Why Redshirt College Runners?

Last January, Indiana junior Andy Bayer was on fire, blazing a 3,000m in 7:48.35--a time that broke the school record and was the fastest collegiate mark of the season. The next week he ran a world-leading 3:57.75 open mile.

At the NCAA indoor championship meet in mid-March, he finished a close third in the 3,000m and then split a 3:53.29 1600m leg to anchor IU's second-place distance medley relay. He certainly seemed ready to crank out fast times outdoors. Instead, coach Ron Helmer ended his star third-year runner's competitive year before outdoor track began. Bayer was redshirted.

A similar scenario played out for Minnesota junior Ben Blankenship, who took second in the NCAA indoor 3,000m and ran a 3:53 anchor split in the DMR, finishing third. Like Bayer, he was scratched from the outdoor season, not for injury, but strategy.

Although there are exceptions, collegiate athletes generally have five years to get in four seasons of cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Stretching an athlete's college career to five years can be beneficial for both the program and the runner--no matter if it's an NCAA contender or a hardworking up-and-comer--but there are plenty of variables to consider, including age, history of wellness, finances and even gender.

Intentionally redshirting freshmen has always made sense, especially on the men's side, where it's harder for a first-year runner to contribute. The sharp increase in both the volume and intensity of collegiate training and racing, the drama of dorm life and class schedules and adjusting to a new coach guarantee an onslaught of stress and fatigue. The trickier decision comes with holding out older, more successful runners who are healthy.

"It's hard when you have a guy who is running well and having the kind of year Ben was having," says Minnesota coach Steve Plasencia, "because there are no guarantees in this sport."

Blankenship had spent his freshman year at Mississippi State, which doesn't offer indoor track. That meant, after transferring to Minnesota in 2008, he'd be able to use that final season of indoor eligibility during a fifth year in 2012. But, as of last winter, he didn't think he'd come back only for an indoor season, so he and Plasencia decided to forgo the outdoor season so he could benefit from another year of training and then finish with a bang in 2012, possibly catapulting him into the U.S. Olympic trials.

Combining the college season with post-NCAA meets--whether it's the U.S. championships or international meets--only adds to the physiological and mental strain. Galen Rupp redshirted the indoor and outdoor track seasons in 2008 so he could focus on that summer's U.S. Olympic trials--thus not having to score points or qualify for NCAA meets--and it paid off when he placed 13th in the Olympic 10,000m, later that fall won a duel with Sam Chelanga at the NCAA cross country championships and then won five individual championships the following winter and spring on the track.

Jenny Simpson (nee Barringer) red-shirted the 2008 cross country season after the Beijing Olympics, even though she could have been one of the top finishers in the NCAA that fall. She wound up having a breakthrough season on the track in 2009, winning two NCAA titles and setting five collegiate records.

"No world-class athlete races for nine and a half months," says Colorado coach Mark Wetmore. "Our decision with Jenny was based on what would get her through those three years fresh and successful. It was a plan from the very beginning." But, he adds, it's harder for an athlete to make that decision than it is for a coach to make the call.

It's not always so clear-cut for coaches, either, who can be under pressure if conference championships and national meets matter most to the athletic director.

In Bayer's case, it came down to his coach's instinct. He had begun to emerge as one of the country's better runners in 2010 but a sore Achilles developed after the Big Ten outdoor meet, and Helmer wanted to avoid a similar scenario last spring. He believed a period of training without the intensity of racing would benefit Bayer best, so he shut him down, leaving him two full seasons of track in 2012 and 2013.

"Like anything, it's a calculated risk, an educated guess," Helmer says. "An athlete can get better, but won't if the training can't grow. You can train volume and intensity for a long time, but when you inject high-level racing, that can be the straw that breaks the camel's back. You have to give up something."

Source: http://milespl.it/pr12eb7

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