Ritz got third place in the footlocker MW Regional as a soph. and completely smoked the 11th grade Teg.

We landed on the moon!

tegenkamp didn't really hit it big until his senior year of hs. his junior year he was probably 5'8 105 lbs and ran something like 915 and 425. his senior year he grew a lot (kept growing in college), probably 5'11 and 120 lbs and got much faster (he became a man). i think he ran 853 and 411. i remember seeing a visible difference in the span of months between his junior and senior seasons. his junior year he could run 70 second laps all day in the 3200 but could not outkick anyone, he was kicked down by 3 guys in the missouri state xc meet. by his senior year i remember him winning a lot of sit and kick races in track (1 in xc) as well as beating ritz at us junior xc nationals his freshman year at wisconsin.

...and what was Ritz that his soph year when he beat Teg.? Liek 5 ft. nothing and 100lbs.? That's no excuse, he was even smaller than Teg.

did ritz run footlocker his freshman year?

You do know that it's okay to be a fan of both athletes, right? You don't have to choose. This isn't Jen versus Angelina.

"You do know that it's okay to be a fan of both athletes, right? You don't have to choose. This isn't Jen versus Angelina" ............Maturity makes a rare appearance!! Thanks!

Ritz ran in the frosh/soph race at the Midwest Regional his freshman year.

http://www.footlockercc.com/midwest/results/1997_mw_results.htm

I am a fan of both, it's just that people on this board forget what a PHENOM Ritz was.

phenom concern wrote:

I am a fan of both, it's just that people on this board forget what a PHENOM Ritz was.

Torres made the FINALS AS A FROSH.

I guess he was a bigger phenom than Ritz! (how's that working out for him on the international level these days? Is he better than Ritz?

And Abdirzak Mohammed from Somalia won footlocker twice before Ritz did it, and had much better speed than Ritz [anchored 4*400 state champ team in MA, and was 600m state champ]. Has he been heard fro since? My point? Super Phenom as frosh/soph or even jr/sr doesn't always mean medal contender someday. )

[quote]Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Torres made the FINALS AS A FROSH.

[quote]

no he didn't.

Jordan Hasay (2005, 2008)

Dathan Ritzenhein (1999-2000)

Erin Keogh (1985-86)

Melody Fairchild (1989-90)

Abdirizak Mohamud (1996-97)

Erin Sullivan (1997-98)

what's your point?

I remember being absolutely SHOCKED that anyone could beat both Andy Powell and Franklyn Sanchez - let alone a sophomore. It was mind-blowing

Notice that Ritz' winning times were 2 of the 3 fastest footlockers ever

objectivity wrote:

[quote]Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Torres made the FINALS AS A FROSH.

[quote]

no he didn't.

Yea he did.

joeb wrote:

Ritz ran in the frosh/soph race at the Midwest Regional his freshman year.

http://www.footlockercc.com/midwest/results/1997_mw_results.htm

Should be clarified. Ritz WON the freshman/sophmore race as a freshman, winning by 5 seconds and running a time just outside the top 20 from the seeded race. He was a stud even back then, though incredibly small and scrawny.

An additional indication of his natural ability- He ran 10:24 in the 2-mile in EIGHTH GRADE! As I recollect from my days in Middle School (going to a school of 1200 6-8th graders), the MILE record was about 5:20. So 10:24 is out there.

Running (espcially for males) is very genetic. I wonder sometimes how much distance running in this country could be improved with the following program.

a) All Male 7th and 8th grades participate in gym class during which they run 2 miles a day 2-3 days a week. (more would be good, but people would complain too much)

b) At the end of their 8th grade year, everyone races a mile and a two mile.

c) Anyone who breaks 5:30 or 12:00 is heavily recruited by the High School track/XC coach and fastracked to running in HS.

It seems like any one with a shot at 2:06/59:46/12:56/3:46 would have to have enough genetic ability to meet the requirements, hold for obese children or people who don't try hard.

Thoughts?

This would never fly in the public school system. There needs to be more gold at the end of the rainbow for this type of talent search to take place amongst middle schoolers. What is the incentive? If you are a stud distance runner, odds are you won't be making as much money as someone riding the pine in of the major sports.

I digress...

Ritz was a national level force as a Soph. and he destroyed a dude that this board often christened as the "next American to go under 13 minutes". It looks like Ritz has come through on all of that immense potential.

objectivity wrote:

no he didn't.

That took about 10 seconds to find, and another 10-15 seconds to paste it all in.

This isn't the old Soviet Union. And distance running success as a nation isn't really high on the national priority list.