Who is the #1 US boys teenage distance prospect- C. or A. Sahlman, Leo, Lex or Nico Young, Parker Wolfe, or Hobbs Kessler?

What about that Judge Reinhold kid?

Chef Niwot wrote:

We got a guy who is going to smash the NP kids when they race again. Mark my words. Sleeping giant over here.

Zane Bergen ... ? Not on NP's level in my view. But I like the guy.

As Bill Parcells says

Potential means "Ain't done nothing yet"

Treat them like a book and don't try to flash to the last page.

Just enjoy them and their response to challenges.

birdbeard wrote:

Chef Niwot wrote:

We got a guy who is going to smash the NP kids when they race again. Mark my words. Sleeping giant over here.

Zane Bergen ... ? Not on NP's level in my view. But I like the guy.

I have no idea of Zane Bergen's current fitness level or ability.

But Zane Bergen did beat Aaron Sahlman at RunningLane 2021 by 4.47 seconds and lost to Colin Sahlman, Leo Young and Lex Young by only 4.42 to 6.62 seconds ... and also was "faster" than Dathan Ritzenhein's 14:10.4 XC mark ... Zane Bergen ran RunningLane XC in 2020 and was nearly 30 seconds faster in 2021.

Zane Bergen has an 800 meter PR of 1:51.26 (Colorado State Meet 2021) which is about 2 seconds faster than any of the Newbury Park guys at present.

Zane Bergen finished 2nd in the Mile at the Nike Outdoor Nationals last spring in Eugene, OR ...4:03.90, 2nd to Nathan Greene (4:03.30) with Gavin Sherry 3rd (4:07.20) ... Bergen's 3/4-mile split was 3:05.27.

BMeylan wrote:

birdbeard wrote:

Zane Bergen ... ? Not on NP's level in my view. But I like the guy.

I have no idea of Zane Bergen's current fitness level or ability.

But Zane Bergen did beat Aaron Sahlman at RunningLane 2021 by 4.47 seconds and lost to Colin Sahlman, Leo Young and Lex Young by only 4.42 to 6.62 seconds ... and also was "faster" than Dathan Ritzenhein's 14:10.4 XC mark ... Zane Bergen ran RunningLane XC in 2020 and was nearly 30 seconds faster in 2021.

Zane Bergen has an 800 meter PR of 1:51.26 (Colorado State Meet 2021) which is about 2 seconds faster than any of the Newbury Park guys at present.

Zane Bergen finished 2nd in the Mile at the Nike Outdoor Nationals last spring in Eugene, OR ...4:03.90, 2nd to Nathan Greene (4:03.30) with Gavin Sherry 3rd (4:07.20) ... Bergen's 3/4-mile split was 3:05.27.

Additionally, he doesn’t have the advantage of training with other kids at the same level.

Bergen and Hough are very promising as are Gavin Sherry and Reinhardt Harrison but I have to take Colin Sahlman right now. He’s hands down the best distance prep in the country.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

BMeylan wrote:

I have no idea of Zane Bergen's current fitness level or ability.

But Zane Bergen did beat Aaron Sahlman at RunningLane 2021 by 4.47 seconds and lost to Colin Sahlman, Leo Young and Lex Young by only 4.42 to 6.62 seconds ... and also was "faster" than Dathan Ritzenhein's 14:10.4 XC mark ... Zane Bergen ran RunningLane XC in 2020 and was nearly 30 seconds faster in 2021.

Zane Bergen has an 800 meter PR of 1:51.26 (Colorado State Meet 2021) which is about 2 seconds faster than any of the Newbury Park guys at present.

Zane Bergen finished 2nd in the Mile at the Nike Outdoor Nationals last spring in Eugene, OR ...4:03.90, 2nd to Nathan Greene (4:03.30) with Gavin Sherry 3rd (4:07.20) ... Bergen's 3/4-mile split was 3:05.27.

Additionally, he doesn’t have the advantage of training with other kids at the same level.

And of course this is a potentially big deal. These Newbury kids are training like college kids, at least in the sense of having really good runners to push them. I remember when I got to college and found out I wasn’t really training in high school. It was amazing to have people who could push me until eventually nobody in college could either but having good teammates was the biggest factor in improvement. It is HUGE and if a kid doesn’t have that…he may improve dramatically when he gets that.

Parker Wolfe is legit he was All-American as a true freshman at NCAA nationals this past fall in cross and recently went 4:00.5 in a mile he's young and has plenty of room to improve. Out of everyone on the list I would have to go with Kessler though he has plenty of range and basically did a 7:59 3k as a workout recently and has more speed out of any of the guys above additionally he trains with a good group in Michigan under a coach who knows what he is doing while the Newbery park kids will have to transition into a completely different program and way of training so it might cause some issues for them in the future or they will continue to improve drastically but they should do fine either way.

