Who should we rank as the US #1 in the men's 5000 this year? Rupp, True or Hill?

Rupp was third American at Brussels only because he ran a much more aggressive race. Ryan Hill wouldn't win USA's if Rupp and True hadn't done the 10K the day before.

If they all lined up against each other, fresh, only cared about racing each other, I think Rupp would win.

I vote for True as #1. Winning a DL meet is no joke, top US finisher at worlds, fastest time of the three, winning records against each of the other two. Doesn't seem like a close vote to me.

I say True.

Best Time and only one with an international win NY Diamond League

Hill is the US champ but otherwise he was inferior to Rupp and True.

Rupp was only on top at Worlds but they finished 5,6,7 so it's not like he really outshone the other two there

Rupp was the best at Worlds. All of these guys were peaking and focusing on Worlds. It should be Rupp.

^^ this, I don't think it's even close. True easily.

lrcthreader wrote:

I vote for True as #1. Winning a DL meet is no joke, top US finisher at worlds, fastest time of the three, winning records against each of the other two. Doesn't seem like a close vote to me.

One big problem with your agument. True was the #2 US finisher at Worlds (Rupp was #1).

LRC Hypothetical of the Day wrote:

Rupp was third American at Brussels only because he ran a much more aggressive race. Ryan Hill wouldn't win USA's if Rupp and True hadn't done the 10K the day before.

If they all lined up against each other, fresh, only cared about racing each other, I think Rupp would win.

I agree with you that Rupp would most likely win if there was a $1,000,000 5000 between the 3 of them that they trained but that's not what a ranking is. We look at what happened in the season and then rank it.

I thought Rupp after his great 10k at Worlsd was going to rock Brussels. He did as well but blew up. You just want us to ignore that fact.?

If head-to-head matchups is part of the consideration, you can't just tally wins/losses. This isn't regular-season football. The WCs should be weighted heaviest because that's the big stage for the year.

...with that said, True ran best time and is a cooler dude so give it to him.

True for the win. Hill 2nd. Rupp 3rd --not his year.

True for impressive Diamond League win, fastest time, and (2-1) winning record against Hill and Rupp in head to head competition.

It's your placing in a race that decides your ranking, not whether you opened hard, was the front-runner, looked good, whatever.

Craig Lutz

Extremely biased since he is my xc team's claim to fame, but True is the best by far.

I would give it to Bend True with Galen Rupp a close second.

We're having a tough time separating the Ryan Hill, Ben True and Galen Rupp.

Ryan Hill won USAs but was only the third American at Worlds.

Ben True won NY Diamond League and was the 2nd American at both Worlds and USAs. He also was the top American at Brussels and had the fastest time on the year.

Rupp was the top American at Pre (where True didn't run) and Worlds but only the third American at both USAs and Brussels.

1) Ryan Hill - Won USA but lost to Rupp at Pre. Was third US finisher at Worlds (Rupp was 5th, True 6th and Hill 7th). In Brussels, Hill lost to True but beat Rupp. So on the the year, he was 2-2 against Rupp and 1-2 against True. 13:05.69 sb.

2) Ben True - Won Diamond League meet in NY. 2nd at USAs. 2nd American at Worlds where he beat US champ Hill but lost to Rupp. Top US finisher at Brussels. 13:05.54 sb. Had winning records against both Rupp and Hill on the year (2-1).

3) Galen Rupp- Beat Hill at Pre but was only 3rd at USA. Was top American at Worlds (5th) but only the third American in Brussels. His 13:08.38 sb was the slowest of the three. Was 1-2 on year against True and 2-2 verus Hill.

We believe if they trained for the 5000 and raced it fresh that Rupp would be the winner but that's not what the rankings are supposed to represent. Based on that stats, we're tempted to either

a) Rank True as the #1 even though he wasn't the top American at USAs or Worlds. Yes, that's unusual but he ran the fastest and has a winning record on the year at 5000 against both True and Rupp and he won a Diamond League 5000.

b) Just call it a draw and have them as co-#1s. Yes it's a bit of a copout.

So what are your thoughts on the matter?

LRC Hypothetical of the Day wrote:

Rupp was third American at Brussels only because he ran a much more aggressive race. Ryan Hill wouldn't win USA's if Rupp and True hadn't done the 10K the day before.

If they all lined up against each other, fresh, only cared about racing each other, I think Rupp would win.

Agreed. And if they all toed the line, fresh, with the winner receiving a cash prize of $25,000, I would put my money on Rupp.

Lagat will beat all of them at the trials.

markboen wrote:

LRC Hypothetical of the Day wrote:

Rupp was third American at Brussels only because he ran a much more aggressive race. Ryan Hill wouldn't win USA's if Rupp and True hadn't done the 10K the day before.

If they all lined up against each other, fresh, only cared about racing each other, I think Rupp would win.

Agreed. And if they all toed the line, fresh, with the winner receiving a cash prize of $25,000, I would put my money on Rupp.

What if the cash prize was $1?

I think true had the most impressive season. Rupp hardly raced which should be held against him.

That said though, if I had to bet on one of them to win a 5k I would always pick rupp.

Wins matter and Rupp didn't have any this year so he is out in my book. Had he been top American at Worlds and medalled, that opinion would change.

Winning a diamond league is tougher than winning a USA only race but a championship is a championship. True did have a winning record over Hill and had the fastest time of the 3 (counts for something but not a lot).

I like Hill but think True gets it.