dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

Sounds like you had a great race. Why would BYU cut such a talented runner as you seem to be?

Fantastic race management. Nice job on the win.

Basically BYU cut me because at the time I was not as fast as I am now, and they did not feel that I had the potential to become fast enough to benefit the team. I have also always been more inclined to run better at longer distances, and in college the longest you run is 10k, which is still too short for me and is a distance that is rarely run (twice in the fall, not during indoor track, and only at a few meets during the outdoor season).

Superb race Jeff. I'm looking forward to seeing how you do at SLC.

Man Jeff. You never cease to amaze me.

Jeff, did you figure out what split 1 and 2 were in the race results? (Posted) 10k and some other random mark?

Congrats on the win and a great time in not so good conditions and against solid competition. Keep running strong!

Cheryl:

You've hit it spot on as to the reason American runners are not competitive on the world-class scene. Collegiate programs, which are the primary support for developing running talent, are interested in reaping talent, but not in developing it. They are set up as to have absolutely zero concern as to what will happen to the runner once he graduates. If a runner cannot produce right then right now, he is left with no support whatsoever. If a runner is producing, then squeeze everything out of him while he is still committed with no concern about his future athletic career.

Which not surprisingly patterns the trends in our society in general - never look for the hidden potential, use it, then throw away.

Great job, can't wait to see how Salt Lake treats you:)

Yes, my experience with colleges is they can be pretty heartless. Like you say, they don't work with potential or work to develop talent a lot of times. It's a shame.

Sounds like a bunch of college program haters. Truth be told, BYU has a top 20 in the nation distance runner program every year. If Jeff was not up to the challenge to run with them, then he still had the opportunity to train by himself to become better, and tryout again. Jeff Quit. He gave up. That was not the decision of the University, Jeff gave up on the dream. It is good that Jeff is running well now, but don't get mad at the university for Jeff giving up on his dreams.

What a jerk. I don't think the point was necessarily that Jeff was cut. He flat out said that he was better at longer distances than 10k's. Sasha's point was that of colleges reaping immediate benefits instead of developing potential talent. Man, don't call Jeff a quitter.

Plus this whole conversation started because of Cheryl's observation in hindsight. It's like asking the question: "Why did the first two teams in the draft skip over Michael Jordan?" Things are seen a lot clearer in hindsight.

I've noticed that anonymous posters are almost always both idiots and cowards. And since when do two people qualify as a "bunch"?

lol- nice one Paul.

Good race Jeff. Go get em at SLC!

Let's not rip on colleges or especially Jeff. I, for one, am glad to see some post-collegiate running support in the US like Hanson's project, Alberto Salazar's group, etc. I don't think many people would argue that one of the Kenyan's strengths is due to their training centers/groups. The more of that here, the better. In many ways, the FRB serves a similar purpose.

Well I think "Colleges" was meant to be an obvious joker, at least I hope so. Good job Jeff anyway. I kind of think of you as my rival in terms of "young guys who waited to get good until after college". It's a little one-sided at the moment though.

I think that really rude comment by "Colleges" is from someone who is overly competitive and jealous of Jeff's fame and his recent successes and also shows a lack of sportsmanship. Sounds like a BYU runner who is trying to defend BYU. I agree with what has been said about how coaches in some colleges (I don't know how many, but I know a few I've seen) just want to win Conference Championships and build up their programs and sometimes make their athletes run through grueling injuries that can cause permanent damage and improper healing because they are so desperate to succeed that season. I understand that some colleges have a lack of funding and the money earned and the prestige gained by their success is the only thing that keeps their program thriving by a thread. I feel for these programs, but coaches should also keep their perspective and realize that they are profoundly influencing a young person in ways that will carry throughout their life. I realize also that BYU's mens program can only carry a small amount of men on their team each year due to NCAA rules that say that since BYU has so many men in football and other sports, it must limit the men's team much smaller than the women's team. So it is a difficult thing for the coach to turn away young men who show promise and potential before they have the opportunity to show what they're capable of but he must select only a few. Also remember, the cream of the crop try out, and many could be top runners and easily get scholarships at other colleges but they'd rather be at BYU for the excellent education there so they don't have the college running experience.

There are always people out there trying to pull others down who are starting to rise. Never listen to the satanical influences of discouragement and belittlement.

Jeff is one of the toughest people in his situation. He has made the best of where he is and has found a coach and team and is trying his best to reach his dreams without the luxuries of scholarships, free out-of-state meet traveling, training facilities, athletic trainers, a large team to train with, and all the other things that college runners get. To get as fast as he has without all these helps and to continue on without them shows that he isn't just dreaming, he's fulfilling his dreams right now. He's working toward the Olympic Trials, as is says here on his blog, and if that doesn't count as a good running dream for someone his age, I don't know what does.

I do have the IP logging enabled for a reason. Mr. Colleges made his comment from a University of Utah computer.

Jeff Keep up the good work. You are doing a great job. Let me know if you want to run together at the SLC Marathon. Don't worry about what anyone else says or thinks, just do what you know is right.

Seth

Do not get me wrong, without collegiate programs the US runners would be even less competitive on the world class level. What I find perplexing is that a country that has so much money and seemingly so much interest in running fails to create a system of support that nurtures the talent. The failure is collective, and by no means would I want to make collegiate programs one single scapegoat. They do what they have to do under the restrictions they have been placed. I only lament the fact that for a young man with running talent they are the primary source of support. I also lament the complacency of thinking that collegiate programs are adequate to make American distance running flourish.

If runners were plants on a farm, this is the kind of farmer we have. He never prepares the soil. He lets the wind do the planting. When sprouts come up at any given time he waters only the tallest ones. What kind of harvest can he expect?

And who is the farmer? Colleges? No. USATF? No. The farmer is all of us, our whole country. We think "reap" but not "nourish". If we learned to think "nourish", the running would improve as well as a whole lot of other things.

Just for the sake of clarification, when BYU cut me from the Cross Country team, I spoke with Coach Eyestone. he actually told me that he thought that I might eventually be able to make the team, and he encouraged me to keep training on my own, and to try out again. The reason I said that BYU thought I didn't have the potential is because there were runners who were slower than me, or equal to me who made the team for various reasons.

Shortly after this I hurt my hip, and then threw out my back, and then sprained my shoulder. All together this messed up my training enough that when tryouts for the track team came around in December I was not in good enough shape to even consider making the team.

so, I decided to take some time off and re-evaluate my goals. During this time I only ran a few times a week, and by the early part of the next year I had decided that I did not want to run in college and that I wanted to start training for marathons instead as my ultimate goal since high school had been to eventually run marathons. I was slowly building up my mileage when I met Sasha, and I started training with him on occasion.

If this counts as giving up on my dreams then I am guilty as charged, which is ok with me, because either way I am doing what I set out to do. In fact, if I wouldn't have taken money from races I would still have a year of eligibility left. My priority is just not to run in college.

On a side note, in defense of the system that everyone is bashing so emphatically, I have a lot of respect for the coach at the University of Portland. He makes a point to recruit lesser known runners from Washington and Oregon who are "not good enough" to run for the UW or for Oregon, and he has turned Portland into one of the top Cross Country teams in the country.

Well said.