who will coach Levins, Derrick, Puskedra, etc as pros?

My guesses (based on no facts at all):

Levins - Goes to train with Schumacher (and countryman Bairu) or stays in Cedar City and continues to do what's worked well for him.

Puskedra - Joins OTC in Eugene.

Derrick - Joins either Mahon's group and trains at altitude for the first time consistently or joins Schumacher's group (a bunch of ex-Midwest standouts in Jager, Teg and Solinsky).

Id personally love to see levins training with Mo and Galen...i think puskedra should go with Schumacher (think he's got a future on the roads with the 1:01 half debut) and i dont know about Chris

Levins is heading towards legendary status. The next step for him is to grow a dirty beard and become self coached.

Karachi wrote:

Levins is heading towards legendary status. The next step for him is to grow a dirty beard and become self coached.

He should move to Japan and train with Yuki Kawauchi since they both race nearly every weekend and are becoming blue collar heroes.

Why would anyone put Puskedra in the same league as Levins or Derrick? Puskedra is not as good as Jake Riley or Colby Lowe or ....

I agree that Puskedra will end up at OTC but not with Jerry. Another Oregon guy that will be flipping burgers to pay the rent.

Facts

"For now, Levins has decided to remain in Cedar City, Utah, where he attended school and was coached by Eric Houle.

"My plan is to stay in Cedar for another year," Levins explained. "It depends I guess if Nike would like me to go somewhere else. He continued: "I don't know if things will change. If not, I have my plan and I'll stick to it.""

http://www.flotrack.org/article/13012-Cam-Levins-signs-professional-contract-with-Nike

Puskedra should join the huge recruiting class at Hansons. Eugene has no one that is a 10k, Half Marathon guy for Puskedra to train with.

kiswahili wrote:

Why would anyone put Puskedra in the same league as Levins or Derrick? Puskedra is not as good as Jake Riley or Colby Lowe or ....

I agree that Puskedra will end up at OTC but not with Jerry. Another Oregon guy that will be flipping burgers to pay the rent.

(1) It is not clear at this juncture that Derrick is in the same league as Levins

(2) Puskedra not a good as Riley, Lowe, etc.? Is this the same Puskedra who has dominated these guys every single XC season and earlier this year busted out a fantastic half marathon debut?

Yeah Butt wrote:

kiswahili wrote:

Why would anyone put Puskedra in the same league as Levins or Derrick? Puskedra is not as good as Jake Riley or Colby Lowe or ....

I agree that Puskedra will end up at OTC but not with Jerry. Another Oregon guy that will be flipping burgers to pay the rent.

(1) It is not clear at this juncture that Derrick is in the same league as Levins

(2) Puskedra not a good as Riley, Lowe, etc.? Is this the same Puskedra who has dominated these guys every single XC season and earlier this year busted out a fantastic half marathon debut?

1. Derrick is in the same class as Levins. I know Levins just blew your mind with the 5/10 double at NCAAs, but they are at the same level, with Levins only a slight kick ahead of Derrick.

2. Puskedra is better than Lowe and Riley. Riley is barely pro-level caliber and Lowe needs to show he can run the roads in order to get a decent shoe deal. Puskedra joining Hansons is a cool thought, although I think he'll stick with OTC or go with Mahon.

redux - Infactuator wrote:

"It depends I guess if Nike would like me to go somewhere else.

Count on this.

riley stops wrote:

My guesses (based on no facts at all):

Levins - Goes to train with Schumacher (and countryman Bairu) or stays in Cedar City and continues to do what's worked well for him.

Puskedra - Joins OTC in Eugene.

Derrick - Joins either Mahon's group and trains at altitude for the first time consistently or joins Schumacher's group (a bunch of ex-Midwest standouts in Jager, Teg and Solinsky).

best/most accurate post so far.

Levins will join Salazar and he will be training hard with Farah and Rupp this time next year.

