Midwest Distance Gala 2011

[Unclegingerbawlz]

I don't think it's robbing a spot if you hit the time or not. If you want to run at state hit the time and don't leave it up to chance

[DR. MURDOCH]

Originally Posted by OnePoint

i already said he is at fault for not racing better. i'm not defending him or anything. try reading the whole post next time.

no matter who misses out, i still think its a dick move to pull out of your first event at states as though you had no plans to race it at all.

If you qualify in both, you should have the option of choosing the event you want to run in. It's not like Fayette was the only guy to do that this year.

[runxc6792]

I don't mind guys scratching a 2nd event- King did that a few years back; team made 4x8 finals and then he scratched the 1600 shortly after to focus on the relay--no issues there. However, in the case of Fayette, the situation in no way changed from before sectionals to saturday of the state meet. He simply decided he didn't want to run the 1600 along with the 3200 (regardless of the fact that all of the other top athletes were doing that). This is a decision that, in my opinion, should have been made prior to the sectional meet.

And to address the above poster, which other athletes did that this year?

[jpac511]

Originally Posted by runxc6792

The most confusing to me is my own alma mateur Hinsdale Central. They had a 7:49 team (good enough for 6th) back in the first week of May (and they beat LT who got 3rd!). Instead of running their top guys and having a very legitimate shot at a top 3 finish for 4 guys, they run Fayette in the 3200 for a 7th place finish and Withall in the 1600 for a 7th place finish. Don't get me wrong, 7th is something to be proud of, but nobody remembers who got 7th place at the state meet--helping themselves and 2 other guys finish in the top 3 and have a shot at the title is something that is remembered. I won't even go into detail about how disappointed I was to see Fayette scratch the 1600 (according to Rise) because he "wanted a fast race the next day." Are you kidding me? This is after he took another kids spot not even qualifying on time (Llamas) just to get into the damn 16 in the first place. Actually pretty infuriating imo. I'd like to get One Point's take on this, being from the same conference and knowing that llamas has never had a shot to run individually at the state meet (besides a relay 2 years ago), while Fayette had raced in the 32 the previous 2 years as well.

I also didn't think highly of that decision. During 1600 prelims I happened to be sitting next to Hinsdale Central's coach, and Fayette was right next to him. I asked why he wasn't out there running, and he said he wanted to focus on the 3200.

I just don't get it, because I think he could have run under 4:20 with a fairly low amount of effort to make the 1600 finals. Once you make finals there, you're set. Since his team wasn't in the trophy hunt, he didn't have to worry about saving it for 1600 finals. So he could have gone all out in the 3200 anyways, and just gave what he had left in the 1600. Oh well

Originally Posted by runxc6792

And to address the above poster, which other athletes did that this year?

One off the top of my head is Lederhouse of Glenbard West. He scratched the 2 mile in favor of doing the mile, while he qualified in both.

[usnspecialist]

Originally Posted by jpac511

I also didn't think highly of that decision. During 1600 prelims I happened to be sitting next to Hinsdale Central's coach, and Fayette was right next to him. I asked why he wasn't out there running, and he said he wanted to focus on the 3200.

I just don't get it, because I think he could have run under 4:20 with a fairly low amount of effort to make the 1600 finals. Once you make finals there, you're set. Since his team wasn't in the trophy hunt, he didn't have to worry about saving it for 1600 finals. So he could have gone all out in the 3200 anyways, and just gave what he had left in the 1600. Oh well



One off the top of my head is Lederhouse of Glenbard West. He scratched the 2 mile in favor of doing the mile, while he qualified in both.

lederhouse is a different situation, had he not made finals in the 1600 i bet you would have found him in the 3200 field on saturday.

I remember evan jager did this his soph year (2005)

[jpac511]

Originally Posted by usnspecialist

lederhouse is a different situation, had he not made finals in the 1600 i bet you would have found him in the 3200 field on saturday.

I remember evan jager did this his soph year (2005)

I agree, he was just somebody else who decided to scratch one of the two

[DR. MURDOCH]

And to address the above poster, which other athletes did that this year?[/quote]

As well as Lederhouse, Ron Hedman, your favorite runner, and Nate Knautz scratched from the 1600. Also, why is it any different to scratch from the 1600 when your team made the 4X800 to focus on one event. Weren't people on this website getting mad at Fayette for wanting to focus on the 3200?

[runxc6792]

Originally Posted by DR. MURDOCH

And to address the above poster, which other athletes did that this year?

As well as Lederhouse, Ron Hedman, your favorite runner, and Nate Knautz scratched from the 1600. Also, why is it any different to scratch from the 1600 when your team made the 4X800 to focus on one event. Weren't people on this website getting mad at Fayette for wanting to focus on the 3200?[/quote]

The difference is that those guys above all were not ensured to be running an event on Saturday. Take Lederhause- he could not be sure he would make the 1600 finals, so he decided to qualify in both--the circumstances changed (and for all 3) after their first events. In Fayette's case it did not.

[runoholic]

I think people have to keep in mind that teams might run athletes in sectional events they end up qualifying for while not wanting to run it in state simply to maximize team points specifically in that sectional.

I'm aware that a lot of these decisions are athlete's decisions, and a lot of times the coach plays no significant roll in a decision to scratch something. But I'm just saying that in any case, there may be a team point rational in Fayette's case even of why he ran the 1600 in sectionals if he clearly didn't want to run it in state.

Yes, it sure is a "dick move", but that's just what the scoring system (in addition to the desire to *focus* in a specific event) drives athletes and coaches to do. We shouldn't be getting mad at only Fayette while defending other guys for it. All of these athletes do what they do for one rational or another, and no matter what the *reason* is, it may end up hogging up a qualifying spot. If people don't like it, then they should find a good alternative to the rules that discourages this practice rather than getting mad at only specific athletes for it.

[Prometheus]

Let's not forget the biggest jerk of them all, Chris Derrick. He qualified for both the 3,200 and the 1,600 and scratched both! Mono? That's a poor excuse.