Now the Pings are moving to Arizona?!

Hounddogharrier wrote:

Funny how they always have to move to school districts with powerhouse cross country programs . Just a coincidence.

If you had a fast kid you would never move them to a better distance school, would you?

stateroftheoblivious wrote:

Utah does not allow middle schoolers to run varsity.

Grace lost a year of competition in Utah, so i

don't what power house school you are talking about.

During this year of "lost competition" she placed 6th at NXN, right? Maybe she should consider losing more years of competition.

If you think Messer is full of himself, you clearly have spent no time with him. He is very friendly and always willing to help other coaches and share information. He is a brilliant guy.

Collegiate coaches are shaking their heads and crossing the Ping sisters off of their target lists due to this. What program wants to commit money to a kid when Dad will just muddy the waters and look for a transfer opportunity at the drop of a hat / offer of an assistant coach job?

VArunningcomm wrote:

Hounddogharrier wrote:

They are trying to break the Affolders’ record!

The Affolders are a military family. Moves have been essentially out of their control.

So why do they also transfer when in college ?

They transfer in college for the same reason that the Pings transfer in HS, they are always looking for something better. The Affolders got used to transferring growing up as military brats. The Pings got used to it growing up as spoiled brats.

Affolders rule wrote:

The Pings got used to it growing up as spoiled brats.

I've seen them in person at several meets. They've always appeared to be well-mannered and respectful.

The Pings keep moving not for running but because of the parents’ job(s). If they were so motivated by running, why did they stay at Winona Cotter, in MN’s small class where they face literally no competition?

mntrackgeek wrote:

The Pings keep moving not for running but because of the parents’ job(s). If they were so motivated by running, why did they stay at Winona Cotter, in MN’s small class where they face literally no competition?

Sometimes people have to move. We don't usually hear about it because most people aren't on the national radar like the Pings. If you're going to have to move for a job that gives most people about a 25-50 mile-at-most radius from their work location that they can live. Why wouldn't you pick the best school for your kids? I don't agree with trying to set age-group world records, but I definitely don't blame the Pings for going to Desert Vista if they need to move to that area.

If they really were moving only for running purposes they wouldn't be going to DV, no offense to DV, but they'd be going to Great Oak, Summit or if they were really crazy maybe even FM.

Does this quote from Dad sound like a forced move? It was a 1 year vacation. The family has more money than they can spend. They will go to college wherever Dad can coach.

“It was a one-year experiment,” Ryan said. “We’ve always loved the mountains. We talked to the kids about how great it would be to live in the mountains. And before high school started, we decided as a family to take advantage of this awesome opportunity and live away for a year.”

exactly right... wrote:

If they really were moving only for running purposes they wouldn't be going to DV, no offense to DV, but they'd be going to Great Oak, Summit or if they were really crazy maybe even FM.

Yep. Imagine the Pings & Tori Gaitan on the same team, or the Pings & Claire Walters, etc.

The NXN team title would be a literal runaway...........

"Arizona is about to get a powerhouse combo in Grace Ping and Lauren Ping.

But for the purposes of this post, we're going to focus on Lauren, a two-time Nike Cross Nationals All-American.

You read that right.

It seems unfathomable that an incoming freshman would be so accomplished, but this is Lauren Ping we're talking about. She's got four national All-American finishes already, including an indoor and outdoor finish from 2019.

She's the No. 1 Future Star this fall."

https://www.milesplit.com/articles/265170-the-five-future-girls-stars-of-the-2019-season-no-1

Unless they have micromanaging parents who like the approach of the DV coaches better . I would imagine that a parent who supervised his daughters’ “career” would go bonkers with Bill Ardis ‘s approach that he runs the show.

THIS: wrote:

Yep. Imagine the Pings & Tori Gaitan on the same team, or the Pings & Claire Walters, etc.

The NXN team title would be a literal runaway...........

Oooh... could u imagine? THAT would be amazing!

Affolders rule wrote:

They transfer in college for the same reason that the Pings transfer in HS, they are always looking for something better. The Affolders got used to transferring growing up as military brats. The Pings got used to it growing up as spoiled brats.

I believe this falls under the theory of “I would never coach shop in high school, in college not so much.”

They will have to surpass Sydney Masciarelli which is highly unlikely for either.

NBNO

2 mile : Sydney Masciarelli #1, Lauren Ping #5

5000: Sydney Masciarelli #1, Grace Ping# 10

smugmug123 wrote:

They will have to surpass Sydney Masciarelli which is highly unlikely for either.

NBNO

2 mile : Sydney Masciarelli #1, Lauren Ping #5

5000: Sydney Masciarelli #1, Grace Ping# 10

The article wasn't about Grace. And it didn't project that either of the Pings were going to defeat Masciarelli this year. It was simply picking Lauren as a "future star," a young runner (had to be class of 2022 or 2023 to be considered for this series; Lauren is class of 2023) who shows much potential.

I predict that the Pings are former stars.

Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:

Collegiate coaches are shaking their heads and crossing the Ping sisters off of their target lists due to this. What program wants to commit money to a kid when Dad will just muddy the waters and look for a transfer opportunity at the drop of a hat / offer of an assistant coach job?

I'll take 'em!