Matthew Maton 19 years old (College Freshman Age)

asu guy wrote:

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

Gtown kid.

Uh, Oregon is king of the mile. Check the all time sub 4 lists :)

But the claim was that Oregon is the only school where plenty of kids break 4, which is patently false lol.

IrishTrackFan wrote:

asu guy wrote:

Uh, Oregon is king of the mile. Check the all time sub 4 lists :)

I think based on Penn Relays Villanova are actually kings of the mile buddy.... #KingJordy

Interestingly enough, Williamsz was actually overage in high school just like Maton.

Props to Maton. 3:59.3 is awesome!!

But you should be ineligible for high school running if you are older than 18. I mean come on.

So,

18 years - 365 days = OKAY

19 years - 1 day = Super Performance Advantage

Okay, sure thing, fool.

To all of the 17/18 year old sub-4 college kids out there, and it seems there are quite a few of you, your frustration is understandable. Should your parents have entered you in school a year later? Dunno. Could your balls have dropped sooner? Hard to say. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Good day.

To all cheated 18-year-old high schoolers. Sue your parents for not conceiving you such that you remained 18 until the last day of high school. After all it is their fault they didn't plan your conception carefully enough.

Actually, I don't believe that any of Oregon's sub 4 milers had previously run sub 4 at another school. That is what makes Oregon unique these days, they bring in kids who were pretty good at other colleges, they bring in high school kids that were good, and develop most all of them into sub 4 milers. I believe that Maton will be the first (other than Verbicas) who ran sub 4 before coming to Oregon. Can anyone out there name anyone else?

Four Mile Miler wrote:

Actually, I don't believe that any of Oregon's sub 4 milers had previously run sub 4 at another school. That is what makes Oregon unique these days, they bring in kids who were pretty good at other colleges, they bring in high school kids that were good, and develop most all of them into sub 4 milers. I believe that Maton will be the first (other than Verbicas) who ran sub 4 before coming to Oregon. Can anyone out there name anyone else?

Jenkins. Geoghegan. Gregorek was not, somehow. Like most Oregon fans, you know nothing about the guys until they come to Oregon.

18-365 wrote:

So,

18 years - 365 days = OKAY

19 years - 1 day = Super Performance Advantage

Okay, sure thing, fool.

One thing about this thread is that it exposes the low level of intellect required to attend Oregon. Maton isn't 1 day older than his high school peers, he's a full year older. He is also 7 months older than the next oldest sub 4 prep. That's huge.

It is time for you age complainers to propose a date of birth running time adjustment. At the very least on a month basis. That way HSers who are 18 and some months can be properly compared to HSers who are several months younger; almost one year younger in many cases.

graybeard wrote:

He is also 7 months older than the next oldest sub 4 prep. That's huge.

You can have more than 7 months age difference for high school kids.

Really, and just when and where and with what time did Jenkins and Geohagen rune their 4 minute miles before competing for Oregon?

Four Mile Miler wrote:

Really, and just when and where and with what time did Jenkins and Geohagen rune their 4 minute miles before competing for Oregon?

Are you kidding me?

Try this one on for size:

When German Fernandez ran 3:55 for the mile in COLLEGE, he was 9 months younger (!) then when Maton ran 3:59 in HIGH SCHOOL.

We need to demand records by month of birth. We cannot allow a barely 17-year old to compete against an old 18-year old. This must be stopped immediately. From now on use similar to: 17-years & 3-months, 18-years & 4-months, etc.

It is impressive that Maton broke 4:00. However, I was starting my sophomore year in college when I was the same age (in terms of years and days) as Maton, which does diminish this feat somewhat.

Month Records wrote:

We need to demand records by month of birth. We cannot allow a barely 17-year old to compete against an old 18-year old. This must be stopped immediately. From now on use similar to: 17-years & 3-months, 18-years & 4-months, etc.

In swimming, they did away from the arbitrary jan 1st, by having kids change age group when they have their birthday. For meets, if you are 14 y.o. At the beginning of the meet, you swim with the 14 y.o. (Even if you turn 15 during the meet). For record purposes however, your birthday determines that (like for masters competition)

Everybody gets a fair chance to be the oldest one in the category...

Amazing how fast Earl Jones was in the 800m in 1984 (1:43), and with a 3:40 1500m as well at 19 a year before, you wonder what he could have done in 1988 with a normal progression. What happened to him?

Fact is that only two ran sub 4's at other colleges (Jenkins and Geohagen), and in even their cases, they have improved and have run faster at Oregon than they did previously. So, two out of 31 is a long way from "over half". The poster is about 12% correct, because he was correct in the case of 2 out of 16. Fact is, Oregon does develop their milers better than anyone, and they do it consistently with incoming High Schoolers, veterans on their team and with incoming transfers.