Roisin Willis out in the heats

And she runs the open 400 enough to know better. She just seemed demoralized.

How many women have run sub 2 minutes in the 800 and then voluntarily given up their running career after college and not even tried to become a professional runner?

I can't think of any. And I don't think that Willis will do it either.

Whether or not Willis will be a successful pro, is a totally different thing. But I don't see her quitting running as soon as she graduates. I think that she will at least give a pro running career a shot.

Yeah, Nia Akins went to Penn (which, before all the US news rankings lovers attack me, is for all intents and purposes as good) and ran 2:00.71 before turning pro - I’m sure she had offers for other jobs but turned them down to run. If Willis can shave off even 2 seconds she’d probably turn pro - that’d be like a hs male entering at 1:46 and getting down to 1:44, in terms of difference from the records

Fook off punk, don’t quit your day job roach!

She does not look like a pro. She had a Mary Cain look. I think she peaked.

That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that even if Willis doesn't run faster than 1:59 in college she'll still most likely go pro. She doesn't need to shave any time off of that 1:59.

The allure of a pro running career is very high for a runner like Willis. Even if she was offered more money to take a regular job, I think she'd take less money to be a pro runner.

Breaking 2 minutes is not a big deal anymore. Perhaps Willis realizes that. It's such a convenient reference point that many still continue to clutch it, even though the realities have drastically changed.

Previously in non-Olympic years there would be fewer than 30 women worldwide who would break 2 minutes. Now that number has doubled. It was 53 in 2021, 54 in 2022 and 59 in 2023. This year it will almost certainly be above 60.

And to be an international medal contender you better be prepared to run 1:55, or 1:56 at worst. That's an entirely different realm than 1:58 or 1:59. It's the reason Duguma of Ethiopia can't be stamped as an automatic contender. She has proven 1:58 range.Not below that.

Your post went in a completely different direction, and had nothing to do with what I wrote.

My response was to a poster who said that Willis wouldn't go pro. I'm saying that when women break 2 minutes, they go pro, as opposed to quitting running and getting a regular job.

That has nothing to do with what you wrote about 1:59 not making someone an "international medal contender".

Willis has done nothing to even hint at her not wanting to go pro.

What??? In 99% of instances, you don't just get a job offer at Stanford (or Penn) without putting in some effort and going through the interview process.

Kids who decide to go pro in running are usually not engaging in the job interview process, so they are not turning down job offers to run.

Nia Akins is an unusual case, that doesn't apply to most other would-be pro runners.

First of all, Akins was leaning towards NOT going pro. So she may have in fact gone on some job interviews.

Second, March of her senior year was when the pandemic started, so what is "normal" for other years didn't apply in 2020.

Third, Akins got a nursing degree in May, 2020, three months into the pandemic, when the country was very short staffed with nurses. With a nursing degree from one of the top nursing programs in the country, Akins may have gotten unsolicited offers through Penn because hospitals were desperate, and they were trying to find nurses anyway that they could.

Fourth, when Akins signed a pro contract with Brooks Beasts, she was planning on being a pro runner and also working simultaneously as a nurse. She once again, she may have gone on some job interviews.

But Nia Akins' situation is very unusual, and doesn't apply to the situation most other college seniors would find themself in.

What??? How can you or anyone else decide someone's trajectory? Emily McKay is a great example of a runner that struggled early in her college years but had loads of potential in high school. She placed second in the Worlds in the 1500 this year. Roisin Willis is 19. Don't tell a 19 year who they are going to be.

Maybe.

But she's happy as a lark in this interview w/Citius Mag the day after NCAAs:

Note: Roisin does state early on she has had a growth spurt since last year -- which may have happened late last summer when she took a month off from running altogether then focused on weight training and sprinting this past fall season rather than run with the XC team. From watching her semi heat on Friday, she did appear to be slightly taller and thicker than what I recall from last year. But, she's in good spirits and apparently over her insomnia issues.

How someone feels right before a race is a totally different thing than how they feel on a non race day.

For example, Sydney McLaughlin is a nervous wreck on race days but she's very funny and easy going on non race days.

So I wouldn't read too much into this interview. But it's good that Willis is no longer dealing with insomnia. Lack of sleep makes your life miserable.

Why blame coaches? Maybe Stanford is stressful?