Best Quadruple?

Captain Spalding wrote:

Turena Johnson Lane (Luther) won the 1500, 3000, 5000, and 10000 at her conference meet in 1997. Can't find the times, though she did run 4:37, 10:06, 17:01, and 35:52.96 that season.

http://www.fast-women.com/athletes/interviews/turenajohnsonlane.html

Found it as soon as I posted:

1500: 4:44

3000: 10:18

5000:18:21

10000: 37:30

Not super fast, but winning the quad is always impressive.

I am surprised no one has mentioned the amazing quadruple performed by Chris Nelloms at the Ohio State Meet in 1990. I think it may be the greatest high school quadruple of all-time.

In front of 30,000 spectators at Ohio State Stadium, Nelloms ran the following times:

110 hurdles 13.57

400m 45.59

200m 20.47

1600m relay 44.9 split

What makes this quadruple so spectacular is not just the times he ran, but the fact that he also did it all in a span of just 45 minutes! That's right, 45 MINUTES between the time when the gun fired for the 110 high hurdles and the time he took the baton for his leg of the relay! His 200m time was the second-fastest in the nation that year (Henry Neal of Texas ran 0.01 faster), and it was sandwiched between two monster 400's with almost no reovery! I was there, and it remains the most amazing display of running I've ever seen.

By the way, Nelloms was a very unlikely hurdler. At only 5'9" with a really thick upper body and skinny legs, he looked like he would fall flat on his face. His form was ragged, as he appeared to hop over the barriers rather than hurdling them. However, he was incredibly fast between the barriers, and he actually ended up running a national high school record (13.30) which stood for nearly 20 years.

In the 200m and 400m, Nelloms had amazing leg turnover. He looked like one of those cartoon characters where a person's legs turn into a whirling wheel. At the same time, he was always completely relaxed and never seemed to be running all-out.

Nelloms also ran cross country. I remember seeing him running toward the finish line at the Regional Meet in 1989. At first, I didn't know who he was. I thought he must be a spectator who was sprinting for a better view; he was passing people left and right so fast that I could not get a good look at him. He must have passed more than 75 people in the last 200 meters. Then, as he got into the finish chute and slowed down, I saw that it was Chris Nelloms. His final time was around 18 minutes--jogging for three miles and running his last 200m in 20 seconds.

Nelloms was named High School Athlete of the Year by TRACK AND FIELD NEWS in 1990 and went on to run for Ohio State. He won 3 individual NCAA titles in the 200m (two indoor and one outdoor) and was a member of two NCAA champion 4 x 400m relay teams. Unfortunately, however, he never reached his full potential. His career was interrupted by a gunshot wound in 1992 (shot in the back by an unknown assailant). Then, in 1999, he was convicted of raping the 12-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, which resulted in a 40-year sentence with no possibility of parole. What a sad end to an incredible talent!

I doubled checked and Andrew Springer indeed ran all 4 races in one afternoon at the Rhode Island state meet.

His times were: 3200 relay leg-1:58, 1500-3:54.02, 800-1:56.26, 3000-8:29.35

the 1500 equates to 4:09 for 1600 and the 3000 equates to 9:04 for 3200.

This is the best high school quadruple I've ever heard of. Bridget Franek's doesn't count since she ran the 3200 relay the day before.

George Webbs wrote:

This is the best high school quadruple I've ever heard of.

Comparable, but I think Zishka's is a little better for distance runners but I'm biased being originally from Ohio.

Springer: 1:58 1:56 4:09 9:04

Zishka: :51 1:53 4:10 8:49

For high schoolers, it seems these two, Nelloms, and Giles are ahead of the pack with Nelloms probably the leader.

malmo wrote:

It's pretty damn tough to top this one.

Rodney Giles, Northern, 1983 Maryland State Championships (5 hours)

1600 4:17.8 (1st)

400 47.8 (1st)

800 1:51.0 (1st)

8 x 800 1:46.7 (1st)

Some Giles facts:

The 400, 800 and 1600 in that quad were state meet records. One of which (forget if it was the 400 or 800) was the overall state record.

