High Schoolers Under 14 for 5k

5000 METERS

13:37.91 Galen Rupp

13:44.0 Gerry Lindgren

13:44.70 Dathan Ritzenhein

13:52.8 Steve Prefontaine

13:55.65 John Zishka

13:58.2 Craig Virgin

gototrackandfieldnews.com wrote:

13:55.65 John Zishka

forgive me, i've never heard of him. what's his story? college? pro?

What is so special about the high school boy running sub 15? How many elementary boys can run sub 14's in Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda etc - tones!

gototrackandfieldnews.com wrote:

5000 METERS

13:37.91 Galen Rupp

13:44.0 Gerry Lindgren

13:44.70 Dathan Ritzenhein

13:52.8 Steve Prefontaine

13:55.65 John Zishka

13:58.2 Craig Virgin

And people think Rupp is on drugs now. The guy obviously has as much talent as any native son ever has. Dathan's 13:27 as a true college freshman the following year might be even more impressive. I wonder if that is the fastest true freshman 5000 ever?

John Zishka was one of the greatest prep runners ever, defihitely in the top ten. Won U.S. Junior 5000 his junior and senior year and also won Golden West mile in 4:03.

He started at Penn State and was running well and decided to transfer to Oregon where he had lots of injury problems and only improved to running around 13:45 but did come back to help Oregon win NCAA track Nationals at Eugene with a third to Jim Hill's win in the 5000 in 1984.

After that I think he pretty much moved on to other things.

Was a principal for a school in Ohio last I heard.

Sagarin wrote:

And people think Rupp is on drugs now. The guy obviously has as much talent as any native son ever has. Dathan's 13:27 as a true college freshman the following year might be even more impressive. I wonder if that is the fastest true freshman 5000 ever?

Slow down there cowboy. Dathan was a "true" 19 year old freshman.

Noel the A-hole wrote:

John Zishka was one of the greatest prep runners ever, defihitely in the top ten. Won U.S. Junior 5000 his junior and senior year and also won Golden West mile in 4:03.

He started at Penn State and was running well and decided to transfer to Oregon where he had lots of injury problems and only improved to running around 13:45 but did come back to help Oregon win NCAA track Nationals at Eugene with a third to Jim Hill's win in the 5000 in 1984.

After that I think he pretty much moved on to other things.

Was a principal for a school in Ohio last I heard.

Zishka had about the best mile/5,000 range of any prep runner ever. 4:03 for the full mile and sub-14:00 for the 5,000 in high school puts him on a pedestal with very few other guys. I was in awe of the guy (he is a year or two older than me) in high school. No internetz then, so I just had to get results a month late from T&FN.

what is a true freshman wrote:

Slow down there cowboy. Dathan was a "true" 19 year old freshman.

Aren't they all?

Typical college freshmen are 18-19 years old. Nothing odd about a 19 year old freshman.

Ritz was around 19 yr and 4 months at the 13:27. Late December B-day. 13:44 at 18 yr and 4 months.

Withrow was 19 yr 4 Mo for his 13:35. Late December B-day

Rupp was I guess 18 yr and 4 months for his 13:37 late April B-day??

For his sub 7:50 3K he was 19 yr and 4 months

Virgin was still 17 for the 13:58 and 16 for his 14:14 (run in 95+ temps on live TV)

what is a true freshman wrote:

Slow down there cowboy. Dathan was a "true" 19 year old freshman.

If he were born 2 days later, that would've been a US junior record.

ethioboy wrote:

What is so special about the high school boy running sub 15? How many elementary boys can run sub 14's in Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda etc - tones!

Wow. Did you read the subject line? Or any of the responses?

ethioboy wrote:

What is so special about the high school boy running sub 15? How many elementary boys can run sub 14's in Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda etc - tones!

By "elementary" do you mean 5-9 year olds? Because there aren't any kids that age in Africa running 13:xx. Of course, I would be willing to believe that the elementary school kids in Africa are actually teenagers.

And did you mean to say "tons"?

Shadenfreude FTW wrote:

Virgin was still 17 for the 13:58 and 16 for his 14:14 (run in 95+ temps on live TV)

aired live on CBS Sports Spectacular. 106 degrees on the track.

also, marc davis ran 13:32 at 19 yrs. 4 mos.

gorney wrote:

Shadenfreude FTW wrote:

Virgin was still 17 for the 13:58 and 16 for his 14:14 (run in 95+ temps on live TV)

aired live on CBS Sports Spectacular. 106 degrees on the track.

I thought that was his HSR 2M. Were the conditions the same for his 5,000?

The 2M record was run at above 90, but the age 5K record (at the time) was run against the Russian Juniors in Sacramento on a boiling hot July afternoon. I don't think Virgin ever worried about hot temperatures after that USA-USSR Junior meet. No one ever wondered about Felix's heart after that race either. Gave it all against 2 nineteen year olds and was outkicked off the final curve. I know Ralph Boston was on color commentary for the field events, but I can't remember who did the race commentary.

I am sure the conditions were hotter in Sacramento. Virgin in correspondence says it was 106 on the track. He ran 14:14.6 but got blown out by two Russians in the last 300m. Virgin says it was the first time he was ever boxed in and he simply did not know how to handle it. That is believable to me.