I’d have to go with German Fernandez.
There’s a possibly that he’most naturally talented distance runner we’d ever had in this country in my opinion — and that’s not hyperbole.
He’s like Webb in terms of talent but produced far less than Webb.
Story line:
Injured first 3 years of HS, still manages to run 9:10 as a junior. Senior year was the first healthy year and he drops almost 40s in the 3200 and runs a 4:00/8:34 double.
Remember, he declined PRE — had he run, not sure LV would have the record.
Moving forward, in Jan of 09...the kid is only 18 and 4 months. Runs 3:55.0 indoors completely solo and runs a 7:47 3000 with a 4:02 last 1600.
Gets hurt — is a walking boot basically up to WJXC, still gets 11th.
Story goes he basically took 3 weeks off to heal. Came to Stanford invite and ran 13:31.
Wins NCAA 1500 front running, runs 13:25 (still 18)..
And that’s basically the end of his story.
He had about 20 months of health — and produced that.