> Ricks had an early season injury he picked up at Nike indoor nationals (perhaps a re-occurring one, because he looked different at winter championships from last year)
I noticed this too. He still popped impressive times but they were both slower than he ran last year. That 1:16 he split a 49 and completely solo'd it. His 33.2 he paced with Dijon Stanley (who later helped him run 46.06 at the state final), whereas this year he slowed to a 33.8 and 1:17. He didn't seem too pleased with his 600 time.
> I think the 800 train for him has already passed, given the amount of early-season base training he missed - and I assume he will be focusing on the 200/400 for the rest of the year.
Awesome, another 800 phenom wasting his talent on trying to be a wannabe quarter miler.
I still think maybe he's just waiting to give a big sike once postseason actually starts. Interestingly, he ran the 800 and the 1600 (??) at a dual meet a week or two ago, where he won in 1:58 and placed 3rd with 4:44. So likely he was just jogging that 1:58.
His 400 opener will be tomorrow at Mt Sac, so we'll see how that goes
> On the bright side, assuming that 40.29 from Granada Hills was legit, they might have a shot at California's first sub-40.
Yeah, I saw that too and was completely taken aback. 40.29 at a dual meet?? However, I did see a video of the race, so it has to be legit. I'm just shocked they were able to do it with a much slower team. That time is only 0.01 slower than their 40.28 that they ran with Dijon Stanley who had ran 45.7 at Arcadia. This time they ran without Stanley, and at a regular ass dual of all places.
> It's unfortunate what happened to the whole long beach poly squad. Their top 3 guys from last year all got injured at the start of the season and just haven't come back the same.
Unfortunately that's common with those Poly kids. They have one standout season (typically in HS) and then completely disappear, even into college. I don't know what it is with them, but they have the most impressive records for a high school I've seen. They just can't seem to have their athletes be consistent.
No clue on Cathedral but they typically do well at masters and the state meet so I can't say i'm too concerned.
Ricks had an early season injury he picked up at Nike indoor nationals (perhaps a re-occurring one, because he looked different at winter championships from last year) and has been taking a conservative racing schedule as a result. I think the 800 train for him has already passed, given the amount of early-season base training he missed - and I assume he will be focusing on the 200/400 for the rest of the year.
It's unfortunate what happened to the whole long beach poly squad. Their top 3 guys from last year all got injured at the start of the season and just haven't come back the same. They ran 3:12 with a freshman, two sophomores, and a junior. Had everyone come back intact they would have had a real shot at the national record in the 4x400.
Oh well. Let's wait another few years and see who pops up. On the bright side, assuming that 40.29 from Granada Hills was legit, they might have a shot at California's first sub-40.
> Ricks had an early season injury he picked up at Nike indoor nationals (perhaps a re-occurring one, because he looked different at winter championships from last year)
I noticed this too. He still popped impressive times but they were both slower than he ran last year. That 1:16 he split a 49 and completely solo'd it. His 33.2 he paced with Dijon Stanley (who later helped him run 46.06 at the state final), whereas this year he slowed to a 33.8 and 1:17. He didn't seem too pleased with his 600 time.
> I think the 800 train for him has already passed, given the amount of early-season base training he missed - and I assume he will be focusing on the 200/400 for the rest of the year.
Awesome, another 800 phenom wasting his talent on trying to be a wannabe quarter miler.
I still think maybe he's just waiting to give a big sike once postseason actually starts. Interestingly, he ran the 800 and the 1600 (??) at a dual meet a week or two ago, where he won in 1:58 and placed 3rd with 4:44. So likely he was just jogging that 1:58.
His 400 opener will be tomorrow at Mt Sac, so we'll see how that goes
> On the bright side, assuming that 40.29 from Granada Hills was legit, they might have a shot at California's first sub-40.
Yeah, I saw that too and was completely taken aback. 40.29 at a dual meet?? However, I did see a video of the race, so it has to be legit. I'm just shocked they were able to do it with a much slower team. That time is only 0.01 slower than their 40.28 that they ran with Dijon Stanley who had ran 45.7 at Arcadia. This time they ran without Stanley, and at a regular ass dual of all places.
> It's unfortunate what happened to the whole long beach poly squad. Their top 3 guys from last year all got injured at the start of the season and just haven't come back the same.
Unfortunately that's common with those Poly kids. They have one standout season (typically in HS) and then completely disappear, even into college. I don't know what it is with them, but they have the most impressive records for a high school I've seen. They just can't seem to have their athletes be consistent.
>Awesome, another 800 phenom wasting his talent on trying to be a wannabe quarter miler.I still think maybe he's just waiting to give a big sike once postseason actually starts. Interestingly, he ran the 800 and the 1600 (??) at a dual meet a week or two ago, where he won in 1:58 and placed 3rd with 4:44. So likely he was just jogging that 1:58. His 400 opener will be tomorrow at Mt Sac, so we'll see how that goes
His coach ran 1:50 at Poly and was on the national record 4x800 team. I think him and his coach both understand his upside with the 800 but I think they are acknowledging that his training this year hasn't been great, so it would be better to focus on his speed now and either go for a quick 800 post-season or in college. As far as I understand, that is why he focused on the 400 last year. In a pre-season interview this year he made it clear that he wanted to go after the 800 record. I hope he does run the 800 post season (that would be amazing) but I assume it depends on what Poly decides to run at the state meet.
As for Mt. Sac, i'll throw out 47.8 - seems in-line with what he has been splitting recently.
>Yeah, I saw that too and was completely taken aback. 40.29 at a dual meet?? However, I did see a video of the race, so it has to be legit. I'm just shocked they were able to do it with a much slower team. That time is only 0.01 slower than their 40.28 that they ran with Dijon Stanley who had ran 45.7 at Arcadia. This time they ran without Stanley, and at a regular ass dual of all places.
Yeah, I had the same thoughts, especially about Stanley. It was timed by finishedresults + a video, so the time is legit.
Looks great. Noonan FTW. I'm hoping he can run something fast towards the end of the season - he has been quite inconsistent this track season, compared to his XC season. Maybe he run a 4:02 or something at masters.
Who knows what is happening to Morales. Maybe I spoke too soon about.
The kid's raced four times this outdoor season (1:54-4:06-8:47-4:05 [1600m]). Where's the inconsistency?
He's also miles ahead of where he was at any point last season.
That is a fair question. I guess I was just going off of feel. I thought he should be running much faster based off a 14:35 at Woodward, especially in the 3200.
I don't get this team. They were non existent during the cross country season. Yet they have so much talent... If just one of their 4:30/9:50 guys can drop to 9:30, that is one of the most talented teams in the country. Why do they underperform during xc? yet overperform on the track?
hart 9:22 - Eli Ahten (11) 9:29 - Alejandro Cuesto (11) 9:32 - Nicolas Zamora (10) 9:32 - Josue Lopez (11) 4:30/9:50 - Alireza Tofangdar (11) 4:34 - Jack Stitzinger (11) 4:36 - Andre Galoostian(11) 9:57 - Josiah Himsl (9) 10:00 - Samuel Aina (9)
They missed the state meet in XC by a few points so they probably used that as a motivation to really step up
Could also be that they are just better at track than XC
Great to see Ventura do well in the relays in this event after a disappointing ending to the XC season, especially since most of those guys are seniors