Who is/was better in high school/teen years: Rupp or Fernandez?

Call me crazy, but I'd say Fernandez has the slight edge in XC, while Rupp would be superior in track. I'm just speculating though.

Rupp FTW!!!!

desertrunner wrote:

the thing about Rupp and his 5k HS record, was it was in the summer after he graduated, in a rabbit lead race in europe. There was a thread somewhere about the rabbit in that race I believe. When Ritz ran his 14:10 it was the fall of his senior year, with nobody within 30 seconds of him. That 8:46ish was spring of his senior year, in a HS meet, in Michigan, by himself, without pacers or Nike whisking him off to Europe to race. Just so it is clarified, I think they are all amazing, but you put Ritz on that course his senior yr, with conditions that fast, when he was peaking, and he runs 13:45 on it, with even splits most likely, instead of the 14:10 he ran in Michigan. there was several hills on the Michigan course,lots of gradual rolls, long grass, some mud in corners.

A) Ritz ran 13:51 in a reasonably fast Penn Relays 5k as a senior and he had people to run that with.

B) Later he ran 13:44 behind a LOT of people, also on the track.

C) The MIS course that MI State Meet is held on is as fast as you can get ... might be faster than a track since no turns. The last half mile is on the track inside lane itself. Your account of the course and the conditions are so bad I doubt you were really there. He ran 14:10, Toloff was second in 14:50 and Tim Moore was at 14:52 or so, not so solid on that guy.

I was also there and the weather was good enough that people were NOT wearing gloves or hats and they definitely were NOT wearing long sleeves.

I think Ritz is the most accomplished HS XC runner in history, but you are painting a weird picture of a guy who could run 13:44 ONLY on the track.

CoachB,

That is a fast opener! I heard that he broke the course record at his sectional meet as well running about 15:00 on a VERY hilly course. Can you share any info on that. How much did he break the record by and who held the record prior? Any noteable runners on that course before?

My buddy who is from that region said when he knew what he ran on the sections course, he knew he had a strong shot at the Woodward Park record.[/quote]

Just wanted to bump this again to see if CoachB noticed or anyone else that might be able to answer it.

Wowsa wrote:

CoachB,

That is a fast opener! I heard that he broke the course record at his sectional meet as well running about 15:00 on a VERY hilly course. Can you share any info on that. How much did he break the record by and who held the record prior? Any noteable runners on that course before?

My buddy who is from that region said when he knew what he ran on the sections course, he knew he had a strong shot at the Woodward Park record.

Just wanted to bump this again to see if CoachB noticed or anyone else that might be able to answer it.[/quote]

I just noticed the thread.

The section course at Willow Hills is extremely hard. There is one pretty good sized hill that is run twice. The rest of the course is made of short steep hills and tight turns. There is absolutely no way to develop any rhythm on that course. The only flat spots are at the start and finish and mid race, as you come back by the start line. I believe that the Willow Hills course is much harder than mt. SAC. SAC has only 3 hills (although they are huge and very hard also) and 2 rollers. This does not mean that I believe that German will run under 15 at regionals. He and his coaches have stated that his goal is just to qualify and move on to Nationals. I don't think that he will give a maximal effort at all, even if Puskedra is on him or leading him.

Jake Matthews set the Willow Hills CR with 16:12 in 2005. That time was run at the section meet also and he was pushed for most of the race. Jake went on place 9th at the Footlocker West Regional that season.

German ran 15:03. 1:09 faster.

A couple of people have said that he is a one trick pony, but I can tell you that German has been running great all year. 2 weeks before that, he ran 14:42 after stopping to tie his shoe about 800 in to our league championship race. He lost about 10 seconds there. I was probably the only one to see that, as I was on the lead bike for that race.

He has been running extremely fast all season. In early sep, he ran a 14:47 on the same course as our league finals in pretty warm weather and he didn't really look pressed. He also dominated at the Stanford Invite.

I just noticed the thread.

The section course at Willow Hills is extremely hard. There is one pretty good sized hill that is run twice. The rest of the course is made of short steep hills and tight turns. There is absolutely no way to develop any rhythm on that course. The only flat spots are at the start and finish and mid race, as you come back by the start line. I believe that the Willow Hills course is much harder than mt. SAC. SAC has only 3 hills (although they are huge and very hard also) and 2 rollers. This does not mean that I believe that German will run under 15 at regionals. He and his coaches have stated that his goal is just to qualify and move on to Nationals. I don't think that he will give a maximal effort at all, even if Puskedra is on him or leading him.

Jake Matthews set the Willow Hills CR with 16:12 in 2005. That time was run at the section meet also and he was pushed for most of the race. Jake went on place 9th at the Footlocker West Regional that season.

German ran 15:03. 1:09 faster.

A couple of people have said that he is a one trick pony, but I can tell you that German has been running great all year. 2 weeks before that, he ran 14:42 after stopping to tie his shoe about 800 in to our league championship race. He lost about 10 seconds there. I was probably the only one to see that, as I was on the lead bike for that race.

He has been running extremely fast all season. In early sep, he ran a 14:47 on the same course as our league finals in pretty warm weather and he didn't really look pressed. He also dominated at the Stanford Invite.[/quote]

Thanks for the info. Also, were the courses you mentioned 3 mile or 5K courses?

It sounds like he's been burying courses all season. I have to say, I do kind of hope he pushes it a bit tomorrow to see what time he can hit even if he saves a bit towards the end. After watching the video of him and knowing that he has won all season, I wonder if he'll be able to chill in this race and just qualify, or if he'll nail the first guy who tries to press it.

ho hum wrote:

Call me crazy, but I'd say Fernandez has the slight edge in XC, while Rupp would be superior in track. I'm just speculating though.

The results from Footlocker speak for themselves, Fernandez like many guys with amazing times from the South or West got destroyed (+19 seconds back on 1st and +12 seconds on 2nd) and came in 3rd with his 15:09, Rupp was 2nd (+2 seconds on 1st) with his 14:57.