He ran less than 100 m on the lane line, and spent the rest of the race on the rail or in the inside half of lane 1. Heck, he made the decisive and race-winning pass by going INSIDE in lane 1.
Now is clear that Mike Smith is probably the best coach in the US. I was thinking at him as the best option for 5K and 10K runners, but Colin is clearly a 800/1500 type of guy and Mike has now proved he can coach that kind of athletes, too. If he manages to coach to stardom or close to it a pure 800m guy like Aaron, anyone should consider him as the best option. Sure, there are Ben Thomas, Marcus O'Sullivan, Andy Powell, Vanhoy, Miltenberg, Bonzi, Bryne, Dave Smith, Warhust(and I'm sure I forgot someone else) and many other pretty good options, but what Mike is doing in managing elite prospect without messing it up at altitude is remarkable
Now is clear that Mike Smith is probably the best coach in the US. I was thinking at him as the best option for 5K and 10K runners, but Colin is clearly a 800/1500 type of guy and Mike has now proved he can coach that kind of athletes, too. If he manages to coach to stardom or close to it a pure 800m guy like Aaron, anyone should consider him as the best option. Sure, there are Ben Thomas, Marcus O'Sullivan, Andy Powell, Vanhoy, Miltenberg, Bonzi, Bryne, Dave Smith, Warhust(and I'm sure I forgot someone else) and many other pretty good options, but what Mike is doing in managing elite prospect without messing it up at altitude is remarkable
>>If he manages to coach to stardom or close to it a pure 800m guy like Aaron
Pure 800m guys don't win NXN. Aaron is like Colin, they are simply runners. Great natural speed. Great range. Can excel at everything from 800m to 5000m. Trying to box them in to one event is doing them a disservice, and I believe Mike Smith knows how to use their range.
Whoa, that is impressive. Nuguse only ran 3:34 something in college. There also is a lesson there in that he struggled last year so it's taken him some time adjust to college and the training. But the talent is undeniable.
*see Young transfer comment.
Just takes patience and people adjusting sometimes. Not a very good run for Harrison in 3:41, though I don’t know the circumstances. I didn’t see the race, only the time. Maybe he won his heat or something.
Now is clear that Mike Smith is probably the best coach in the US. I was thinking at him as the best option for 5K and 10K runners, but Colin is clearly a 800/1500 type of guy and Mike has now proved he can coach that kind of athletes, too. If he manages to coach to stardom or close to it a pure 800m guy like Aaron, anyone should consider him as the best option. Sure, there are Ben Thomas, Marcus O'Sullivan, Andy Powell, Vanhoy, Miltenberg, Bonzi, Bryne, Dave Smith, Warhust(and I'm sure I forgot someone else) and many other pretty good options, but what Mike is doing in managing elite prospect without messing it up at altitude is remarkable
Meh, all it takes is a couple injuries or setbacks, and the board here switches to the mindset that he’s the worst coach on the planet and that <insert name> should transfer.
Now is clear that Mike Smith is probably the best coach in the US. I was thinking at him as the best option for 5K and 10K runners, but Colin is clearly a 800/1500 type of guy and Mike has now proved he can coach that kind of athletes, too. If he manages to coach to stardom or close to it a pure 800m guy like Aaron, anyone should consider him as the best option. Sure, there are Ben Thomas, Marcus O'Sullivan, Andy Powell, Vanhoy, Miltenberg, Bonzi, Bryne, Dave Smith, Warhust(and I'm sure I forgot someone else) and many other pretty good options, but what Mike is doing in managing elite prospect without messing it up at altitude is remarkable
>>If he manages to coach to stardom or close to it a pure 800m guy like Aaron
Pure 800m guys don't win NXN. Aaron is like Colin, they are simply runners. Great natural speed. Great range. Can excel at everything from 800m to 5000m. Trying to box them in to one event is doing them a disservice, and I believe Mike Smith knows how to use their range.
You are probably right. The thing very interesting with the Sahlman brothers is the power they put down in their stride. Colin is a little more thin and elastic while when Aaron opens up he looks like a monster destroying the track, and that leads to believe he can be better suited for 800m. But what he did at NXN changed in fact a lot of things. I still believe he will be better at 800 and 1500, also because is performance at NXN was kind of an outlier, even though his 3K PR from junior year is super fast. A very interesting type of athlete for sure, let's hope to see him on the track soon
Now is clear that Mike Smith is probably the best coach in the US. I was thinking at him as the best option for 5K and 10K runners, but Colin is clearly a 800/1500 type of guy and Mike has now proved he can coach that kind of athletes, too. If he manages to coach to stardom or close to it a pure 800m guy like Aaron, anyone should consider him as the best option. Sure, there are Ben Thomas, Marcus O'Sullivan, Andy Powell, Vanhoy, Miltenberg, Bonzi, Bryne, Dave Smith, Warhust(and I'm sure I forgot someone else) and many other pretty good options, but what Mike is doing in managing elite prospect without messing it up at altitude is remarkable
To put it into perspective: the biggest recruit failure of Smith’s time at NAU is probably Brodey Hasty, who has consistently improved since high school and gone from a 4:00/8:00 recruit to a 7:49/13:37 runner who has been All-American in cross country. That’s an incredible track record, to say your least successful elite athlete still dropped 11 seconds off their 3k. Every other top recruit he’s gotten - Baxter, Grijalva, Beamish, Bosley, Young, Sahlman - has gone on to be an elite performer, plus he’s taken some unknowns like Day and Nur to that level as well. If I was a 4:00/8:30s high school right now trying to make the Olympics one day, I can’t realistically argue going anywhere else.