Oklahoma- 4 guys at 13:52 or better

fan of the sport wrote:

I like how Martin Smith is developing a good all around track and field team as well. Very good balance across the board. One of the best coaches in the NCAA.

He's on a very small list of coaches that gets it done wherever he goes.

Except they obviously didn't peak in February, hence the results this weekend and their results ever since indoors last year. I assume that your evidence (if you have any at all) of this said "running athletes into the ground" comes from people that did not see eye to eye with him. What about the people running under him now? I doubt you have heard anything like that from anyone any time recently. The numbers don't lie. Also, as mentioned in the first post, the very talented Oklahoma squad has 1 person into the national meet for sure after racing at Washington, while those February "time trials" has IU with 6 automatic qualifiers, so I don't see why running fast in February is a problem. They've done what they needed to do to put themselves in a position to participate at the national meet.

Filbert Bayi did actually run for Oklahoma in the early '80's. I remember seeing him compete in the Big 8 XC meet at Pioneer Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. I don't remember how long he stayed at OU.

"'70s, not 70's, moron."

-Wow. Are you really that angry of a person that you felt the need to throw out an insult like that? Would you say that to some random stranger on the street? Incidentally, if you'd like to be that way, your sentence is improperly structured. In fact, it's only a fragment.

aerodynamic interlude wrote:

"'70s, not 70's, moron."

-Wow. Are you really that angry of a person that you felt the need to throw out an insult like that? Would you say that to some random stranger on the street?

You realize this is a message board, right?

Smith can coach, although he works well with certain type of guys and with certain assistants. He is demanding and that works well with some and not as well with others.

As for next season, a number of teams return many of their top runners so it will be interesting to see how the competition goes and how the various young guys continue to develop. For instance, Connor was the 'weak' guy on the XC top-five but he looked pretty good in the Big Ten meet jumping to a big lead, and then hanging with the small group that chased him down (he finished one of the 2/3 in the 300 and of the 2/3/4 in the 5000, bracketed by Bayer and Poore in both races who also showed excellent results).

you didn't need to do that but thanks for that aero. i really wish they would make us register to avoid situations like this. i'm like you in that it makes no sense to just be a richard for no reason at all. issues i guess.

IGF-1 wrote:

you didn't need to do that but thanks for that aero. i really wish they would make us register to avoid situations like this. i'm like you in that it makes no sense to just be a richard for no reason at all. issues i guess.

I do not fully understand all of your comment but two things lead me to comment. First, thank you for the complement.

Second, while I see a reason to occasionally comment anonymously (and have on some personal-type matters), I think comments from posters that are 'known' (people can find out who I am if they really want) and have to live with their reputation are much more valuable than the ravings of those not willing to commit to communicating. Unfortunately, I think a lot of young people do not think through these issues and take the convenient way out.

I second the compliment. I lways enjoy your insights. Do you think they're now called Sooner miles?

I'm basing this off of years of following Helmer, going all the way back to his days as a HS coach in VA. The man simply doesn't make the best decisions for his athletes' well being. I'm not sure what this past weekend (still part of February mind you) proves, except that both Bayer and Hubers raced nearly 60 laps(!) on a 200m track. Do you think that is good coaching? Has Hubers had a healthy collegiate career? To the best of my knowledge he has been battling some injuries for a few years and finally appears to be turning the corner. As for Bayer, the guy is a stud and has improved dramatically under Ron. He had a real nice race last year at nationals and before completely fizzling outdoors (injured I assume?).But come the heck on, why on earth was the guy in the 5k this weekend? Dumb dumb dumb. What did the Oregon guys do this weekend? Fleet ran 1200 and Centrowitz ran 1600. 9 times out of 10 the Ducks are running faster in May than they are in February and Helmer's history tells me that his guys aren't the same. I hope things are different this year though because he appears to have a real nice young group.

observation wrote:

Except they obviously didn't peak in February, hence the results this weekend and their results ever since indoors last year. I assume that your evidence (if you have any at all) of this said "running athletes into the ground" comes from people that did not see eye to eye with him. What about the people running under him now? I doubt you have heard anything like that from anyone any time recently. The numbers don't lie. Also, as mentioned in the first post, the very talented Oklahoma squad has 1 person into the national meet for sure after racing at Washington, while those February "time trials" has IU with 6 automatic qualifiers, so I don't see why running fast in February is a problem. They've done what they needed to do to put themselves in a position to participate at the national meet.

