Matthew Maton Ditches His HS Teammates In Postseason

Sounds like a smart kid, not buying the Nike Hype. Having to run as a "club" rather than a HS makes NXN contrived to me. Hopefully Maton can earn some individual glory at FLN.

Step back from the ledge. This isn't a kid who ditched his team for the state championship. It's a kid who chose one silly postseason event over a different silly postseason event. The only thing it says about the athlete and his coaches is that they're trying to be smart and not over-race, especially given that he wants to run make the USA team for the junior world championships. Cross-country isn't a team sport like basketball or soccer, where you have to cooperate, pass, and share. The best way to help your team is to be as fast as you can as an individual. Anything else is a bunch of high school pep rally BS.

Team above all else.

I understand he wants to race the best in the nation, but if I were his teammate, his coach, or even him I would not accept this decision.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzbt_yQrQjk

Same thread as the McGorty conundrum a couple years ago. His team supports him, and this isn't gonna mean anything for any future team. Everyone else shouldn't care.

This is the most ignorant post I've ever read. I am not from Oregon, but the kid is an absolute talent and for you to try to degrade that over a postseason choice to run a race he wants to be remembered for is a shame.

Footlocker is where the defending national champion will be, and when you run 80+ miles a week to work up to beat him and beat Galen Rupp's state record en route, you better be in the race where Grant Fisher is running.

I bet his teammates are actually supportive, those directly impacted, and wish him the best.

This could be the toughest year in the HS XC running scene in recent years past and whoever is #1 by the end of the year deserves all the praise in the world.

No way does Maton have a chance like all these other guys do if he doesn't run at Footlocker.

By your logic, Austin Tamagno deserves criticism for not running with Brea Olinda and opting for FL too. In no world does he deserve that criticism though.

113 wrote:

Step back from the ledge. This isn't a kid who ditched his team for the state championship. It's a kid who chose one silly postseason event over a different silly postseason event. The only thing it says about the athlete and his coaches is that they're trying to be smart and not over-race, especially given that he wants to run make the USA team for the junior world championships.

Cross-country isn't a team sport like basketball or soccer, where you have to cooperate, pass, and share. The best way to help your team is to be as fast as you can as an individual. Anything else is a bunch of high school pep rally BS.

The state championship is just as silly as NXN, if not more so, for a team that is considered to be top-5 in the nation if Maton is really a part of the team.

I agree the best way to help your team is to be as fast as you can as an individual. However, you need to be as fast as possible IN THE SAME RACE as your teammates to be of any help.

Melancholy Parent wrote:

His teammates and coaches seem to be OK with it

They are being supportive of him, as well they should be, and you should be as well.

Two kinds of people posting on this thread:

1) People who either know Maton or have read the article linked by the OP.

2) People who haven't read the article.

If you read the article, you wouldn't be posting about "team" or "selfishness" or "abandoning," because you would see that Maton did what every talented HS runner in the country should do: he sat down with his coaches months ago and developed a plan to accomplish his goals, some of which dovetailed with the team, and some of which have him running in China in a Team USA singlet in February. You would also see that Maton states clearly that if he could do both, he would, but he can't. His team knew that a year ago, they've trained and raced accordingly.

Take me to your leader.Damn you fells are brain washed.Team above all else? Not even close.

aslan wrote:

Team above all else.

I understand he wants to race the best in the nation, but if I were his teammate, his coach, or even him I would not accept this decision.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzbt_yQrQjk

I think the kid made an honest decision and one that he is entitled to. The official high school season is over and he did his part. This kid was probably the heart and soul of that cross country team. He also ran footlocker last year.

That said, I doubt Summit will be able to overtake the Washington schools at NXN NW without him.

+1. Footlocker is where the real national championship is.

Nothing worse than a helicopter mom that thinks she knows everything.

For a kid with the 3rd fastest time in the country, he gets to be a little selfish. He has bigger fish to fry than anything that can happen with his high school team (even though that's a pretty good team). Sorry, but team is NOT always first. Cross country is an individual sport first. It's nice if you can actually have a decent team too, but that isn't always in the cards, and if you have a super star who is EONS better than the rest, you need to do all you can to support that super star.

It's like if you had a super genius in your math class filled with average students. Not fair to hold that kid back, so you do EXTRA and DIFFERENT for him. Maton has earned that right, and nobody knows his situation or his team's situation better than he and his coaches, so I don't see how anyone here can vilify.

If this is the most ignorant post you've ever ready we can only assume this is the first thread you've ever read on letsrun.com

If his teammates are truly supportive that is great, but I don't buy that. It's more like they think they are supposed to be supportive because it's the politically correct thing to do.

There is simply a difference of opinion if you think it's all about getting "all the praise in the world." For some, the team comes first, always. It is rare for top individuals to truly understand what it means to be a part of a team because they are really only using that team for their own benefit, even if it is an unconscious decision. I truly believe Maton will regret his decision later on. Even great college teams don't generate the same sort of excitement and camaraderie as can be had with a high school team of life-long friends.

Yes, by my logic Tamagno and his coaches deserve criticism if his team qualifies for NXN and he opts to run FL. How lonely of an experience that would be for him. His team would be outside the top 10 just like Summit's will be and be left wondering what could have been.

I'm rolling my eyes at the OP. Talk about being melodramatic.

The kid is at another level beyond his teammates. Foot Locker is where the best run, not NXN. Let the kid go for it rather than running a crappier "national championship" race where he's obligated to run because everyone says it's all about the team. Please. Running is an individual endeavor where sometimes we group the individual performances together and call it a team event. But it's not a true team event.

Good for him. Face Fisher and the rest of the top talent at Foot Locker. His team knew his plan all season, so this is not really news.

Oh look, a re-hash of the same argument when McGorty picked Footlocker.

Footlocker is the national championship. As Maton is one of the best runners in the country, I'm glad to see him going. He should not be guilted into running with his team in postseason meets. Kudos to him.

Would his team have been favored or even had a chance to win NXN?

If not, pfft, who cares.

If so, he might have opted for NXN, but I dont begrudge him for going to FL.