by Robert Johnson

Rockford, Michigan prep phenom Dathan Ritzenhein put on amazing show in Olympic Development 5k at Penn Relays Friday night. Ritz entered the race looking to break Gary Lindgren's 34 year old national high school record of 13:44.0. Ritz didn't get his coveted record but his 13:51.69 time did put him at #2 on the all-time US high school list, just ahead of the legendary Steve Prefontaine who ran 13:52.

It was more than fitting that Ritz moved ahead of "Pre" on the all-time list because Ritz's race very Prefontaine-like in its essence. Prefontaine said he ran races "to see who has the most guts" and Ritzenhein ran a very gutsy race indeed.

Lined up against many of the US's top professional 5k runners, including two 5k finalists from last summers Olympic Trials, Ritzenhein wasn't intimidated in the least. Not given one of the optimal starting position, Ritzenhein quickly showed that he deserved more respect from those seeding the event as he put himself in the front group of 6 or 7 almost immediately.

Needing to average 4:23.75 per 1600 meters (just under 66 seconds per lap), Ritz realized after the opening four laps of 4:29 that the lead pack wasn't going fast enough and thus he quickly responded and moved up to the shoulder of the leader and eventual winner, Anthony Famiglietti of Adidas, to push the pace.

Ritz and Famiglietti ran virtually side by side for the rest of the race. A 4:23 split for the second 1600 meters put Ritz in great position to get the record as his 8:53 time was only 1 second behind pace. However a 66.5 and 67.3 split for the next two laps put Ritz nearly 3 seconds behind. He then ran 600 meters in 1:39.35, and thus entering the bell lap, Ritz needed a superhuman 56.6 to break the record.

Ritz picked things up a bit in the final 400 running a 65 to finish in 13:51.69, second to Famiglietti's who pulled away from his high school competitor in the final lap and finished in 13:47.64. After crossing the finishing line, Ritz moved over a couple of lanes and leaned over for a few seconds before falling on his back in exhaustion. While lying on his back, Ritz asked for his time.

He was told "13:51.69" - which didn't make Ritz happy at all. Sure it was the second fastest time ever for a US prep at 5k., but, Ritz also knew it was just .19 seconds short of the 13:51.50 qualifying time for this summer's USATF meet in Eugene, Oregon, which was Ritz's secondary goal coming into the race.

".69?" Ritz asked incredulously. The time was confirmed and then Ritz showed his disappointment by apparently uttering a small profanity. He wasn't too upset though as he smiled a sort of mischievous grin at the same time. To see video of Ritz's final historic lap and his post-race reaction, click here (WARNING: Huge 8mb file - Quicktime required).

Still photos from the race to come later Saturday!!!

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