According to our unscientific poll, readers of d2cross felt that staging nationals in Albuquerque unfairly favored those that trained at altitude. (For the record, 70 percent felt that way.)
Meet results give an inconclusive -- even contradictory -- picture.
One cannot ignore the fact that Adams State swept the top five places in the mile and five of the top six places in the 5,000. They won the distance medley relay to boot. Notable non-altitude performers included Amos Sang (Abilene Christian) and Missouri Southern's DMR squad.
On the women's side, "sea-level" runners won each and every title. In fact, the most notable altitude performers were Adams State in the DMR (third) or Alexis Skarda (Mesa State) in the mile (fourth). And in the 5,000, where one might argue that the effects of altitude would be most pronounced, the best altitude finisher was seventh.
The predominant theme of Albuquerque, as far as the distance events go, was that the favorites took the top spots.
I'd guess that Sang was born and raised at altitude
ReplyDeleteSo in other words, the meet wouldn't have been much different if it were held at sea level
ReplyDelete