flip book feed wrote:
The second best performance ever by a high schooler next to Webb's 3:53.
There have been some other high school performances that rival or maybe surpass any of these. Many of the sprint and field event records, like Michael Carter's other-worldly bomb of 81'3.5" (provided there was a conversion to the international shot), might rank as high on a world list as Webb's mile time. But high schoolers tend to perform better in the short, explosive events relative to adults, while they usually require more maturation to achieve the same level in distance running. So comparing a high schooler's 20.13 or 44.69 or 7'7" (all world class performances) to a two-mile of 8:34.40 (not a world class performace) isn't really fair due to the maturation issue.
Looking at the middle distance or long distance performances, Rupp's 13:37.91 is probably better than 8:34.40 at face value. However, Rupp did have the advantage of being hoovered along by other runners in his race. On the other hand, Rupp beat a record that was older (and more long-standing) than the hallowed Jim Ryun mile record that Webb beat, and one which may have been harder for a high school runner to achieve, again due to the maturation issue. So which performance is better? A largely solo 8:34 or a running-with-elites 13:37? Or might Lindgren's 13:44.0 on a poor-quality cinder track be the best HS distance performance of all time? And could any of these runners beat Chapa's 28:32.7 even if they really wanted to? That one (because of the age factor again) might be every bit as impressive. They're all amazing in their own right. But at least now there's no doubt who ran the best HS 2-mile ever. Breaking the record outright was enough to lay that to rest, but doing it from the front makes it far-and-away a better performance than Nelson's 8:36.3.
In comparing HS mile records, don't forget Jim Ryun beat the Olympic Champion! No, it wasn't a 3:53.43, but you can only beat who shows up, right? In this case, it was the best in the world. So the guy was a baller and it's conceivable he could have run 3:53 or better in the same race Webb ran. And that 3:58.3 on a cinder track (with a 53.9 last 440) in a HS-only meet could be as impressive a HS mile as has ever been run. So was Ryun better than Webb as a high schooler? It might have depended on who else was in the race and how it played out, but it certainly would have been a race to see. For some reason, I can't see Webb managing that 3:58.3 cinder track race, but maybe Ryun was topped out at 3:55.3 in HS and couldn't have beaten Webb's record time in any kind of race. We'll never know. It's all just grist for the speculation mill.
What is clear is that high school running is as good as it has ever been, at least at the top. This Fernandez kid just took down a legendary record pretty much by himself. And don't forget Chris Derrick, who ran a totally solo 13:55.96, a mark which stacks up pretty well with a low-8:40s 2M. And neither of these guys won the FLCC championship! That Fout kid (like Withrow beating Rupp and Kiptoo and McDougal several years ago) must be pretty good himself to have beaten these superstars.
Hats off to Fernandez.