Just to clarify- I don't have an axe to grind and no I haven't heard anything from his current guys. I don't know them and to be completely honest most of my knowledge comes from Ron's pre-IU days (although I've watched his results closely since he made the move). Do they really have 6 auto qualifiers? That is pretty impressive although I wouldn't mind seeing the guys leave Bloomington once in a while to get a little competition. Oh well to each his own.

Are you counting Bayer in 2-3 events, Hubers in 2 events, etc or do they really have 6 distance guys going to nationals?

coach d wrote:

I wonder what the response is going to be in Eugene (and Beaverton) when Martin Smith finishes ahead of the Ducks. Could be this year by the looks of those indoor 5000 times.

Coach Smith still gets a Nike check.

I'm sure they were trying to get their first Big Ten championship in his era, and they almost succeeded. In those 6 autos, Bayer, Poore, and Hubers are accounted for, with another 5ker under 14 and their 5th man redshirting.

*supposedly redshirting

Dude! These guys are sick! They were all like 9:20/4:20 guys in high school and have come out of no where. I would love for Martin Smith to train me.

TGHPDX wrote:

coach d wrote:

I wonder what the response is going to be in Eugene (and Beaverton) when Martin Smith finishes ahead of the Ducks. Could be this year by the looks of those indoor 5000 times.

Coach Smith still gets a Nike check.

Given the overall athletic strength at OU (particularly football), if you were Nike, would you rather see them in a swoosh or 3 stripes? Simple answer.

But I still find it more than slightly humorous that the guy who was run out of town because he didn't win with distance runners is beating the Ducks with distance runners.

9:20/4:20???? no, maybe one or two of them. Kevin Williams ran 8:51 as mentioned above and Kevin Schwab ran 9:0_ ?/4:16?and was one of the best ever Oklahoma high school runners. Martin Smith is not only developing, he is recruiting very well, very key to his success there.

From what I've heard his guys dont do any crazy training, and that works when you get extremely talented guys. I'm going with recruiting over developing, not to say what he's done there isn't amazing.

So "thinking through" something entails calling someone you dont know in the slightest a "moron"? Your little explanation is nothing but fluff. It sounds like you need a good old fashioned rear kicking, buddy. By the way, how would you classify someone with your nomenclature who used the word "complement" wrong? What about not using a comma with a conjunction when needed? Are you going to take "the convenient way out", or will you call a spade a spade regarding your own work? Incidentally, I'd love to know your real name.

Travis Ford

Coach d,

Looking beyond your extremely childish bias, would you really say OU is beating UO with distance runners? Afterall, Vin did win an NCaa title in XC since he's been in Eugene.

It's no secret what they wanted to accomplish in Eugene and clearly they have. Did you watch the Olympic Trials? The 800 was pretty good wasn't it? How about last years NCaa 1500? Perhaps you missed it, but UO went 1-2-3 in one of the most exciting finishes of the entire meet. About 14 months earlier, also at an NCaa championship they had a guy win 3 NCaa titles in 24 hours. Your head is so far in the sand you can't see the obvious. They asked for champions at middle and long distances and they didn't get them, so they went and got someone who could.

Cross country wasn't so bad this year either, even if the team underperformed- two guys in the top 10! I haven't even mentioned the women! To borrow a popular phrase around here, "ever heard of Jordan Hasay?"

Coach d, do you think any of this would have happened under Martin Smith? The guy is a great coach no doubt, but he wasn't getting (and this is the key word here) KIND of results they wanted.