Underrated NCAAs Performances

I would say Harvard as a team. They finished 12 and ended up with 3 all Americans. NUA had 5, then Harvard, Arkansa, and Oklahoma State with second most with 3. And Graham Blanks is a true freshman finishing 5 spots ahead of Parker Wolf.

biser12 wrote:

I would say Harvard as a team. They finished 12 and ended up with 3 all Americans. NUA had 5, then Harvard, Arkansa, and Oklahoma State with second most with 3. And Graham Blanks is a true freshman finishing 5 spots ahead of Parker Wolf.

Graham Blanks is not a true freshman but the rest is true. Pereira, Blanks, and Iverson are all studs.

birdbeard wrote:

Anybody have some great NCAAs performances not getting any buzz?

I noticed that Parker Wolfe ran 29:25 for 28th. I believe that made him the first true freshman across the line. Olin Hacker, following in his father's footsteps, finally became an XC All-American. Casey Clinger seems to be well and fully back -- should be competing for a title the next year or two. The Stanford women crushed it. Tulsa had a great run on the men's side.

What else?

Maddy Denner of ND is suddenly showing a new self. Getting out faster, finishing stronger. 7th in ACC to 9th in NCAA in 3 weeks? Ditto for her teammate Olivia Markezich. Lucy Jenks of Stanford (40th in team scoring) continues steady if not spectacular progression. 7 seconds from AA. Kayley DeLay of Yale getting 10th with a strong finishing kick.

Iowa State finished 2nd with Iowans as their 2nd and 3rd runners. Their 3rd runner was decent in high school at 9:09, but not a national caliber runner.

What is your definition of a true freshman? This is his first semester in school. He was class of 2020 but has not run in college or attended college until fall 2020. I believe this is a COVID situation but he is classified as a true freshman.

True Freshman is a HS class of 2021 graduate. Not someone who has freshman eligibility because they took a year or more off for whatever reason and college eligibility wise is considered a freshman.

So a freshman Kenyan who is 24 is post college?

He’s not a redshirt freshman. He is class of 2020 but this was his first year in college In fact this was only his second 10k. But I get what you’re saying.

Although he faded significantly, Dion Marquise Hayes was heroic in the first 3 miles of that race.

Iowa Info Power wrote:

So a freshman Kenyan who is 24 is post college?

He is someone who is and always will be completely irrelevant on the world stage. In contrast, the 19 y/o who graduated HS in 2021 and runs a similar time as your 24 freshman Kenyan offers much more intriguing future potential.

But you claimed that a 19 year old can't be a freshman. So if he is a sophomore, what is a 24 year old who has 4 years of eligibility? You are obviously incorrect. A 19 year old just starting college is a freshman just like an 18 year old or 17 year old or 24 year old. You may not like facts.

Iowa Info Power wrote:

But you claimed that a 19 year old can't be a freshman. So if he is a sophomore, what is a 24 year old who has 4 years of eligibility? You are obviously incorrect. A 19 year old just starting college is a freshman just like an 18 year old or 17 year old or 24 year old. You may not like facts.

Yes, your 24 year old just starting college is a Freshman. That is a fact. It is also a fact that said 24 y/o is a completely irrelevant runner particularly as applied to this thread where the OP is asking about great underrated performances. A 24 year old Freshman competing in a college race is neither underrated nor is he great. Frankly he is of zero interest other than for the team he competes for.

Cooper teares acting performance at the line was pretty underrated. Deserves an Oscar for that. Really had me believing for a bit.

You only get 5 years from the year you graduate high school. He took a gap year (not religious or military), so he has a max of 4 years of competition (instead of 5), which basically makes him a redshirt freshman, since redshirting later doesn't give him an extra season.

OC4 wrote:

Iowa Info Power wrote:

But you claimed that a 19 year old can't be a freshman. So if he is a sophomore, what is a 24 year old who has 4 years of eligibility? You are obviously incorrect. A 19 year old just starting college is a freshman just like an 18 year old or 17 year old or 24 year old. You may not like facts.

Yes, your 24 year old just starting college is a Freshman. That is a fact. It is also a fact that said 24 y/o is a completely irrelevant runner particularly as applied to this thread where the OP is asking about great underrated performances. A 24 year old Freshman competing in a college race is neither underrated nor is he great. Frankly he is of zero interest other than for the team he competes for.

Freshman debate aside, I also thought Pollard and Sepierda ran well for IA ST. When I was a kid, there werent many Iowa hs kids that could contribute at the level of their recruits from Africa and Europe. I ways thought they should go somewherr they actually had a chance to be developed over their experience instead of always being pushed to the back by new foriegn recruits or discouraged to continue at all.

That being said, its totally within the rules for any college sport to recruit foreign athletes, jr college transfers, out of state hs elites etc... If anyone was to beat Arkansas in their heyday or NAU, they have to play the same way. I heard that ISU athletes actually trained in Flagstaff in the fall semester while taking classes online a few years ago. Dont know if thats true but if it is, what keeps everyone from figuring out how to do something like that?

birdbeard wrote:

Anybody have some great NCAAs performances not getting any buzz?

I noticed that Parker Wolfe ran 29:25 for 28th. I believe that made him the first true freshman across the line. Olin Hacker, following in his father's footsteps, finally became an XC All-American. Casey Clinger seems to be well and fully back -- should be competing for a title the next year or two. The Stanford women crushed it. Tulsa had a great run on the men's side.

What else?

My (totally biased) vote goes to Emma Heckel.

18th place in her first real NCAA season is pretty good.

Yes, technically she is a second year freshman, but for whatever reasons she never ran for Rice last season. I don't know if she actually trained there at all.

Can’t believe Haftu Strintzos in 9th hasn’t been mentioned yet. Dude didn’t win a single race this year I think, but he had the race of his life and beat a ton of studs.

Brody Hasty is who gave NAU its comfortable team win. Look at his splits.

The 5th runner of any team that finished high had a large gap from 5 back to 6 would have to be considered for having a great performance.

On the men's side, Brodey Hasty would have to be considered. He was NAU's 5th guy in 39th place. NAU's 6th guy, Theo Quax, was 114th. The 5 to 6 gap of Iowa State was only 47th place to 65th place. If Hasty would have faltered, Iowa State would have won. even on the strength of their 6th guy. Hasty was definitely key.

Michigan State's Morgan Beadlescomb probably finished a little higher than most expected him to.

For the women, NC State's Samantha Bush was key for the same reason that Hasty was key for NAU. Bush was finished 32nd. Heather Holt finished 95th. If Bush falters, BYU or New Mexico wins. New Mexico's 5 to 6 spread was pretty close and if their top 3 were a little higher and NC State's 5 faltered, the Lobos would have easily won.