800m 'Battle of the Lauras' in Fargo - 2009 edition

[Thundering Herd]

Now that the indoor season is upon us, I'm getting more and more pumped to see what the 'Lauras' will do this year,... especially in the longer sprints and mid-distances!!!

Laura Hermanson just qualified in the 800 for indoor nationals while setting an NDSU record. She ran in the 800 finals at the US Olympic Trials last year. (if you didn't know this, you better fix yourself, then blame it on terrible media coverage in ND!). This will cause some debate, but IMHO Laura Roesler is the better of the two! The high school junior from Fargo South ran in the semis of the 800 in the US Olympic Trials last year. Her times were comparable if not a little faster than Hermanson's. She runs her blistering times against high school competition where she's not being pushed with great competition like Hermanson faces. With that and the word amateur in mind, could Laura Roesler run in local COLLEGE meets as an 'unattached' competitor so we can see a 'Laura Showdown' between Hermanson and Roesler? Two of the top 16 runners in the US in the women's 800 meters are in Fargo, ND! Let them duke it out a couple of times, that would be a great story.

[lakesbison]

Get it done..... cant scheels or someone do a promotional event....exhibition style!!!!

[Nike9]

Laura Hermanson would win a show down, no doubt. She is SO much stonger physically, mentally she is also the toughest girl I know hands down.

[airwaveslave]

They did race head to head once last spring as both were preparing for the Olympic Trials. Roesler beats Hermanson. Hermanson is good, but so is Roesler. Video of the race here...(Roesler's in the light pink, Hermanson's in her Bison uni)

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php...&video_id=4648

I'm not saying this video gives any indication that Roesler would still win. Just thought I'd point out that they have raced each other before.

Anyone know why Roesler didn't run XC this past fall?

[Castor Troy]

Anyone know why Roesler didn't run XC this past fall?

I don't have any inside information, like if she was injured or anything, but I do know the nature of 800 and it is a delicate balance. Some 800 runners need to run cross-country and some do not. Laura has put her time into running cross and it may not help her as much. She may also be a bit spooked since Heather Dorniden from U of M ran cross the last 2 seasons and her 800 times have suffered.

Case in point, the best Bison men 800 runners did not run XC seriously: Andy Moen, Heath Janke, Mark Thompson. In the words of Lars, "You can't go hell bent for election for 3 seasons a year."

[tony]

Anyone know why Roesler didn't run XC this past fall?

Actually, she did run cross country this past fall... saw her running when I was at one of my niece's meets (now that I think of it, it was probably the EDC - Laura finished 2nd or 3rd). LR has been pretty running competitively year round and, whether she did so or not, it probably would have been a good idea to use XC to build a base rather than to go all out competitively and risk burning out.

[airwaveslave]

I never saw Roesler's name in the state meet results. That's why I was curious. Thanks...

Heather Dorniden was the 5th finisher on the Gopher's 11th place cross country national team. She just ran 2:04.39 and beat Hermanson last weekend. I would hardly say her 800 times are suffering. Dorniden owns the indoor school record at Minnesota in 2:04.30. So 2:04.39 is pretty good considering it's indoors and extremely early in the indoor season. Hermanson also is one of the top cross runners in the summit league and continues to improve on the track. I do agree that some 800 runners don't need to run cross, but I don't think running cross will hurt an 800 performace in any way as long as you maintain your leg speed and flexibility.

Whatever Roesler did this past fall, I hope she continues to improve because she could be fun to watch in the coming years.

[roper1313]

As Tony said she did run CC last fall. From the sound of things at south her energy level was a little low after all the running she had this summer. From what I understood she pretty much shut it down after the trials. I'm sure we'll see here in prime condition come HS track.

[Castor Troy]

A track debate! YESSSSS!

Heather went from running a 2:02 consistently in 2007 outdoors to 2:05 consistently in 2008. I saw her at nationals and she looked tired during the entire meet. It is my opinion that she dropped off a bit while still competing at a high enough level to place 5th at nationals. 2006 is when she started logging miles for cross. You cannot run your ass off for 3 seasons during the course of a year and peak for each season. It is physically impossible.

Back to Roesler. Her mother was an accomplished runner and I am sure that she will have an opinion on whether Laura runs XC seriously (meaning logging miles, peaking for championships, etc) or not.

I am loving this. I never get to talk much track on this board.

[Castor Troy]

As Tony said she did run CC last fall. From the sound of things at south her energy level was a little low after all the running she had this summer. From what I understood she pretty much shut it down after the trials. I'm sure we'll see here in prime condition come HS track.

Shutting it down was a good idea.