HS sub-4 this year?

[trackstar]

Whaddya think, can it be done? Eric Stanley down here in Texas is the fastest returner; he's the one who ran that 4:05 behind Steve Magness' 4:01 last year. Is knocking off five-plus seconds too much to ask?

I myself knocked off 14 seconds from my junior to senior years back in the day, but I realize trying to get under 4:30 is quite a bit different than trying to get under 4:00. :-)

[kuha]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

Actually, this quest seems to mess up or frustrate far too many excellent HS runners. In this "post-Webb" world, I think I'd rather see good 4:03-type HS guys stay fit and healthy and improve steadily in college and beyond.

[Conor Dary]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

The last thing any high school kid needs is the onus of being the next Webb. Do 4:00.2 like Sage and slowly built into a good runner.

[palladium]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

>Whaddya think, can it be done? Eric Stanley down here in Texas is the fastest
>returner; he's the one who ran that 4:05 behind Steve Magness' 4:01 last year.
>Is knocking off five-plus seconds too much to ask?

i guess it somewhat depends on his progression to the 4:05. if he's a john riley type and has been running fast since sophomore year (say 4:08 to 4:10 range), i would think it pretty hard to get down below 4:00. but if he was 4:12 to 4:15 pure talent runner, progressing to 4:05 and sizeably beyond to sub-4 is not out of the question. do you have any idea what kind of leg speed he was - 400 and 800?

[Cyril]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

Kuha-

I agree. Top flight H.S. runners shouldn't be as concerned with time as with racing well. As Atkinson pointed out in last months T&FN kids should learn how to race - strategically. Get in with good competition and have fun RACING not being too concerned with running fast. Times will come as a result of racing well. Run a variety of races (under and over - more under than over IMO). Experiment with different strategies (going into the lead sooner or later etc). A concern about sub 4 @ 18 may jeopardize a potential sub 3:50 @ 26. I would prefer to see a 4:15-4:17 h.s. kid run 3:50 as an adult (Byers). Than a 3:58 h.s. kid run 3:55 as an adult.

That doesn't mean that h.s. kids won't run fast. Actually that's how Webb ran as fast as he did and that's how Ryun did it as well - by just racing with good competition. Trouble starts when they forget about racing and worry too much about the clock.

[az2]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

An other key is the nature of the kids training, the quantity of mileage and the quality of speed work.

The old idea of steady progress and staying healthy, and as mentioned above, learning how to race.

If I had to wager, I'd say we get another sub-4:00, the caveat being good health and the continuance of a training regime unhindered by injury.

[kuha]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

Cyril--precisely. I think of how Adam Perkins (Liberty, MO) lost his whole outdoor season last year due to chasing a 4-minute time. He wanted to run a couple meets out of state and the state HS federation basically said that he had to choose between his HS season and the out of state races. He chose the latter (gutsy, for sure), but it didn't amount to anything. The rule was dumb, certainly, but if he'd stuck with his normal HS season, he would have had one or more additional state titles AND probably would have run faster than he ended up doing on his own.

[a miler]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

stanley is not looking too good this year...he ran in the high school section of the tyson...5th in 4:18...but it is still early

[Realist]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

There are those who would say that him not looking good now is a good thing and that he has a better chance of being a studmuffin in June if he is not in great shape now. It is only February for goodness sake!

[sjm1368]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

Stanley always starts slow. Look at every year and he does the same thing.

[gh]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

So, Steve, we'd be interested in hearing how your training is going relative to your high school career and being in what kind of shape at what time of year. Where are you now, for instance, compared to this time last year?

[trackstar]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

"Studmuffin"?

[sjm1368]

Re: HS sub-4 this year?

Training is going great. I'm doing workouts that I couldn't even come close to last year, and we're still doing mostly strength type workouts, no real fast stuff yet. The mileage also has been higher as last week was my first one under 93miles since CC season. I'm not racing sharp yet, felt really flat during the last race, but it's to be expected this early in the year. I already feel like I'm in better shape than where I was at during my peak last year. If you look at the past 3 years, It normally takes a couple of races at a distance for me each year before I get rolling, as I've started each season pretty slow(4:55frosh year, 5:30 soph, 4:28 junior and 4:17senior for each first 1600 race), so the 4:03 split was a good start. That's about it.