Drew MF Hunter just made Team USA for WC!!

Uh, he didn't exactly back into the team spot. He set himself up for success, he laid out a plan and executed it. That should be considered good progress. Most people seem to have a bias, pro or con, based on the social media content. He's becoming a performer at this level, he's better than Cain or Efriamson after 3 years as pros. The latter two consistently attract more excitement here than Hunter does, I can only guess why.

Hauwei wrote:

Glad to see Drew is learning how to race well in a 5K. He hasn’t raced a 5 since Payton Jordan if I’m remembering correctly, so this is encouraging. Here’s hoping this’ll begin his dive into the longer distances!

are you delusional?! That race was a mess and allowed for him to get back in it. And then he was out kicked by four runners. I was thinking that his days under Tinman have to be number seeing that he didn’t have a 1500 standard, looked horrible today and Norwegian young men are developing while he is stuck.

Brassman wrote:

Just be honest with yourselves- For a professional runner of three years, after being one of the best high school milers ever, today he ran an average race against solid runners (certainly not a strong field compared to what we've seen over the last 10-15 years) and got dusted over the last 170m to finish 5th. 13:29 without a blazing final 200m is NOT an impressive performance for Hunter. Stop acting like everything he does is incredible.

Oh, we be honest with ourselves, and we be also celebratin' the fact that Drew Hunter GOES TO DOHA. Who effin' cares if he "only" finished 5th in the US in the 5K. Who effin' cares if he got dusted down the stretch. He's NOT the greatest 21 year old distance god in US history, but...HE'S GOING TO DOHA!! Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Br-ass-man!

I highly doubt his plan to was to get 5th and qualify because two of the guys in front of him didn't run the standard yet.

He's just incredibly fortunate that Ben True had an off day.

Oh, you should be doing that- celebrate all you can. Have fun there and compete well.

But please, please, stop acting like Drew's still 19 and setting the world on fire. It's just not reality. You're acting like Drew is that Norwegian kid (who happens to be only 18).

Not a Drew hater at all. But the rest of the group is in fact unbelievably average on the National stage. What was their next best performance this weekend?

Hunter as running really upright, the only guy without a forward lean, and looked pretty choppy. He also struggled with the kick which could definitely be a result of poor form. Tinman needs to do some work with hunter before Doha. What happened to the guy who crushed Fisher on the last lap in HS?

and and and wrote:

Not a Drew hater at all. But the rest of the group is in fact unbelievably average on the National stage. What was their next best performance this weekend?

6th in the 10k

Jgt11 wrote:

Hunter as running really upright, the only guy without a forward lean, and looked pretty choppy. He also struggled with the kick which could definitely be a result of poor form. Tinman needs to do some work with hunter before Doha. What happened to the guy who crushed Fisher on the last lap in HS?

Would still crush Fisher on the last lap tbh.

Would Hunter have won NCAA's this year? I feel he couldn't have contended with McDonald off the slower pace and Fisher still has a much better last 100m unless Hunter tires him out with a fast pace/first 300m of last lap.

and and and wrote:

Not a Drew hater at all. But the rest of the group is in fact unbelievably average on the National stage. What was their next best performance this weekend?

But they have the German indoor 3k champion! And they keep the ball rolling!

Seriously, get the kid with a real training group. It is obvious why Woody Kincaid gave him the feet in that last 200m. He has a professional coach and he trains with actual professional athletes.

optional wrote:

I really thought that this would be the year for Drew to break through. He's been a professional now for what 3 years? Maybe his fourth year? It takes time to catch up to those who have 3-4 years of work on you. He didn't look great w/ 200 meters to go, but that's coming.

Also, it's been really awesome following Tinman on social media. Those guys make it fun and actually share quite a bit of what they do. Very cool to follow along and awesome to see Drew in Doha this fall.

I think you're being a bit harsh on the kid. He's a year younger than Grant Fisher. Would you really expect him or Grant to make very much noise at their age? You said it yourself, it takes 3-4 years to catch up, but what if the people you're catching have 10 years like Lomong?

Honestly, I feel like Parsons/Gusman could have closed the race better. Hunter need to get down from altitude and do some fast stuff before Doha

I think you need to be honest with yourself, if you "expected" Drew Hunter to make a US team already you are expecting too much. They signed a 10 year deal with Adidas for a reason.

Maybe Gusman. Parsons had a horrible race last weekend and looked like he was jogging with like 700 to go. Hunter did what he had to do which was make the team. Now he has to build and run his best in Doha. If he does that none of this matters.

Y’all really hating on a 21 year old that made a world team...

Jgt11 wrote:

Would Hunter have won NCAA's this year? I feel he couldn't have contended with McDonald off the slower pace and Fisher still has a much better last 100m unless Hunter tires him out with a fast pace/first 300m of last lap.

Hunter wouldn’t have beat McDonald. Fisher wouldn’t have beat Hunter. McDonald wouldn’t have beat Lomong. Hope this helps.

Brassman wrote:

Oh, you should be doing that- celebrate all you can. Have fun there and compete well.

But please, please, stop acting like Drew's still 19 and setting the world on fire. It's just not reality. You're acting like Drew is that Norwegian kid (who happens to be only 18).

NO, you incredibly twisted idiot, YOU are acting like I'M acting like Drew is that Norwegian kid, etc. I'M acting like Drew is a talented, still-up-and-coming-yet-still-elite 21-going-on-22 year old US runner who, DESPITE NOT BEING AS SUCCESSFUL AS YOUNG JACOB I., IS GOING TO EFFIN' DOHA ON THE US GOVERNMENT'S DIME!!

And I'll root for him, even if he finishes last on the world stage.

Nya, nya, nya, NYA, nya!!

Can ya dig it? I don't think so.

rojo wrote:

Wait, we are supposed to be excited he made the team after finishing 5th at USAs? This just pisses me off and reminds me how many mistakes USATF makes.

1) USATF should have had the meet 2-3 weeks later.

2) If they were going to have the meet this early, they should have allowed you to chase the standard.

I agree it's a bad look for Andrew Hunter and Ben Blankenship.

The race participants in 5000m who had not met the standard should have not allowed the pace to slow worse than 64 seconds a lap. The guys in 1500m without the standard should not have allowed the second 400m to be so slow.

At USAT&F Championship, hurdlers, jumpers, sprinters and throwers are going all out. Going all out means at least slight tears, b.k.a. slight muscle pulls. Hurlders, jumpers, sprinters and throwers need the full seven or so weeks to get their bodies healthy for Olympics & World Championships.