Ping Back in - allowed to race NXN

At least she's doing something that makes her parents proud.

And she is doing something that makes NXN coaches so angry. Their runners are slower than she is.

why is this such a major story?

gonna go out on a limb here and say with 4 years there will be a thread here

"what ever happened to that 8th grader from nxn"

67 percent of respondents are in favor of her running.

why not let her run to the best of her ability until then?

Mr. Biggs wrote:

why is this such a major story?

gonna go out on a limb here and say with 4 years there will be a thread here

"what ever happened to that 8th grader from nxn"

Whatever happened to that cute little girl with the pigtails that ran in the Olympic trials 1,500 final a few years ago?

So what happens to the 5th place finisher who was told she could run at nationals?

So what happens to the hundreds of 8th graders next year in states that don't allow junior high/middle school participation in high school sports?

Ping just CRUSHED a 16:36 at the Turkey Trot this morning as a warm up for next week at the NXN!!!!

we have a lousy precedent wrote:

So what happens to the hundreds of 8th graders next year in states that don't allow junior high/middle school participation in high school sports?

Sure, let's ban all fast, young, little girls from running. Their utes might fall out.

That's great news, thanks wrote:

67 percent of respondents are in favor of her running.

Sure, but you are looking at the popular vote.

The "not in favor" side actually won more electoral votes, so that's the only important result to consider.

Just Gonna Say wrote:

why not let her run to the best of her ability until then?

Yeah and let her run at NCAA nationals too. Because she could beat most of those women too.

and this, too wrote:

Just Gonna Say wrote:

why not let her run to the best of her ability until then?

Yeah and let her run at NCAA nationals too. Because she could beat most of those women too.

Ahem, NCAA does require college attendance. You seem to be unaware of that.

And, until today NXN required being high school competition eligible, so what?

Why have rules if you don't follow them? Let's call it the U20 championship & be dune with it

and this, too wrote:

And, until today NXN required being high school competition eligible, so what?

And last year as a 7th grader Ping was allowed to run. Do you have an actual point?

Clearly fair play has lost meaning. I can't express how disappointed I am in Nike with this decision. Doesn't seem right to reward people that are clearly manipulating the rules to there advantage at the disadvantage of many others who have followed both the spirit and letter of the rules. This is not a victim-less decision by Nike.

If this sounds like sour grapes it is, in the future my runners will be participating in the Foot Locker meet, already don't recommend Nike shoes to anyone.

Oh well, Karma has a way of catching up to people even though it may take a while, just ask Marion Jones.

nike is soft. this is why footlocker will always be #1

Fair Play Supporter wrote:

Clearly fair play has lost meaning. I can't express how disappointed I am in Nike with this decision. .

Which girl do you coach that is running NXN?

Broken Rule wrote:

and this, too wrote:

And, until today NXN required being high school competition eligible, so what?

And last year as a 7th grader Ping was allowed to run. Do you have an actual point?

She was high school eligible last year, this year she isn't. If you can't see the implications then you are really missing the point.

Next year, if Nike is fair and consistent, there will a lot of displaced high school runners in place of middle school runners in the regional events (probably 5-10 in each region), even if the MS runners don't end up qualifying. The 13-14 USATF XC JO meet, which has up until now been a very high quality event with a lot of promising future stars racing head to head, will be decimated.

There are probably 6-7 middle school athletes that would have qualified for NXN this year if given the chance. For examply, I know the NXN South championship could have potentially been won by a middle school girl if she had completed. Aidyn Woodall out of Colorado also likely would have qualified ahead of Grace if given the chance.

The implications of this decision are very far reaching, do middle school runners now get pushed harder? Can they race as part of the school the feed into, like New York does? This is a major change for the Nike meet.