20 years ago, the LetsRun.com singlet embarrassed itself and lost to a HSer when Alan Webb 1st broke 4 in the mile

Picture quality is bad enough that you might be able to deny that it is a letsrun singlet.

oldschoollrc wrote:

Picture quality is bad enough that you might be able to deny that it is a letsrun singlet.

Good point. And the TFN writing covered it up on the cover.

What's interesting is what we wrote about the race at the time.

In our article, we urged people to 1) not put too much pressure on Webb and 2) Wondered if he was even the best HSer in the world as we noted a guy named Nick Willis ran 4:01 in the mile around the same time.

https://www.letsrun.com/webbperspective.html

rojo wrote:

What's interesting is what we wrote about the race at the time. In our article, we urged people to 1) not put too much pressure on Webb and 2) Wondered if he was even the best HSer in teh world as we noted a guy named Nick Willis ran 4:01 in the mile around the same time.

https://www.letsrun.com/webbperspective.html

Fascinating history. So what happened in the high school championships that Willis entered? Did Webb compete. I suspect Ritz was the star.

The Guy in the LetsRun singlet was wearing a new Nike shoe with a new geometry and super light foam. The shoe was called the Jasari . LetsRun began modern the era of the Cheater Shoe .

The Jasari was worn in the 96 Olympics. Hardly new by 2001.

I don't see what's so 'embarassing' about losing to a HSer. Plently of people are pretty close to their prime in their teens. Moer embarassing would be losing to someone age 40+ or a woman.

I don't know any background beyond the results but the matchup never happened. Neither Willis nor Ritz appear to have participated in NSIC 2001. Webb won the 2mile handily over his future Michigan teammate and Canadian Nate Brannen (8'45 to 8'57)

The entirety of the results are worth a scroll to see some familiar names peppered throughout

https://md.milesplit.com/meets/580-nike-indoor-classic-2001/results/1449/raw#.YAm3vuhKjqY

