THE GREATEST HIGH SCHOOL RUNNER OF ALL TIME??

so your placing don sage at number 2 solely because of his 56 last lap in a 2 mile. that sounds legit to me.

haha.

The best high school runner of all time was probably from ethiopia or kenya, so I'm not sure. kenny bekele, hicham el guerrouj, eliud kipchoge, i dont know.

I ran faster than pre did as a freshman in HS (9:52 2-mile). Be careful who you consider.

I SAY GERMAN FERNANDEZ!!!!

purely in terms of fastest ever its definitely webb.

but as far as greatest, which takes into account accomplishments and how they rank in the world at that time you can't beat ryun and lindgren.

the clear top 3 for greatest ever are in this order:

ryun

lindgren

webb

and for the guy who mentioned xc, yes i'd say ritz was probably the best hs xc guy ever.

I have not seen anyone mention (did I miss it?) that Jim Ryun ran 3:55 in high on a CINDER TRACK! Cinder tracks are at least one second per lap slower than all-weather tracks that are so common now, so Ryun probably was running no slower than 3:51 on a track like Alan Webb ran on 40 years later.

What Ryun did in his era remains truly astounding.

As an aside, the first all-weather track used in international competition? Switzerland at the Weltclasse meet in 1968.

And I just have to mention Jeff Nelson as my all-time favorite. No one can ever take away what he achieved.

Steve Prefontaine.

Not just his 8:41.5, 4:06, or 13:52.5, but his attitude and passion. For a guy who runs a 5:01 as a HS frosh, those are pretty impressive. Pre did something no HS runner has done that I have heard of: his entire hometown cared about his running. He was very popular around Coos Bay. People started actually coming to high school dual meets.

He changed HS running like no one ever has. I don't care what you say, go to any XC or T&F meet, you will see plenty of t-shirts with his quotes on them. How many kids walk around with "Stop Ryun" shirts on? Even the sprinters on my team are offended when someone asks "Pre? Who is Pre?"

Ryun was a world class runner in high school and was among the best in the world. I know of no other US high school runner that can say that. Webb's performance puts him somewhat close - but he never was at the relative level that Ryun reached.

Virgin's 8:40 two mile is waaayy more impressive than any other high school two mile performance. I know - I was there - was about 12/13 years old at the time - and it was incredibly hot and humid - he ran all by himself. And the track was a beat up old blacktop job in Mount Prospect, Illinois - nothing special and clearly mediocre.

Ritzenhein indeed is likely the best HS XC runner of all time - but Lindgren deserves mention as well - difficult to compare the two. And given Pre's immediate dominance of college XC, his own high school XC performances may have been just as dominating - not sure what level of competition he ran against in Coos Bay.

Matthew Boling deserves consideration after this past season. It probably be several decades before his performances are surpassed.

INominate wrote:

Matthew Boling deserves consideration after this past season. It probably be several decades before his performances are surpassed.

Stop bumping old threads you useless tool. Ryun is the high school GOAT and it isn't even close.

Betty Robinson who has a 16 year old HS student won the Olympic 100m gold medal.

It always amazes me that Drew Hunter is left off these lists. He has, arguably, the best range of all except for maybe Webb: 1:48*, 3:57, 7:59 (3k), 14:20 (XC). Foot Locker Champ. Because I know the German Fernandez double will come up, Drew threw down a 1:48-8:43 double.

Drew's Dad wrote:

It always amazes me that Drew Hunter is left off these lists. He has, arguably, the best range of all except for maybe Webb: 1:48*, 3:57, 7:59 (3k), 14:20 (XC). Foot Locker Champ. Because I know the German Fernandez double will come up, Drew threw down a 1:48-8:43 double.

Drew Hunter was about 10 years old when most of the lists were posted.

Drew's Dad wrote:

It always amazes me that Drew Hunter is left off these lists. He has, arguably, the best range of all except for maybe Webb: 1:48*, 3:57, 7:59 (3k), 14:20 (XC). Foot Locker Champ. Because I know the German Fernandez double will come up, Drew threw down a 1:48-8:43 double.

Hunter and Fernandez should NEVER be brought up, given that they will 100% of the time lose by default to Verzbicas.

Verzbicas had 3:59, 8:29, 8:40i, 14:06i, was double Footlocker Champ, was Footlocker/NXN Champ in the same year, won the NBIN 5K/2Mile/Mile at same meet, and won the entire NBIN meet by HIMSELF.

Comparing Verzbicas' range and body of accomplishments to guys like Ritz, Webb, Ryun, etc. actually works because he, at minimum, has accomplished significant things that they have not. Fernandez' accomplishments are inferior in every conceivable way to Verzbicas. Times, victories, EVERYTHING. Hunter compares better and wins in the 800m and mile, but loses in everything else along with all of cross country.

Seyta wrote:

Hunter and Fernandez should NEVER be brought up, given that they will 100% of the time lose by default to Verzbicas.

Verzbicas had 3:59, 8:29, 8:40i, 14:06i, was double Footlocker Champ, was Footlocker/NXN Champ in the same year, won the NBIN 5K/2Mile/Mile at same meet, and won the entire NBIN meet by HIMSELF.

Comparing Verzbicas' range and body of accomplishments to guys like Ritz, Webb, Ryun, etc. actually works because he, at minimum, has accomplished significant things that they have not. Fernandez' accomplishments are inferior in every conceivable way to Verzbicas. Times, victories, EVERYTHING. Hunter compares better and wins in the 800m and mile, but loses in everything else along with all of cross country.

Maybe I'm biased because Verzbicas was my era but I always thought he was the most impressive high school runner. It can be hard to compare with specialists like Ryun or Webb since they were so dominant in their event but Verzbicas just had incredible range. Sub 4 and sub 8:30 are special on their own but when you throw in 3 national cross country titles I think he takes the crown.

It's Ryun. Period.

Not Only Would wrote:

It's Ryun. Period.

No question, Ryun was way ahead of his time and ran ridiculous miles with ridiculous pacing on crappy tracks - times, which, when converted, would hold up against the best marks today.

But, outside of the mile (& 880), what did he really accomplish? I would have to put Virgin up there for his cross country & track prowess, but I think Ritz is ultimately just slightly a step higher. The bronze medal in world junior xc when the Africans had finally “arrived” is what sets him apart for me. Both Virgin and Ritz were great over the 3200 and 5000, and Virgin probably had the more accomplished “Olympic” career, but, as a prep looking at the entire body of work, it’s Ritz for me.

Lots of great choices though.

ohio state baby wrote:

Jesse Owens- 4 world records while in HS

This. He never gets his due!