What IN THE WORLD are the Newbury Park boys doing??

Walt Lange should rub a genie's lamp. Almost everyone agrees that Brosnan was blessed with an outlier situation with the Sahlmans & Youngs.

They have done their share of recruiting as well

If you look back over the years we used to ask what's the secret of ______ (Arcadia High/
Fayetteville-Manlius/Loudon Valley/Great Oak/etc). When I was coming up in NJ we all thought that CBA had some secret formula.

Newbury has definitely taken it to a level even beyond those other programs at their peak but the formula seems to be similar. Talented, dedicated kids who buy into the program. The consistency, the grind. A love for the sport helps too. Go look at the Lex Young post race interview with CITIUS MAG after the 7:57 3K. The absolutely joy and excitement the kid has is so genuine.

The best video yet:

ROFL them studying for the physics test

No one buys into an 8:40 2-mile and just about any good distance runner has a passion for the sport. Can you provide an example of a HS great where success brought depression? How could running a 7:57 not bring joy to any HS runner?

Depression? I guess Mary Cain is the best example. Maybe Sarah Baxter? I dunno.
Nevada Mareno admitted it. Unless they come out and say it, how do we know?

Obviously, 8:40/7:57 doesn't grow on trees but have have seen HS stars just do the sport because they're good at it and it will get them where they want to go.

One example that popped into my mind was the Jacob Burcham kid from West VA who was going for sub 4 in HS. At 7:13 in the clip below he says something like "I don't really love running as much as someone would think, running at this caliber..." You could look at that as sad to hear or give the kid props for being brave enough to admit it out loud when many other HS stars might bottle those feelings up so not to offend their parents or coaches.

My only point was that Lex doesn't come across as doing this because he's expected to follow in Nico's footsteps or anything like that. He is seemingly truly enjoying the ride.

Didn't read through the entire thread, but one thing they aren't doing is the CIF postseason.

Not a fan of how CIF structures their postseason with so many rounds to get to State, but also not a fan of throwing a State Championship away.

All around a bad situation for the CA State Meet; bad scheduling and now the best hs distance team in the history of the country won't be attending.

What are they doing?

EPO.

You can see this in their videos.

I hope everyone appreciates that, in addition to their accomplishments running, the kids at NP are having FUN! I remember eating at a restaurant after a big Northeast XC meet, and the Saratoga girls weren't allowed to have desert because they didn't run up to expectations (only won by 50, or something like that). They were seriously moping, the best team in the nation. Great program, success-wise, but not much fun for the kids except those who maybe only cared about winning.

Fast and fun is a combination we should all respect and it seems healthy for the kids' long-term development.

That is one of the biggest factors. Where I am, a lot of runners have parents who insist their kids get a job, and this makes the kids either miss practices, or beg to leave early far too often. Plus, you have parents who take their kids on vacations at the worst times. we had one girl miss two weeks to go with her mom, then we had the state mandate of two weeks of no practice, and then her dad took her for another two week vacation. I should also point out that she tells me she doesn't run then because she is "on vacation." She essentially missed six weeks of training the summer before her senior year, and they wonder why she isn't as fast as they think she could be. Parents of kids at schools like NP have bought into the fact that the scholarships their kids will get from consistent training will make up for any loss in income from any job.

imagine running as fast as leo young ran and still getting second place. i'm sure whether he likes Sahlman or not, he is ready for him to move on so that he can have some wins. that goes for their whole top 7. these kids would probably win basically everywhere else but theyre like the number 4 or 5 guy.

Loved the new gen video!! …….except Ben Crawford’s voice is not built for voiceover

Sahlman is a teammate so it’s very likely they are good friends. I was the fastest guy on my team at 9:28 and would have been the happiest kid in the country if I was an 8:40 guy that was 4th on his team instead.

I don’t believe the kids at NP are morons.

i agree and im sure they are thrilled to be on the team but i just wonder if any of them ever just want the win. they are kids after all so I would understand the desire for first.

Where did you read this?

In the big meets, all 4 of them will be in the same race. If the 4th guy at NP is on another team, he’s still going to finish 4th. If If I was him I would prefer to have them be my teammates. He’s probably receiving more attention for being a top runner on the greatest team in HS sports history anyway.

You should check their schedule:
SCHEDULE | NPHS T&F Website (nphstf.org)

Does the coach teach at the high school and is he a paid coach for the track team? They are going to skip the CIF post season? Wow! Is that a conflict of interest? Wouldn’t the school’s track coach be responsible for competing for the school? I’d imagine if he was a club coach, the kids could choose to not participate for the school and participate in open competitions outside of the team structure. I’m not that familiar with what it takes to win a team state championship in CA, but with their top 5, they would have to be a least a threat to win, right?

I don’t believe the state meet is considered to be post season.