Rupp VS Withrow VS McDougal

Rupp is over-rated because he is already a pro. If he is getting paid to run, he should definitely be able to run faster than 25:15? in an 8k even if he was just "cruising."

He practically just got back from a stress fracture to win a national cross country race by a large margin. So quickly we all forget his breaking the 5000 record last year, and beating McDougall and Withrow in convincing fashion.

Why is he pro? wrote:

Rupp is over-rated because he is already a pro. If he is getting paid to run, he should definitely be able to run faster than 25:15? in an 8k even if he was just "cruising."

Rupp is not pro dumbshit. Get the facts straight before you run your mouth.

I say Rupp is over-rated because he was voted Track & Field News High School AOY last year while LaShawn Merritt was CLEARLY the better athlete. Merritt brought home three gold medals from the World Junior Champs and all Rupp had to show for himself was a ninth place.

STL_Runner wrote:

I say Rupp is over-rated because he was voted Track & Field News High School AOY last year while LaShawn Merritt was CLEARLY the better athlete. Merritt brought home three gold medals from the World Junior Champs and all Rupp had to show for himself was a ninth place.

And s bunch of records... but oh yeah, those don't matter do they? Fastest mile time of the year I believe, 3k high school record, 5k American Junior record, first for the US in one of the deeper high school fields at Jr. Nats in the 5k, and a second place at Footlocker nats. I wouldn't say LaShawn is CLEARLY the better athlete, I'd say it's a tough call, and that it is hard to compare the 2 accomplishments.

STL_Runner wrote:

I say Rupp is over-rated because he was voted Track & Field News High School AOY last year while LaShawn Merritt was CLEARLY the better athlete. Merritt brought home three gold medals from the World Junior Champs and all Rupp had to show for himself was a ninth place.

OK. So he's 'overrated' by T&FN. But I still wouldn't use those words, though I think Merritt truly deserved the AOY award for the gold he won by his own 'merritt.'

And Rupp is not getting paid by Nike as a professional. Salazar has said as much. In almost every one of the 2-3 interviews posted a day on OregonLive, he mentions the plan is to keep the younger NOP runners' eligibility intact in case they may desire to run collegiately.

"If Rupp and Chock choose to compete collegiately, it's likely to be at Oregon, where there is behind-the-scenes maneuvering to supplement the coaching staff. ... "

15min wrote:

STL_Runner wrote:

I say Rupp is over-rated because he was voted Track & Field News High School AOY last year while LaShawn Merritt was CLEARLY the better athlete. Merritt brought home three gold medals from the World Junior Champs and all Rupp had to show for himself was a ninth place.

And s bunch of records... but oh yeah, those don't matter do they? Fastest mile time of the year I believe, 3k high school record, 5k American Junior record, first for the US in one of the deeper high school fields at Jr. Nats in the 5k, and a second place at Footlocker nats. I wouldn't say LaShawn is CLEARLY the better athlete, I'd say it's a tough call, and that it is hard to compare the 2 accomplishments.

Wipe your lip off, I think you need to get your mouth off of Rupp's wang for a little while. Let Salazar have some alone time.

I do feel like Rupp should've raced at seniors, because Salazar is talking him up about being such a great American talent. For that reason he is a bit overrated and should race with the big dogs. Although IF he's overrated, it's only because it's hard not to love such a fast runner. 4:01,8:03,13:37, come on, that's amazing, any abundance of praise that Rupp receives is nothing less than deserved.

Jorge Torres

A Webb

Jonathan Riley

Dave Davis

Luke Watson

Charlie Gruber

Grant Robison

Don't tell me that wasn't an accomplishment. Had he beaten all of these guys in a race over 3k or 5k, wouldn't you be pretty damn impressed?

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5K probably, 10K definitely. I'm glad to see they're canning the 4K. 1,500 or 3K on the track is one thing but a 4K cross country race? My God, they run farther than that

in grade school. Whats next? The 1,500 XC for the speed merchants and for the endurance specialists the 30K XC? Could we break it down more so guys dont have to run against one another??

statue of liberty wrote:

all this McDougal talk continues to beg the question: why the hell did he go to liberty? Sure his brother goes there, but so what? Josh has no one to train with and the team might never make nationals during his career.

He probably chose Liberty for the same reason that most students choose a college. Reasons like size of school, majors offered, atmosphere, coaching, location, getting along with teammates and students, etc. Does he have a reason to regret his choice? I wouldn't think so.

Hear, hear. I'm not a big fan of Liberty for several reasons, but it's not right to assume that my reasons should be McDougal's reasons. So far he's had a very successful cross-country season, no injuries despite a busy racing season (as far as I know), and is now continuing to prove his talent against proven competition. There are hardly any college freshmen who can say as much. There's no reason whatsoever to critisize his decision- no proof or even support that he'd be more successful elsewhere.

STL_Runner wrote:

Here's how I rank them:

1. McDougal: Had a very impressive cross country season

2. Withrow: Proved he can run with the big dogs

3. Rupp: Over-rated

Rupp isn't over-rated... maybe he just isn't as good at cross as he is on the track? (Although he did just win a national title)

All three are great runners and should be praised, not shit on.

northernexposure wrote:

Rupp isn't over-rated... maybe he just isn't as good at cross as he is on the track? (Although he did just win a national title)

All three are great runners and should be praised, not shit on.

Hey, I'm not shitting on Rupp. I've been defending him in other posts. I just think he gets way too much attention considering he's the third-best freshman distance runner in the US. Yes, I know that he's not technically a freshman, but you all know what I mean.

When considering all events, not just distance, Rupp isn't even close to being the best freshman. Here's a list of some that are better:

Walter Dix

Keantwon Gray

Rubin Williams

LaShawn Merritt

Xavier Carter

Jason Richardson

Dusty Jonas

Norris Frederick

Most of us probably haven't even heard of a lot of those guys, but they're all ranked in the top 8 in their respective event in the NCAA rankings. I don't think Rupp could be running 4:01.53, 7:54.89 or 13:50.80 right now, which is what it would take for him to be top 8 in those events.

I disagree. If McDougal has the potential to run with the best at NCAAs, and Rupp was clearly the better HS track runner, how can you say Rupp can't compete with the best? He ran 13:37 for God's sake.

As for McDougal being too old - the kid was homeschooled. Give him a break - his brother is like a year young for his grade, things just don't work out perfectly age-wise for home schoolers.

Where's Ryan Deak mentioned?!

Quick note - regarding the whole 4k v. 12k argument, I think there IS some merit to calling Withrow's accomplishment more impressive due to the distance raced. An 18 year old in a 12k race is at a distinctly greater aerobic disadvantage than the 18 year old in the 4k. The longer the distance, the more the race plays into the hands of the older runner who have had more years to build up aerobic base.

I agree; Rupp never claimed to be the bes xc runner. He is obviously a better track runner if he didn't even win foot locker yet he broke the 5k record...