Legend had it Giles ran to school. Living in Calvert county, that is no small feat. He live in Sunderland and ran to the school in Owings several times a week in the mornings. I met him back in 99 and asked him about that. Apparently the team would meet at Sunderland post office and they'd run to school in the morning. That's about 4-5 miles after meeting the team. He lived another 2 from there. Not a long run but considering a high schooler doing that as a morning run before the 720 bell rang, kinda impressive.

I later went on to break Gile's 2-mile record. It was a pedestrian 949 compared to the rest of his records (1600 record was 409!). I was pumped to have 'dethroned the legend' but later slightly deflated when I found out the story behind his 949. Why so slow? Giles hated the 2-mile. He ran that his sophmore year, with no warm-up, after begging to be released from detention. He ran to the track, changed shoes and ran a 949.

college indoor meet:

1:57 800m

7.73 55hh

49.x 4x400 split

6'5'' high jump

42'8'' triple jump

(I know its 5 events)

AC XC wrote:

college indoor meet:

1:57 800m

7.73 55hh

49.x 4x400 split

6'5'' high jump

42'8'' triple jump

(I know its 5 events)

Please tell me you're a multi-eventer.

Calvert County wrote:

Some Giles facts:

The 400, 800 and 1600 in that quad were state meet records. One of which (forget if it was the 400 or 800) was the overall state record.

Actually, only the 800 was a State Meet record. Not sure about the 400, but the 1600 wasn't even the Class 3A record.

malmo wrote:

Calvert County wrote:

Some Giles facts:

The 400, 800 and 1600 in that quad were state meet records. One of which (forget if it was the 400 or 800) was the overall state record.

Actually, only the 800 was a State Meet record. Not sure about the 400, but the 1600 wasn't even the Class 3A record.

Hmmm, now I need to go dig up my old state meet books. I'm not doubting you as much as I'm doubting my memory now.

The 400 was def. a 3a record, not an overall record. I could have sworn he had 3 records that day.

Calvert County wrote:

The 400 was def. a 3a record, not an overall record. I could have sworn he had 3 records that day.

Since he ran 4:12 in 82 he couldn't have set the record in 83 with a 4:17 could he?

My senior year of HS we had a two-bus schedule. Typically the coaches, most of the field event folks, and some of the early-competing track folks would take the first bus. I was usually put in charge of the second bus with one of the athletic trainers, but for one particular dual meet, the second bus never showed up. By the time I got in touch with the coaching staff, got the first bus sent back, and we got to the meet, the events were half over, and we were en route to our first ever dual meet loss to the host team.

On arrival, I promptly asked the head coach what event was next, and had him add me. I jogged back across the infield to our camp so I could put my spikes on, then headed to the start line (that was the extent of my warmup).

I then proceeded to run 51.3 to win the open 400, jogged during the 300m IH, ran 1:58 to win the 800, jogged during the 200m, ran 9:45 to easily win the 3200m (we needed to sweep to win the meet at that point, so the pacing was a little peculiar, fast enough to burn their best guy, slow enough to pull our third guy along...we ended up going 1-3-4). Then I anchored the 1600m relay in 50.1.

Not the most spectacular performance, but with no warmup and little rest, that was one of my better quadruples.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------malmo wrote:

Calvert County wrote:

Some Giles facts:

The 400, 800 and 1600 in that quad were state meet records. One of which (forget if it was the 400 or 800) was the overall state record.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Actually, only the 800 was a State Meet record. Not sure about the 400, but the 1600 wasn't even the Class 3A record.

Hmmm, now I need to go dig up my old state meet books. I'm not doubting you as much as I'm doubting my memory now.

The 400 was def. a 3a record, not an overall record. I could have sworn he had 3 records that day.

___________________________________________________________

I dont think he set the 1600m was a state record at that meet , Regardless, Rodney Giles was one of the best HS runners EVER. He had more talent than anyone I can think of in last 20yrs outside of Webb.

