WISCONSIN Invite: Shelia Reid (2011) 19:59, Laura Hollander (2012) 19:33 this is just SICK! (video)

CONGRATULATIONS Laura Hollander!

The video below shows just how much the whole field got spread out even before 3K. It was crazy for a meet of this depth and quality. One true freshman blew up the race. And won it. WTF?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptmxV4O5q2o

Unbelievable that any female colleigan would go out 33 seconds fast then last years NCAA Cross Country Champion at the 3000m! It's not very often that even TOP elite women run 6km cross country in sub 19:40.

What she ran as a high school senior isn't important this young lady is on a completely different level now. Do you think she could win NCAA Cross Championships or World Junior Cross?

If Laura Hollander hasn't peaked she will attempt to run away with the NCAA Cross title and actually do so only being reeled in slightly before crossing the finish line 10 seconds ahead of 2nd place.

Jordan Hasay and Betsy Saina you both can forget about any NCAA Cross title, so sorry!

Laura Hollander may not win Nationals but saying Wisconsin Invit is meaningless against such a talented field and her easy win is absurd and poor attempt at trolling!

The young was 32 seconds faster at 3km then Shelia Reid was last year when Miss. Reid went on to win the NCAA X Championships. The most amazing part is picked it up the last 3km and still almost matched Shelia Reid last 3km despite Miss Hollander blistering first 3km!

Will Miss Hollander win Nationals maybe, maybe not but this is still one of the best x-country runs on U.S soil in the last 10 years!

Honestly this thread is pretty disrespectful. What Sheila accomplished in her career, particularly in XC was amazing. Just cause a frosh ran about 30 seconds faster than Sheila in two completely different races doesn't mean shit. Shelia negative split by about a minute...meaning she could have gone out harder. However I'm pretty sure it was extremely windy last year as opposed to this year. There is no doubt in mind Sheila would have won this year. You can't compare two completely different races and say one runner is better than the other. Sheila completely dominated everyone when she raced....why would it have been any different in this particular race? Congrats to Laura, but lets not start crowning someone a champion based on one race.....

Unknown troll

Who said Laura was better then Shelia? I stated Laura went out much, MUCH faster this year then last years NCAA X Championship did on the same course and almost matched Shelia's last 3km as well!

Yes Shelia was an extraordinary collegiate runner as I stated; however, I don't think any collegiate female runner in the last 3 years would have beaten Laura Hollander YESTERDAY!

Laura Hollander was in a zone yesterday save Sally Kipyego no other collegiate female would have followed her and none would have have been able to overtake her fast 2nd half YESTERDAY!

19:33 6km is an amazing time on any cross country course even a flat one, she most have bumped her mileage up prety good to improve so drastically.

She just got the benefit of being unknown. The only reason Betsy didn't go with her was because she was not familiar and had D' Agostino in mind. As for Laura, hats off she had the guts but lets not rush anything. I only wish she did this in the NCAA coz she could still enjoy the "unfamiliar benefit" but now that she is known, no one is going to let her out of site. At the best she will be a rabbit at NCAA if she does the same. Good luck Laura you made the race exciting esp towards the end.

hahahaha wrote:

Honestly this thread is pretty disrespectful. What Sheila accomplished in her career, particularly in XC was amazing. Just cause a frosh ran about 30 seconds faster than Sheila in two completely different races doesn't mean shit. Shelia negative split by about a minute...meaning she could have gone out harder. However I'm pretty sure it was extremely windy last year as opposed to this year. There is no doubt in mind Sheila would have won this year. You can't compare two completely different races and say one runner is better than the other. Sheila completely dominated everyone when she raced....why would it have been any different in this particular race? Congrats to Laura, but lets not start crowning someone a champion based on one race.....

Great post with a lot of good points.

I hate it when people compare a CROSS COUNTRY race from one year to the next. Not only can the weather be different, but the course can as well. Wisconsin was in drought conditions for much of the year, which can make a course much firmer and therefore much faster. Why would you even make the comparison. Just plain stupid.

Laura ran an amazing race and is certainly one of the NCAA favorites, but to try and compare her race to Sheila's race in two different years is just absurd. Let is go and focus on THIS year and who she beat, which was outstanding.

It was a great and gutsy race for Laura Hollander and I'm a fan.

But Abbey D'Agostino would have beaten her had she run yesterday. She would've stayed in contact, and rolled her up in the last K to win by 5 or 6 seconds.

If Hollander tries the same strategy at NCAAs, you'd better believe that D'Agostino, Saina, Hasay, Tuliamuk, and any others will work together to reel her in. They won't mess around or leave it to chance.

Sport anaylsts compare teams and individuals in every known sport from year to year all the time so you thinking it's absurd means very little.

