Is it time for him to try some serious distance running? He is a solid collegiate multi guy, but does he have the strength to really excel on the world level?
2:23 is blazing for a college guy. Imagine if he had run that fresh... Watch out Creese!
I think he's run 1:47 for an 8 before. What could he do with real mid distance training?!?!
How insightful, you must be the first person to ever have this idea! He just scored the most points ever by a college guy in a heptathlon not with the last name Hardee or Ashton.
Absolutely the wrong conclusion. Would he have a ghost of a chance of making, say, the World Indoor Final in the 400 or 800 or 1500? No.
However, he would have won the Silver in the Hept.
End of discussion.
Gray horn would have won had he not been injured
Obviously his best event is the hept/dec, but it is worth pointing out that he could very well be a top collegiate mid d guy. Impressive stuff right there.
susqurun wrote:
Obviously his best event is the hept/dec, but it is worth pointing out that he could very well be a top collegiate mid d guy. Impressive stuff right there.
It's also worth pointing out he would have been second in the freaking WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS with the point score he put up at NCAAs.
Unfortunately he'd be 2nd in the world in a fake event. If he could finish 2nd in the world in the deca this would be a different discussion, but sadly, I think his skill set is much better suited for the indoor event.I'm not taking anything away from the guy, it's just too bad that so far his success has come in an event that really doesn't matter when it's all said and done. I'm not sure how good of an 800 meter runner he could be, but his 2:23 leads one to believe he would definitely be national class and possibly a WC type athlete.I guess the question is- can he make the jump in the deca and become a WC type of athlete or is he always going to be an indoor star?
come at me BRO wrote:
susqurun wrote:Obviously his best event is the hept/dec, but it is worth pointing out that he could very well be a top collegiate mid d guy. Impressive stuff right there.
It's also worth pointing out he would have been second in the freaking WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS with the point score he put up at NCAAs.
come at me BRO wrote:
It's also worth pointing out he would have been second in the freaking WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS with the point score he put up at NCAAs.
Although the rules don't prevent it, each country only sends 1 athlete (some are "invited") for the hept, and obviously a lot of countries send no one. If this weren't the case and he were allowed to compete, Trey Hardee likely would have beaten him as well.
That said, I can't wait to watch this kid eventually run 3:40 in the 1500 in the decathlon in the OG to win, or at least get second to Eaton's WR.
It's sad Gray Horn was injured (pulled groin in the pole vault) with two events left and a lead of 162 points. But would he have won? Beach and Horn have PR's of 16'3/4" and 16' (worth 880 points each). If Horn runs his PR in the 1000 of 2:39, he notches 860 points. Beach's 2:23 earned him 1064 which would have given him the win by 42 points. And keep in mind Horn managed a 2:51 at the SEC Championships a couple of weeks earlier. Odds were for Beach this time around.
Perfect Peyton wrote:
Unfortunately he'd be 2nd in the world in a fake event. If he could finish 2nd in the world in the deca this would be a different discussion, but sadly, I think his skill set is much better suited for the indoor event.
I'm not taking anything away from the guy, it's just too bad that so far his success has come in an event that really doesn't matter when it's all said and done.
I'm not sure how good of an 800 meter runner he could be, but his 2:23 leads one to believe he would definitely be national class and possibly a WC type athlete.
I guess the question is- can he make the jump in the deca and become a WC type of athlete or is he always going to be an indoor star?
OK, but remember the guy is still a junior with several months left to go in this year. I read several comments in the Ashton Eaton thread that Eaton still has several years to get stronger and for muscle maturation. The same must be said for Beach except he is even younger.
The 1000m is just as fake, if not more so, than the heptahlon.
Beach has ALMOST no chance of making the Olympic team if others are all healty and do not get a DQ or a NO HEIGHT .Give him 12 % chance.I think he is already Dukes 3rd best T&F dude after SIME and Shankle. Bob Wheeler is a close 4th.Satch is 4307 but is still competing in Masters Track at age 71 and training hard.FIGHT BLUE DEVILS FIGHT!
come at me BRO wrote:
The 1000m is just as fake, if not more so, than the heptahlon.
You're 100% correct, but you missed my point. Mr. Beach is excelling in an event that doesn't exist outdoors. In order to be great in the deca he's going to have to get much better in several different events.
Of course the 1000 doesn't exist outdoors either (and the 2:19 CR is a joke because not all conferences run the event) but his 1:47 relay legs two years ago and now a 2:23 at the end of the hep shows that he has some serious middle distance chops. Could he have run 2:20 if it weren't his final event and with a rabbit? I'm sure of it, and that's without concentrating on the distance. If he is capable of running under 2:20 he's probably a mega 800 meter talent.
Perfect Peyton wrote:
You're 100% correct, but you missed my point. Mr. Beach is excelling in an event that doesn't exist outdoors. In order to be great in the deca he's going to have to get much better in several different events.
Ok, let's take a time out.
Are we knocking beach for excelling in the event that is the CLOSEST thing to the decathalon indoors? In an event that has a LOT of overlap? Getting better at the Hep and excelling in it is a huge sign for the decathalon. What else is he supposed to compete in indoors?
Then there is the fact that he is NOT excelling in the hep any more than he is in the dec.
Beach scored 8084 (618 points higher than he had in previous years) at Ncaa's last year in the dec for second. He made HUGE gains last year, and so far this indoor season set prs in all 7 hep events with a 312 point improvement.
If he improves just as much per event in the dec as he did in the hep he'll get 446 more points with a 8,530. Whether or not that gets him to the Olympics we'll have to wait and see, but that is very impressive and puts him on his way to being an all-time great. That'd be an amazing score for a 21 year old.
there is only one 'a' in decathlon.
Beach's improvement has been tremendous for someone who set all the jr and hs records several years ago. I'd still like to see him run some 8's and 15's fresh against top competition outdoors. When Webb ran 2:23i, he ran 3:59. After Creese ran 2:19, he later ran sub 4. Beach ran 2:23 with no rabbits at the end of a hep. He has a lot of potential still at 8, though we have college guys running 1:44 and low 1:45.