Fastest high school kids who never ran a step again after finishing high school?

I don't think there is any reason to believe that the world record in the 100 meters would be any faster or held by anyone else, even if every NFL player in history had pursued it.

Had a cousin run :58 something as an 8th grader with only baseball and football tng. Tall lanky kid.

My foster brother (Navajo Indian) put the hurt on me running 2 miles to some mountains and 2 miles back near our home in the snow when I was home from college for Christmas break. I was doing 3xmile at altitude under 5:00 at the time with a 5-min rest a couple times a week. He was a junior in high school and was only lifting weights and playing football! He had run cross country his freshman year but gave it up for football after that.

They ran more than a race(barely) but CU class of 2020 recruits Philip Rocha and Connor Dunne come to mind. Philip was 2nd at footlocker then got thrown out of CU and enlisted. Connor ran 4:03 full mile to beat Tamagno, good guy. Hope he’s well wherever he is

L V is back to being known as Louis Vuitton and not that triathlon guy, thank goodness

Michael Cybulski seems to fit the description here. 8:50 2 Miler in HS. Don’’t think he ran past freshmen year in college, if that.

A teammate of mine from high school had an incredible natural talent when it came to running. He was a decathlete mostly, but still managed to run a 1:59 800 as a HS sophomore with maybe 10-15 miles a week of distance training (he only ran with the distance runners maybe two times a week, the rest was hurdles, sprints, etc.). I swear he probably could've run a 4:20 mile or faster if he put some mileage and quality training together. Unfortunately, he chose to play soccer at a DIII school and I'm not sure he's still on the roster. I think he coaches now and hasn't run a step since graduation.

Another guy who didn't pan out was this guy from CT who won the state open and ran a 1:52 800 at the New England champs a few years ago. Set the meet record I think. He went to CCSU but never raced a step and I haven't seen results for him since. Wasted talent sadly.

Imnotaspy wrote:

Liz Mueller CT

4 time NE XC champ

Kinney XC champ as a junior (did not defend)

2:05 800

became a champion professional boxer

She did run in college (SCSU I think???) but just not well.

MasterofNone wrote:

The Narwhal wrote:

There was a kid in the Midwest, Illinois, I think, that was a legit talent. Sub-9 3200M and very low 4:00's for the 1600M. He went to college on athletic scholarship, a top 10 XC ranked school, but I don't think he ever competed collegiately.

Soren Knudsen, went to NAU and never raced. Last I saw he was making YouTube videos trying to break funny world records.

He did run a fast(?) 5k at Azusa a few years ago but nothing after that and ran t unattached

I thought he went to Oregon for a year or two, then transferred to NAU and didnt compete there. He ran a 4:05.58 mile in high school.

dance knees wrote:

They ran more than a race(barely) but CU class of 2020 recruits Philip Rocha and Connor Dunne come to mind. Philip was 2nd at footlocker then got thrown out of CU and enlisted. Connor ran 4:03 full mile to beat Tamagno, good guy. Hope he’s well wherever he is

As far as i know….. Connor Dunne ran 4:04.59 at San Clemente HS in 2016. He went to Colorado and last competed in 2017 cross country. The 4:03 you reference was probably a 1600 split time (4:03.11 split) from the 4:04.59 mile

Then there’s Tim Danielson. Ran 3:59.4 in high school in 1966 fir Chula Vista HS. Competed at BYU for about a year. Ran some 4:0x races in college. Not sure what he did in XC… I believe he was done after 1967

Loudoun Valley

Recruited a 4:15/9:14 kid out of one of the top distance schools in Texas--late bloomer as a senior. Good recruiting process, felt good about the boy. Stayed in touch over the summer discussing training. Everything seemed to be going well.

Showed up in August in terrible shape. Could not stay with my women's team on runs. Quit after three days. Heard through the grapevine he discovered marijuana during the summer, and that was the end of a promising career.

WyoKid wrote:

Recruited a 4:15/9:14 kid out of one of the top distance schools in Texas--late bloomer as a senior. Good recruiting process, felt good about the boy. Stayed in touch over the summer discussing training. Everything seemed to be going well.

Showed up in August in terrible shape. Could not stay with my women's team on runs. Quit after three days. Heard through the grapevine he discovered marijuana during the summer, and that was the end of a promising career.

Lmao women’s team

runner nerd wrote:

Who exactly are you talking about? Woods runs for Georgetown and had a faster 800. Only guy I know from ECG that matches those PRs did not win a state championship and was a D1 All American.

I know 1984 was a long time ago but, yes, he did win State and he was not a D1 All American:

Michael Cybulski came to mind immediately for me. He ran 8:52 to win the CA 3200 title as a sophomore then struggled a bit with injuries as a junior and senior. I know he went to UCLA but am not sure if he ever ran for them. He also had a teammate named Hudson Andrews who won the CA 1600 title in 4:07 and ran 1:52 as an HSer. I know he went to Princeton and may have run a few races for them but nothing of note.

There was another guy that I ran against during that time period who went 4:17 as a sophomore and quit competitive running soon thereafter. He would show up randomly after taking months off and win races over the next two years including a 4:14 1600 win at his league meet as a senior. I'm sure he didn't run competitively after HS. As a fun aside, he told me that he had taken some weed edibles a couple hours before his 4:17 (which qualified him to the state meet) as a sophomore and was "too high to feel his legs" during the race. I'll omit his name. He was a weird dude but had insane talent.

Math wizzer wrote:

My son turned down multiple offers.

I could see a kid turning down sport scholarships in favor of a no-strings-attached parental scholarship. Context matters - I doubt your son left his own money on the table ;)

My friend from Michigan. He won the Class A state meet in 1:51.2 and ran maybe two meets in college and never ran again.

Yes he did. He was offered 50% at a mid major and 10-20% at some P5s. He would have to walk on at the college he is attending.