As far as Laura Hollander being unknown isn't true. EVEN WE DIDN'T know of Laura coaches certainly did

2012 Collegiate Cross Country

1st race.....won in 16:42 CR by nearly a minute

2nd race.....won in 17:03 CR at UCLA beat Kathy Kroeger

3rd race.....won in 19:33 CRdestroyed stack field & NCAA fav Betsy Saina

Laura's broken CR in every meet this year and faced some NCAA top 10 favorites before yesterday's meet, so coaches knew OR SHOULD'VE known from her 1st two races!!!!

How silly do you sound? No Laura may not win Nationals but to think that D'Agostino, Saina, Hasay, etc can reel her back in is ridiculous.

If Laura goes out and runs 19:05 (not saying it will happen but it's possible) won't anyone be reeling her back, my point is that like John Ngugi some athletes are so strong in cross country they can take off early and hold the field off.

When Sally Kipyego first came onto the scene everyone thought she would fade in her first major race she took off from the gun. Did Sally fade no, in fact she went on to win 11 national titles.

MAYBE Laura H. is following in Sally KIpyego footsteps!

It would be a major surprise if Hasay would contend for the win, didn't she finish 5th on her team a couple weeks back?

An athlete running away from the field is possible as it has happened before and even once for a freshman on the men's side, so why can't Laura do the same?

She's already beaten the main contenders for the title except for D'Agonstino.

Cuz, like, there's zero chance that Reid was in a better position to peak last year, and was still improving at this point, and that simultaneously a freshwoman will have her best races early in the season and potentially not get much faster. Nope, no chance that that's the case.

[quote]GoLaura wrote:

Sport anaylsts compare teams and individuals in every known sport from year to year all the time so you thinking it's absurd means very little.quote]

It is not me THINKING it is absurd, it IS absurd. What does comparing other teams and individuals in other sports have to do with trying to compare a CROSS COUNTRY course from one year to the next. I understand many people do it and it is just silly. Kids do it themselves by running for example a 16:20 5k in their junior year and the next year they run a 16:40 on the same exact course and lose confidence because they ran 20 seconds slower. Forget the fact that the course may have run much slower than the previous year or that weather conditions might have been completely different, they still try to compare from year to year. In track at least you know the surface is exactly the same and only have weather conditions that could change from year to year.

So yes, trying to compare what Laura did to what Sheila did the previous year is silly. Laura ran amazing and I for one am a new fan of hers, but I wouldn't even begin to try and compare last year to this year and if you are thinking logically you would feel the same way.

That's your opinion; however, not all track surfaces are the same either so your logic and thinking are flawed.

TRACK ANAYLST compare athletes performances from road races and cross country races all the time; however, explaining that to you is a waste of time. GOODBYE!

Laura Hollander ran an outstanding race and if she hasn't peaked it will be tough for anyone to beat her come NCAA

Cross Championships.

GoLaura wrote:

That's your opinion; however, not all track surfaces are the same either so your logic and thinking are flawed.

TRACK ANAYLST compare athletes performances from road races and cross country races all the time; however, explaining that to you is a waste of time. GOODBYE!

Laura Hollander ran an outstanding race and if she hasn't peaked it will be tough for anyone to beat her come NCAA

Cross Championships.

People like you are funny. We are talking about the SAME track, one year later, not two different tracks. Please pay attention. The same track doesn't change unless it gets redone or resurfaced. A cross country course CAN change pretty dramatically from one year to the next, depending on how much rain there has been and if the grass has been cut recently. Not sure why this FACT is difficult to understand or why you still think comparing Laura's race to Sheila's race in two different years with two different course conditions and two different fields of runners is silly. Nobody can know who would have won between Sheila and Laura, but to say because one person went out faster this year and finished faster than another person a year earlier and draw the conclusion that she therefore would win is an ABSURD statement.

The last part of your quote we can agree on, Laura is the early NCAA favorite based on her race at Madison.

And before responding again, spend a day or two trying to think why your logic is flawed on a number of levels, especially with the fact that the SAME track won't change from year to year, but the SAME cross country course can change from year to year, sometimes dramatically.

[quote]GoLaura wrote:[/b

TRACK ANAYLST compare athletes performances from road races and cross country races all the time; however, explaining that to you is a waste of time. GOODBYE!quote]

There is a big difference between track analysts COMPARING athletes performances from year to year and the OP stating that Laura would have been 150 meters in front of Sheila. Do you or the OP honestly believe she would have beaten Sheila by 150 meters on the same day, in the same race, with the same course conditions with the fitness level that each was in when they won the Wisconsin meet? Really?

When comparing races, TRACK ANALYSTS would also mention that it was hot last year and perfect conditions this year, or the course was muddy last year and dry this year, or the race was tactical last year and went hard from the gun this year, etc., etc. The OP did none of that, just acted like everything was exactly the same.

150 meter win over one of the most dominant cross country runners in the last decade? Okay you can keep believing that. The majority of us will continue to see the absurdity in that statement.