Boys 2 Mile Run

& National: 8:40.00 Gerry Lindgren, Rogers, Spokane, WA 02/15/64

* Meet: 8:52.94 Dathan Ritzenbein, Rockford, MI 2000

! Freshman: 9:31.20 Alan Scharsu, Fitch, Austintown, OH 1975

@ Sophomore: 8:55.80 Rudy Chapa, Hammond, IN 1974

# Junior: 8:52.94 Dathan Ritzenbein, Rockford, MI 2000

% Senior: 8:40.00 Gerry Lindgren, Rogers, Spokane, WA 02/15/64

Finals - Results - Sunday 03/11/01

PLACE ATHLETE NAME YR HOMETOWN TIME HT

===== ========================= == ========================= ========== ==

1 Webb, Alan B 01 Reston, VA 8:45.19 # 3

2 Brannen, Nathan V 01 Cambridge, ON 8:57.28 ! 3

3 Pilkington, Seth A 01 Roy, UT 9:06.71 ! 3

4 Haas, Stephen 01 Huntersville, NC 9:10.50 ! 3

5 Millioen, Charles 01 S. Huntington, NY 9:11.37 ! 3

6 Jefferson, Sean M 01 Delray Beach, FL 9:12.03 ! 3

7 Fuqua, Scott 02 Birmingham, AL 9:12.39 ! 3

8 Smitson, Robert D 01 Carmel, IN 9:16.22 ! 3

9 Meindl, Peter W 02 Orchard Park, NY 9:16.71 ! 3

10 Steier, Rolf E 02 Temple Terrace, FL 9:19.89 ! 2

11 Fujimoto, Kyle M 01 Rockford, MI 9:24.57 ! 2

12 Keally, Matthew 02 Virginia Beach, VA 9:25.09 ! 2

13 Elder, Chris 01 Raleigh, NC 9:28.56 ! 2

14 Deak, Ryan J 04 Tallahasse, FL 9:29.10 ! 1

15 Comstock, Patrick W 01 Portsmouth, VA 9:30.51 ! 1

16 Wilkinson, Kalib 02 Huntersville, NC 9:30.52 ! 1

17 Smith, Brian R 01 Belmont, MI 9:30.54 ! 3

18 Sheehan, Ryan 01 Pittsburgh, PA 9:31.36 2

19 Schwartz, Kevin 02 Cincinnati, OH 9:34.46 2

20 Basinger, Christopher D 01 Pickerington, OH 9:45.09 2

21 Jacobs, Joseph M 01 Bloomingdale, NJ 9:46.71 1

22 Frum, Drew J 01 Poland, OH 9:50.77 1

23 Rappole, Jesse 01 Bemus Point, NY 9:51.44 1

24 Catano, James V 01 Pembroke, MA 9:52.76 3

25 Cianciulli, Matthew P 02 Flagler Beach, FL 10:00.34 3

26 Puett, Adam G 01 Huntsville, AL 10:01.22 2

27 Weaver, Austin 02 Brentwood, TN 10:04.47 1

Boys 1 Mile Run

& National: 3:59.86 Alan Webb, South Lakes, Reston, VA 2001

* Meet: 4:07.87 Alan Webb, South Lakes, Reston, VA 2000

! Freshman: 4:23.90 Bobby Goss, Chelsea, MA 1975

@ Sophomore: 4:09.82 Andy Powell, Oliver Ames, N. Esaton, MA 1997

# Junior: 4:07.34 Andy Powell, Oliver Ames, N. Easton, MA 1998

% Senior: 3:59.86 Alan Webb, South Lakes, Reston, VA 2001

Finals - Results - Sunday 03/11/01

PLACE ATHLETE NAME YR HOMETOWN TIME HT

===== ========================= == ========================= ========= ==

1 Curtis, Bobby 03 Louisville, KY 4:12.00 ! 4

2 Lockhart, Bobby 02 Winchester, VA 4:12.11 ! 4

3 Thorne, Joe M 02 Chamblee, GA 4:14.55 ! 4

4 Jefferson, John W 01 Delray Beach, FL 4:15.81 ! 4

5 Stroup, Shane R 02 Highland, MD 4:18.56 ! 4

6 Schneider, Nick A 01 Victoria, MN 4:18.80 ! 4

7 Dillon, Bryan S 01 Sterling, CO 4:20.00 ! 4

8 Hayes, Stephen F 01 Potomac, MD 4:20.16 ! 3

9 Clayton, Alex B 03 Virginia Beach, VA 4:20.83 ! 3

10 Mazzocco, Dan 02 Pittsburgh, PA 4:22.91 ! 4

11 Vidal, David E 01 Kalispell, MT 4:22.93 ! 4

12 Snead, Leonard A 01 Burke, VA 4:23.34 ! 3

13 Jones, Kevin 01 Sumter, SC 4:23.37 ! 3

14 Ruff, Rondell D 01 Detroit, MI 4:25.01 1

15 Kays, Evan 01 Waynesboro, VA 4:25.07 4

16 Leive, Adam 01 Bryn Mawr, PA 4:25.17 2

17 Stern, Ben 02 Potomac, MD 4:25.41 1

18 Schappert, Kenneth 01 Delray beach, FL 4:27.06 2

19 Herbert, Edward 01 Virginia Beach, VA 4:27.33 3

20 Gosselin, Jeff 02 Cornelius, NC 4:28.10 2

21 Joseph, Josh 01 Marlton, NJ 4:28.37 3

22 Pawlik, Kevin M 01 Homewood, AL 4:28.79 2

23 Adrian, Jack R 01 Chevy Chase, MD 4:29.49 1

24 Tucker, Ross 01 Exeter, NH 4:34.28 1

25 Tatu, Alex J 03 Chester, VA 4:34.68 3

26 Gordineer, Matt R 01 Felton, DE 4:38.37 2

27 Wadsworth, John H 02 Davidson, NC 4:43.44 1

28 Platt, Chris S 02 Haddonfield, NJ 4:46.27 2

I may have mixed up meets and overlooked when Willis or Ritz competed with Webb (but I don't think so).

It appears that the meet considered to be the US high school indoor national championship follows this path:

National Scholastic Indoor Championship NSIC in the early and mid 90's

Nike Indoor Classic in the late 90's including Webb's high school years

Nike Indoor Nationals NIN in the mid 00's

New Balance Indoor Nationals NBIN in the early 10's

Thanks for the reminder about the 2-mile of Alan Scharsu.

Reading his PBs, seems that he lived up to his promise.

That's cool, one of the guys in that race still holds a school record or two where I go. Didn't realize he ran against Webb, or that he made it to indoor nationals.

Even worse- realizing I’ve been wandering through this “world famous message board” for over 20 years.