rogermortimer wrote:
I listened to Diljeet Taylor's post race interview while in the car. BYU hired a high quality person, and the BYU women get that it takes a blend of humility and ego to do well. Credit goes to both the BYU women and the coach. Note what wins championships. Sara Musselman was well back in the back in her prior NCAA XC races. She finished 33rd today. She has to feel awesome making her team win.
By the way, I find BYU an incredibly strange place, and not one I could have attended (I had many scholarship offers in my day). But I think their lifestyle supports distance running, and while BYU is in no way my cup of tea, I am impressed by their accomplishments.
Conner Mantz didn't just win; he dominated a strong field. And his age is no different than many a redshirt senior. He is simply that good.
One other thing. Kelsey Chmiel is a cross country runner. She was running inconsistently all year, but on a tough course talent shows up. She reminds me of Nick Rose, one of the best XC runners I ever competed against.
BYU is indeed a very odd place. The unusual features make for a double edged sword. There are major impediments to their recruiting. They'll never get their pick of the 2 of the best recruits every single year like NAU. It's also very rare for them to get high quality transfers(Montanez is the only exception I'm aware of). They are lucky of course to have a fantastic recruiting pool within their core demographic and have done well with that tiny pool.
But mormon culture has qualities that make BYUs recruits do really well in college. Follow the rules. Obey authority. Don't party. Self control. Delayed gratification. These are core values in mormon culture and it makes a coaches job much easier. Maybe Taylor recognizes this and it's inspired her to stay.