Who were your state's high school running stars when you competed/were still in high school? How far did they go in the sport?

In my state, when I was in HS it was Alan Webb. I didn’t run in high school but I followed the results and in our division (AA) Bobby Lockhart was the guy to beat, and a guy from my school (a year younger than Lockhart) was pretty good and ran a 9:02 junior year which seemed insane to me since I couldn’t even run one mile at that pace then.

My senior year of high school Stan Mavis won the state cc championships (although not the track -- not sure why) -- he went on to have a pretty respectable career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Mavis

Joan Benoit went on to some real success…I sat behind her in geometry class. Then there was this guy named Bruce Bickford, who made a couple of teams as well…

1975-6 wrote:

Joan Benoit went on to some real success…I sat behind her in geometry class. Then there was this guy named Bruce Bickford, who made a couple of teams as well…

I believe Bickford is the last American to be ranked #1 in the World at 10000 Meters by Track and Field News

Guy Emmons - Marlboro HS (NJ), 1978. Something like 4:03 mile in HS. Not sure what he did afterwards.

Neighboring school, senior when I was sophomore:

Pete Pfitzinger, Olympic marathoner.

Same NYS Section, senior when I was a junior:

John Tuttle, Olympic marathoner.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

CrispyChicken wrote:

Here's the LRC discussion about Rebekah Noble from over 10 years ago:

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3594708

The thread posts to an article about Noble with Noble describing in her own words some of the issues, many of which all successful people face when the music starts to fade.

I probably read the same article and it was a serious foot injury that contributed to the end of her running at a top level.

Although she probably still could have run, her "medical thing" as she says in the article, was probably a bigger issue than the foot injury. Not a career. And last time I saw her I actually went into a restaurant and she was having breakfast with Dellinger, like described in article.

✓ Eric Mastalir (Stanford)

✓ Mark Mastalir (Stanford)

✓ Paul Thomas (Arkansas) (currently a bad-ass cyclist)

✓ Marc Davis (Arizona) (Kinney record holder)

✓ Reggie Williams (CAL) 408/816/1419; double state track champ, division cross country champ

✓ Ian Alsen (Arkansas) Double Arcadia Champ

✓ David Scudamore (Stanford) (Kinney Finalist)

✓ Francis O'Neill (Kansas State) state 1600m champ (good steeple career)

✓ Bryan Dameworth (joined LAPD) (double state cross country champ

✓ Dan Gabor (Arkansas) Killed in TWA Flight 800 crash

✓ Laurie Chapman (UCLA) (NorCal cross country champion

✓ Rebecca Chamberlain

✓ Mary Mendoza

✓ Katy McCandless (Princeton: represented IRE in the Olympics)

✓ Kira Jorgensen (UCLA) (university instructor)

✓ Karen Hecox (husband, Coley Candaele, coached Michael Norman in HS)

✓ Deena Drossin (marathoner)

A kid from Banning High School who moved up north to American High School. My team was a 3:20 team. American turned into a 3:15 one. He won state his two years in the Bay Area. Won GWI. Ran 45.76 by the time he headed to uni. Ran on the first sub-3:00 collegiate team. Ran in the Olympic Trials. Competed in a few Grand Prix races. Got smoked in Zurich by someone from Ohio State. Won two golds in Seoul, one the still standing world junior record 34 years later.

I think Steve Lewis did pretty well for himself.

Back injuries following a couple more International championship seasons eventually derailed his career.

Another unheralded athlete was John Montgomery of Independence High School, an astonishing long sprinter and a 36.43 intermediate hurdler.

Finally, back in the East Bay, Oakland High School was starting to churn out some brilliant splinters, including Ronda Brooks on the girls' side and Jeff Laynes on the boys'.

Hurdling was magical for Bay Area peeps for a decent window. Michelle DeCoux inherited the mantle from Brooks in the 300m hurdles (both of whom got to 42-mid and -low). Robert Reading of St Mary's in Berkeley got down to 13.88 and won state. He'd go on to USC.

San Francisco had 800m specialist Neil Fitzgerald.

Hazy days.

My own high school ( Huntington HS, New York, 35 miles E of NYC on LI ) had to superstars:

Allan Chapman 1959, 4:21 mile, Eastern States champ, New york State champ mile and CC , Went to Cornell then Foothill in CA but not much there. He should have won Suffolk County Athlete of the Year, but some potato farmer's kid named Carl Yazstremski beat him out.

Henry Jackson 1963 Obliterated my school hj record by a half a foot, state champ in hj and 3j, went on to be one of the best 3jr's in the country at Western Kentcky.

wastaterunner2005 wrote:

in the most competitive sports league on earth.

what ? just what ?

nfl is NOT even half as competitive as champions league

From NJ in the mid-2000s, just as the running resurgence was starting.

Craig Forys - dominant high school runner at Colts Neck. broke the long standing Holmdel and Van Cortland course records (I remember being annoyed when he strided out from the line to pray before the Holmdel race), got outkicked by Centro for a national title. Went to Michigan and became a good steepler, but I don't think he quite made the jump to the pro level.

Danielle Tauro - Absolutely dominant, won states all 4 years and a couple outdoor national titles. I think ran 4:39 her senior year. Went on to be good but not great at Michigan.

Marielle Hall - great runner for Haddonfield, went on to an NCAA 5k championship and the 2016 Olympics.

