Cringe wrote:
If you can run at times that would get you to nationals Division I but could not come close to winning nationals you are no better than an average baseball or basketball player on a decent team. Distance running doesn't get near the best talent due to other sports like basketball, soccer and so on. There are so many basketball and baseball teams out there that if you are halfway decent at the highschool level you have a shot of making a team somewhere.
So according to you most people who play baseball in highschool can play in college, but at the same time it is more of an accomplishment to make a baseball team than it is to make nationals in cross country. This makes no logical sense. What people like you fail to realize is athleticism doesnt neccesarily apply equally to every sport. Just because someone is a great baseball player doesnt mean they have the genetics to make it as a runner, and vice versa. Jim Thome and David Wells are both great atheletes but that doesnt mean that the fact that they play baseball weakens the talent pool of distance running.