College running is great, but not without controversy. Olympic and pro racing has doping accusations with every great performance. Racing at HS level is the best this sport has to offer. Watch this 4x800 video from the Ohio state meet, listen to the dad's voice at the end, and tell me it's not true.
Boys 4x800 Meter Relay1 - 10 pts Wester. North 7:39.91Michael Dellasanta Gabriel Wise Casey Carlos Ben Gabelman 2 - 8 pts Mass. Jackson 7:40.02Elliot Zuckett...
a lot of high school meets were more hype than the college meets i have been to. high school state meets fill stadiums better than ncaa national meets. don't quote me on that
a lot of high school meets were more hype than the college meets i have been to. high school state meets fill stadiums better than ncaa national meets. don't quote me on that
There are two reasons for that. First, state meets are local and easy to get to. National meets are far away and not easy to get to.
Second, parents, siblings, relatives, and school friends are much more likely to go see a minor run to support them. Most of those people don't bother to go see someone once they're an adult and off in college.
Olympic and pro racing has doping accusations with every great performance.
After seeing that "should we test high schoolers now" thread on here the other day (along with several otherss) we're not far off that for high school running either anymore.
a lot of high school meets were more hype than the college meets i have been to. high school state meets fill stadiums better than ncaa national meets. don't quote me on that
There are two reasons for that. First, state meets are local and easy to get to. National meets are far away and not easy to get to.
Second, parents, siblings, relatives, and school friends are much more likely to go see a minor run to support them. Most of those people don't bother to go see someone once they're an adult and off in college.
Which is why the sport really shines brightest at that level. It's not the fastest, but somehow the most pure and enjoyable.
I hate that you said it because I love the NCAA. But you are absolutely 100% correct.
1) NCAA runners are very cautious so that many 13:20 runners are OK running 14:00 because they already have a qualifying time. 2) Conference championships are a joke, so bad that many posters have suggested eliminating them. You might be running multiple events so runners do the least possible to save energy for the other events. 3) Xc regionals most teams "rest" their top 3 or 4 runners. 5) rivalries don't really exists other than NAU vs OSU in men's XC. 6) this is not discussed much on this forum but HS posters are super knowledgeable compared to the college forum 7) hate, overly critical, indecent or demeaning posts are rampant on the college forum that for the most part doesn't exists on the HS forum. Many other reasons make the HS scene great.