SDSU Aztec wrote:
All these fast times mean is that some 8th graders are training as if they are already in HS. The advantage from an early start is gone by Sophomore year and that’s when comparisons become meaningful. Chapa, Virgin and Hulst starting running in 9th grade and all of them broke 9:00 as sophomores.
Disagree that good pre HS performances only means they are already training like HSers (see Engelhardt, Ingebritsen, Tostenson, etc.) but agree with the implied takeaway here as to the above-mentioned runners that these times don’t mean much moving forward. It’s because these times aren’t THAT fast. A year from now they could make normal annual improvements as 9th graders and they’d be on no one’s radar. Find me a JH kid who’s competitive with HSers and then I’ll get excited (I say this as a parent of a super fast young kid—gotta keep things realistic, people).
But that shouldn’t diminish from the OPs point. It’s pretty neat to have another kid in a fast family who is already showing some promise however you slice it. That’s positive and worth celebrating.