Why wouldn't Derrick stay with Dunn? 27:30ish, 13:19 indoors... I mean, not a lot of people have had that kind of success.

Stick with what's working, eh?

riley stops wrote:

Yeah Butt wrote:

(1) It is not clear at this juncture that Derrick is in the same league as Levins

(2) Puskedra not a good as Riley, Lowe, etc.? Is this the same Puskedra who has dominated these guys every single XC season and earlier this year busted out a fantastic half marathon debut?

1. Derrick is in the same class as Levins. I know Levins just blew your mind with the 5/10 double at NCAAs, but they are at the same level, with Levins only a slight kick ahead of Derrick.

2. Puskedra is better than Lowe and Riley. Riley is barely pro-level caliber and Lowe needs to show he can run the roads in order to get a decent shoe deal. Puskedra joining Hansons is a cool thought, although I think he'll stick with OTC or go with Mahon.

Puskedra is better than Riley but Riley did run 28:10ish at Payton Jordan, I believe faster than Puskedra and has beaten Puskedra on a few occassions so I think it's safe to say he is at least good enough to go pro an join a group. He's a lot better than someone like Brett Gotcher was coming out of school.

I think it's hard to really compare Puskedra to the others. His future is CLEARLY on the roads, and I wouldn't be surprised if he is almost entirely done with track.

what are the chances of derrick even making a US team anytime soon?

he's not much younger than rupp. chelanga will be a US citizen soon. ritz, teg, and solinsky could have quite a few years left in them in the 10

i'd bet on any of these 5 over derrick for a while at least

and who knows who else will become a citizen...

I know for a fact derrick is looking to start a little palo alto group with the heath brothers. Nike would be against that if he were to sign with them so look for him to sign somewhere else

Puskedra would probably do well with Hudson, Mahon, or Hansons. The kid could be a GREAT marathoner (2:06) in a few years. He's tough and gets better as the distance goes up. I'm very bullish in Puskedra's career on the roads if he is handled properly.

Jerry and Alberto work with guys that have raw speed... so seems like Derrick and Levins would fit in fine either group. I think more than anything, which would be better depends on personality and fit with each team.

Remember when Salazar said he wasn't taking in any new athletes after his heart attack? So much for that!

I just don't see OTC has a viable choice for any of these guys. OTC tends to be a place for MD guys... not for 5000 and 10000 folks wanting to make an impact on the world stage.

To date, only Jerry and Alberto have shown they can nurture world class talent in the 5000 and 10000. Derrick, Levins (and Fernandez for that matter) all have world class talent if nurtured properly.

I would totally back a PA group with CD, the Heaths and maybe a few other Stanford/Cal alums - particularly if you could build a women's program as well. I think it's interesting having "clubs" that sort of bang on one another. Jerry's crew v. Salazar v. Hansons, etc... Could create some cool competitions at track or road races. Club championships - or points ala Diamond League? You probably can't win with two athletes (Salazar) or too few top calibre (Hansons).

If you're looking to increase the profile of the sport, Nike sponsoring clubs outside of Portland, is probably the way to do it. Give local people a reason to care. Create training centers in more places than just Oregon. Vin wants to make the meets better and more spectator friendly, but if there is no reason for anyone outside of Eugene to care, it doesn't matter anyway.

riley stops wrote:

Yeah Butt wrote:

It is not clear at this juncture that Derrick is in the same league as Levins

Derrick is in the same class as Levins. I know Levins just blew your mind with the 5/10 double at NCAAs, but they are at the same level, with Levins only a slight kick ahead of Derrick.

Sorry, but wrong on multiple counts.

"slight kick ahead of Derrick"? It is clear that you do not know what you are watching. That "slight kick" is actually about 6 gears' worth. And what it really means is not that Cam is extremely fast but that he is basically out for a Sunday stroll while Derrick is maxed out.

No, Derrick is not currently in the same league as Levins.