Don't have to look that far back. Athing Mu. Won literally everything in college breaking all sorts of records along the way. As soon as the college season completed, won the U.S. Oly trials, and then won the Olympics by a huge margin. Can't think of anyone else who wrapped up a college season in that fashion.
I would even place Steve Prefontaine’s 1972 above Nico. Someone may correct this if I don’t have it exactly right. My understanding is that Pre broke the US 5000m record at the 1972 Olympic Trials. This was after earlier that year breaking the US 5000m record and also he broke the US 3000m record twice. Then he finished 4th at the 1972 Olympic 5000m. So as great as Nico has been, I would place Pre’s year above him.
My vote is NICO Young because his times are significantly faster than Ronos collegiate times. Nico deserves the credit!!!!
Haha, first of all the shoes are worth 20 seconds, then there are all kinds of recovery drinks, foods and methods that have changed the game. Rono recovered on beer.
Rono was on a different level than Young.
Rono's recovery drinks were performance inhibitors and also wake me up when Nico runs an 8:05 steeple in the rain or a 5000m WR in a dual meet.
January: 3:57 in the dome & 5k NCAA record, first to break 13
March: 5k & 3k NCAA champion, one week later 10k NCAA record, first to break 27
Feels almost surreal. Like what?!?
He certainly hasn't had the best year, losing XC and potentially no outdoor titles. So I assume you mean single season, but then the sub-27 doesn't count towards it. If you're willing to extend the season forward by 1 week though, I think for this argument, it's fair to extend it back 1 week too. If we do that, Rupp won XC, 3k/5k/DMR indoor triple (1 more than Nico btw), and he set the AR in the 5k (13:18, no American collegiate ran faster till Day in like 2020).
Also, I think Rupp's 2008 XC season was pretty nuts. Of course he won NCAA XC, but he also came 13th in the Olympic 10k, running 27:36 in a championship race in the heat/air quality of Beijing. It's not an XC race, but Nico's 10k wasn't an indoor race, so I think it's fair to bring up.
No Cross-Country big wins. Parker Valby, on the other hand is having one of the best seasons ever for man on woman in NCAA. XC dominance, indoor dominance, and soon outdoor dominance. If she attempts the steeple and continues her front-running wins, then this will be an epic season!
Don't have to look that far back. Athing Mu. Won literally everything in college breaking all sorts of records along the way. As soon as the college season completed, won the U.S. Oly trials, and then won the Olympics by a huge margin. Can't think of anyone else who wrapped up a college season in that fashion.
Don't forget an American record. Mu get's my vote, with an honorable mention to Ereng, Owens, and Rono.
Edward Cheserek had a dominant Junior Year where he won NCAA XC, Indoor 3k, 5k, DMR, and Outdoor 5k, 10k. That's gotta be one of the best collegiate seasons ever.
Today's NCAA is a bit more competitive though. Ches was dominant amongst his peers, but not many people around 2013-2016 were legitimate world championship/olympic qualifiers. It was really just him against Lawi at the beginning, and then his biggest competition after that was probably Jenkins after Lawi. There are multiple guys in the NCAA right now who will likely be running in Paris this summer, from the US (Nico) and other countries.