I would agree with all that you say, except the part about Ritz.
Ritz was only beaten in HS competition ONCE in two years. Steve Scherer caught up to him on a relay and edged him, so it wasn't even in an open race.
He ran 1:54.9, 4:05.9m, 8:41.10m, and 14:13 as a junior. That would be 3:49/8:06 for the 1500/3k.
He would have run around 4:00y/8:40y indoors and faster outdoors if he had not concentrated on the WJCCC and then breaking 13:44. He was certainly capable of the 3k, 3200, 2-mile, and 5k HS records. The 10k record was within reach also. He could have run sub-4:00 as well, he just would have had to run in a top meet like Sage did when he ran 4:00.29.
Greg Anderson may have been the best North American 18-year-old ever, but if his best was 3:47/8:00 over two days then he was just on the same level as Ritz, as well as many other Americans.
Ritz ran 8:08 and then kept going for 200m when he was just 17, all by himself in the early season. That is why he is running back-to-back 13:49s now.