How good can CHRIS DERRICK be?

3:38

7:33

12:54

26:47

2:05:xx

Reminds me of a young Ritz.

He improved 26 seconds in one year for 5K.

I am cringing at the comparison to Ritzenhein. I hope he turns out way, way better. Ritzenhein only improved his 10K PR by 2 seconds after college, did nothing significant in the marathon, and had his only great performance in an off distance (Pre 2 mile).

Ebony wrote:

I am cringing at the comparison to Ritzenhein. I hope he turns out way, way better. Ritzenhein only improved his 10K PR by 2 seconds after college, did nothing significant in the marathon, and had his only great performance in an off distance (Pre 2 mile).

9th in the Olympic marathon not good enough for you, then?

AW Fan wrote:

3:38

7:33

12:54

26:47

2:05:xx

2:05?! Geez--a little extreme, maybe.

I'll say your 1500 and 3000 are decent. I'd say 13:01 5k, 27:09 10K, 2:07 marathon. 59:45 if he tries a half.

Ehhh the 26:47 is a hell of a lot more extreme than that 2:05

I'll say 13:05, sub 27 and excellent potential for the marathon.

Brad ONeil - SR - Coe College wrote:

9th in the Olympic marathon not good enough for you, then?

I know, what exactly do people expect?

Between Webb, Hall, and Ritz, the Big Three have:

- 8th place finish in the World Championships

- 9th place finish in the Olympics

- 10th place finish in the Olympics

Let's throw Tegenkamp's 4th at Worlds and Kennedy's 6th at the Olympics into the mix, and those are basically the best results we can produce given today's level of competition.

Maybe it's time people face up the fact that 4th-10th in the world is about how good our homegrown Americans are ever going to be. The guys listed above are the cream of our crop. The most talented from a young age, who went on to run faster than all the American greats who came before them. How many national titles and American records do these five guys have?

In today's world, facing the Ethiopians, Kenyans, and Moroccans, what do you expect? You really think any American ever would be capable of outkicking Bekele, Sihine, El G, or Kipchoge for a medal? Ha! Jim Ryun may have had a great kick, but it's not last-800-in-1:46 material like El G and Lagat. Let's get real.

Not as good as Laurynne Chetelat will be comparatively

I don't think anyone has ever put the reality of the situation so succintly. The only one of those four who probably should have medalled is Webb, having the fastest times of the year in 2007 in the 1,500/mile. We have all these jackasses who come on here ridiculing and demanding coaching changes, when the fact is, NO ONE IS UNDERACHIEVING, our best are running to their best. In all the world, some athletes are just better.

POST OF THE MONTH!

Not as good as Laurynne Chetelat will be comparatively

I really think that Derrick is going to be a hell of a 10k runner when he moves up. I guess his coach says no 10ks for freshman, not a bad strategy. Next year he should tear that up.

he doesn't have the speed to run well in championship races. I'm sure he'll run some fast times, but I don't see him ever medaling. Sorry.

People are demanding coaching changes because Webb is now a 3:40 guy instead of a 3:30 guy. I don't think people would be talking quite so much if Webb had had a good race in the last 1.5 years.

honrbodg wrote:

he doesn't have the speed to run well in championship races. I'm sure he'll run some fast times, but I don't see him ever medaling. Sorry.

i kind of agree with this. I think derrick is able to sustain a hard pace evenly throughout the race, but he will have to develop a better kick against the Africans.

Because of this, I think he is destined for the longer distances.

I think Chris will have a great NCAA career, but his speed deficency will limit his success at the next level level. This is simular to the same situation with Ritz, Adbi, Meb, Hall, etc., you need to be able to be able to run your last mile in sub-4 and the last 200 in about 27 seconds. Negative splitting is almost routine in world class 5k/10k. Btw, Kennedy's 10k times dropped around the same time he was PRing in the mile. Although I still think Chris is going to be pretty darn good and don't fortget about Fout who won agurably the most competitive FLNC ever and Finnerty who coming out of H.S. had a faster mile PR than Fernandez. If both of these guys stay healthy, they will be in the mix. Also, Centro and Meade are only 19 years old, which is the age of many freshman.

FOUT!? Are you serious? Stick a fork in him, he's done.

one of the best posts i've ever read on letsrun.

i agree 100%.

and guys, honestly, i'm a huge chris derrick fan, he's one of my favorite active runners - great kid, tough, smart, has the mindset of a champion. but to say today, right now, that he will run 26:47, or 12:54, or 2:05, is just wishful thinking. maybe it will happen. but it's just so outrageous. and predicting it now - just like everyone predicted ritz - will just make his actual accomplishments seem irrelevant.

think back. when ritz ran 13:45 in HS, when he won NCAA's as a frosh (or was it soph?), everyone was going nuts. people were saying the same things about him - he'll run 12:50, he'll run 26:50, he'll break 58:00 in the half. and now that his career has progressed to this point where he's at right now - a 2:07/27:30/13:15/8:11 guy - we suddenly see it as a dissapointment.

cheer for our guys. let's encourage them and be positive. but if everyone starts going on about how derrick will run 12:45 and german will run 3:28, then almost no matter what they do, it will be seen as a dissapointment. these guys are obviously very hard working and are going to run whatever they are genetically capable of. the best point that the poster i quoted made was that, maybe we really do need to consider the possibility that americans simply do not have the genetic makeup to compete with the africans. we are raised in a different culture, with different DNA, different bone structure. you can only make up for so much with hard work and dedication and coaching and technology.

i am NOT saying that we don't go out there and act like we can win, and go win. of course you do that. the mentality never changes. it's such BS when guys like mottram go on about how he's not afraid of the kenyans. no one is afraid of the kenyans, anymore than the kenyans are afraid of the americans. for true competitors, competitors that are champions at any level, a chance to race against a foe percieved to be dominant only motivates you even more. the fact is we're not afraid and we're doing everything we physically can to win (aside from pre-determining who our runners are going to be, have them be born at altitude, raise them to run barefoot naturally, with a strong background in another activities, thus greatly decreasing their chances of getting injured and allowing them full reign to train as hard as possible).