Marlow wrote:The X-factor here is how much she 'needs' her coach, and in what ways. Many HS phenoms fail in college simply because the HS coach knew exactly how to motivate the athlete and the college coach has too many 'stars' to devote all his/her energy towards THIS athlete, as the HS (or club) coach was doing. It may therefore be 'necessary' for her to stay where she is to progress further.
It's a good point. Ajee's high school coaching has been varied with input from the high school coach, Dawn Bowles as well as several other coaches along the way. I cannot swear to this but I do believe that her current (club) coach has been with her for about the last year or so so I don't see this as a situation where there is a Machiavellian figure behind the scenes who knows just which buttons to push and when.
It would be a lot more accurate to say that Robby did not run collegiately this year because he wanted to stay with his coach who was no longer coaching at his school. It is inaccurate to say that he didn't run for UVA to train for the Olympics. And by the way, others have taken a semester off to train for a big event like the Olympics.
You could well argue that it wasn't Robby's training that kept him off the Olympic team but the race he ran in the trials. That being the case, how would him being on the UVA team have helped him?
Has anyone noticed that Ajee Wilson recently competed in a 500m at the NYC Gotham Cup meet and the results have her representing Adidas. Does anyone know if she has officially signed with Adidas and is forgoing her collegiate eligibility?
doug5321 wrote:ray flynn just tweeted ajee wilson ran a 1:27.27 american junior record at 600
She's listed in the results as running for adidas again. The Armory results have her time as 1:27.30 so I'm not sure which time is official. That's only 0.74 sec off the senior American record of 1:26.56 set in 1981, and Ajee, Alysia Montano, Phoebe Wright, Erica Moore, etc. will go after that record on the same track at Millrose in 4 weeks... Olga Kotlyarova's indoor world record of 1:23.44 may be a little harder to break.
According to the T&FN record page, the unofficial World Junior record in the 600 was 1:27.4, so could Ajee also have the unofficial World Junior record now too?
600m results are at the bottom of the list, below the field event results.
She made a smart choice. Her value after last season is likely higher than it will ever be, and she won't have a college coach having her run three, possibly four events at championship meets because she'll help them score points.
What "3-4 events" can you possibly imagine her running at Florida State? Based on times so far, she's not fast enough to run the 4x4, and she's never tried a 1500. So that leaves her soloing in the 800.
gh wrote:What "3-4 events" can you possibly imagine her running at Florida State? Based on times so far, she's not fastest enough to run the 4x4, and she's never tried a 1500. So that leaves her soloing in the 800.
I have to ask this because I'm a former New Jerseyan and a current Ajee fan... Why isn't she fast enough to run the 4x4?
Only 8 high school athletes who graduated last year ran a faster outdoor 400 than Ajee's 54.04 from the NJ High School Championship Meet last season. Couldn't she have been in the mix for at least a middle leg on the relay at FSU? (According to Direct Athletics, last year FSU's top outdoor 400m time was 53.91, and their best outdoor 4x4 was 3:43.86.)
I probably overestimated the quality of the Seminole 4x4... nonetheless, the point is that she wouldn't be running 3-4 events at "championship meets"; indeed as a 3:43 team, Flazoo wouldn't even be good enough to earn a spot in the Nationals.
I am enjoying watching the development of Ajee Wilson's career so far, and hope that she continues in this positive way. I have no idea if she would be better served by being a collegiate athlete or by foregoing collegiate competition in favor of the pro route. There are so many variables in play between athlete, coach, environment, etc. that it is, I think, impossible for most of us to know which path would suit her best. The history of elite prep athletes in the USA who pursued the collegiate route has far more examples than the pro route, but we can pile up examples of both great success and something less than what one might have hoped for on each side of each path (e.g., Rupp, Felix, Webb, et al.) and never be any closer to knowing what this athlete should do. Each of these athletes gets one chance to chart the trajectory of her or his career, and in enough time, we'll know the answers to our questions. I wish Ajee Wilson and those around her good judgment and good fortune as she takes these steps.
First time I have heard'noted the moniker Flazoo.. but I like it. Mizzo is fairly common. Can we look forward to Kanzoo, Lazoo, Orzoo, Utzoo, Cozoo, Pazoo, Ohzoo, Azzoo, ?
gh wrote:What "3-4 events" can you possibly imagine her running at Florida State? Based on times so far, she's not fast enough to run the 4x4, and she's never tried a 1500. So that leaves her soloing in the 800.
Perhaps I engaged in a bit of hyperbole, but I still think she made the right choice.
University President V. Lane Rawlins wants the nickname purged from T-shirts, coffee mugs and other school-related products because he considers the term disrespectful. He fears it also plays to the perception that Washington State is a not-so-serious place. "We love the name Wazzu," university marketing director Mary Gresch insisted. "But we want to emphasize the full name of the university."
guru wrote:By the way, from now on I'm calling Ohio State Ohzoo. Anyone who doesnt like it, well nutz to you!
I, and some of my friends, insist on calling it TOSU, since they seem to insist on calling it The Ohio State University, rather than simply Ohio State.
Looks like Ms Wilson will take her first shot at Slaney's 800 AJR at the New Balance GP(Feb 2)
If Ajee Wilson can run fast enough indoors to break Mary Slaney's AJR of what I think is 2:01.8, then maybe she can get Meskerem Legesse's WJR of 2:01.03 too. I'll be somewhat surprised if she breaks either, but you never know.
Question for gh or anybody else that knows: As of now the T&FN list of American Junior records lists Slaney's indoor 800 AJR as 2:01.03, which is the same time as Legesse's world record. Is that a misprint, or did Mary Slaney run that time too?
Blues wrote:the T&FN list of American Junior records lists Slaney's indoor 800 AJR as 2:01.03, which is the same time as Legesse's world record. Is that a misprint, or did Mary Slaney run that time too?
Good catch. She ran 2:02.4 for 880y, converted to 2:01.8' for meters. Feb 17, 1974 in San Diego.
I see nothing wrong with her decision to defer college for a year. Either she'll do well by making the WC team and performing respectably in Moscow which would land her a pro contract, or she won't do as well she hoped and then she'll enroll as a freshman in the fall of this year.
If there's a bad decision it's not now, it would be at the end of the season if she deviates from those two options, ending up neither in school nor with a decent pro contract. Or during the season if she throws away the college scholarship option by taking a bit of prize money without already having a solid pro contract.
