BYU resting guys at regionals

Jak cok wrote:

I don't agree with that. I think that your regional and qualifying team should have to run at nationals. There shouldn't be any resting.

Talk to John McDonnell. The old Hogs of the past were well familiar with this strategy.

Sack Up wrote:

moist wrote:

Candy ass

^ This x infinity...

Good gravy...runners these days are softer than a baby's a$$. At the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, we raced every weekend back in the early 80s when I was in college. The lone exceptions were the weekends prior to the conference, regional and national meets. What is it about today's runners that they don't even want to compete? What's the point of training if you're going to race only 3 times every fall. Gutless, nutless, pansies....

Well, you absolutely sound like an old curmudgeon. Did your team ever do WELL in meets that matter? Might as well call the top international runners softer than a baby's a$$ too. This is a qualifying meet, not a conference or national championship. Sure it's called the regional championships but it serves only to qualify for the big meet. Also BYU has run honest-effort races all year and hasn't lost a race yet. You sound very ignorant trying to sound like you know better than they do.

iojiojsdf wrote:

Let's see how this plays out wrote:

Bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see how it plays out.

Portland wins west, byu doesny qualify.

It would be awesome if it backfired and they didn't qualify.

Teams do this every year. BYU has rested top guys every year at regionals. They always qualify. They're arguably the deepest, best team in the country. They could probably rest 1-5 and qualify. But if Portland wins the West I would guess they blow up at nationals. No smart team EVER tries to win regionals.

First, has BYU ever done WELL in the only meet that matters? (That's a no... as in no championships). I think BYU only wants to take one shot at NAU and will do so in Louisville. NAU is expected to race 6 of its top 7 (I think Luis G. is sitting this one out) and will race to win (give an honest effort), like every team should do in each race they enter.

ItsNotMeItsYou wrote:

First, has BYU ever done WELL in the only meet that matters? (That's a no... as in no championships). I think BYU only wants to take one shot at NAU and will do so in Louisville. NAU is expected to race 6 of its top 7 (I think Luis G. is sitting this one out) and will race to win (give an honest effort), like every team should do in each race they enter.

wont matter that NAU wins the regional when they lose nationals though will it?

If you run your top person at regionals and he's 1% slower at nationals because of it, he probably loses 1 or two places because there's a bigger spread at that portion of the race. But if your 5th guy is 1% slower he probably loses 10 places because at that area of the race there are like 3 guys finishing every second.

ItsNotMeItsYou wrote:

First, has BYU ever done WELL in the only meet that matters? (That's a no... as in no championships). I think BYU only wants to take one shot at NAU and will do so in Louisville. NAU is expected to race 6 of its top 7 (I think Luis G. is sitting this one out) and will race to win (give an honest effort), like every team should do in each race they enter.

You're wrong.

BYU has done VERY WELL at nationals. Yeah they've underperformed some years like everyone, and no they haven't won. But this decade I'm pretty sure they've been on the podium 2x, and finished between 6th and 15th on their rebuilding years. According to your logic, it sounds like only 1 team does well every year. I wasn't aware you had to win the whole damn thing to do "well."

I don't know where this mindset came from that you have to run all out in every race you run, but I don't know of many on the elite level who see it that way. Some of these races are obligatory, and serve only to qualify teams for another race. Do you go all out in every workout too, every easy run? You focus on what you want to win, what the real victories are, and you prepare your best for those. You think Mo Farah doesn't run just hard enough to qualify through the rounds in world championship competitions?

NAU WILL NOT RUN ALL OUT AT REGIONALS. You'd be an absolute fool to think so, even if they only see the need to rest one guy, the others will not be giving an "honest effort" in the way you make it sound. Unless they're ready to give up at NCAA's, they'll try to qualify and conserve as much energy as possible. On a good year, CU doesn't go all out at regionals, neither do OK State, Oregon, or anyone who is good enough to qualify comfortably.

The only way BYU doesn't get in is if somebody from way back in the pack without points jumps up and beats them (like if UTEP finds somebody that didn't run all year and gets ahead of them and BYU doesn't finish in one of the auto spots). It is not a very big risk, but it has happened in the mountain region before.

Even if byu isn't in the top two they are pretty much garunteed an at large correct?

moist wrote:

Candy ass

+1000

Still waiting for Letsrun.com to publish their "FOR GOOD OF THE SPORT!!!!!!!!!" hot take on this.

Resting guys isn't ridiculous. Expecting guys to race two hard 10ks in two weeks is.

Ed Eyestone for a coach......he is probably protecting certain guys. Maybe a few of the guys in their top 7

are beat up a bit. Seems logical to insist on rest and recovery at this stage before the NCAA big dance.

"We are treating this regional meet as a semi-final at a championships meet,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “We want to run hard enough to advance but easy enough to recover for the most important meet of the year, the NCAA Championships. As a result, we may be resting some of our top seven runners and replacing them with our second team runners. We can do this as our team is very strong this year.”

Dont forget the average age of a BYU athlete is nearly 30. Old dudes need more rest.

running commenter wrote:

Resting guys isn't ridiculous. Expecting guys to race two hard 10ks in two weeks is.

^this. Especially when the 2nd 10k is astronomically more important than the first. There should be a full off week inbetween.

Bonkers wrote:

There should be a full off week inbetween.

FINALLY someone says something intelligent here.

All of this asinine arguing about resting vs not, but nobody asking why the calendar can’t be arranged to promote actual...um...racing.

Obviously the regional “championship” should be more than seven days before the big show. Otherwise, just do qualifying from a real competition (conference) not the perfunctory chore that regionals has apparently become.

alshaw wrote:

iojiojsdf wrote:

It would be awesome if it backfired and they didn't qualify.

Teams do this every year. BYU has rested top guys every year at regionals. They always qualify. They're arguably the deepest, best team in the country. They could probably rest 1-5 and qualify. But if Portland wins the West I would guess they blow up at nationals. No smart team EVER tries to win regionals.

Which is exactly why Washington won it on their home course a few years back. And bombed at Nationals.

Only question I have with resting Clinger is that now Nationals will be his first experience with the extra 2k, which could cause for a blow up. A lot more freshman look great at 8k but struggle to translate that at Nationals, whether its the extra 2k or the stage or the size of the race. But I'm sure Eyestone feels comfortable with him. and Clinger seems like a special one.