Prefontaine v. Crooks and the American High School 2 Mile Record

Nyekee wrote:

the two best high school distance runners in the country in 1969; Doug Crooks of North Eugene High School and Steve Prefontaine of Marshfield High School.

Where does Gary Bjorklund fit into this? He had the second-best time in the nation behind Prefontaine--8:48, as I recall.

Bjorklund never broke 9 in HS. Nick Schneider was the first Mn prep to do it.

I could have sworn that Bjorklund ran 8:48 before going to Minnesota. But I can't find any evidence of it on the Internet. So, my mistake!

I think he ran 8;42 as a college frosh.

As I recall, the State of Oregon had the top four HS milers in the country in '69, Pre, Crooks, and I believe the other two were Hahn, and (I think his name was) Highfield. These same four were also 4 of the top 7 in the 2 mile. Not disimilar from the perfomances put up by the 2004 Oregon HS combination of Vail, Eagon and Rupp.

Didn't Lindgren have the record at 8:40?

According to the article, someone named Rick Riley (form Spokane) held the record at 8:48.3 and Pre broke it by 7 seconds. Wasn't Lindgren from Spokane as well? Maybe that is where the confusion lies.

nobodee runs 2 myles in collij. What the phuck are you are tokking about "8:48 as a frosh". Yoo are smoeking big bad weed.

Spokane? wrote:

According to the article, someone named Rick Riley (form Spokane) held the record at 8:48.3 and Pre broke it by 7 seconds. Wasn't Lindgren from Spokane as well? Maybe that is where the confusion lies.

I believe Lindgren held the indoor 2 mile record. I think Pre's record counted as the outdoor record, despite it being slower than Lindgren's indoor time.

Spokane's distance running tradition and history definitely started early, laying a great foundation for the Mead, Ferris, and North Central teams to come.

To say that Crooks & Pre were the two best distance runners in the country is just your opinion. I'm not sure that Pre could've beaten Bjorkland in the mile and I doubt Crooks could've beaten Bjorkland in a 2 mile had they raced. Crooks only ran 4:21 at Golden West in June where Pre ran 4:06.

Top 7 Mile Times-1969

04:05.1 Garry Bjorklund, MN

04:06.0 Steve Prefontaine, OR

04:07.5 Doug Crooks, OR

04:08.4 Bobby Sahuque, LA

04:09.3 Ken Popejoy, IL

04:09.8 Dan Cautley, WI

04:09.8 Glenn Herold, WI

GWI-Sacramento 2 mile-1969

1 Fred Ritcherson 8:55.2 Salesian-LA, CA

2 Mark Hiefield 8:59.0 Milwaukie, OR

3 Ruben Chappins 8:59.0 Norwalk, CA

Top 9 two mile times-1969

8:41.5 Steve Prefontaine OR '69

8:55.2 Fred Ritcherson CA '69

8:55.2 Mark Hiefield OR '69

8:55.2 Ruben Chappins CA '69

8:59.8 Dave White CA '69

8:59.? Randy James WA '69

9:03.? Doug Crooks OR '69

9:03.? Dave Anderson KS '69

9:03.? Jon Callen KS '69

Lindgren did hold the indoor record when Pre ran 8:41.5 beating Riley's outdoor record. Both were from Spokane

8:40.0i Gerry Lindgren Rogers, Spokane WA '64

8:48.3 Rick Riley Ferris, Spokane WA '66

Lindgren ran a mile in 4:06.0 at age 18 in 1964.

He also set the following High School records;

2 miles--9:00.0i--Dec 63

2 miles--4:40.0i--15 Feb 64

3 miles--13:37.8i--22 Feb 64

2000 meters 5:29.0--5 Jun 64

3 miles--13:18.2--5 Jun 64

5000m--13:44.0--5 Jun 64-- With this race Lindgren became the 13th best 5000 man in history. His time was the 19th fastest ever run. He bettered the US national mark of 13:45.0 although two Americans were ahead of him. He better the best ever high school mark set Danny Murphy in 1961 by 80.6 seconds. He ran the last lap in 60.5.

6 miles--28:23.8--25 Jul 64

10,000m--29:17.8--25 Jul 64

3 miles--13:17.0--15 Aug 64

Perhaps my chioce of words should have been "two of the best" as opposed to "the two best". That said, does the name Mike Hahn show up anywhere down either one of those lists you got your info from?

I assume that 4:40.0 2 mile was actually an 8:40.0 indoor two mile per the post above.

Thanks for the correction. It was 8:40.0i.

Lindgren ran the mile in 401.5 in 1964.

Lindgren ran the mile in 401.5 in 1964.

ONE LAST TIME! LINDGREN RAN THE 8:40 flat INDOOR AS A FREAKIN JUNIOR a JUNIOR a JUNIOR a JUNIOR a JUNIOR in highschool. HE NEVER GOT TO RUN OR COMPETE AS A SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL! THE FOLLOWING YEAR AS HE WAS TRAINING FOR THE OLYMPICS.....do you want to know where he was at in the 2 mile outdoors! NO YOU DON"T because it would wreck your bullshit of the great highschool 2 milers! WHO GOT TO COMPETE by the way as seniors!

Lindgren graduated from high school in 1964. As a senior, he ran his 8:40.0 indoors on 2/15/64 finishing 2nd to 10,000 WR holder Ron Clarke in San Francisco.

The 2-mile wasn't an official high school event in those days, but as a senior he also ran 9:00.0 in December '63 to win a high school 2-mile indoors in San Fran over a great field including Jim Ryun, and 8:46.0 indoors in January in Los Angeles finishing 2nd to steeple WR holder Gaston Roelants.

Outdoors in '64 he ran 8:56 and split 8:53.6 enroute to his then high school record 13:44.0 5000.

He also ran a HS record of 8:46 indoors.

OrvilleAtkins wrote:

Lindgren ran a mile in 4:06.0 at age 18 in 1964.

He also set the following High School records;

2 miles--9:00.0i--Dec 63

2 miles--4:40.0i--15 Feb 64

3 miles--13:37.8i--22 Feb 64

2000 meters 5:29.0--5 Jun 64

3 miles--13:18.2--5 Jun 64

5000m--13:44.0--5 Jun 64-- With this race Lindgren became the 13th best 5000 man in history. His time was the 19th fastest ever run. He bettered the US national mark of 13:45.0 although two Americans were ahead of him. He better the best ever high school mark set Danny Murphy in 1961 by 80.6 seconds. He ran the last lap in 60.5.

6 miles--28:23.8--25 Jul 64

10,000m--29:17.8--25 Jul 64

3 miles--13:17.0--15 Aug 64