{"comments":{"936381":{"pb_id":"50769","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"936381","comment_id":"936381","member_id":"50769","comment":"

<\/a>DontStopPre, on , said:<\/p>

\nI've told people all along that Gig wasn't ONLY the "big 3 plus the big transfer (beck, logan, tristan and moussa). I've watched closely the improvement of not only hammer but both shields boys. Wizzo has done a good job coaching all 7 of them. Really good. But hammer especially, as this piece said. Hammer actually showed great improvement early on compared to where he was last spring and fall but REALLY came on late this season! It's hard to believe Moussa and the other elite transfer Jordan Oldenburg (didn't improve from excellent junior year at Eastlake ... injuries?) both transferred to
\nGig, making a good team great. It seems questionable at quick glance but I suppose the team just got lucky with two great transfers.
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\nI agree with you on all counts, except one (below *). First, though, Michael Hammer was the difference maker for GIG this year. He had a great season; coming through for them time after time.
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\n*GIG was going to be a great team w\/o the transfers; the addition of Moussa took them from great to phenomenal.
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\nGIG should be good again next year with Peloquin, Hammer, Gregory, and Shields returning, but this year's team was a once-in-a-lifetime group.","date_added":"Dec 17th 2013, 5:19pm","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":[],"can_delete":false,"item_id":198249,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"i\/no_avatar.png","pb_title":"xctfan","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=50769","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/profile.php?member_id=50769","pb_wally_id":"1217319"},"933450":{"pb_id":"44418","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"933450","comment_id":"933450","member_id":"44418","comment":"Hopefully we're not seeing the start of a trend with transfers affecting cross country teams the way they have in things like basketball (Oregon City girls, etc.) ... but another transfer that was made for perfectly practical reasons involved Ahmed Ibrahim moving from Kamiakin, where he ran at NXN in 2012 to Gresham, Oregon and Reynolds High School, where he was a NXN individual qualifier.
\n
\nConsidering that Kamiakin was one of those teams fighting for third place in Boise, you have to wonder what kind of boost Ibrahim could have given Kamiakin. Btw ... I wonder if Ibrahim is the first runner to compete on both sides of BorderClash... I think he might be.","date_added":"Dec 12th 2013, 5:36pm","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":{"wally_id":"1082747","email_settings":"4294967295","email":"dbind4@aol.com","address":"DougB","gender":"u","member_id":"44418","member_name":"DougB","avatar_location":"av-44418.jpg","avatar_type":"upload","avatar":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-44418.jpg"},"can_delete":false,"item_id":198249,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-44418.jpg","pb_title":"DougB","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=44418","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/DougB.runnerspace.com\/","pb_wally_id":"1082747"},"933366":{"pb_id":"45158","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"933366","comment_id":"933366","member_id":"45158","comment":"Watchout I tend to agree with you. Transfers definitely do happen and I certainly don't want to believe Gig recruited. Even dream team collusions like Miami Heat irk me though (ie Lebeon. D-Wade, and Bosh simply wanting to create a dream team unbeknownst to the coach). And that doesn't sound like that happened here since Doug's piece said Beck didn't know of Moussa's plans. Although Doug's piece COULD POSSIBLY show Moussa scouting the best possible school (not illegal). I guess what baffles me the most regarding transfers is why parents move kids before entering their senior year and\/or why kids would want to
\nswitch schools (yes I know occasionally family moves are unavoidable). Bottom line: can't deny Gig ran FAST! GO WASHINGTON!","date_added":"Dec 12th 2013, 8:48am","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":[],"can_delete":false,"item_id":198249,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"i\/no_avatar.png","pb_title":"DontStopPre","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=45158","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/profile.php?member_id=45158","pb_wally_id":"1182171"},"933361":{"pb_id":"43715","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"933361","comment_id":"933361","member_id":"43715","comment":"Transfers happen. Good for Gig Harbor, too bad for Arcadia (wouldn't have been enough for them to make the podium, but would have helped them finish better than 9th).
\n
\nIt's not even the biggest case of runners transferring in to propel a team to a championship though - Saratoga Springs NY girls had two fresh transfers in their top 4 at the first NTN. And that would have taken what some consider to the best girls team of all time and drop them to third place at NTN that year (behind Smoky Hill CO and Yankton SD - and not far ahead of Bellarmine, and probably wouldn't have been far ahead of Flathead MT either).
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\nI don't know the full story in either situation, though I don't think that Gig Harbor recruited those kids or anything like that, so I say great for Gig Harbor, and great for Washington and the rest of the Northwest.","date_added":"Dec 12th 2013, 8:10am","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":[],"can_delete":false,"item_id":198249,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/forum\/uploads\/av-43715.jpg","pb_title":"watchout","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=43715","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/profile.php?member_id=43715","pb_wally_id":"1073498"},"933360":{"pb_id":"45158","pb_type":"members","likes":"0","parent_id":"0","pid":"933360","comment_id":"933360","member_id":"45158","comment":"I've told people all along that Gig wasn't ONLY the "big 3 plus the big transfer (beck, logan, tristan and moussa). I've watched closely the improvement of not only hammer but both shields boys. Wizzo has done a good job coaching all 7 of them. Really good. But hammer especially, as this piece said. Hammer actually showed great improvement early on compared to where he was last spring and fall but REALLY came on late this season! It's hard to believe Moussa and the other elite transfer Jordan Oldenburg (didn't improve from excellent junior year at Eastlake ... injuries?) both transferred to
\nGig, making a good team great. It seems questionable at quick glance but I suppose the team just got lucky with two great transfers.","date_added":"Dec 12th 2013, 7:53am","nest":0,"liked":false,"member":[],"can_delete":false,"item_id":198249,"item_type":"news","pb_image":"i\/no_avatar.png","pb_title":"DontStopPre","pb_url":"profile.php?member_id=45158","pb_url_dns":"https:\/\/www.runnerspace.com\/profile.php?member_id=45158","pb_wally_id":"1182171"}},"last_id":"933360","url":"comments.php?item_type=news&item_id=198249&item_url=gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531"}