Something interesting to note was that although he was the 18th high schooler to break 4 minutes in the mile, he's only the 2nd to do so in April.
He's been right on the cusp with 4:00, 4:01 and other 4 low attempts over the past year or so that I wonder if he can strike magic and go 3:56 like Sahlman or even faster if fresh? They went out through the 400 very fast on Sunday (albeit behind the pacers), and Rocky soloed a 4:05 at Penn in the pouring rain just two days before.
Rocky's favorite training run is sprinting away from hundreds of adoring child fans
Impressive. Arden/Fletcher North Carolina is a small place - semi-rural - although not a long commute from Asheville. I am very familiar with it as my mother retired in Brevard and her doctor was in Arden and I visited often. I certainly don't know of this young man's training but he is not surrounded by high level high school competition. He appears to be the best talent to come out of that area of the state since Tony Waldrop (Columbus) in the 70's. Wake Forest is a supportive place with small classes and I can see why he chose the school.
An outside observer wrote:
Curious what his training is like. Trying to gauge whether or not he’ll pan out. Always tough to tell with high school studs.
Always a tough question to answer, but a quick thought about Rocky's performances in the last two years that makes me bullish:
He wins.
Someone else can check the stats for me, but Rocky's record against "high level" (for his level) competition is incredibly impressive. The kid just wins. It was no shock to me that his first sub-4 came in the form of a W.
In this era of super shoes, super tracks, pacing lights, finger pricks between K repeats, and more, it seems that everyone and their brother is running fast (this is literally the case at places like NP). How does one stand out? Well, standing atop the podium is a pretty good way.
For some examples: check out Rocky's JR year wins at Arcadia 3200, RunningLane mile, as well as his indoor win over top HS guys at NB earlier this year.
WNC has a smaller HS scene, but the quality of the coaches and their programs is solid. Waldrop is certainly a legend, but Isaac Presson is a more recent sub-4 guy (Asheville HS and UNC). Coach Randy Ashley at Christ School has the probable "next best guy from WNC" on deck with Rocky's younger teammate Dawson Reeves making a name for himself with 1:52 800m and 4:11 mile performances as a soph last year, and an 8:57 3200m at Arcadia in his current JR season.
A high school sub-4 these days is starting to feel like the Apollo moon missions. Quite a bit of interest in the first few, so routine now it's barely worth mentioning.
Aabbyy wrote:
This should generate more excitement. Is it the shoes? Is that why fewer people seem to care? Is it becoming ho hum now?
1) Of course it's the shoes. Don't be silly.
2) But it's a lot more than the shoes. There's a lot of talent and intelligent training involved. The shoes don't make a 4:15-talent guy into a sub-four kid.
3) Once it becomes more frequent, almost anything is "ho hum" and people care less about it--or at least find it less newsworthy. Lotsa folks remember Ryun/Danielson/Liquori, who were the only three U.S. sub-fours for quite a while; tbh I couldn't name another three off the top of my head.
Is that Vin Lananna leaning against the fence outside lane 8, wearing white cap, appearing first at 35 seconds into the race video?
No big deal. Just wondering.
HBHS 220y wrote:
Congrats to Rocky Hansen. Great run!
A couple of elements recall another one-mile race, in the same week, 77 years ago, in
Oxford (England, not Mississippi): It was the first time under 4 for both men. Same
time: 3:59.4 hand timed, 3:59.56 FAT. Weather was bad and windy but cleared
just before the start. Hansen was pushed through the third lap by Jack Eliason,
Bannister by Chataway. Even the photos of their finishes show similarities – no
showboating, only pain:Lots of differences, of course (ages: 25 and 18, shoes and track: ¾ inch spikes and cinders vs super shoes and all-weather, etc.). Still, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it
often rhymes.” And, if it’s any consolation to young Eliason, Chataway went on to become the world record holder at 5,000 meters.
69 years ago, not 77. And that’s obviously not a photo of Hansen from his sub-4.
Old Ultra Guy wrote:
Is that Vin Lananna leaning against the fence outside lane 8, wearing white cap, appearing first at 35 seconds into the race video?
No big deal. Just wondering.
Vin coaches at UVA now.
Everyone says this is becoming routine. Here's a way to make it very noteworthy:
Do it in non-Nike shoes. Nike-less HS sub-4s are so rare that it has happened once in the modern era (from Webb until now). It is worth mentioning that none of the early guys wore them. I can't tell in the picture, but US teenagers are so Nike-loyal that I'm operating under the assumption that I just couldn't see the swoosh. Anyone know what he wore?
Now because of his success, everyone is transferring to the HS he went to?