THE GREATEST HIGH SCHOOL RUNNER OF ALL TIME??

1)J.Ryun 2)G.Lindgren 3)J.Nelson

she set an indoor WR inthe 880 at 16 years old.

she went to Orange HS Orange Ca I think.

Renaldo Nehemiah

enduranceguy wrote:

1. I'm going to have to say Lindgren at least as far as versatility is concerned. went 4:01, 8:40, and 13:44 which means he ran faster at at least one of the distances than any of the other guys.

2. Next would be Don Sage who closed a 56 last lap of an 8:40 2mile. He probably could've gone a faster and had plenty of other credentials.

3. Ryun. made olympic team, went sub 4 at 17. Didnt have the endurance to do what lindgren did at 5k so thats really the only reason he isnt number 1.

4. Alan Webb

4. Rupp, Pre, Ritz, Chappa, maybe others im missing

Sage ran 8:42 for 3200 not 8:40 for 2 miles. Ryun obviously trumps all of them running with keino @ altitude, who was probably the best runner in the world at the time from 10k on down. Virgin is above sage because he ran 8:40 for 2 miles not 3200. Sage was good but he only won 1 ncaa 1500 title. He was pretty consistent in xc except for his senior year when he finished 13th and was stanfords 6ths guy. It is true sage should not be on this list.

Mary Decker started as a club runner. She started racing about age 12 and ran some fantastic times at 13 and 14 but I do not believe that she ever ran a high school race. She ran internationally at age 14 running in the 1500 in the US vs USSR meet and winning the Pan-Pacific Games 880 before going to Europe that year. She was injured a great deal in her later teen years

Let's not forget that Ryun ran under 4:00, 5 times in HS plus a 3:39 1500. Then you have his 3:58 in high school only competition & a 1:49. His 2-mile was only 9:04, but it was part of a double at Golden West in which he won that & the mile in 4:04 (probably with little rest). Kansas had a rule back then that you could only run 1 race over 400m per meet. So if you figure he had 8 meets his senior year & he broke 4 in 4 of them, ran 1:49 in another, ran a monster leg on a 7:40 4x880 in another & then did this double. You only have 1 meet left! Golden West was probably the only time he ran the 2-mile & I doubt he took the distance very serious.

Incidentally, I believe that girls did not run two miles or 3200 meters in the California state meet until 1977. (There was no 800/880 or mile for them until 1974.) Women did not run 5,000 meters in those days.

obea moore was the greatest high school runner (100m-mile!) Dont quote me on the time but i think he ran 10.3, 20.?, 45,148-9, 4:10-12,Webb/Ryun a battle for second.Rupp 13:37/401/ before Ritz 13:44 2xc titles no ill take that back ritz won more titles and that makes him more of a champion.

wasn't pre below 13:44 in the 5k 30 years before ritz, and I'm sure he had the cross-country title nailed if they had had them

dont worry about it! wrote:

obea moore was the greatest high school runner (100m-mile!) Dont quote me on the time but i think he ran 10.3, 20.?, 45,148-9, 4:10-12,Webb/Ryun a battle for second.Rupp 13:37/401/ before Ritz 13:44 2xc titles no ill take that back ritz won more titles and that makes him more of a champion.

anEconomist wrote:

wasn't pre below 13:44 in the 5k 30 years before ritz, and I'm sure he had the cross-country title nailed if they had had them

Actually he ran 13:50. Of course Rupp ran 13:37 & 4:01 & wasn't able to win Footlocker.

excuse me... 13:52 to be accurate

Obea Moore did not run a 4:10 mile.

Wow! I was just going to mention Art myself. If not for some injuries, he would have been a legitimate threat to win the Olympics - he used to blow away Shorter and Rodgers in HS and college.

dont worry about it! wrote:

obea moore was the greatest high school runner (100m-mile!) Dont quote me on the time but i think he ran 10.3, 20.?, 45,148-9, 4:10-12,Webb/Ryun a battle for second.Rupp 13:37/401/ before Ritz 13:44 2xc titles no ill take that back ritz won more titles and that makes him more of a champion.

I don't know where that mile or 1600 time for Obea is coming from.

He ran 20.77/45.14/1:49.16

link wrote:

Wow! I was just going to mention Art myself. If not for some injuries, he would have been a legitimate threat to win the Olympics - he used to blow away Shorter and Rodgers in HS and college.

Both Shorter and Rodgers toasted a slew of guys who used to "blow them away" in HS and college.

However have you moticed all the top runners currently were big-time studs in high school. Think about it:

Rupp

Goucher

McDOugal

Ritz

Webb

Dobson

That's the trend for the moment. You just don't seem to see 4:25 and 9:30 guys like Rodgers and Shorter moving on to the top anymore.

Brian Sell?Meb wasn't as good in HS or College as Goucher either.

slaps wrote:

However have you moticed all the top runners currently were big-time studs in high school. Think about it:

Rupp

Goucher

McDOugal

Ritz

Webb

Dobson

That's the trend for the moment. You just don't seem to see 4:25 and 9:30 guys like Rodgers and Shorter moving on to the top anymore.

NY runner wrote:

Brian Sell?

Meb wasn't as good in HS or College as Goucher either.

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Fam & Lincoln also.

Interesting observation that the current hot US runners were high school phenoms. Not sure that is good. Ryun and Lindgren's success in the 60s instilled the idea in a generation of runners that brutal interval sessions and 150-mile weeks could make you into a world class runner while still in high school. But injuries and burnout followed for many who tried to follow in those footsteps (not to menton for Ryun and Lindgren themselves). Rodgers and Shorter had more balanced lives in high school and college, and ultimately had very sucessful and long careers. I'm not sure that by following their more gradual path that a runner today will not be able to cut it with the current crop of runners--in the long run.