Solomon Haile (Age)

Bunch of racists. If his name was O'Toole, and he was an orphan from Ireland he wouldn't be getting this crap.

I like these lines from the officials over there in Maryland:

"Edward 'Ned' Sparks, Executive Director of the state-wide MPSSAA, reiterated the county findings in a separate phone call.

'This school system is certainly well-equipped to handle this situation,' he said. 'We feel they carried out due diligence…'"

and

"Beth Schluger, race director of the Hartford Marathon and Half Marathon in Hartford, Connecticut, confirmed this week that after taking second place in the Hartford Half Marathon on October 13, 2007, Haile received a check for $350, in care of his sister Naomi Haile. The purse for second place would have been $500, Schluger said, but $150 was withheld for non-citizen taxes.

Dr. Beattie of the Montgomery County public schools, for one, was surprised by this revelation."

and

"On this point, at least, MPSSAA Executive Director Sparks is emphatic.

'He is participating under our rules and regulations, and he is competing legally. They did as thorough a job as you could expect.'"

Really? Well equipped and a thorough job, yet you had no idea that a well publicized event took place with plenty of buzz around it that the person in question received payment from with stories written about it and no hidden anything (run-on for emphasis).

Seriously?

obamacon wrote:

Bunch of racists. If his name was O'Toole, and he was an orphan from Ireland he wouldn't be getting this crap.

Puhlease - i'm as much of bleeding heart as you'll find. But, if this guy was a white american we'd be calling him a con man. The only reason this guy is still allowed to run with children is nobody wants to be called racist.

What's the problem?

They have verified his documents and are satisfied with the content of them. He claims he is 18 and his documents verify that. If he lied about his age in other races and claimed he was 20, that's completely understadable. Thousands of kids in the U.S. have fake ID's to try and get into bars. He lied about his age so he could get into races without having a parent sign a form. If my parents were in Ethiopia, and I needed their permission to run, I would either fake the signature or lie about my age. I have no problem with this kid, so he lied about his age, crucify him. His documents have been verified and everybody is satisfied with them. End of story, kill it, it's over, don't make a big deal out of nothing. Let him run.

If he did earn some money, he needs to donate it to charity or else he won't be allowed to run in the NCAA. I would think he will be a top recruit and schools should be after him like crazy right about now. Good luck Solomon, hope to see you running at the college level real soon!!

Yes, this is cut and dry. But did you actually read the article? The writer does bring up plenty of solid observations - one being that in a couple of his races that he entered at age 20, you only had to be 18 or older at a time that he was definitely 18 according to the age he has on all documents. So you think if the person was smart enough to enter at an age older when needed, he/she would be smart enough to use appropriate age when able. I am not going to weigh in either way whether I think he is too old or not, I do not have a horse in this race, but the amateur status he does not hold right now does matter for Maryland athletics, so no, you are wrong, it does matter for high school. If he doesn't donate that money back fairly soon he may get popped for it. It at least warrants an investigation into his amateur status at the least. All I was trying to point out earlier was how incompetent such high officials and their research teams are over there...

He was denied entry into VA schools and the MD head of athletics knew this.

Sparks is looking the other way. He did the same with Elenaor Roosevelt when hit with all the information about recruiting and kids being out of district.

He just doesn't want to do the work involved and hopes it all goes away.

The only reason that the ER situation was resolved was because parents went to the newspapers and gave the scoop. The same will happen here.

blinders wrote:

He was denied entry into VA schools and the MD head of athletics knew this.

I for one believe that Haile is 20 or 21. What is the proof he was denied entry to Maryland schools? Specifics please.

Why don't any of you submit that article to the Washington Post for print?

Blinders is right. This won't go away. And the school system is being short sighted. There are other kids on that team, and forfeiture, embarrassment and the like will result.

Forget the race issue. No high school league can sustain having 21 year olds compete against teenagers.

In the article it also states that the student must be a county resident and live with their parent/guardian. Does his sister reside in VA or MD? What about the rumors that he lives with other elite runners and not his sister? Which is true?

I think this topic needs another thread...just way too many things to discuss

First let me say that Solomon Haile is a great runner and a tremdnous talent. I don't care if he received some cash from road races. He may have a hard time buying running shoes and needed it. What bothers me is that I ran under 12:20 on that course and had one of the best times and now I get bumped up by someone ineligible. I can't imagine how much faster I could have ran on that course as a 20 or 21 year old with 4 more years of training under my belt.

Imagine being a footlocker alternate and not making the team because of someone that is the same age as a senior in college beat you? Not fair!

That was a typo. What is the proof he was denied entry to Virginia schools? Specifics please.

Proof in pudding wrote:

blinders wrote:

He was denied entry into VA schools and the MD head of athletics knew this.

I for one believe that Haile is 20 or 21. What is the proof he was denied entry to Maryland schools? Specifics please.

Why don't any of you submit that article to the Washington Post for print?

VCP runner wrote:

First let me say that Solomon Haile is a great runner and a tremdnous talent.

No he's not. Haile a fraud. He's taking lunch money from kids. Haile is a 21 year old grpwm man who hasn't broken 9:00. If this was the Little League World Series the press would be all over this one. Where are they? Danny Almonte would have slipped through unnoticed if not for the press, who hounded the story until the truth was revealed.

Prove it. Find me enough facts, not speculation, or heard through the grapevine details. Right now according to the investigation that the school has performed and the documentation given to them state that he is 18 and the issue has been put to rest. Until I hear otherwise, I see non reason to down play any of his accomplishments.

I'm confused. It seems certain that Haile has claimed to be 20 and accepted some cash from running, but in terms of his actual age the Devine article says:

“We’re satisfied of his age,” Dr. William Beattie, director of athletics for Montgomery County public schools, said by phone this week. While he stopped short of allowing there had been any official investigation, he did confirm, “We have an official birth certificate. It’s in sync with school records we’ve elicited from Ethiopia…I understand he’s a gifted runner, so we did go back over and review our records, and what’s there is correct.”

I'm not stupid enough to think the state & county officials are lying. If they have a birth certificate, and they pursued school records from Ethiopia that line up properly, that's pretty convincing. If he should be banned from competing because of the money, so be it. But otherwise it sounds like he's just a gifted 18 year old.

Sister lives in VA - he admitted it in interview - so how does he compete in MD?

I'm ashamed of the children on the moco message boards. They're all big on rules except when it applies to them.

No wonder the rest of the state thinks theyre a bunch of prisses

[quote]Out of nowhere!!! wrote:

What's the problem?

He lied about his age so he could get into races without having a parent sign a form. If my parents were in Ethiopia, and I needed their permission to run, I would either fake the signature or lie about my age. quote]

At least at the Hartford race and some of the VA races his sister was there and could have signed his registration. No need to fake his age.

What don't you understand. You DO NOT have to be 20 years of age to compete in these road races.

Right, two reasons: He didn't have to be 20, and he had his sister at hand. Either way, no need to fake his age.

However, I'm not sure if Italy, Thailand, Austria easily give visas to unaccompanied minors traveling for the purpose of entering the biggest races in their countries.