German Fernandez: How soon will he totally annihilate the distance WRs?

Stop calling him Mexican! His ancestry might be from there but he is a true blooded American. You guys have to always pull the race card,don't you? Amazing how all the white boy wonders get so much love but true studs like German get hate.

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To the guy talking about XC courses and regularity: you do realize that this has been the same California course for decades, right? That he annihilated the times of former national champions and current olympians? Obviously if it was some random course, we might think that the course was short. But as it was the Cali state course, it's not really debateable. Most really talented people run a little over 15 minutes (like Chad Hall), not 14:24.

Pretty sure he had injury issues last track season, can anyone confirm? Might be the reason for his slower times.

easterner wrote:

I might just point out that Fernandez got well beaten over 1 mile last year. Ran about 4.17 where Shane eiger who's about the same ageran 4.11. At 4.17 for the mile Fernandez doesn't even make the grade for the World Junior championships 2008.

The standard is 3.48 for the 1500 and his mile time comes up well short at about 3.59, why do you all get so carried away with coss country performances, any course can be a few metres short or long,makes all the difference. This kid has doing f all on the track where the distance is the same the world over.

German was a state champ in at 3200m in track last year off of very limited training.

His XC performance is worth making a big deal over as the course has been the same for decades and some very good runners have run there. ( I think Meb ran just under 15 there ).

I don't think one race makes a career, but anyone who follows prep running in CA has known about German for a few years.

midwaste wrote:

German was a state champ in at 3200m in track last year off of very limited training.

correction, he was 3rd (9:08)

Eric Avila won (9:01)

My real concern with his long term development is his incredible ability to hurt himself. He has been seriously injured multiple times in the last 3 years... how is this kid ever supposed to continue to improve if he keeps getting hurt so damn much?

V6ipam wrote:

Seriously, from the way everyone is talking about German Fernandez on this board, I think it's a logical question. I have never seen a high school performance get so much hype.

Obviously he won't be breaking any WRs--but I looked him up and saw that he beat Chad Hall as a Sophomore (15:14) for the state title, got 2nd as a junior (injury problems?) and now comes back with a little training after injury to run 14:24. Is this the best XC performance we have seen in the last ten years? I think the only competitor would be Ritzenhein or Chris Derrick.

Nico’s 5k time was pretty close to Fernandez’s

Did he look easy doing it?

Another question is…

German Fernandez: how soon will his HS XC record be broken?

German was so darn good. People forget but this kid was lights out his freshmen year.

3:55 mile back when what was the record.

NCAA title in the 1500m

i believe 13:25 at USA when he was 19 in non super shoes.

All this talk about German Fernandez being Mexican.

He wasn't a Mexican. He was a human.

The L&L attempts were probably the best chance there will be for awhile. 2 guys able to push each other during the race and pace off each other is way better than 1 super fit guy going solo for 2 miles.

Like Fasthorse was only 8 seconds off this year, but without another guy to help pace or push until the last like 400m, he basically had no chance unless he was in crazy shape.

I don't think Noonan will go below 14:30 next year

Sorry when he was 18 he ran

3:55, 7:47, 13:25, and was ncaa champ.

he hit college and hit a different level. Think of the hype the Newbury park kids got their first year of college and look at those times.

All in non super shoes, kid was out there in Nike rivals

me neither he was overhyped after woodbridge. He's still good but most of that will be realized in college not high school. I doubt he will be with the top guys are arcadia

German really was incredible in 2008-2009. He also turned 18 November of his college freshman year so he was basically high school senior age for all of this. His 3:55 was completely solo and just poetry in motion (I posted a thread about it like a year ago when L&L threatened his record). He won NCAAs from the front as a true freshman against seniors like Dorian Ulrey and Garret Heath. And that 5k record was at USAs behind Solinsky, Tegenkamp, and Jager. I really think German was the most naturally gifted aerobic athlete the US has ever seen because he was CA state champ as a 14 year old sophomore in his first xc season (and one season of track the year before where he barely missed state and ran like 4:22). Everything about him is just incredible.

The only point I'll argue with in your post is the last bit. German wasn't doing it in Nike Rivals, he had a sweet pair of white Vent 2s for his senior year HS and the beautiful chile red Matumbos at OK State! ;)

Nice failed (multiple times).

Colin failed (multiple times).

L&L failed (multiple times).

Luis Grijalva, Cooper Teare, Fast Horse, ...

Is there a more well-tested XC record in the country?

(Fun fact: CJ Albertson, as a "pro" has also failed to break it multiple times.)

I'll also add that the record German broke was set by FL champ Marc Davis, who ran 14:38 at Morely field just after his Woodward record at the regional. The names on the Woodward Park list are just insane and no one in history (not Ryan Hall, not Meb, not Bryan Dameworth, not Ammar Moussa, etc.) has run faster than German. Pretty much until Nico no one even really came close to the record.

Serious question: has anyone (pro, college, or open athlete) run a faster 5k at Woodward than German? I know they've run some 5ks on the course open to guys like CJ and others but has anyone run under 14:24?

Diego Estrada.

Thank you! Remember seeing this now but couldn't remember off the top of my head if anyone had done it. Also, it took 15 years and a race of pro runners in the super shoe era to break German's record, that says a lot!

Edit: also cool that it was Diego because he was there when German set the record in 2007 and ran 15:34 himself that day!