Turn Back The Clock: High School Careers Revisited
With Rod DeHaven
Welcome to Turn Back The Clock: High School Careers Revisited
where we are interviewing America's top distance runners about
their high school (and college careers). Today's interview is
with 2000 US Olympic Marathoner Rod DeHaven. A former miler,
Rod will be the sole US entry in the 2000 Olympic marathon in
Sydney.
Rod grew up in South Dakota where he graduated from high school
in 1984 before moving on to Division II South Dakota State.
Click here to read what Rod has to
say about his chances in the 2000 Olympic Marathon and his future
plans.
The Rod DeHaven
The Rod DeHaven File:
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Born: September 21, 1966, in Sacramento, Calif.
Current Residence: Madison, Wis.
High School: Huron, SD '84
College: South Dakota State '87 (Division II)
PRs 1500m: 3:40.15 ; 5000m: 13:40.4;
10,000m: 28:06.25, Marathon: 2:13:02.
Coach: Self
Affiliation: US, New Balance
Pre-college Progression
7th grade pr. 17:20 for 5k
8th grade: 4:41 1600m and 10:00 3200m
12th grade prs. 4:08 1600m 9:08 3200m (both state records)
Click
here to see a bio of Rod DeHaven as compiled by USATF.
Q and A With Rod DeHaven
(August 22, 2000)
LETSRUN: Tell us a little about your
high school career. How did you get into running? It's not really
the most popular of sports.
DeHaven: I ran a 15 mile road race when I was 10 and basically
ran the same road race - which occurred right after the track
season ended - until my senior year in high school.
I made the varsity cross country team
when I was in 7th grade. I ran like 17:20 for 5k in the 7th grade.
I qualified for the state track meet when I was in 8th grade,
and then I kind of petered out a bit my freshman and sophomore
years. My junior year, I was undefeated in cross country until
the state meet which was held on my homecourse and then pissed
down my leg (i.e. let the pressure get to him) and got 5th. And
in South Dakota, you pretty much run against everybody at least
a couple of times during the season so it wasn't like somebody
came out the blue (and beat me), I just ran poorly. I won the
mile and two mile (outdoors) my junior and senior years (in track).
I ran like 9:08 my senior year in high school for 3200 meters
and 4:09 for 1600 meters and like 1:52 relay leg (for 800 meters).
LETSRUN: What do you think of today's high schoolers? It seems
that both the college kids and high schoolers are running a lot
faster than say ten years ago. Have you kept up with them at
all?
DeHaven: Yeah (I'm aware of that). I
don't know why (it's happening). I think Stanford (and their
resurgence in distance running) has a lot to do with it. They
have a great setup there. Vin's (Stanford coach Vin Lananna)
got a big squad and he's got a facility that enjoys great conditions
so his kids don't have to go across the continent to chase times.
They've got several meets at home and they can run fast there.
For the high school kids, the power
of the Internet probably has something to do with that. I don't
know what else explains it. Before you had to wait for Track
and Field news to come out or USA Today (with a list
of the top marks), and by that time the season was over. Or maybe
it's just a cycle. I have no idea really, it's just one of those
things.
Click here to see what Rod has to
say about his chances in the 2000 Olympic Marathon and his future
plans.
Did you like this article? Email it to a friend.
Enter email addresses, separated by a comma.
Enter your name:
Discuss this article in our forum
Back to Homepage
©letsrun.com
|