Apparently, the kid's got distance potential too.
He ran a 4:05 mile on Saturday, then, the following day, hopped in to a half marathon where he helped pace his girlfriend for her 10k race. After the 10k and half diverge, he apparently didn't like getting passed so much, so he turned up the heat to clock a 1:09:45 for the win...not too shabby for a high schooler! Found this blurb:
"I had the opportunity to run with German in the above half marathon. It was at the Davis Stampede in February, and I was running as a tune up for the LA Marathon the following month. My goal was to win the race, and run at or slightly below goal Marathon pace (1:11-1:12). I went out slow, and at two miles into the race was 30-40 seconds behind the leaders. I decided it was time to move and 1:12 wasn't going to win, so I dropped my pace from 5:35 to about 5:15 pace. On my way up to the leaders, I passed a duo of young high school runners, and one of them (Fernandez) ended up latching on to me at around 2-1/2 miles.
At the four mile mark, we had just clocked a 5:17 or so, and he asks me what pace I'm trying to run. I said "5:20's", and when I asked him, he replied with "6 minute pace". I figured I'd drop him in another mile or two, and I'd continue on up to the leaders. Around the 6 mile I took notice of this kid's form and toughness, and thought to myself "I have no idea who this kid is, but he's for real and may hang with me for the whole race."
We continued running between 5:13-5:20 pace for the next several miles. At a couple different points he fell off by about 5 meters, but quickly surged back up on my shoulder. We managed to catch second place by mile 8, but still trailed the leader by a steady 15 seconds at the 9 mile. I surged hard at 9, with Fernandez on my shoulder, and we managed to catch the leader just after the 11 mile mark. It should be noted that as we passed by the 11 mile marker, I was asked by Fernandez how long the race was.
From there it was a three man race all the way into the last quarter mile, with German powering away from myself and the 3rd place finisher, and a mere 3 seconds separating the three of us. I was happy to PR after the race, but a little shocked because I had just lost to a 16 year old. I wondered how many High Schoolers in the country could run that fast for a half marathon right now? Ten? Five? All I could do was tip my hat and realize that I had just been beaten by someone great. I really think if I had been running 1:07 pace that he would have run a 1:07 and out-kicked me.
It was only afterwards that I found out he was a state champion as a Soph. etc. At least now I can say I lost to the California XC record holder at Woodward
--Alex Cardiasmenos"