"(I was) thinking that it's going to be a very quick turnaround from the Olympics'' Ahmed said. "But once I got into train- ing, I knew that I wanted to finish off my four years of cross country with the guys that I started with, Maverick and Reed.''
The always gracious Ahmed will acknowl-
edge the compliment. But it's a reminder "I went to London to try and achieve a goal and I really left the race feeling like I didn't ac- complish what I wanted.'' Returning to Wisconsin for the fall semes- ter, he was confronted with a big decision. Should he compete? Or should he take some time off and redshirt? "The first week of September,'' he said, "I'm thinking that it's going to be a very quick turn- around from the Olympics (July 27 through August 12). "But once I got into training and I was around the guys, I knew that I wanted to fin- ish off my four years of cross country with the guys that I started with, Maverick and Reed.'' Much went into the decision-making pro-
cess; especially since Connor was also a can- didate to redshirt if Ahmed did. Byrne point- ed to the importance of communication in assessing each runner. "We have a reporting system and we value that reporting system,'' Byrne emphasized. "Every Monday, the kids have to send in their logs.
"I don't think there's a Division I school out
there where kids don't have to do that. But we take the log very seriously and the kids take it seriously. "It made sense to hold off on the decision
44 ยป VARSITY OCTOBER 25, 2012
CLAUS ANDERSEN
