Who was better at XC in high school? German Fernandez or Aaron Sahlman?

Don't you know everyone was faster in the past. Especially with super shoes today.

My son - listen here and listen good.

German would have wiped the floor with any of the recent Newbury Park guys.

He was lights out unbelievable his senior year. Apparently he was sick at Footlocker, otherwise he would have undoubtedly won that easily.

German didn’t wind up touching even just the tip of his ultimate potential. But that doesn’t negate how insane he was 2007-2009.

Supershoes, perfect training, the best training partners in the country - all that and they still can’t break his course record.

Fernandez solo'd a 4 flat/8:34 16/32 double on the same day at CIF his senior year. He was unreal.

I have been a huge German fan since his 9th grade in high school. He was a phenom with legendary stories about his training and racing. He had two absolutely amazing xc races in high school and many other solid races, but none of them were better than the 14:03 Sahlman ran (at best his world xc and Woodward park 14:24 were equal).

Track accolades slightly tip

the scale in Sahlmans favor for me, but it’s hard to know hoe much super shoes and opportunities played a role in that matter.

I think it is close between them, but I would give a very slight edge to German.

I would, however give the overall best xc runner in CA history award to Nico Young. His victory at NXN was jaw dropping over that field. It was quite possibly the greatest high school xc race of all time in American history.

Colin is definitely a comparison for German but its hard to say shoes and opportunities both didn't play a factor in the times each was able to achieve. The only event where Sahlman has an objectively better performance is the mile and he was able to run his in the Pre Classic in a race he finished 13th in.

I don’t know, man. 14 seconds is obviously an impressive margin for a national meet, especially since he put that gap on Methner, who had broken Virgin’s Detweiller record and would win NXN. But comparing that race to this year’s NXN, I don’t think the 2019 field was nearly as strong; this year, 2 kids ran faster than Nico and 11 were within 6 seconds of his time on an extremely windy day. That puts Nico’s NXN performance in a different perspective. I don’t see how you’d put Nico’s race as equal to or better than Ritz’s dominant win over Webb and Hall, or his 3rd place at World Jr. XC.

Aaron's not even top 2 on his own team.

I've been around through both eras. It's hard to explain to folks that are only familiar with the current generation like the high school and college runners of present, but German was the most incredible high school distance talent to ever pass through the American system. He would solo races from wire to wire (e.g. NCAA 1500m win his freshman year, state XC championship at Woodward, California 4:00/8:34, NON 2-mile win in outdoors), and in my opinion there isn't anything comparable today to when he was lining up in high school. He was so head and shoulders above everyone else, nobody was elevating his performances except for him. With Sahlman (zero disrespect to him), the bar's been elevated, and his domination isn't as stark. I think having other athletes push you plays a huge role in your performance and German just didn't have that. Super shoes were still a good half decade away. When he raced, you just knew you were witnessing greatness. Hard to describe and share that feeling.

Ironically enough, speaking of super shoes, German forgot his spikes when he went to footlocker lmao.

Also, I know the NP hate train is fully out on letsrun, BUT:

While I would take German in any HS xc race over Colin, Colins 3:56 is still more impressive than German's 4 flat solo.

lol. lmao. lol

yeah, pretty much this. dude, people don't give German enough credit these days. I've seen lists of distance all time greats with him not in top 5.

Find me someone else in US HS history that could have run 4:00/8:34 with an hour of rest. There is no one. aside from maybe jim ryun (even then, its a stretch, did he even run a 2 mile his senior year?). 8:34 (ran solo btw) is faster than the PR of half the guys that people rate above German.

Hobbs Kessler (easily), Lukas Verzbicas, Leo Young, Alan Webb(?)

I think Colin Sahlman could have too -- close at least. Yes, he didn't run much faster than 8:34 in the 3200m, but he focused on the shorter distances later in the season, and neither did German (8:34.40 full 2mi, fresh, so 8:31 low for 3200m -- a national HS record at the time).

Still, you have to actually do it, and no one else has.

German's Mt. SAC 14:24 might be his most impressive mark, not least because it still stands...the Youngs, one of whom had already run 13:43 on the track as a junior, took some very good shots at it, but couldn't quite get it.

Alan Webb might have had a shot at a 4:00/8:34 double. He ran one real two-mile as a senior, 8:45 basically alone indoors, but it's another 8 or so seconds down to 8:34 for 3200, and that's a long way, never mind as the second part of a double.

LV might have been able to do it. i would at least consider kessler, though i definitely have my doubts. i don’t think leo young could do it, and no chance webb could have done it. webb was a 47.9/1:47 guy (almost certainly had the capability to run 1:46 though)

I’m not sure I’d call German the most incredible distance talent to pass through the system. Higher floor does not equal higher ceiling and the ability to stay healthy is an important part of talent.

Like what makes German more talented than Grant Fisher? Grant also had great high school accomplishments, but is durable enough to continue to progress abs become the 7th fastest 10k runner of all time. I’d say Bob Kennedy and Edward Cheserek could be considered more talented than German too.

If you include mid distance athletes, Jim Ryun, Alan Webb, and Hobbs Kessler are realistically more talented than Fernandez as well.

runnerspace.com

Videos - German Fernandez NCAA Indoor Mile Record 3:55 - 2009 Big XII Indoor Championships

Finals 1 German Fernandez FR Okla St 4:06.29 3:55.02MAUTO 10 2 Hillary Bor SO Iowa St 4:07.24 4:05.55F 8 3 Gilbert Limo SO Texas Tech 4:07.08 4:05.89F 6 4 Jacob Boone JR Oklahoma 4:06.78 4:06.01F 5 5 Jake Morse SR Texas 4:06....

Open link

This 3:55 solo effort was run in February of 2009. German was 18 years and not quite 4 months old at the time. With competition and super shoes, who knows what he could have done that day. For a kid young enough to still be in high school, that still-standing WJR puts him in the conversation of greatest talent. Tragic he couldn’t stay healthy.

XC
In addition to the insane state meet course record for CA, German also got 11th at World XC u20 his senior year, both more impressive xc feat than anything Sahlman did.

Track
This flies under the radar, but beyond the 4/834 state meet double, German was doing pretty insane doubles and triples seemingly every week or every other week with 8, 16, 32, and sometimes 4x4. Dude was a monster.

When German would race, everyone including the sprinters, field athletes, and everyone in the stands actually paid attention. He had swagger and was a spectacle.

Sahlman doesn’t have that sway German did.