That random fact plus the great 600 time as a junior makes him look like the male version of Athing Mu, namely, an incredible distance runner for his age group track days. 5:07 in 5th grade would be within ten or twenty seconds of winning one of the more competitive elementary school state track meets. Maybe we'll even see him at 1500 as an adult some day as well.
He said he wants to run 20.5 and 45.5 this year so it's likely that he was focusing on that during the fall. It will be unfortunate if he doesn't break the national record in the 800 because of that but doing the 200/400 this year is gonna be FAR better for his career in the long run.
He said he wants to run 20.5 and 45.5 this year so it's likely that he was focusing on that during the fall. It will be unfortunate if he doesn't break the national record in the 800 because of that but doing the 200/400 this year is gonna be FAR better for his career in the long run.
appreciate this bit of info
still not sure i agree with skipping a light xc season, but i'm just armchair coaching over here admittedly
his best wind legal 200 last year was 21.31 and he didn't get out of CIF Finals in the 200
fun "fact": according to athletic.net, which shows his results back to 4th grade, Xai has never won a 200 meter race in his entire life unless you count a prelim round a legit win (again he did not advance in the finals), thus it's sort of a weird event for him to focus on
while having more speed in the 200 is helpful for virtually all runners over any distance, i don't think it looks like they are going about it the right way for him given he's slower in the 300 this season (only one data point though, confidence in this isn't very high)
based on his 21.31 / 46.06 prs last year, if he goes 20.5 that should put him in the 44.5 range
love watching him run/float. def rooting for him to achieve his goals.
Kid is a 200-400 kid at this stage of his career. No need to move him up until he can handle the work load of an 800 runner.
That said he can still run a great 800 if everything clicks...rounds probably not.
He ran a 1:16.13 600m and 1:49.19 in his only serious 800m race last year as a junior in HS, Both those marks are better than his 200m marks, and he ran the 200m more often. He may be racing the 200m, but he is not more of a 200m kid than a 800m kid. He looks like a 400/800 kid, and LB Poly knows how to develop those runners.
And he doesn't need to move up to the 800m, he was already there.
xai ran 47.18 today in the 400 to get third at masters and qualify for state
also ran in poly's 4x4 that qualified for state
not too sure what happened, but he didn't PR in a single event and only ran the 800 once (dual meet ran 1:58 after a 4:44 1600)
anyone know if he had injury issues?
of note: he ran XC his jr season (2022) before having a breakout track season as a jr, but appears he elected to skip XC his sr season. maybe just had less fitness and a bit heavier?
xai ran 47.18 today in the 400 to get third at masters and qualify for state
also ran in poly's 4x4 that qualified for state
not too sure what happened, but he didn't PR in a single event and only ran the 800 once (dual meet ran 1:58 after a 4:44 1600)
anyone know if he had injury issues?
of note: he ran XC his jr season (2022) before having a breakout track season as a jr, but appears he elected to skip XC his sr season. maybe just had less fitness and a bit heavier?
Yeah he had a hamstring injury, I think around February. He ran at CA winter champs and won with 33.8 and 1:17, but both of those times were a bit slower than what he ran last year.
He isn't as strong as he was last year but definitely appears to have more muscle. Idk why he skipped XC, it seemed like it was a big part on why he was so strong at 800M
He ran a 1:16.13 600m and 1:49.19 in his only serious 800m race last year as a junior in HS, Both those marks are better than his 200m marks, and he ran the 200m more often. He may be racing the 200m, but he is not more of a 200m kid than a 800m kid. He looks like a 400/800 kid, and LB Poly knows how to develop those runners.
And he doesn't need to move up to the 800m, he was already there.
Have no idea why the dude wastes his time trying to be a wannabe 200/400 athlete.
xai ran 47.18 today in the 400 to get third at masters and qualify for state
also ran in poly's 4x4 that qualified for state
not too sure what happened, but he didn't PR in a single event and only ran the 800 once (dual meet ran 1:58 after a 4:44 1600)
anyone know if he had injury issues?
of note: he ran XC his jr season (2022) before having a breakout track season as a jr, but appears he elected to skip XC his sr season. maybe just had less fitness and a bit heavier?
Yeah he had a hamstring injury, I think around February. He ran at CA winter champs and won with 33.8 and 1:17, but both of those times were a bit slower than what he ran last year.
He isn't as strong as he was last year but definitely appears to have more muscle. Idk why he skipped XC, it seemed like it was a big part on why he was so strong at 800M
didn't realize he had a hamstring injury
total speculation, but seems kinda typical to have him focus on the 200/400 and lifting since it's Poly
his sister made the state meet in the shot, which (again speculation) tells me Xai needs to stay away from the weights and instead put in more running volume otherwise he's gonna get too heavy
anyway, he won the 400 today at the state meet with a SB 46.79 (2nd place was 47.20), which doesn't match his 46.06 last season, but at this level you don't improve every season so hopefully will be a good learning experience for him
total speculation, but seems kinda typical to have him focus on the 200/400 and lifting since it's Poly
his sister made the state meet in the shot, which (again speculation) tells me Xai needs to stay away from the weights and instead put in more running volume otherwise he's gonna get too heavy
anyway, he won the 400 today at the state meet with a SB 46.79 (2nd place was 47.20), which doesn't match his 46.06 last season, but at this level you don't improve every season so hopefully will be a good learning experience for him
I think it's a great comeback, doesn't exactly match his PR from last year but all things considered, it's a great win for him. Hope he'll continue to improve in college, but it's gonna take time to get back to where he was. I'd hate to see him become another HS star who vanishes in college