While watching Sam'a impressive victory at the Texas Relays Mile, I could not help but recognize the long, lanky, easy-going stride of a blonde-haired kid: it looked like Ryan Hall set foot on the track as a high schooler again.
While it may be a ways off before we know for sure if the comparison goes beyond this, a quick looks at Worley's progression over the last year or two is eerily similar to that of Hall's:
Hall was 8:55/4:06 as a junior; Sam was 4:04/8:51. Hall went 3:42 in the 1500m as a senior; Worley's 4:00.6 converts to roughly 3:42 for 1500m (and his senior campaign is not quite done yet).
Hall ran a 14:59 for XC 5k to finish 3rd at Footlocker as a senior; Worley won the TX state meet in 14:40.
This kid seems to have huge potential and be tracking closely to one of the more competitive US runners on the international scene in recent years. Here's to hoping 3-5 years from now and onward, the similarities continue...