I'm not trying to take anything away from the runners who repped the USA today, but the USA finished 7th in the team standings today with a lineup that arguably didn't feature some of the best runners. What would a lineup of Ritz, Hall, Meb, Torres, Rupp, McDougal, Webb/Solinksy/Tegenkamp(not built for that distance?)... I may be missing some others?
Could the US have topped Qatar or Eritrea?
In my mind, they would have a good shot at finishing 3rd in the team standings over Qatar. I figure Ritz could've finished around 15th, Torres then finished 20th... the other 4 would have had to finish an average of 27th. Is this realistic? I'd put Hall on equal terms with Ritz at this distance, I read something on LetsRun recently that implied that Meb will have a good shot at the US 10K squad for the Olympics, Rupp has turned out spectacular results in the past on his day--- and the fact that he can chase a field rather than actually race fits in his favor---, McDougal has proven to be Rupp's equal, Webb has more talent than anyone and with training could undoubtedly finish high...
It's interesting that five years ago we in the US regarded ourselves as a third-world running nation in comparison to our more productive African counterparts, yet on our day with our best athletes racing we could potentially finish 3rd in the team rankings today.
3 QAT 144
6 276 Felix Kikwai Kibore 6
8 273 Ahmad Hassan Abdullah 8
22 285 Sultan Khamis Zaman 22
25 283 Mubarak Hassan Shami 25
34 280 Gamal Belal Salem 34
49 279 Essa Ismail Rashed 49
62 281 Ali Dawoud Sedam (62)
68 284 Moustafa Ahmed Shebto (68)
82 278 Naser Jamal Naser (82)
4 ERI 164
3 99 Zersenay Tadese 3
20 92 Yonas Kifle 20
23 93 Teklemariam Medhin 23
26 98 Kidane Tadasse 26
39 91 Amanuel Woldeselassie 39
53 94 Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab 53
87 97 Kiflom Sium (87)
103 102 Samuel Tsegay (103)
7 USA 301
19 358 Jorge Torres 19
44 355 Josh Rohatinsky 44
46 357 Edwardo Torres 46
52 346 Scott Bauhs 52
55 351 Max King 55
85 347 James Carney 85
97 354 Jonathan Pierce (97)
110 345 Ryan Bak (110)
The Junior race inspired similar what-ifs out of me... I don't know the rules for eligibility, but just replace the bottom two with the top 2 at Footlocker this year (Fout and Derrick)... Add Colby Lowe... If freshmen are eligible, then you've got Chad Hall and Craig Forys or whoever else did well this year...
And again the USA may finish shockingly high amidst the Africans.
6 USA 138
25 348 German Fernandez 25
26 349 Emil Heineking 26
35 359 Kevin Williams 35
52 356 Ryan Sheridan 52
72 350 Benjamin Johnson (72)
86 352 Robert Moldovan (86)