[quote]Montesquieu wrote:
Gee, I would have thought that winning the Nike Outdoor Nationals in HS and breaking a nearly thirty year old record and then winning his college conference XC championship would have counted for something, to say nothing of winning two Big Eight Indoor titles. I'd mention, of course, winning Jr National XC twice (once when a HS student), but apparently that is not of "first-rate importance" (I added the needed hyphen for you), so much so that coming in 4th and 6th in the NCAA indoor (Derrick and Puskedra) trumps it. So Puskedra's 13:50 in sixth, SIXTH, is better than winning Jr XC. Oi veh.[quote]xhgsg wrote:
Senior outdoor at NON was the only time he has ever come through at the highest level. I never said he hadn't then.
Conference titles are nice, but All-American is better. A NCAA record, even he had actually broken it, is a poor consolation when doing so means you're not running NCAAs.
And no US Jr. XC champion isn't of first rate importance, not as a highschooler, not a repeat, not now, not ever. Luke Puskedra's 13:50 (faster than the race is sometimes won in) in 6th, All-American, and scoring points at NCAAs, is so so so very much better than US Jr. XC champion. US Jr. XC win is about as good as a local invite win in the regular season of college XC, it just looks better on the resume.