as stated by others, not sure what an honest pace would be. combine his ability to solo 4:10 for 1600 with a blistering kick, i think this kid is the complete package, and he is still a kid. talked to him briefly at oc champs, and he talked pretty much like any goofy sophomore. his dad was a teammate of mine at ucla back in the late 80s--i think he's well over 6'2", so son gets height from him, but i don't think his dad had a 56 last 400 (or sub-9/sub-4:10) in him. also, evan just turned 16 this month, so legit sophomore age.
nothing is given, though, especially at this age, so he'll still have his work cut out for himself in fresno--generally warm conditions may stymie fast times, but it'd be hard to bet against this kid...
as stated by others, not sure what an honest pace would be. combine his ability to solo 4:10 for 1600 with a blistering kick, i think this kid is the complete package, and he is still a kid. talked to him briefly at oc champs, and he talked pretty much like any goofy sophomore. his dad was a teammate of mine at ucla back in the late 80s--i think he's well over 6'2", so son gets height from him, but i don't think his dad had a 56 last 400 (or sub-9/sub-4:10) in him. also, evan just turned 16 this month, so legit sophomore age.
nothing is given, though, especially at this age, so he'll still have his work cut out for himself in fresno--generally warm conditions may stymie fast times, but it'd be hard to bet against this kid...
His dad, 6-5, ran 4:22/9:19 in his and 3:53 (1500m) at UCLA.
I think Carter Spradling (4:07/8:50) will give him a good test. He can finish strong as well, but not quite that fast. And if the weather is good, I think Para goes out even faster at the state meet, so that might equalize the kicks a little bit.
Noonan ran a 14:21 3 mile last autumn, so the strength is definitely there. He ran a 1:55 early this spring, so the wheels have been there pretty much since the season started.
The scary thing about this kid is he was a 9:06 guy with a big kick a few weeks ago, and he's clearly upped the ante over the weekend. I'm not convinced that this same stunning time would have been achieved at Arcadia, which he watched sick on the sidelines.
One more focused final with no prelim and he looks primed for whatever race plans unfold.
Lex young holds the record at 8:43. There have been probably 30 sophomores under 9 ever. Do you live under a rock?
Kind of weird that Lex hasn’t improved all that much from the 8:43. Will be a solid college runner, but probably not the next Ritz.
8:43 is like an 8:09 3k and he’s run 7:57 indoors.
I think Lex has a really high 5k/10k ceiling as far as times go, he was injured all winter and still ran 13:44 in the 5k. Add to that the fact that most Newbury park runners have improved in college, there’s no reason to think he won’t be one of the very best guys in the ncaa.
My money is on Parra or Spradling. Parra looked drained at Masters and did most of the work by leading. Most guys at State can close with a 58-59 including Parra so if they keep the pace hot with all of those low 850s guys they can take his 56-57 closing 400 out of the equation.
Amazed at times including the recovery and turn around times between races on on these super sophs. He went back to back the week before with amazing times too and Aydon up in Northern California did the same thing this past weekend. Are we in a different era of training?
Kind of weird that Lex hasn’t improved all that much from the 8:43. Will be a solid college runner, but probably not the next Ritz.
Tbf the next year he ran 8:35 and hasn't run one since. He averaged 8:46 pace for 5k this year and last year too. I think he's doing a 5k record attempt later this year, so that may come down more.
I think if Noonan was in a fast 2 mile he'd beat Lex's record though. That 56 last lap is crazy, and Lex had Sahlman to drag him through the line. Is he doing any post-season? I'd love to see his ceiling this year.
Kind of weird that Lex hasn’t improved all that much from the 8:43. Will be a solid college runner, but probably not the next Ritz.
8:43 is like an 8:09 3k and he’s run 7:57 indoors.
I think Lex has a really high 5k/10k ceiling as far as times go, he was injured all winter and still ran 13:44 in the 5k. Add to that the fact that most Newbury park runners have improved in college, there’s no reason to think he won’t be one of the very best guys in the ncaa.
I hope you’re right. I really do. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work out that way. I hope he shocks everyone and drops some bombs.
My money is on Parra or Spradling. Parra looked drained at Masters and did most of the work by leading. Most guys at State can close with a 58-59 including Parra so if they keep the pace hot with all of those low 850s guys they can take his 56-57 closing 400 out of the equation.
Those two definitely seem like the most likely candidates to pull the upset, considering their credentials. However, I think you might be a little optimistic to think "most" guys at state are capable of sub 60 second closes, especially if you and others are calling for a hotter pace than the 4:26 from this past weekend. The fastest last lap split other than Noonan was 64 seconds. Not sure I follow how these same guys are going to go out harder and then also be able to run significantly faster final laps.
Progressionn wrote:
So Noonan went from barely making varsity xc in 2021, to making nxn during xc 2022, to running an 8:49 3200 here
Stepped up so much
Testosterone is one helluva drug.
Also worth noting that the kid literally hasn't lost a championship race (other than NXN), since last October, and that was by half a step to another 3200m State Qualifier in Chantaca from San Clemente.
Especially in this age of chasing times at mega meets like Arcadia, I think learning how to win races is an underrated, and under-developed skill. Noonan clearly knows how, and has the skill set to do it.
Ultimately as socalcush noted, it's a bunch of kids and anything can happen, but I just don't see it. I'm reminded of the scene in A Knight's Tale where the bad guy asks one of his minions how to beat Heath Ledger's character. His response (going from memory here): "In the night, with a stick, while he sleeps. But on a horse? With a lance? That man cannot be beaten."
I heard 57.9 last lap. Still amazing closing speed.
I read 56.62!
I also read the 9th place finisher Maximo Zavaleta of M.L.K., Riverside ran 9:12 and he is only a freshman. If watched the video that was posted on this thread you can hear the announcer state Zavaleta was on pace to break the California freshman record for about 5 laps.
I also read that Zavaleta has run 9:10 3200 in another race. Not bad for a freshman!
Anyone know what (if any) post-state meets Noonan will be running? Would love to see him at Brooks—the field is already stacked but there seems to still be room.
Quality is relatively unchanged but the hardest fall price-wise has got to be Taco Bell. Stuff that was on the dollar menu in the mid to late 2010s is $2+ now. There's inflation and then there's 100%+ price increases. Still pretty easy to eat a ton for like $8 so I still go, but you used to be able to get the same amount of food for like 5 bucks.
Quality is relatively unchanged but the hardest fall price-wise has got to be Taco Bell. Stuff that was on the dollar menu in the mid to late 2010s is $2+ now. There's inflation and then there's 100%+ price increases. Still pretty easy to eat a ton for like $8 so I still go, but you used to be able to get the same amount of food for like 5 bucks.