Have only 3 freshmen women EVER finished in the top 5 (3 counting Allie McLaughlin)?

Since they went to 6k, Flanagan and McLaughlin are it. no clue before then

Wow.

Lesley Welch was a freshman who finished fifth in 1981, in 1982, as a sophomore, she won it (along with the US open title).

McLaughlin = winner

Does this mean that they don't train properly in high school or something?

I can name a couple of British 18 year olds that could have finished top 5, one who would have probably won it with a tempo effort.

You do know that some of the US freshmen are still 17, that most are 18, and a few 19, right?

How is that relevant?

Most will be 18 and it seems strange that so few manage top 5.

Which ones? Charlie Purdue would have been closest, but not sure if she'd have won.

The way she's running right now, only Barringer would have beaten her had she have run properly.

She's ready to run some crazy times. (in my opinion)

My point is nothing to do with Britain being better, it's clear that they're not, but the fact that they always seem to run fast times earlier.

I mean AFD have a couple of 15 year olds running in the ballpark of Hasay's current times now. Are they going to end up better than her? Probably not, but it just seems odd.

trollism wrote:

How is that relevant?

Most will be 18 and it seems strange that so few manage top 5.

The majority of the field will be second through fifth year students. Odds are, given their superiority in terms of numbers, experience, and development five of them will beat out the first freshman. It only makes sense.

This is another example of how far women's sports are from being legitamite competitions. Very sad.

Uhhh what is that supposed to mean? Freshmen runners rarely finishing in the top 5 just shows how competitive it is...

Check Oklahoma State results from 87-88 Sonya Berry(Barry) was a freshman, and finished 3rd I believe...

The british girls peak too early, it's quite incredible how many of them drop out of the sport. The situation seems a bit better now than it was a few years ago though. I hope the AFD girls go on to be the exception to this rule. A lot of the time no one cares about long term development. I know as a 16 year old I hammered (and I mean HAMMERED) intervals FOUR day a week, which wasn't the wisest thing to be doing.

Strange to think that the guys have so many more top 5s, including ones competitive for the win (Kennedy, Goucher). Just the reverse from H.S. where the women are often most competitive at Footlocker as Fr. and So.

Suzy Favor Hamilton finished 2nd as a freshman in 1986.

I believe Kim Betz won as a freshman in 1988 but I'm not sure.

I agree about with Trollism about Purdue. She is ready for some crazy stuff and good times. My worry about her is that her track times don't match up with XC or road times. And her biomechanics look nearly as bad as those of Allie Maclauglin.

The English club system unfortunately means too many girls (and boys) drop out of the sport. It's such a shame.

do you think it's any better than the american HS/NCAA system though where a lot of people quit immediately after university?