Colin Sahlman may not race for NAU in 2022 - "It's probably on the more unlikely side that we are putting him out there."

Our top 10 men's team preview is now up.

letsrun.com

2022 NCAA XC Men's Top 10: NAU Chases Second Three-Peat; Can Stanford or OK State Finally Knock Them Off?

Jonathan GaultSeptember 21

NAU is loaded once again. But so is Stanford, and OSU should be dangerous on its home course. Who will win it all in '22? *MB: Jonathan Gault unveils his top 10 men's NCAA xc teams. Agree or disagree?

Open link

PS. I was reading the other thread about Gary Martin. I loved this quote.

“Gary’s a middle distance guy,” Lananna said, “but he’s fully prepared and determined, and I learned very early in my coaching career to never doubt when someone tells you they’re doing to do something. I look at their goals through their eyes, and he fully expects to make an impact [in cross country]/ So therefore, I fully expect for him to make an impact.”

Replace Gary with Colin and Lananna with Smith and the quote works just fine for me here as well. Now this is assuming Colin wants to do XC but if you weren't into the team aspect of XC, why in the hell would you go to NAU?

Yeah I don't really understand this decision, assuming he is fully healthy. Just have him race Conference & NCAAs if you are worried about the workload. With how good Stanford's top 3 is this year, you might be giving up a National title.

I also don't see Sahlman staying 5 years to use up all his XC eligibility, so this is a real head scratcher to me.

It has to be at least a small indication that he is struggling with the transition. If he was crushing it, why hold him out as they are not quite as deep as year’s past and someone who was good as Nico was as a Freshman would make a big impact?

Each runner and their situation is different. Great to see that Martin is running XC, but comparing him to Sahlman is unfair because Sahlman is not only adjusting to the increase in distance, he’s adjusting to an increase in distance at altitude.

Coach Smith’s record speaks for itself. I’m grateful he is prioritizing Sahlman’s long-term development over short term goals, and I trust him to make the best decision for his athletes.

Didn't Goucher finish 2nd or 4th as a freshman and Puskedra 7th as a freshman? Sahlman is easily better than those two. No reason to not run him as a freshman unless he has a tough time adjusting to the 10K.

He may be a lifetime 13:30 guy who stays through college and gets no contract.

If Colin doesn’t race, I think NAU is vulnerable

You don't know that. He was better in high school but what if he is Maton or Slagowski?

How many of the 4 Salhman/Young (not Nico) runners will break 13:18?

Kennedy won. Seriously sure he might be a mid distance guy but we aren't talking about a guy who hasn't been exceptional over 5k XC. Maybe is is a top 25 guy instead of a top 10 like Nico. Maybe he is slotting in as there 10th guy right now so they don't want to race him. But they are racing a 10k not a marathon. Middle distance guys do fine. He might not be a threat to win it ever but he should be an all American guy.

I'm a little disappointed that we won't get to see him race soon. Still, I think Mike Smith has earned the benefit of the doubt as to what's best for his runners. I think Nico was also a big outlier in how quickly he got adjusted to the new environment.

A few general questions since I don't know much about the process. What does redshirting look like in that position? If someone's just redshirting because they're getting used to the workload, how does their training compare to the rest of the guys on the team? Fewer/shorter reps on workouts? Lower mileage? Are they peaking at the same time as unredshirted guys, or is that not worth it?

I predict one.

Kind of crazy to think NAU has 9 guys better than Salhman.

I lean to Rojo's theory. I think this actually is a way to lower the pressure on Sahlman, and that's the main reason he's said this. If there are any hiccups in his training from now until their conference meet, it's now not alarming he hasn't run. NAU is such a powerhouse with championship aspirations, would it be wise to heap a ton of pressure on a freshman who will have to adjust to altitude, the training as well as 5K-->10k? Maybe a bit cautious to throw it out there this early, but I think good to frame it as a bonus if he competes in XC.

Don’t race him.

Because I don’t want to see NAU win again.

Am I the only one who isn't fazed by this? The kid ran until late summer and, hopefully, has a long career ahead of him.

What's the rush?

Didn't Nico wait until February before running his first XC race in the "2020" season? I don't think he ran at the OSU meet in October 2020.

I wouldn't call June 15th "late summer", considering there were 6 more days of spring.

Colin was in 13:30 shape last year, he might be going 13:15 this track season. Lex and Leo will break 13:18 as well. Only one I'm not sure about is Aaron, but he definitely has the potential.