I think you just explained your blindness above. You coach A runner. Most coaches are RESPONSIBLE for an entire team. They represent the university and have an obligation to show that money is not being wasted. And a good coach will actually have great team performance at the meets that MATTER as number 1.
The big fish in a small pond program would have no concept of what is required for a true team.
Lananna and the big boys absolutely do. The NCAA is about developing athletes to be great, all the underlings are just part of the process to make it as competitive as possible at the top and nothing more. Sorry for the harsh reality but it's really not an equal opportunity thing, it's about making our best great. Anything that the teat sucklers get from being part of that is just secondary and an afterthought.
And you really can't compare sprinting to distance running in terms of what the body goes for and recovery time. Aerobic work VS. anaerobic is nowhere in the realm of comparable.
Regarding the guys you listed above being injured, you missed the point completely. The point is, it's difficult enough to stay healthy for our top guys, why make it more difficult for no good reason?
And as far as the college first international competition second thing, yes that's true. It's also true that if these guys make world teams / olympic teams it's very inspiring to high schoolers and makes it seem less of a fantasy and more of a reality, meaning that good athletes who may or may not pursue running may just be more likely to stick with running. This is the cycle of progression manifesting. More young runners inspired means more young runners competing and more talent showing through and going onto college.
Watering down college only waters down high school running and we go back to the 1990's. It took a high profile coach selling a soccer play on the Oregon legacy and Prefontaine to get Rupp converted and a Prefontaine movie to hook Wheating. Fernandez was inspired by Hall who ran 13:15 at the NCAA championships. The point here, is that great accomplishments inspire great prospects. The whole regional concept caters to sub-greats and that makes NO SENSE. Ok, you guys couldn't run fast so let's drag the studs on an all day and possibly overnight travel, cramp their legs on planes, busses and vans all day to and from the competition and have them alter trainings so the pooper scoopers can have a shot to scoop poop at NCAA's?
The point should be about making our top 4-8 runners in each event the best and most high profile they can be. Have them race fast times, have them race eachother on fresh, healthy legs. These are the guys where our future greats emerge from. Being counter productive to that is counter productive to the whole system.
Every year you miss out on possible talent as it is simply not interested in running. The goal for American running has to be to get more potential out, not less because we are interested in an NCAA charity event. When a high schooler happens to see the USA championships and Derrick is wearing a Stanford shirt, Wheating an Oregon, Fernandez and Ok State that has an impact. Last summer Derrick was fried and Wheating and Centro were injured. That's not the kind of thing we want to encourage.
A lot of people regard the olympic trials 800 final as one of the greatest races they have seen. What would it have been if Wheating wasn't in there going from 7th to 2nd down the homestretch behind Symmonds? Certainly not the same. I think you all need to do a little 10 hour travel trip with a nice delay or layover to rethink your passion for regionals.