It turned into a tactical affair. Neil Gourley is very good at that. Paulson and Hayward aren't bad. Tanner I think all things considered acquitted himself well. Nuguse is definitely not at this best finishing a half second plus from places 2-5. He has not been the same since the injury indoors.
I’ll interpret it as you seeing two foreign-born NCAA runners with 3:34 1500 PBs and thinking that because one is on a disappointing trajectory, you can be dismissive of the other because he’s virtually the same guy. Makes no sense. Sam Tanner ran 3:34.7i at 20 years old last year. Give him a minute before you decide he’ll be a bust.
Bust is probably an extreme word for what I was thinking. An American who I was a big fan of that fits into this category is Kyle Merber - He had the NCAA 1500m record, but wasn't even really close to winning an NCAA title. Solid pro career with some very nice highlight races, but ultimately lacking the consistency and timing to be in the mix at world-level events.
On the other hand, I think Nuguse has the talent and racing chops to be at the front of Diamond League races, and that Sean Carlson/Notre Dame Distance program have done a dreadful job at balancing their Always Preparing for NCAA 10K XC™ mindset with having a top 3 American miler on their team.
I'll "buy the dip" on Nuguse right now - Provided he leaves ND and ends up in pretty much any of the reputable pro mid-distance groups, I think he will be beating guys like Kerr and Hoare regularly.
Bust is probably an extreme word for what I was thinking. An American who I was a big fan of that fits into this category is Kyle Merber - He had the NCAA 1500m record, but wasn't even really close to winning an NCAA title. Solid pro career with some very nice highlight races, but ultimately lacking the consistency and timing to be in the mix at world-level events.
On the other hand, I think Nuguse has the talent and racing chops to be at the front of Diamond League races, and that Sean Carlson/Notre Dame Distance program have done a dreadful job at balancing their Always Preparing for NCAA 10K XC™ mindset with having a top 3 American miler on their team.
I'll "buy the dip" on Nuguse right now - Provided he leaves ND and ends up in pretty much any of the reputable pro mid-distance groups, I think he will be beating guys like Kerr and Hoare regularly.
James West is just a guy who underperformed/had bad luck as far as contending at NCAAs. His best year was definitely 2020 and that gets cancelled. It's not that surprising he's not necessarily going to get better with him being 26 right now. He's had a bad/weird outdoor season, but he's run 7:44i in 2022 and he ran 3:35 last year. Surely can turn it around, though expecting a big jump at this stage with him having been under very good coaching for many years might be a bit much.
Tanner is a totally different case and he's run well the last two races, so I'm actually higher on him than I've been in a while. I expect him to PR this season.