Top 12 HS distance gods of all-time

Edit: I forgot ryun. We'll move Robby to number 13 and put Ryun in the top somewhere

Well then, we should probably include Bekele since he was probably in high school when he beat Ritz..

schwab and lowe

Always include Lynn Bjorklund from the 70's in any kind of list like this. She was:

1 time Junior National Cross-Country champion (defeating Mary Decker)- sophomore year

2 x National Women's Cross-Country champion - junior and senior year

National women's (not junior) 3000 meter champion - senior year

National HS 3000 meter record holder for nearly 40 years until Mary Cain broke it that set at the US-USSR senior level dual meet.

Along with Jim Ryun and Gerry Lindgren, a non-paralleled HS career. Remember these people were National Champions, not national "Junior" Champions.

Add: Billy McChesney and Mitch Kingery

Ok I've added 2 ..now at 14... No order ..I'm sure we could get to a top 20 of all-time...

Granville

RUPP

Lindgren

Webb

Nelson

Fernandez

Hunter

Chapa

Verzbicas

Ritz

Ryun

Virgin

PREFONTAINE

Hulst

Don Sage.

francie larrieu

wrong brah wrote:

Rename this thread 'Top 12 US HS distance gods of all-time' or replace all names with athletes from rest of world.

HS's exist in other countries.

'Murica.

Nelson?

How about Thom Hunt or Chez?

both very good..... wrote:

reader of the forums 2.0 wrote:

who?

Tough call between Alan Scharsu and Zishka for the Ohio representation.

I think Scott Fry and Bob Kennedy get to compete for Ohio representation.

Okay young pups guess you never heard of Jeff Nelson 8:36 or Dave Merrick 8:43. Those two guys in this era would run low 8:30's and you can bank that!

Other options wrote:

Sartor Resartus wrote:

For boys I think the following should be considered: Michael Granville, George Kersh, Rich Kimball, Eric Hulst, Dathan Ritzenhein, Edward Cheserek, Grant Fisher, and Thom Hunt.

For girls I haven't seen mentioned: Kim Gallagher, Mary Shea, Kim Bjorklund, Cathy Schiro, Melody Fairchild, Polly Plumer, Jordan Hasay, Ajee Wilson.

Agreed. Not many know of rich kimball but he held the fastest state double win before Fernandez broke it in 2007. Believe he ran 4:02 and 8:46 back in the 70s. 2 mile was 3rd best at the time behind virgin and pre and mile was probably top 5. Also, I believe he WON world junior Xc. Obviously not putting him on a 12 person list is a mistake.

If you are counting 800m runners Granville would definitely make the list and Kersh probably would also.

If we are just looking at men, there are a couple guys off the top. People like Ryun and Lindgren are off in class by themselves (i.e. they were national champs and olympians in high school and they have times to match). After that it gets messy. All those great 60s/70s/early 80s guys (hulst, Pre, Chapa, Hunt,...) didn't have footlockers and national champs so it gets really hard to figure out how they measure up to new guys. And winning World XC JRs is always great. But back then it was pretty much just a bunch of Euros and the US type meet.

Performance wise there are a half dozen races that stand out

Ryuns 3:55

Webbs: 3:35

Chapas 28:32

Rupps: 13:37

Lindgren and Ritz 13:44/13:46

Lukas Verzbicas 8:29

Michael Granville & Kershes 1.46.5s

But is Rupp an all time great off of that 1 race (i.e. he had other good races but he lost footlocker and the rest of the times are in the range of a dozen other guys)?

There are probably a half dozen guys that will be on everyones list (Lindgren, Ryun, Webb, Ritz, and Verzbicas) but after that it begins to get messy. How does a guy like Rupp (13:37) compare to Grant Fisher (2 x foot locker, sub 4 mile) or Ches (2x foot locker, 8:39) or Fernadez (4:00 1600/8:34 2 mile) or Drew Hunter (obviously a lot will depend on outdoors. Run a 3:55 or 8:25 and he might move up to the first group). Then try and mix in those 60/70s/80s guys (Virgin, Hults, Al Sal,Pre) and you get some really tough choices towards the bottom

Possibly add Rick Riley - 8:48 for 2 miles in 1966. That was the national high school record. Later beat Ryun, Pre, and Billy Mills in open races.

Top 5:

1. Lukas Verzbicas

2. Ryun

3. Lindgren

4. Ritz

5. Virgin

Thom Hunt should be included. He ran 4:02 in as a senior indoors in january. Came down with mono that spring hindering sub 4 efforts. 8:45 2m. World jr xc runnerup and champ in consecutive seasons.

Abdirizak Mohamud - Not flashy, but dude got it done in Cross. Also, Reuben Reina and Ryan Shay.

Boys with two National Championships (None with more):

Grant Fisher won in 2013 and 2014

Edward Cheserek won in 2011 and 2012.

Lukas Verzbicas won in 2009 and 2010.

Dathan Ritzenhein won in 1999 and 2000.

Abdirizak Mohamud won in 1996 and 1997.

Girls with two National Championships (None with more):

Anna Rohrer won in 2012 and 2014.

Jordan Hasay won in 2005 and 2008.

Erin Sullivan won in 1997 and 1998.

Melody Fairchild won in 1989 and 1990.

Erin Keogh won in 1985 and 1986.

Great call. He didn't even consider adding any women to his list. Nor did he title it "Top 12 male HS distance gods..."

Mitten Man wrote:

Abdirizak Mohamud - Not flashy, but dude got it done in Cross. Also, Reuben Reina and Ryan Shay.

Boys with two National Championships (None with more):

Grant Fisher won in 2013 and 2014

Edward Cheserek won in 2011 and 2012.

Lukas Verzbicas won in 2009 and 2010.

Dathan Ritzenhein won in 1999 and 2000.

Abdirizak Mohamud won in 1996 and 1997.

Girls with two National Championships (None with more):

Anna Rohrer won in 2012 and 2014.

Jordan Hasay won in 2005 and 2008.

Erin Sullivan won in 1997 and 1998.

Melody Fairchild won in 1989 and 1990.

Erin Keogh won in 1985 and 1986.

All "JUNIOR" championships. Can't be a great unless one won a National championship or made an Olympic team. How many Olympians on that list while in HS? Zero.

Verzbicas? Seriously, what did he really win? I saw him get his rear handed to him in many open races. Ryun won those. Lindgren won those. You children know nothing about American distance running.