4:10 and 9:00 are garbage times for a high schooler

not going to happen wrote:

I’m sure your post is tongue in cheek but there is some truth in it. I graduated highschool back in 2006 when a 410 or a sub 9 would be eye popping and get you on the front page or Dyestat.

Now, in a world where highschool kids break four every year, and seemingly every single state has at least one kid going sub 410 or sub 9 those times are good but not head turning like they were 15 years ago.

More high school kids were breaking 4 even before these new shoes. People are just getting faster. Something like 70% of the sub 4 high shchoolrs have done it in the past 10 years or so. Almost every year before the shoes came out. Did anyone other than Hobbs do it this year? If the shoes make that much of a difference then all of the 4:02-4:04 guys should be sub 4 this year, but there's only Hobbs and maybe one other person who I don't know, because I don't think there is anyone else.

Harrison may join them, and Nathan Green ran 4:00.97

Fast Young Runner wrote:

I don't think you realize how much things have changed. There used to be years in which the 10th best time in the US was 9:05. It now will be 8:4x. 100th would have been 9:20 while it will be 9:0x this year. So the scholarship mark has dropped by about 20 seconds.

I don't at all disagree and definitely realize how much faster kids are overall these days, but I'm a product of the 80s/90s which was pretty damn slow by anyone's standards. My point is that sub 4:10 and 9:00 are and always will be outstanding prep marks and in many instances, the undertrained 4:09 kid is going to fare better at the next level than the 4:04 kid who is all in. No college or HS coach scoffs at the times the OP dramatically and hyperbolically calls "garbage."

Ca$hclay wrote:

Fast Young Runner wrote:

I don't think you realize how much things have changed. There used to be years in which the 10th best time in the US was 9:05. It now will be 8:4x. 100th would have been 9:20 while it will be 9:0x this year. So the scholarship mark has dropped by about 20 seconds.

I don't at all disagree and definitely realize how much faster kids are overall these days, but I'm a product of the 80s/90s which was pretty damn slow by anyone's standards. My point is that sub 4:10 and 9:00 are and always will be outstanding prep marks and in many instances, the undertrained 4:09 kid is going to fare better at the next level than the 4:04 kid who is all in. No college or HS coach scoffs at the times the OP dramatically and hyperbolically calls "garbage."

Good luck getting a ride with 4:10 and 9.

west west wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Well, at least regarding the 3200, "garbage" is the wrong word, but your sentiment is not wrong.

In 2021, 62 HS boys broke 9:00 for 3200.

In 2018, 33 did. In 2019, 29 did.

67 now and it’ll going up. I think this largely can be attributed to Covid more than the shoes. When HS sports were canceled, kids kept training and more people set up regional meets. So we have a) kids racing less but still training hard), b) more big regional meets being set up where multiple kids with sub 9 potential show up, and c) more kids training and focusing on those big regional meets where times are the goal.

I’ll go ahead and predict the number drops unless this approach to the season changes and goes back to kids focusing on running too many in season league meets.

Not a bad prediction, and I think your reasoning is solid.