English Gardner, Robby Andrews also great in HS and successful pro careers. IIRC Gardner tore her ACL senior year in HS and was lucky to get a scholarship?

Before my time but my teammates dad, Bob Gledhill, was a phenomenal high jumper and I think he held the Massachusetts state record for a while after jumping 6’8 or 6’9 in the late 60s. He later went on to UTEP after a year if prep school and was an All-American there in the early 1970s. If I remember correctly despite jumping over 7 feet he was 3rd on depth chart and switched to decathlon, those 1970s UTEP teams were stacked.

More contemporary, my teammate Ray Jones was just a tremendous all-around athlete excelling in Football, wrestling and track. In High School he was State Triple jump champion and finished second at New Englands. He was state finalist in wrestling and also runner up at New Englands. In football he rushed for 1000 yards his junior and senior years

He got a scholarship to Tennessee which was a pretty amazing football program in the 1990s they were ranked top 10 much of 1993 when Ray was a senior in HS and would finish number in the top five most of Peyton Manning’s tenure from 1995 to 1997 and was national champion in 1998. However recognizing he was on the smaller side and would likely be practice fodder his first couple of years he went to a D3 liberal arts school Trinity College on a full-ride and was a 3 sport star there including D3 All-American in Football and Wrestling and setting a bunch of league and school records in track.

What is amazing is he only did 2 years of track in HS because we didn’t have a boys team until he was a junior. Despite this in high school he triple jumped 47.5 feet was able to long jump 22 and high jump 6’2 without much focus and almost won states in high hurdles even though his main event was triple jump, I forget his exact time, low 14-something.

Not national class by any means but impressive for someone’s tertiary sport sport with only two years of HS experience. I would have loved to have seen him focus more on track but football gets all the glory and he was damned good wrestler as well. Would also have liked to have see him try decathlon but so few schools focus on it anymore.

-Meb

-Julia Stamps

-Calvin Harrison

Gledhill was before my time in HS, but went to same HS as I did. Won numerous state titles in HJ and hurdles. Bob Sevene went to the same HS graduating in 1961 I believe. He started coaching at Bentley while I was in HS. Fred Smerlas later of the Buffalo Bills was in my class.

NC late 70s to 1980:

Julie and Mary Shea - great mile/2 mile runners

Joan Nesbit - future Olympian distance runner

Alston Glenn - In our conference - sprints

Kelvin Bryant - sprints, had a good pro football career

Jeff Hutchinson - sub 4:10 miler

Ken Dowdle - sub 4:10 miler

Greg Roseboro - also in our conference 1:51 880.

Is that bit about McNamara becoming a porn star true? What a legend. The best runner coming out of Pennsylvania during my time was Craig Miller. Went on to have a nice little career as a pro. Think he ran 3:35 and had a bunch of all Americans at Wisconsin. Neely Spence was also dominating during my time, but her pro career has been a bit underwhelming.

Pesos and penne wrote:

✓ Eric Mastalir (Stanford)

✓ Mark Mastalir (Stanford)

✓ Paul Thomas (Arkansas) (currently a bad-ass cyclist)

✓ Marc Davis (Arizona) (Kinney record holder)

✓ Reggie Williams (CAL) 408/816/1419; double state track champ, division cross country champ

✓ Ian Alsen (Arkansas) Double Arcadia Champ

✓ David Scudamore (Stanford) (Kinney Finalist)

✓ Francis O'Neill (Kansas State) state 1600m champ (good steeple career)

✓ Bryan Dameworth (joined LAPD) (double state cross country champ

✓ Dan Gabor (Arkansas) Killed in TWA Flight 800 crash

✓ Laurie Chapman (UCLA) (NorCal cross country champion

✓ Rebecca Chamberlain

✓ Mary Mendoza

✓ Katy McCandless (Princeton: represented IRE in the Olympics)

✓ Kira Jorgensen (UCLA) (university instructor)

✓ Karen Hecox (husband, Coley Candaele, coached Michael Norman in HS)

✓ Deena Drossin (marathoner)

Ian Alsen the name sounds familiar, a girl who ran for UCI Beth McGrann was saying she was going to marry someone with a name at least similar to that, maybe that is the one McGrann did marry just sounds familiar. McGrann was living in Northridge when the 1994 Earthquake happened, Her 2nd floor apartment was under ground and people had to climb out, Anyway if that is the one she married, tell her I said Congratulations, she said she was going to Arizona where she would be a teacher, she went to Upland same school as miler Steve Scott who also ran for UCI, Steve Scott was about a decade older than McGrann though

VA class of 2004, makes sure to mention the Midlo 4x800… is this Ryan or Billy?

Using only last names might confuse the non-Virginians on some of these, though it’s definitely how we lesser mortals referred to them. For example, I’m not sure who Scott is from the 2004 post, though I remember Christo Landry and Hari Mix well. Your post is a real memory trip for me.

Another to add could be Tasmin Fanning, somewhat overshadowed by older sister Jessica in HS but blossomed in college, I believe top 3 at NCAA’s? One who wasn’t widely known was small school runner Donnie Mikels. I think he won an indoor state title in AA but that was kind of a surprise when it happened, he’d been outside the AA top 10 that fall in XC. But later, with his name changed to Donnie Cowart, he became someone the wider running world would know. Sub-4 miler, fourth in the OT steeple, Pan Am team member.

Future Olympic hurdler Queen Harrison was in VA around that time too, maybe a few years younger.