If Connor Mantz wins the NCAAs this year, would you consider him the greatest collegiate cross country runner ever?

Regarding Lindgren only winning 3 titles, if I'm not mistaken freshman were not allowed to compete at NCAAs when he was a freshman. And of course he beat Prefontaine when Pre was a freshman.

old man mantz wrote:

cramister wrote:

Some say Rono was drunk or hungover in the race, I just think It got to him mentally and he shut down

Rono was well before my time. When he won his last championship in 1979 I was 5 years old. My older brothers were runners and I can remember hearing them talk about him all of the time. He was one of their heroes. I had heard that Rono developed a drinking problem but has since overcome that and is doing well and is successful.

That supports my earlier post. People enjoyed watching Rono race and just rarely discussed him being far older than other NCAA runners. With Mantz, over half the posters here harp over and over about his age. Why is that?

If you can win one NCAA title you are a great runner. If you win two NCAA titles you are on another level and in the conversation for GOAT.

Gets a hit for age wrote:

He is currently 24, he turns 25 in December. He was 24 last winter when he won his first NCAA cross country title. It's a joke that a 24 yearold can win an NCAA cross title and still have another attempt the next season. A lot of people are 21 years old for their senior NCAA cross country season, and most of the others are 22 years old. On a rare occasion you have a 23 year old. But here we have a guy who is 24 years old for his first win, and gets another chance a month before he turns 25. He should be on his second or third year of professional running at this point.

Why is this a joke? It's within the rules. He's not hurting anyone by following the rules. He went on a mission, and then he gets redshirt options just like anyone else does.

Also, there are a lot more over age 22 than you think. First of all, there are a lot who are 19 by fall cross country season as freshmen in college. Then, you have the normal typically 2 redshirts you can take...that takes you to age 24 right there, and that is extremely common. Add in the additional COVID redshirt, and you can have a non-Mormon mission person be 25 for their last season of cross country.

Man, some of you people get so nuts about this. Who cares? If it's within the rules, you should not care. Some people like the college lifestyle and want to be in it as long as they can. Fine by me...not what I wanted to do, but to each his own.

Connor's Lance wrote:

And if he wins again next year, how amazing would that be? The guy is simply amazing and I am not even a BYU fan.

What? You know Cheserek won 3 times right?

Said this the other day but cooper teare can beat him at NCAA XC this year.

So i’ma say no.

the fact this is even a thread...smh....ya'll trippin

Connor's Lance wrote:

And if he wins again next year, how amazing would that be? The guy is simply amazing and I am not even a BYU fan.

I am impressed by Mantz. I remember watching him at Simplot when was in HS and thinking ‘we’ll see more of this one’. But google ‘Henry Rono’.

birdbeard wrote:

Connor's Lance wrote:

Why would you put Kennedy above Pre and Lindgren?

Strength of competition, although it's arguable for sure. The NCAA didn't really start to get a ton more competitive with an influx of international athletes until the mid-90s, but it had started by Kennedy's years (88-92).

What? There were a lot of international athletes in the NCAA in the 70s. Consider, for example, the 1974 NCAA XC meet.

1. Nick Rose

2. John Ngeno

3. Wilson Waigwa

This is some pretty solid strength of competition right here.

Connor's Lance wrote:

And if he wins again next year, how amazing would that be? The guy is simply amazing and I am not even a BYU fan.

No. King Ches.

Connor's Lance wrote:

And if he wins again next year, how amazing would that be? The guy is simply amazing and I am not even a BYU fan.

Hell no

birdbeard wrote:The NCAA didn't really start to get a ton more competitive with an influx of international athletes until the mid-90s, but it had started by Kennedy's years (88-92).

You are surely lacking in history. Their were plenty of international runners at US colleges and universities back in the 70's and 80's. UTEP was stacked with Kenyans and others. WSU had Rono and a whole lot of other Kenyans as well. Their teams were dominating.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

Said this the other day but cooper teare can beat him at NCAA XC this year.

So i’ma say no.

I predict a win this year for one of the African runners.

40+ years ago wrote:

birdbeard wrote:The NCAA didn't really start to get a ton more competitive with an influx of international athletes until the mid-90s, but it had started by Kennedy's years (88-92).

You are surely lacking in history. Their were plenty of international runners at US colleges and universities back in the 70's and 80's. UTEP was stacked with Kenyans and others. WSU had Rono and a whole lot of other Kenyans as well. Their teams were dominating.

WSU was usually only 3 deep when it came to Kenyans so their teams didn't dominate. In the 1976 race, they finished 1,2,9 and infinity.

1981

1st place, gold medalist(s) South Africa Matthews Motshwarateu UTEP 28:45.80

2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kenya Michael Musyoki UTEP 28:48.40

3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kenya Gabriel Kaman UTEP 29:19.30

4 United Kingdom Mark Scrutton Colorado 29:22.10

5 United Kingdom Graeme Fell San Diego State 29:30.40

6 United States Alan Scharsu Penn State 29:30.50

7 Tanzania Suleiman Nyambui UTEP 29:32.60

8 Tanzania Gidamis Shahanga UTEP 29:33.60

9 United States David Taylor Arkansas 29:35.60

10 Kenya Richard Twuei Washington State 29:36.70

2 in a row and 4 top 10. How many years does he have left? Can he get 6 top 10?

The Unkle wrote:

Juice Springsteen wrote:

Said this the other day but cooper teare can beat him at NCAA XC this year.

So i’ma say no.

I predict a win this year for one of the African runners.

As on the ball as always 🤣🤣

danube steak wrote:

2 in a row and 4 top 10. How many years does he have left? Can he get 6 top 10?

He has 1 years of eligibility left but is going pro.

Wow what a stand up move by him going pro at age 25. I figured he might stick around BYU until he was 30 since he seems to love running against younger kids who are normally aged for their grade.