Why is Natalie Cook 19years old?

This question has been asked several times before, and so far I haven't seen anyone who has a really good answer to that question. She was probably held back a year at some point, but I don't know when or why.

In any case, even if she was a college freshman, her times would still be excellent.

I turned 19 my freshman year of college, so people who turned 19 in high school were held back a year.

Half the guys on my high school football team had beards, bald spots and 3 kids 😆

Does anyone know how old Ali Ince is ?

Because her parents boinked 19 years ago. What kind of dumb question is this

Number of earth orbits of sun between her womb exit and today.

Actually that would make her 19 years and 9 months.

Not sure what her path was, but it is increasingly more and more common for parents to start their kids later than they would have 20 years ago. They do it for many reasons:

1) Flat out to give them an advantage academically and/or athletically, or at least to start out ahead of the others.

2) If they believe their kid is behind the curve academically.

3) If they believe their kid is behind the curve socially.

4) If their kid is behind the curve physically in some way...not as tall, has bathroom issues, has speech issues, etc.

who cares? doesnt make what shes doing now any less exceptional considering shes faster than almost every collegiate athlete at 5K. now just a matter of time before the Tuohy stans jump on this soft ball pitch and pour in here and explain how her times are totally unimpressive compared to what Tuohy was running as a 15 year old. why do that? appreciate how amazing both these athletes are right now.

Because she was born 19 years ago...

I have no idea what Natalie Cook was like when she started kindergarten, but I've talked to her and now she is certainly very smart and very social.

It's possible she either started school a year late, or was held back a year, because of a medical reason. But that isn't any of our business.

why are you Americans so obsessed with the age of HS kids? If they are eligible to compete in sports according to their state rules, than that is all that matters. Who cares if YOU or anyone else is older or younger. You people really are petty, it is no wonder your country is so screwed up.

In Texas, everyone redshirts their kids in pre-K 4 to start kinder when they are a year older than they should be. It is done to give their kids a boost in athletics and college scholarships.

While I have no specific info on Cook, but her parents were Div I runners at TAMU. Her mom ran the US trials for 5k and 10k on the track. Her dad is her coach.

Cook's HS, Flower Mound, which is in the north Dallas burbs, is huge. The school has over 3,500 students. Parents who have kids in these huge districts know that there kid is going to have to be a near national quality athlete to be able to participate in varsity sports. And it is even worse in sports crazy Texas where parents spend five figures on elite teams, coaching and training to get kids spots on baseball, volleyball, etc. So, a red shirt for kindergarten is almost a pre-requisite if you want your kid to be in HS sports.

So sad that it's a priority to make sure they redshirt Kindergarten, instead of thinking about what's actually good for them academically, socially or at what age they get to start their real life.

That might be true for other sports, but that makes zero sense in girls running.

Freshman girls are sometimes faster than they are as seniors, because once they hit puberty and their body changes they sometimes get slower.

Her parents both had a ton of natural runner talent, and they had every reason to believe that they passed on those genes to their daughter. They wouldn't have held Natalie Cook back just so she would be a year older when she was a high school senior.

The only reason that Natalie Cook is running so much faster this year than last year, is because they finally figured out that her key to success is running only a little, and doing a lot of cross training.

Pretty soon we'll be holdings kids back so they graduate at 20. We wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, or whatever the excuse is. Hell, give it another year and they can buy beer for their friends.

I was a college freshman at 17. And my best friend as as well -- didn't turn 18 until late October of his frosh year.

Are we supposed to be impressed?