morning perc wrote:
I've been around through both eras. It's hard to explain to folks that are only familiar with the current generation like the high school and college runners of present, but German was the most incredible high school distance talent to ever pass through the American system. He would solo races from wire to wire (e.g. NCAA 1500m win his freshman year, state XC championship at Woodward, California 4:00/8:34, NON 2-mile win in outdoors), and in my opinion there isn't anything comparable today to when he was lining up in high school. He was so head and shoulders above everyone else, nobody was elevating his performances except for him. With Sahlman (zero disrespect to him), the bar's been elevated, and his domination isn't as stark. I think having other athletes push you plays a huge role in your performance and German just didn't have that. Super shoes were still a good half decade away. When he raced, you just knew you were witnessing greatness. Hard to describe and share that feeling.
I got a glimpse of that greatness when I saw him run a 13:25 5000m at Hayward Field at age 18. I thought, this is the future of US T&F.
Oh, and it was pretty much a solo performance--he was by himself between two packs of runners.