Could Rupp and Wheating single-handedly have won NCAAs?

That's 48 points but how realistic is a 1-2 finish in the 1500 off a triple for Rupp and double for Wheating?

well the entire team single handedly came in second. But even if both of them 'single' handedly scored 48 it wouldn't have been a complete victory since it would have been a shared title. Ashton Eaton made second place possible. Don't slight him!

in other words, Rupp, Wheating and Eaton already generated forty points by themselves and Wheating might have added ten by doubling.

Wheating could not have doubled this year.

He was already tired after a long season last year, and then being a stud trooper in XC and Indoors (2 titles).

His calf muscle tweaked with 300 to go in the 800.

Here's an aspect: Not Everyone can do Heats and Semi-Finals and make it through all 3 rounds.

I have known guys who could run 1:45, that could not make it through 2 rounds to the final.

It takes iron men to make that many rounds then the final...and win.

The real reason the Ducks fell short was their Jav guy needed to take 2nd instead of 4th, 2nd at least...tho he was top ranked from earlier in the season...he wasn't consistently near his pr.

Wheating Unleashed wrote:

The real reason the Ducks fell short was their Jav guy needed to take 2nd instead of 4th, 2nd at least...tho he was top ranked from earlier in the season...he wasn't consistently near his pr.

That would have saved them based on something else that happened, but that's not the reason they lost.

The real reason they lost was Centrowitz... not to say anything bad about him because he had a great season and is probably burnt, but he would have definitely been top 4 at least if he was in the shape he was when he ran that 3:36

Didn't Oregon lose some points in the steeple too?

MANY Ducks faltered at Nationals. Rupp, Wheating, and Eaton kept them in it regardless. Unfortunately no one else found their stride.

If one of Centrowitz, Hostetler, McNamara, Biwott or Winter could have done better or weren't hurt then..I was really pulling for them too..I can't imagine 3 800's and 2 15's in that short of time that's a scary thought..

Let's be honest, though. They had some tough luck with Centrowitz, but Texas A&M got DQed in the 4x100m. Weren't they seeded first? So in reality, Oregon was lucky to even be close.

At the NCAA nationals, the competition is fierce. Afterwards, the teams that came close to winning will naturally ask "What if" questions...for Oregon, what if Chris Winter had run one second faster in the steeplechase? He would have finished 7th (instead of a non-scoring 9th) and gotten 2 crucial points for Oregon. What if Luke Puskedra (5th at NCAA CC) or Daniel Mercado had managed a slightly faster 10,000? (Puskedra was only 6 seconds behind the 8th place finisher and Mercado 8.) The 5,000 was tactical, so if Shadrack Biwott could have closed better, he might have picked up more than just a point for his 8th place finish. (Three seconds faster would have put him three places higher.) What if Alex Wolff (10th place) had thrown the javelin a bit better to pick up a point or two? What if Cyrus Hostetler had thrown better to get second (instead of 4th)? What if Jordan McNamara had managed to pick up a point in the 1,500?

Of course, the real "what if" was Matt Centrowitz - what if he hadn't gotten that freak injury to his foot shortly before the NCAA championships? For a guy who would have been in the hunt to win the 1,500, all he needed to do was finish in the top 6 to get the three points Oregon ended up needing. Had Centrowitz not been injured, the Ducks would be the 2009 NCAA track & field champions. Period.

But as Don Meredith once said on a Monday Night Football program, "If 'ifs' and 'buts' were but candy and nuts, what a Merry Christmas we would have." The fact is, other teams, including Texas A&M, also had setbacks (like the DQ to A&M's 4 x 100 m relay team). Bottom line: Texas A&M came through when it counted and they deserve the championship.

Final Note: Andrew Wheating might have tried doubling in the 800/1,500, but that is 5 races over a few days. Even fresh, it would be challenging to finish in the top three in the 1,500, let alone going for a win over the very impressive German Fernandez. Throw in his GI difficulties and most likely his 1,500 races would have jeopardized chances for winning the 800 (and the 10 points that went with it). Had Wheating doubled and Rupp tripled, they might have picked up a few points in the 1,500 (neither would have won it), but that's another "what if". Again, bottom line, the Ducks tried hard...but so did everyone else. Kudos to everyone for their efforts and a hearty congratulations to Texas A&M for a well deserved championship.

The whole idea of this thread is flawed. Two people don't do something single-handedly. One person does something single-handedly.

Anyway, the answer is that is they could not have won it between them. Wheating did not look like he could have handled a 1500 qualifying round and final and still be able to squeeze out what was obviously a difficult victory. Rupp seems unstoppable, but there has to be a limit to his abilities, and the 1500 is the one event of the three that he wouldn't have been favored in running fresh. With 21.5k of racing behind him, I doubt he would have run too great in the 1500 final.

Plus you would have to imagine that Fernandez would have made their task impossible (not to mention Heath and others). It's not like all those 1500 guys are big piles of chopped liver, ready to cooperate good-naturedly with the fulfillment of some Oregon fantasy.

I don't really think Macnamara can shoulder much blame here, didn't he run basically his PR in the final to still get 11th?

Hallo! wrote:

Let's be honest, though. They had some tough luck with Centrowitz, but Texas A&M got DQed in the 4x100m. Weren't they seeded first? So in reality, Oregon was lucky to even be close.

No, not really. Both teams had points that they lost along the way. You can't add points back in for Texas A&M in the 4x1 and then say Oregon was lucky to be close. It goes both ways. There are several teams you can take most of their actual performances and then plug in a few guys where they were projected, and then show them winning or doing better than they did.

Bottom Line A&M stepped up and deserved to win. Oregon did not pick up the nickle and dime points they needed in the steeple and 5k and did not get the level of big points they were hoping for in the 1500m and javelin.

rupp should've tripled (or at least run the 1500 prelims with the intention of only running finals if they needed him)

there's no way wheating could've done that double; they're way too close together. maybe he could've gotten a couple of points, but not the win

So what team has won with the fewest athletes scoring?

chrisdiaz16 wrote:

rupp should've tripled (or at least run the 1500 prelims with the intention of only running finals if they needed him)

there's no way wheating could've done that double; they're way too close together. maybe he could've gotten a couple of points, but not the win

IMO, Rupp should have only tripled in hindsight. It looked good on paper without a triple. With USATF coming up, the schedule he ran was daunting enough.

Livid with these turkeys wrote:

I don't really think Macnamara can shoulder much blame here, didn't he run basically his PR in the final to still get 11th?

no, he's a 3:41 guy from a couple years back but has had a TON of injuries. he ran a 2 year best of 3:42.0 in prelims and nearly matched that in the final. i believe this was his 9th week back of running.

regarding wheating and rupp. rupp could have picked up some points in that 1500 final at the risk of injury or just being run down at USAs. wheating in his condition probably wouldn't have run the 1500 final with the calf and the illness. had he been healthy he probably would have sat in the back and picked off most of the guys but the reality is he wasn't healthy so it wouldn't have happened.

i'm sure they both wish they could have, but under the circumstances it's better that they didn't. be stupid for either one of them to be injured, sick or flat at usa's.

What are they going to do next year without Rupp's 20 points?

While A&M was on the infield celebrating their victory Wheating left the track on crutches.