Rheinhardt Harrison can’t break 4 in the mile

zcxvzxcv wrote:

I don't know what agenda is going on here in a lot of the posts, but this is an 18 year old kid who set Florida xc records at the 8th grade (4 years ago) and senior high levels (this year), the 800, 1600, and 3200 records; who ran 4:01 just prior to his junior year; who ran sub 1:50 twice this year, I think, including a state record winning 1:48.52, winning by a couple seconds; and who did face COVID several times (in FL, no one masks up, so these kids get COVID repeatedly). Even if he doesn't race national competition after having to run eight Florida meets just to become state champion (five meets required to enter districts, then districts, regionals, and state), he has competed a great deal and did not have a light racing schedule at all, in contrast to Bowerman Track Club, the comparison made above. If he breaks four in high school, that's great. If he doesn't, there's no shame in that. The fact is that the sub-4 mile high school list has about as many guys who never improved as guys who did. Ryun, Webb, Hunter, and Liquori got faster. I think that Maton even got faster at 1500m before dropping the sport. Slagowski and Danielson never ran as fast. Not sure about the other recent guys. Grant Fisher is obviously doing fantastic. But most of the great American distance runners did not go sub-4 in high school. So, lighten up, Francis!

zcxvzxcv wrote:

I don't know what agenda is going on here in a lot of the posts, but this is an 18 year old kid who set Florida xc records at the 8th grade (4 years ago) and senior high levels (this year), the 800, 1600, and 3200 records; who ran 4:01 just prior to his junior year; who ran sub 1:50 twice this year, I think, including a state record winning 1:48.52, winning by a couple seconds; and who did face COVID several times (in FL, no one masks up, so these kids get COVID repeatedly). Even if he doesn't race national competition after having to run eight Florida meets just to become state champion (five meets required to enter districts, then districts, regionals, and state), he has competed a great deal and did not have a light racing schedule at all, in contrast to Bowerman Track Club, the comparison made above. If he breaks four in high school, that's great. If he doesn't, there's no shame in that. The fact is that the sub-4 mile high school list has about as many guys who never improved as guys who did. Ryun, Webb, Hunter, and Liquori got faster. I think that Maton even got faster at 1500m before dropping the sport. Slagowski and Danielson never ran as fast. Not sure about the other recent guys. Grant Fisher is obviously doing fantastic. But most of the great American distance runners did not go sub-4 in high school. So, lighten up, Francis!

Wise Old Man wrote:

zcxvzxcv wrote:

I don't know what agenda is going on here in a lot of the posts, but this is an 18 year old kid who set Florida xc records at the 8th grade (4 years ago) and senior high levels (this year), the 800, 1600, and 3200 records; who ran 4:01 just prior to his junior year; who ran sub 1:50 twice this year, I think, including a state record winning 1:48.52, winning by a couple seconds; and who did face COVID several times (in FL, no one masks up, so these kids get COVID repeatedly). Even if he doesn't race national competition after having to run eight Florida meets just to become state champion (five meets required to enter districts, then districts, regionals, and state), he has competed a great deal and did not have a light racing schedule at all, in contrast to Bowerman Track Club, the comparison made above. If he breaks four in high school, that's great. If he doesn't, there's no shame in that. The fact is that the sub-4 mile high school list has about as many guys who never improved as guys who did. Ryun, Webb, Hunter, and Liquori got faster. I think that Maton even got faster at 1500m before dropping the sport. Slagowski and Danielson never ran as fast. Not sure about the other recent guys. Grant Fisher is obviously doing fantastic. But most of the great American distance runners did not go sub-4 in high school. So, lighten up, Francis!

Thank you. I cannot figure out why this kid is given so much sh-t? Hocker’s HS mile pb is 4:12.

blork1980 wrote:

I wouldn't recruit Harrison to my college team, if I were the coach. He refuses to compete against his best peers in high school, so we'd have to assume he would refuse to compete in the NCAA championships. Right? How is that illogical? And again, the psychology I just don't get. Any teenager craves attention, accomplishment and measuring up well with your classmates. RH is obviously talented and should be toeing the line with all these other guys (who are going all out to compete with each other right now). So what's his fear? He'll wake up six months from now and realize the lost opportunities. You live with your choices.

Somewhat reminds me of Lukas Verzbicas, the 2 mile HS record holder. He decides to train for the triathlon, gets critically injured in a bicycle crash and that ended his running career. Should've stuck to his area of greatness. The point is that if you have outstanding talent (RH) then you have to compete and put it on display, not diddle around and take detours. Life has a way of permanently removing golden opportunities when you don't take advantage.