GOAT of High School XC

who is fairchild?

I'd say for me its:

1) Ritz

2) Lukas

3) Lindgren

4) everyone else...

No one in the current era can stack up to these guys in my mind. You know it when you see it and I haven't seen anyone in the last 10 years that just blows my mind with how they race compared to the competition like these guys did.

Yeah he came in 2nd his Junior year in 15:33, won his Senior year in 15:16. Good runner who developed earlier than his peers, but doesn't really belong in any all time best discussions.

1. Lindgren

2-4 (Listed Alphabetically, any order could be correct) Eric Hulst, Jeff Nelson, Craig Virgin.

Any one of those four in supershoes destroys anyone who ran in the past 30+ years.

5-6 Fernandez and Ritz

Nelson was the last year before Kinney/Footlocker/Eastbay started. If it exists he's national champion easily. If Mt.Sac course isn't improved (sand on switchbacks removed, etc) his 14:32 would still be the course record from 1978.

I know we're not talking track, but nobody came within 4 seconds of his national 2-mile record until Fernandez over 30 years later.

Massively underrated on this board as is Hulst.

Ritz FTW!

Ritz was a 2x footlocker champion and in his senior year he dusted Alan Webb and Ryan Hall at Footlocker’s. The he placed third in the World Junior XC race that was won by none other than Kenenisa Bekele. Oh and he also beat Matt Tegenkamp in that World Junior XC race. Tell me the last time that an American high schooler placed third at World Junior XC championships.

So the 4 best HS XC runners of all-time came in the 60/70s and would destroy everyone in the following 30+ years with equivalent gear, even with increased participation/improved training methodology/better recovery techniques. Seems pretty implausible.

I agree Lindgren is the goat, but I think acting like Hulst and Nelson would destroy Ritz/Fernandez/Nico/Solinsky is questionable at best. Would make for great races.

Any of these 7 could be the GOAT (listed alphabetically)

Fernandez, Ritzenhein, C. Sahlman, Solinsky, Verzbicas, Virgin, N. Young.

I don't think anyone else could really make a case to be better in high school cross country than all of these runners, but each one of these guys has a legitimate case as the GOAT.

Do you think I left anyone off the list?

Obviously Lex and Leo may also lay claim on this based on how they perform in the big meets this year.

I really think Lindgren. We old timers like Hulst because pre-internet everything was word of mouth- so we would Hulst stories third hand, how he ran every morning with a weight vest and was running 100+ miles a week, the stories became legend. I heard the stories of Hulst and Ralph Serna battling in New Jersey. We also heard tales of some Gregorek guy out on the Island. All word of mouth- but I think Hulst may have been on the cover of RW.

I mean living in New Jersey I heard the stories- not that they ran in NJ

Melody Fairchild

It should be said that Ritz and Nico were both 4th at NCAA xc as freshmen, so Nico was probably close to Ritz as a high schooler in xc. COVID struck in his senior year and cancelled world xc and track, so he was deprived the chance to shine after that 7:56.97.

Adam Goucher isn’t the best ever in terms of his overall resume because of injuries, but on his best days, he could beat anyone. Ran 14:41 on a hilly course at altitude—no Colorado runner has come close to that since on a comparable course. Obliterated Meb at FL. Pathological competitor. In a theoretical all-timer race, he would have been in the mix.

How does Fernandez make any list? Dude wasn't close to winning the big one. Without track, he isn't making any list. As it is we have no way to really evaluate those 60/70s kids. Rudy Chapa was a total stud. Better than Hulst or Nelson? Who knows. Same with Ritz.

Yeah course records are great. But they have a big luck component Our state meet has been held at the same course for decades. Winning times routinely differ by 30s just based on weather. If your senior year is a slow year (rain, wind,...) you don't get the record.

I've never seen anyone as dominant as LV. He's the GOAT. Ritz is up there, too.

The criteria of a super vague. From 1979 to present, Reuben Reina has the fastest time on the course all of the greats have run, Balboa Park. But then again, it seems the swarm of 1970’s runners are forgotten about.

we are talking xc, which is hard to measure, unless world titles have been won (which they have) we must resort to their 8 lap times in the spring. considering they didn’t have the stacked invitationals and super tracks…..Chappa, Hulst, Kimball, Hunt and many more are not on this list because we weren’t alive back then.

I wonder if Byrd, Jordan, Bryant will be omitted from a GOAT list being made by voters who are being born 10 years from now?

There's no luck involved in German's Woodward Park record, and it's certainly not some random state record -- it's one of the most well-contested CRs in the nation. If someone was capable of breaking it, they would have.

Nico Young (multiple times), Colin Sahlman (multiple times), Leo Daschbach, Leo & Lex, ..., the list goes on.

For what it's worth, the performance also still holds the second highest non-championship speed rating ever at 209.00 (only behind Dathan's 14:10.4/210.53).

And while people are often quick to point out the Footlocker 3rd place, they rarely mention that (at 17 years & 3 months) he won the U.S. Junior Cross Country title.

He's one of the all-time great talents on any surface.

Eric Hulst not only won the world junior cross country title in '76, he qualified for the US senior team, though ultimately, he only ran the junior race.

lol

Bruce Bickford