Fernandez 4:00.29!!!!!!

And by the way, as long as you're throwing in XC credentials to benefit Ritz, Jeff Nelson held the course record at Mt. SAC for many, many years! That feat is worth at LEAST as much as the Footlocker title, and probably more.

To say that Nelson's record is weak is just laughable. Every year how many HS kids run the 3200m or 2- mile? And yet no one has ever broken it or gotten with in 5 seconds of it?

Also don't forget that Fernandez had run a Prelims heat of the 1600m last nite as well, running 4:11.

I know Ritz had run and beat those guys while he was in HS, BUT Ritz would not have been able to beat Fernandez today in either race, neither would have any of those other guys.

Fernandez, would not have beaten Webb in the Mile, but He also doesn't train for the mile only like Webb did.He has no where near the speed that Webb had. BUT look at his pure strength that Fernandez has. He would have done to Webb what Ritz always did to him in HS, and that is run him into the ground. Fernandez would also run Ritz into the ground as well. This kid is special and will be fun to watch, hopefully he will continue to improve. So far he has about 2 yrs of running under his belt, with some more time and training in the sport he will do some amazing things.

midwaste wrote:

...his deuce is a national record (as stated previously).

No national record... yet wrote:

Jeff Nelson, 8:36 full 2 miles. He's #2 though.

The scary thing is he only has been training consistently without injuries for around 1-year. This guy is going to be crazy.

Montesquieu wrote:

Okay . . . I was wrong . . . again. It's not the end of the story. Vastly the greatest long distance double in the history of high school track and field.

An excellent and refreshingly honest post.

Almost! wrote:

midwaste wrote:

...his deuce is a national record (as stated previously).

No national record... yet wrote:

Jeff Nelson, 8:36 full 2 miles. He's #2 though.

why is this so hard to understand?

2 mile record is not the same as the 3200 record!

A more typical and less refreshing post.

This is not merely the second part of a great double. It is a great new national high school record. Nelson's 2-mile time was outstanding, fully deserving of its legendary status, but it was not in high school competition. Nelson didn't even win the race (he was third), so he had the real physiological advantage of pacers throughout the race. Webb's 3:53 at Pre was even more of an aided performance.

midwaste wrote:

2 mile record is not the same as the 3200 record!

If you want to start splitting hairs, you called it the "deuce." That is the nickname for the 2-mile. If we are really getting that technical, there is nothing "deuce" about the 3200m, because it's approximately 18m short of two miles.

Additionally, you can't dismiss Nelson's record simply because the clowns in the CIF created an entirely new distance. Maybe next year they will decide to start running the 3100m, and someone else will have the national record! Is that how it works?

The simple fact of the matter is that the 3200m is a poor-man's short-course "deuce" on the track. Even if you take Nelson's average pace AND account for the fact that it was hand-timed, his performance is still superior.

I'm sorry, but you can't take the record away from Nelson simply because there wasn't anyone timing him 18m before the finish line! Don't get me wrong, though. I think that Fernandez is amazing, and I would love to see him run 8:29 at NON. However, this evening he ran the second-fastest eight-lap race in HS history, and that's a fact.

hknkl wrote:

wow

30-30-30-30-30-30-30 what can you say

race video

http://www.dyestat.com/?pg=videos&vid=EE57477782878800

the kid was unreal

One other name must be added to this discussion, for even though he did not run the fastest two miler ever by a high school runner, he probably ran the greatest two miler ever, and that's Gerry Lindgren. His 8:40.0 on the wooden, eleven lap to the mile track at the smoky Cow Palace in San Francisco, where he led Ron Clarke, then the world record holder, for the first sixteen laps or so is still scarcely to be believed.

'Deuce' is often used interchangeably for for 3200 or 2 mile, especially since the 2 mile is rarely run these days. It's similar to the way that people refer to the 1500 as the metric mile (which drives me crazy incidentally). I was (obviously) referring to the fact that German ran a national record for 3200m and not 2 full miles.

Look, I'm not in charge of the governing bodies of high school track and field so I have no control over what distances they chose to recognize for record keeping purposes. Be that as it may, they choose to keep track of the 2 mile and the 3200 as seperate records. Consequently it is not incorrect to state that he broke the record for 3200m even if Nelson likely ran faster during his record 2 mile.

So in reality you are wrong (albeit mostly semantically) in saying that German ran the second fastest 8 lap race in high school history, since Nelson was in fact not running an 8 lap race, but an 8 lap + 18 meter race (as you so graciously pointed out before).

Stupid distinction? Perhaps. But then they also choose to distinguish between the 1500, the 1600, and the mile which is just as silly.

flash in the pan wrote:

he is a sub-elite division 1 guy.

I added nothing.

midwaste wrote:

So in reality you are wrong (albeit mostly semantically) in saying that German ran the second fastest 8 lap race in high school history, since Nelson was in fact not running an 8 lap race, but an 8 lap + 18 meter race (as you so graciously pointed out before).

Coincidentally enough, he is not wrong. Back then the Drake Stadium track was a 440-yard critter, so it really was an 8-lap race! Nice try on that back-pedaling, though.

To add to this silly debate, Fernandez has now run the fastest "8-lap race in HS history," as 8:34 is faster than 8:36. And "that's a fact."

fair enough (should'a figured it was a yards track), but the point remains the same, which is that one was running a 3200m race and one a 3218m race. No 'back-pedaling' necessary.

LARRY B. wrote:

I dont understand how both Derrick and Fernandez didn't win footlocker.

Easy, there was a better runner in the race that day.

hmm ? wrote:

To add to this silly debate, Fernandez has now run the fastest "8-lap race in HS history," as 8:34 is faster than 8:36. And "that's a fact."

nice.

I think he has a great shot at both sub 4:00y and the 2 mile record as well. If he got both, he has to be up there with Webb, Ryun, Lindgren.