Is Fernandez ducking Rupp?

ok... wrote:

thinking back wrote:

This was the case with Rob Cheseret. Rupp never ducked him and finally beat him at Pac-10 cross country after getting beat 8 times or more previously.

ok, so how would the freshman rupp done against the freshman Fernandez?

well Rupp finished about 6th at NCAA cross as a freshman, so he would have been ahead of German most of the race before German dropped out……..at indoors he would have competed, while German skipped it so he would have higher honors there……….going in German's pr's would have been better though…………..outdoors it's hard to say. don't know what German will do yet, and they likely would never have met up since Rupp was focused on 10K. rupp ran 28:15 for an AJR as a solo effort the last half. despite German's amazing marks and performances, I don't think he would have done that. Rupp would lead most of NCAA outdoors in the 10K (German would not have been in this event) to get outkicked by Cheseret but finishing a respectable 2nd in around 28:35, a solid time at NCAA's, especially for a freshman………..that's all I can really say and it’s all speculation since throwing another guy in a race can completely change the outcome………the projection is that German is going to light it up in the 5K this spring. Perhaps. Rupp only ran a few 5K's as a freshmen. He fell down in one of them, the others were conference and maybe regionals? None were faster than his 13:37 high school and he didn't go to Cardinal Invite or do any summer meets.

oregon wannabees wrote:

Inspired wrote:

Yes, he's ducking Rupp to go face those weak Kenyan, Ethiopian and Ugandan runners.

lol

Rupp's gay friends might as well live it up while they can.

well, one way to avoid losing at home is to go swim in the masses oversees as an underdog, just sayin.

don't forget that Rupp's "freshman" year came after a full year of living as a pro athlete.

I'm tired of the fanboys of both Rupp and Fernandez.

shuttup already.

This doesn't make any sense. If I was a booster or the Athletic Director at OK state, I would have a problem with the coach's decision to run him at World's. Team USA doesn't pay for his schlolarship, OK St does. The NCAA will be on National TV here in the states. Who gives a shit about world cross here in the states. This is what's wrong with the sport. The best US talent since Alan Webb and we will not get a chance to see him perform at NCAA against Rupp and the rest.

larry love wrote:

If I was a booster or the Athletic Director at OK state,

Well the "if" kind of makes the rest of the post worth absolutely nothing. So lets leave it there.

Well, I would be more interested seeing Fernandez run the mile, which Rupp is not running. Fernandez could double and face Rupp in the 3000m.

Fernandez running junior XC is not interesting at all to me.

Maybe if he wins that would be something but that is a bit of a long shot.

Giving up a very solid shot at being an NCAA Champion to participate at at junior XC is is strange especially considering the amount of track meets he participated in.

It could be worse. He could be hurt and not racing at all.

Maybe if I were an XC fan I would have a different perspective.

I think its ducking to an extent..

If Fernandez was worried about what too much indoor racing would do for him ( which is a fair concern) then why has he raced so much already? He could have held back a bit early on, maybe skipped the miles and just raced the 3km at NCAA's, and doing World XC.

He has prioristised some low key early indoor time trials over the NCAA meet really, they are the meets which are now seing him skip NCAA's

No--YOUR attitude is what's wrong with the sport. Why have our athletes complete in a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, when they can run in an INDOOR, collegiate race? That's ridiculous! He has a chance to nail a top ten spot in a world championship in a race that matters TO HIM. I think his coach and it sounds like the OK AD administration genuinely care about developing him to his fullest potential, not simply grabbing the low-lying fruit like insignificant indoor races.

larry love wrote:

This doesn't make any sense. If I was a booster or the Athletic Director at OK state, I would have a problem with the coach's decision to run him at World's. Team USA doesn't pay for his schlolarship, OK St does. The NCAA will be on National TV here in the states. Who gives a shit about world cross here in the states. This is what's wrong with the sport. The best US talent since Alan Webb and we will not get a chance to see him perform at NCAA against Rupp and the rest.

yes, a guy taking a full ride who was caving at NCAA cross and couldn't even finish (not his fault on the DNF but still leaves something to prove to the university) now skips one of the more high caliber indoor NCAA's in history. The mile is loaded with 3:57 guys and the 3K has 5 or 6 at about 7:50 or better. Rupp is running world class right now at 3K and 5K. instead, and after a full indoor season, he's off to go for a top 15 finish in a race with guys nobody has ever heard of and have no proof of age. Getting 15th in this race is just that, somewhere between 5th and 25th. Somewhere between great and not terrible.

Unless he gets top 3, what does it really do for the university? What does it do for then NCAA system? I mean fine to go do it as Chris and Luke are, but do the important things first. It's not like he's a contender.

This is one of the stranger tactics I have seen. Come in on all cylinders for the entire indoor season and skip NCAA's.

The stupidity in this thread is appalling.

I hear you ER... My argument is Fernandez is 18 years old and will have plenty of opportunities to run in World Championships. We just witnessed 1 indoor championship in Boston where the arena was half full. A guy like German can do wonders for our dying sport. How many NCAA meets will this guy get to run before the lure of big money come calling? Hell, there is a 50/50 chance that he even get a chance to run NCAA outdoors. And then what good will he be to OK St then.

What a load of tripe. Fernandez has nothing to answer for. He's just a freshman who's coach is just being on the cautious side in preventing another injury.

