Last Dance at Woodward Park for Young Brothers @ CA State Meet this Saturday (11/26)

Like Nico and Colin before them, they’re not going to get it.

I expect one will break it. They have been just warming up. Aaron likely 14:40s still recovering fom injury with Brayden and Doshi 1510-1520s.

Last dance for the program too, eh?

I'm really hoping they break it. Nico, Colin, and Leo have all come close, and it's really given me appreciation for how great GF was. Hearing about how GF was so great because he ran 14:24 didn't really click with me a couple years ago when I started following the sport, especially since he didn't win nationals and didn't break 4. Now that I've seen 4 of the best ever miss the record, I have way more respect for it, and now that I have way more respect for it, I'm excited to see it get broken.

I agree that if they don't break it, it's gonna last a whole lot longer. They said they wanted to do WJXC, so I wasn't too surprised when they missed it in October. I do expect them to break it now, though. Lex came into the season with a 13:43 PR, so when they're peaking, I think 14:23 isn't too crazy.

Last year the twins improved 4-5 seconds between the Clovis Invite and the State meet. If we see the same this year, which would be14:21 for Leo, the HS course record will be gone.

What's the overall course record on this?

I think Leo gets the record and Lex barely misses it.

For those unfamiliar with the Woodward Park 5k cross country course, here is a nice aerial tour:

Woodward Park is a 300 acre city park located adjacent to the San Joaquin River on the north end of Fresno, CA. It opened to the public in 1968.

The first cross country courses within the park were laid out in 1975 and were used for age group races along with local high school meets including the Central Section championships.

The Clovis Invitational began in 1979 on the 5k Woodward course and has been run in October every year since save for the cancelled 2020 meet due to C19.

However, the first "big time" meet staged at Woodward was the (then) Kinney West Regional Championships staged in 1980. Whatever the 5k course records were until that time, they were obliterated that early December day. Kinney/Footlocker West Regionals remained at Woodward through 1997.

Future Olympic Steeplechaser Marc Davis ran 14:38 at the 1986 Kinney West Regional to set the course record which would last for 21 years.

California finally staged its first statewide hs cross country championships in 1987. Woodward Park has been the host site since (2020 meet also cancelled due to C19). All races have been 5,000 meters.

German Fernandez set the current course record of 14:24 at the 2007 CA State Meet.

In other words, Woodward Park's 5k course has been in use for 48 years and has not changed a bit. Very likely this is the longest standing 5k cross country course anywhere in the country.

Which is why German's record is so historic and noteworthy . . . and why breaking it would mean so much, not only to the Youngs or any other athlete, but to the larger distance running community which understands this would be one of the greatest achievements in US hs distance running history.

Don't see them getting it. Fernandez was a special talent.

I still have no idea which is which. Wish them the best though!

You are aware Leo Young ran 1 second off German's record in his first competitive race back from illness in 6 months in less ideal weather than forecasted for Saturday?

Where can we stream the race? I'm stuck at home with COVID so won't be able to watch in person this time.

Apparently here . . . although note the comment about "will only show finish line" . . .

nfhsnetwork.com

2022 CIF Cross Country Championship Finals - 11/26/2022 | Live & On Demand

Watch high school sports and events nationwide, live and on demand, via the NFHS Network. Stream regular season and playoffs online from anywhere.

Link:www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/cif/gam248b...

as opposed to the ordinary talents who have combined for:

sophomore 3200 record, junior 3200 record, junior 3000 record (#2at), junior 5000 record (#2at), national 3 mile xc record, national 5k xc #2, #3 all time, and 4:00 and 4:01 miles as juniors.

Correct me if I have this wrong, but I recall HDRunners saying something along the lines of the CIF only allowing them to show 2 minutes of coverage. You would think that instead of the CIF monopolizing the stream, charging for it, and only showing the finish they could collaborate with someone capable of giving the event proper coverage.

14:14 (Pro)

Great course video and write up!

Does California still measure courses the same way now as they did 48 years ago? Many states follow the NFHS Rules which recently (within maybe 10 years) changed their ruling on course measurement. Curious what procedure California uses now and if that is the same as in the past?

This is unfortunately an invalid statement. Ritz was better than German in cross country and he beat many significant runners at both the Footlocker 1999 & Footlocker 2000 regional and national finals. German was really, really good and made the sport exciting. Ritz was just on a different level. Ritz, for the most part, was on a different level than Rupp too. It makes you wonder if 12:56/27:22/2:07 was really all he had. I dont think we saw Ritz reach his potential from 1500 to 10000.

Don't know . . but hoping a CA xc official, coach or running statistician will notice this thread and offer an answer or best guess opinion.

However, having been to Woodward many times, I have never heard even a whisper that the 5k course is short or has been mis-measured.

What I do know is that the course hasn't changed . . . which is one reason why it has such a rich history, allowing multiple generations of runners to compare themselves to each other . . . something almost all other courses around the country cannot claim.

And, since we're talking central California, the weather at the end of November is almost always ideal . . . only have there been a few years where Woodward has been muddy/cold from rain earlier in the week.

Also, regarding course difficulty, Woodward is a 5 or 6 on a 1-10 scale, making it the perfect "fair" xc course. RunningLane would be your easiest at a 1 while monstrously hilly courses such as Crystal Springs, Holmdel Park, Bowdoin Park, several others are your 10s.

Thus, a 14:10 on Woodward would be a sub-14 on a "1" course; i.e., the fastest, if not the greatest, US hs boys xc performance ever.

That's what many are hoping to witness on Saturday.