Grant Fisher may be the next Ches

FisherisaCanuck wrote:

In 2020 when Fisher realizes it will be too hard to make the US Olympic team you think he'll come on up north to Canada?

He was born in Canada and lived here for a little while.

Could be a big 5000 team with Ahmed, Knight, Levins and Fisher all challenging for the 3 spots. Plus whoever else develops by then.

I am expecting that Alberta, Canada's Grant Fisher to finish behind fellow Canadian Justyn Knight at NCAA.

Fisher finished in front of Knight at this years NCAA track championships in the 5km.

"OK, let us assume for the duration of this post that Chez is in his 30s. How is that cheating? What rule is being broken? No one needs a false birth certificate when a birth certificate is not required as proof of age. You don't have to be any particular age to participate in the NCAA. I am in my 50s and have all my eligibility. If I matriculate and keep a certain GPA at a member school, I am allowed to run. Why does this keep coming up? Kenyans, Mormons, these jokers who graduate from HS at 19 1/2? All are welcome until the NCAA makes a rule against being over some ceiling. Where do you think that should be? 25? 28? 20? Until the rule exists, please petition the NCAA to fix this problem. Until then, Chez is not an age cheat."

Great point! The NCAA (Eligibility Center) has to approve all international athletes so unless someone is deemed ineligible, no rules are being broken. You can complain all that you want but according to the rules in place, Chez (and any other international athletes competing in the US who are approved by the NCAA) are eligible.

Age cheating = performance enhancing.

If the NCAA would wake up and think of it in that way maybe they would set an age eligibility rule for athletes.

Age cheating in high school athletics = performance enhancing.

HS athletics does have age limits to competing but that can be gamed by foreigners from some countries that have their birth credentials altered.

For decades, in NCAA track and cross country, many African student athletes have gamed their way to competitive advantage by being older (much older than their competitive counterpart. I don't know how to fix falsified birth credentials. Mormon athletes also gain a competitive advantage of up to two years.

So at this years Pac 12 XC championships Grant Fisher at 19 years old is the champion, in my mind. Same holds true for those that finished second to Chezerek in years past.

Not weighing in on the debate here, but the raw numbers at Wisco don't tell the whole story. Knight absolutely blew everyone away in the final straight and got so far ahead of everyone so quickly that he had the luxury of slowing and jogging/walking across the line and therefore substantially shrinking his margin of victory (all gained in the final straight). If you look at the video, most people would probably agree that Knight smoked Fisher on that day. Could be different at nationals, though.

xccollegefan wrote:

Knight came first, but he was less than three seconds faster than Fisher, so that's hardly "smoking" someone.

MENS 8000 METER RUN

PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS

1 Justyn Knight Syracuse University 23:53.10 1

2 Futsum Zienasellassie Northern Arizona University 23:55.10 2

3 Morgan Mcdonald University of Wisconsin 23:55.40 3

4 Grant Fisher Stanford University 23:55.50 4

As much as I respect grant, I don't see a lot of drive in him. Plus he hasn't dominated the field like Che's did his Freshman year.

Redrun wrote:

As much as I respect grant, I don't see a lot of drive in him. Plus he hasn't dominated the field like Che's did his Freshman year.

What do you constitute as drive?

Wish I had 100th the drive as GF. The kid was amazing in HS, had a phenomenal freshman year while still 18 years old during all but track season.

17th at XC, 7:50 3km indoors for the win, 13:30 5km outdoors.

When he speaks on camera he is humble, articulate, and honest with his thoughts. Something many could learn from.

He didn't dominate like Chez his freshman year because he was a boy amongst men. The way it should be as a freshman.

He is at Stanford University which undoubtedly takes considerable drive on top of the obvious talents needed to be admitted.

It is good you have respect for him as I would think many in our sport do.

GF is not the next Chez. He might have been if he were a 22 year old freshman.