This was a guy who won the MD state chamionship indoors ion the 300m vs some guys w/serious speed Largo, Fairmont Heights, etc. He beat Abdur Azzizidun R'aoof in the 400m. R'aoof became known as one of the fastest college Wide Recievers.

Giles also won the MD state XC championship at least twice. He ran 3:51 at Millrose as Jr.

Yes, its no typo he ran 1:46.X on the 4 x 800m relay at the state champ, 1:48 at regionals.

He had wicked athsma and a withered left arm that didnt move much when he ran. You thing Lagat is smooth when he ran, Rodney looked like he was ice skating. He was about 5'11 145lbs. He grew up in a very rural area of MD at the time, mostly tabacco feilds. Pretty segregated also. Only athletes to compare him with were maybe Earl Jones and Alan Webb- he was that talented.

If you were a 9:00 3200m guy you would have a huge race on your hand. If you were a 21 sec 200m guy, same thing.

He also seemed like a real nice person

Anne Arundle County wrote:

Only athletes to compare him with were maybe Earl Jones and Alan Webb- he was that talented.

To sum it up, Giles was David Mack, without the ghetto personality.

Plus he didnt kill Biggie

malmo wrote:

Only athletes to compare him with were maybe Earl Jones and Alan Webb- he was that talented.

Actually, Bob Wheeler of Dulaney HS in Timonium, MD was the national high school record-holder in the indoor 600, and ran a 1:49 (yards, equiv of 1:48m) and a 4:06 mile in high school.

Always surprised that, when the subject of quads comes up, more people don't bring up the fact that Ritz ran his HS 8:41 as part of a quad: http://www.dyestat.com/rivals/198704.htmlWe don't know the times for his two anchors that followed, but the first race was a sub-2:00 800.

Individually, Rockford's male star, Dathan Ritzenhein, moved front and center. After warming up with a sub-2:00 anchor for Rockford's second place 4x800 relay (7:52.60), Ritz destroyed the 3200 meter field with a time of 8:41.10. That converts to a 2-mile time of 8:44.5, best in the nation this year (See TidBits on Page 1 for Donald Sage's US#2 time, also Friday night.) Ritz was 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Steve Padgett, of Cincinnati OH Lasalle. Ritz' splits:

400m: 65 seconds

800m: 2:10

1600m: 4:19

Ritzenhein had two more anchors before his night's work was done. He anchored the 4x1600 relay that Rockford won in 17:58.28, and the distance medley.

Not the best obviously, but a very unique one by someone from my high school team.

400-48

4 x 400 split-48

4 x 800 split-1:57

Discus-150 ft

He was an unbelievable athlete

Dulaney had the by far favored 4 x 800m when Rodney caught them on the anchor. He had to be 40m down. It was kind of funny to watch, at least one Northern guy had tennis shoes on, Rodney put his head down, shook it like "this is going to be impossible" and ran 1:46

Wheeler was before my time but was obviously talented also. I dont remember much from him in college?

Dwight Scriber was another one with great talent, think he went to school way down southern Md?

Anne Arundle County wrote:

Wheeler was before my time but was obviously talented also. I dont remember much from him in college?

Wheeler made the Olympic 1500m Team in 1972.

1972 NCAA

David Wottle * Bowling Green State University 3:39.7 10

Jerome Howe Kansas State University 3:39.8 8

Bob Wheeler Duke University 3:40.9 6

Willie Eashman California State University, Hayward 3:41.0 4

Joseph Savage Manhattan College 3:41.6 2

Ken Popejoy Michigan State University 3:41.9 1

1971 NCAA

Marty Liquori * Villanova University 3:57.6 10

Bob Wheeler Duke University 3:59.9 8

Keith Munson Oregon State University 4:00.7 6

Chris Mason Villanova University 4:01.2 4

Greg Carlberg University of Nebraska at Kearney 4:01.2 2

Hector Ortiz Western Kentucky University 4:01.4 1