Sure I'm disappointed not to see him line up with Rupp for the 3000. But who says he can't win World XC? Top 5 would be excellent, but here he really has a chance to prove himself against some of the best in the world in his age group. A breakout performance would more than make up for skipping an indoor NCAA race. Bear in mind plenty of teams don't place much importance on indoors. The Ducks just recently started participating more.

imagine he get's 8th, which is optimistic, how do you as coach smith go sell that to the AD?

AD: Well, you told me he's the "Junior World Record Holder" now in the mile, he's ranked #2 overall in the US right now and #6 overall in the world, so how did he get 8th in this junior race?

Coach Smith: Well it's the toughest competition there is outside of the senior race with is 3 times tougher, because we have all of these east africans, we don't even know how old they really are, and 8th is a really good finish.

AD: Have any american juniors finished higher?

Coach Smith: Well yes, a few years back we had a high schooler get 3rd and a college freshman get 5th, but it was REALLY muddy that year and it was totally different.

AD: Were the africans there?

Coach Smith: Well yes, but it was super muddy you see and it changed everything.

AD: Did the Americans have to run in the mud too?

Coach Smith: Well yeah, but it just affected the Africans more. It's hard to understand I know, but our guys were just so much more used to foot deep mud.

AD: Ok, well let me ask you this, how many of the guys that beat German have run as fast, what 3:55, for the mile?

Coach Smith: Well, it's hard to say for sure. One guy is a 3:55 guy, there's another that is 3:57 but those are the only ones who have raced it. You see most of these guys aren't milers.

AD: But German IS a miler, right?

Coach Smith: Well, kind of, see his best event is going to be the 5K.

AD: But he has a better mile than most of these Africans that beat him?

Coach Smith: Yes, but they are better 5K-10K runners, not so much milers.

AD: Well they raced 8K, and they beat him, what makes you think he is a better 5K runner? How does his best time compare to theirs?

Coach Smith: Well we haven't raced one yet, but we're expecting big things.

AD: So just to be clear, we have an athlete on a full athletic scholarship who is the #1 ranked collegiate in the mile. #2 in the entire US right now, #6 in the world overall. We choose not to race him and get our (1st ever indoor?) NCAA Championship in this event, but instead race a bunch of Africans that we don't know much about, don't know for sure how old they are, to pick up an 8th place finish in a junior championship?

Coach Smith: Well yes sir, you see it's not really like that, this was a great experience for German.

AD: How close was he to the winner?

Coach Smith: He was about 1:05 behind him.

AD: Well I certainly don't understand this, but I'll try to explain it to the boosters. What is he going to be racing for outdoors, the mile or the 5,000 meters? Or both? We need to do some make up for the past to NCAA Champhionship opportunities.

Coach Smith: Well they don't run the mile outdoors sir, it's the 1500 meters. Anyway we'll have to play that by ear, you see German has a sore tendon right now.

Hey Selling the Story--do you assume ignorance on everybody's part? Is it possible, just possible, that Dave Smith was being serious when he said he had the support of his AD to have German run what the athlete and coach think is best for his development as an athlete? Might mixing it up with the East Africans help in his next several attempts at the NCAA Cross Country Championships?

Well done indeed.

Just another hoser wrote:

Hey Selling the Story--do you assume ignorance on everybody's part? Is it possible, just possible, that Dave Smith was being serious when he said he had the support of his AD to have German run what the athlete and coach think is best for his development as an athlete? Might mixing it up with the East Africans help in his next several attempts at the NCAA Cross Country Championships?

1st off, I'm having a little fun, but 2nd I assume nothing when it comes to this board. I took what he said into account. But I think you may assume a little too much when you think the athletic director is 100% on board. Approval, maybe. Different.

Don't forget, Ok. St. was a favorite for the team title last fall. As it turned out, even without Rupp and WITH German finishing top 5 they were not going to win it.

So there is a sense of failure there. You have to understand the expectations that the athletic department must have right now. The prodigy right there on their campus. But what is the best way to measure success within the NCAA? An NCAA championship. Fall, nothing.

Winter, nothing. Junior worlds? German is racing for team USA. Outdoor track? We'll see.

Don't you think it's odd that German had more hard indoor races than guys like Matthew Centrowitz, Luke Puskedra, Andrew Wheating & Shadrack Biwot, but yet they are the ones racing NCAA's and he is not?

I started this thread, but I think it is entirely reasonable to cut German Fernandez and his Coach some slack on this one.

He is only a Freshman and I suspect his indoor racing took more out of him then was anticipated. So the OSU coach is having him rest a bit in preparation for the World Cross.

I too was hoping to see German in a matchup with Rupp in the 3K. But not going to happen. Se la vie.

Good luck to German in the World Cross!

Please!

When you post junk at least research the topic first. I imagine that the majority of the people on this site run or ran track and maybe even cross country. Fernandez loves cross country so when given the chance German and his coach choose World Cross and Outdoor over Indoor. I would have loved to see them race earlier this season; but if any of you have ever been at a National Meet the goal is to win. And when you have some people running multiple events their goal is to conserve as much energy as possible. You Galen fans should be thinking about Sam in the 5k because I have a feeling that the pace is going to be HOT!

Galen did beat Sam earlier this year in the 5k, but he didn't have a 3k to run that same day.

1986 NCAA Indoor Championshps

Mile

1. Paul Larkins Oklahoma State 4:01.38