tapped out of talent at age 24, people do jump levels and he is on the upswing.

He will get support from ASICS and train with his own coach. Maybe NAZ elite will take him but he does not have as much upside given his age. He deserves a shot at the elite level but his age does not make me super excited about his prospects as a pro. Maybe he’ll be Jared Ward 2.0

Juice Springsteen wrote:

He will get support from ASICS and train with his own coach. Maybe NAZ elite will take him but he does not have as much upside given his age. He deserves a shot at the elite level but his age does not make me super excited about his prospects as a pro. Maybe he’ll be Jared Ward 2.0

Jared Ward's best XC finish was 14th at nationals. His 10,000 PR was a minute slower than Mantz. Mantz was better as a FRESHMAN(10th XC) than Ward ever was. There is no comparison. Mantz just ran faster on an XC course than Ward ever has ran in college.

Love how everyone is talking about coaches and groups, when really, his first priority has to be getting into a competitive shoe. And by that, I don't mean a shoe that works for some and not others like Saucony. He needs to sign for Nike, Adidas, or Asics if he wants to have any hope of a decent career. Asics just signed Ben True, a guy who is on the back side of his career and, at best, will run 2:08. They could do with an up and coming male talent.

This is Jim Kiler wrote:

Skechers and Chez.

Wear Sketchers, ruin your running...

runnER/DR wrote:

Juice Springsteen wrote:

He will get support from ASICS and train with his own coach. Maybe NAZ elite will take him but he does not have as much upside given his age. He deserves a shot at the elite level but his age does not make me super excited about his prospects as a pro. Maybe he’ll be Jared Ward 2.0

Jared Ward's best XC finish was 14th at nationals. His 10,000 PR was a minute slower than Mantz. Mantz was better as a FRESHMAN(10th XC) than Ward ever was. There is no comparison. Mantz just ran faster on an XC course than Ward ever has ran in college.

Ward got 6th at the Olympics right?

Juice Springsteen wrote:

He will get support from ASICS and train with his own coach. Maybe NAZ elite will take him but he does not have as much upside given his age. He deserves a shot at the elite level but his age does not make me super excited about his prospects as a pro. Maybe he’ll be Jared Ward 2.0

I can't think of anything more boring than a Ward 2.0

cramister wrote:

runnER/DR wrote:

Jared Ward's best XC finish was 14th at nationals. His 10,000 PR was a minute slower than Mantz. Mantz was better as a FRESHMAN(10th XC) than Ward ever was. There is no comparison. Mantz just ran faster on an XC course than Ward ever has ran in college.

Ward got 6th at the Olympics right?

Yes, and 6th is the best he's ever done at a Major. He's had a good career, but has never been a real threat to win or even get top 3 at any major:

Rio 6th

Boston 2017 10th

NYC 2017 12th

NYC 2018 6th

Boston 2019 8th

NYC 2019 6th

London 2020 17th

NYC 2021 10th

He just isn't a top tier world class runner. The hype around Mantz is that he is the first new pro Since Rupp over a decade ago to have so much promise. Americans have straight up not been able to compete on the road with the world class athletes aside from Rupp. Not saying Mantz will be the next Rupp, but he's got far more potential than what we've had.

Mantz is like a Heisman winner that doesn't translate to the pro level.

Most likely a Ward 2.0. Maybe gets lucky and makes an Olympic team once.

Swagmeister_69 wrote:

Officialdb: Reed Fisher just ran a good marathon.

I think the tattoo issue pointed out by another poster above may be the bigger issue here. Although I don't think Manz would need to get inked to join Tinman Elite.

Reed Fisher just ran 2:14, not really that crazy. And don't say '9th at a world marathon major'... Chicago only pays 5 deep internationally so all the good people drop out when it's obvious they won't be top 5. That's why 5th was a 2:09 and 6th place was way back at 2:13. In my eyes 9th at Chicago this year is like being 13th or 14th at New York or Boston. And that's why 6th/7th/9th/10th were all Americans, because the good international runners dropped out already since they weren't going to make any money.

Mantz would destroy Fisher in a marathon, and any other American only running 2:13/2:14. Mantz is now a two time NCAA cross country champion, and also has big 5k/10k PRs. And it's obvious he's more of a grinder and not a speed demon, so he'd probably translate very very well to the marathon. My guess is on a flat course he'd run 2:08/2:09 right now and would still manage 2:10 at a course like New York and make a push for the podium. He's a roughly 27:40 10,000 runner and better at cross country/roads and better at the long distances. He's a better NCAA runner than Jared Ward was and Jared Ward came from the same system and has run 2:09.

McDonald isn't exactly lighting it up.

Definitely should join top athletes like Rupp, or Nike guys. He should try the 10,000 for 2-3 years then move up to the marathon he is a strong guy likely will do well in NY, Boston M.

Likely 2:08-2:10 guy in the near future.

I want to see him run World Cross Country Championships

abcrunning wrote:

Definitely should join top athletes like Rupp, or Nike guys. He should try the 10,000 for 2-3 years then move up to the marathon he is a strong guy likely will do well in NY, Boston M.

Likely 2:08-2:10 guy in the near future.

I think he should run the marathon and hop back down like Shorter or Salazar

Just because they are all Mormon at BYU does anyone really think they are all virgins? Or blatantly banging each other?

Lasse Viren wrote:

Just because they are all Mormon at BYU does anyone really think they are all virgins? Or blatantly banging each other?

If you want o disturb yourself for a few minutes, check out the Mormon practice of having a "soak"

LAsse Viren would know the answer to that. He actually spent time at BYU training. (one year)

I have it on really good authority that the majority of students are not "blatantly banging each other."

the mormon practice?? This is more an urban legend than actuality. I don't know a single person who supports that practice. If I had to guess, I would bet that less than one percent of BYU students would seriously think that is a good loophole. Crude people laugh and joke about it. People who want to have sex just do it anyway.

That would be incredible if Rupp took on Mantz as his protogee. I have been listening to everything that Rupp has on Youtube, and it is obvious that he is on a different level. If you constructed a robot from the ground up to succeed at running, it would have a LOT of similarities to Galen Rupp. I think people really underestimate how much he is a student of the sport.