D45 wrote:

Parker Wolfe is legit he was All-American as a true freshman at NCAA nationals this past fall in cross and recently went 4:00.5 in a mile he's young and has plenty of room to improve. Out of everyone on the list I would have to go with Kessler though he has plenty of range and basically did a 7:59 3k as a workout recently and has more speed out of any of the guys above additionally he trains with a good group in Michigan under a coach who knows what he is doing while the Newbery park kids will have to transition into a completely different program and way of training so it might cause some issues for them in the future or they will continue to improve drastically but they should do fine either way.

If they keep feeding NAU then what you wrote won’t come true. Look at Nico Young his transition has been smooth.

Watching all their videos you get a good since that they are being groomed for the future both mentally and physically.

A lot of the college burn out comes from the guys who dominated their school, league, section and some times stated. When they get to college they’re back of the pack runners and they begin to doubt themselves creating burn out.

I just watched the 3000 with Lex and Lil S and the female commentator made a very important observation and statement. Basically it was the Newbury Park runners have been leading and dominating their races in the fall, but in this race they are having no problem running in the pack and not feeling the need to lead. I believe this mental attitude will help them immensely in college,

As I posted on another thread Colin lead the 1500 last April against the pros and got swallowed up. He and his teammates learned from that race and this past weekend they raced like veterans.

Even though CS’ mechanics look a little funny when he’s floating in the air, it all straightens out right before he hits the ground. Watch his sub -4 race from the view facing him directly—it’s like a whip cracking as he aligns at impact. Very impressive.

Contrast this with the Young twins, who have unimpressive mechanics IMO: thicc legs, land flat footed with toes everted. How many successful pros run like them? Zero. I think they are more the “product” of the system of training since youth and then following big brother into a great HS environment. I predict they are closest to ceiling and least success of the group.

youth large wrote:

Elkamino wrote:

Intelligence matters. A lot. I will take the field (the rest of the country) and you can take those names listed. Intelligence dictates the odds are with me. Nice try though.

Who would you have chosen to be the all-time greats from among the early 2000 group.

Probably that exact same list with the exception of Jager and Manzano. All the others were well established top athletes in high school.

Jager was 9th in FL as a junior (bonked horribly his senior year at FLMW and didnt qualify despite being top returner nationally), and ran a 847y/405y (out of B heat) double at NON spring of his senior year. He wasnt an all-timer on the level of guys like ritz and webb, but he wasn't exactly a schmuck.

isolation d wrote:

Even though CS’ mechanics look a little funny when he’s floating in the air, it all straightens out right before he hits the ground. Watch his sub -4 race from the view facing him directly—it’s like a whip cracking as he aligns at impact. Very impressive.

Contrast this with the Young twins, who have unimpressive mechanics IMO: thicc legs, land flat footed with toes everted. How many successful pros run like them? Zero. I think they are more the “product” of the system of training since youth and then following big brother into a great HS environment. I predict they are closest to ceiling and least success of the group.

I couldn't disagree more about the Young twins. Nico had awful mechanics in high school, put them at a good program like NAU and that will improve just like Nico. I think the twins have alot of upside potential. I would love to see all five of the NP kids together at NAU, image all of them with Nico, Nur and Bosley. That could be the greatest college XC team in history. Seven NAU jerseys all out front.

Just finished watching the Sahlman indoor mile win. Dude is a stud! I was more amazed by his tactics and pacing than anything else. Patient enough to kick late but also smart enough to be in the mix early. Dude seems like a super well rounded runner.

isolation d wrote:

Even though CS’ mechanics look a little funny when he’s floating in the air, it all straightens out right before he hits the ground. Watch his sub -4 race from the view facing him directly—it’s like a whip cracking as he aligns at impact. Very impressive.

Contrast this with the Young twins, who have unimpressive mechanics IMO: thicc legs, land flat footed with toes everted. How many successful pros run like them? Zero. I think they are more the “product” of the system of training since youth and then following big brother into a great HS environment. I predict they are closest to ceiling and least success of the group.

TIL having muscular legs is bad for running mechanics.

only on Letsrun.

runningfan87 wrote:

Going with Colin Sahlman. How many kids have gone sub 4 and were the best XC runner in the country that same year? Hunter, Fisher, and him?

Young twins are going to be incredible as well, I could see them just obliterating the record books next year.

reed brown went sub 4 and won footlocker, then went nowhere after that

aaaaaqqqqq wrote:

reed brown went sub 4 and won footlocker, then went nowhere after that

The thing with Colin (like Brown was) is that he is pretty old for a HS runner. He’s in his last year as a U20. The other three NP kids are still U18. He was simply out kicking kids that are way younger.

His 3:58.81 doesn’t make it to the top 10 absolute U20 performance.

I’m not sure where he will end up on this year’s U20 indoor marks. He’s already only 2nd behind Kessler and I believe others can also run 3:58 or faster.

Wolfe’s 7:52 on a flat track coupled with his 4:00 opener is quite a bit more impressive

So my vote is Wolfe

Birthday? I doubt you know.

Brown wasnt the best XC runner in the country that year, Footlocker was just weak. He only got 6th at NXN.