As a junior high track coach I was wondering what people would consider a good time for a 7th grade boy in the 1600? Also, if you ran some quick times as a 7th/8th grade boy in the 1600 what did you go on to run in high school and college if you ran there? I have a kid on my team who has ran fairly decent in his first two meets and was just wondering how he might stack up against what people think or have ran.
Jr high really isn't that important. A lot of kids run fast in Jr high and don't keep up with it. I only ran 6:20 in 7th grade.
I know junior high means very little in the long run, I was a sprinter in junior high and even for about a season and a half in high school before I switched over to distance. I just wondered what some people would consider a good time for a 7th grade boy, and like I also asked, what some may have went on to run later in life.
anything under 4:30 is pretty good
The fastest kid on my team ran 5:17 as an eighth grader last year, and the fastest kid we raced against last year ran a 4:59 to win districts (also an eighth grader).
This year I have two seventh graders who have run 5:36 and finished first and second in both meets so far. Most seventh graders are in the 6:15-6:30 area right now and showing good improvement so far. We haven't raced any solid schools yet; tomorrow should be our first real challenge.
For a 13 year old, I'd say anything in the 5:20-5:30 range would be good. Of course, it depends on his maturity level. A "manly" 13 is different from the typical 13.
I was 12 in 7th grade and I ran 5:22.
my nephew's in 7th grade and ran low five thirties, a drop of a minute from last year, just from running a lot at basketball practice this year.
At our state jr high meet the winner of the 1600 is usually an eighth grader who runs slightly under 5 minutes. Most of the participants do not go on to have great high school careers but there are exceptions. As alluded to earlier, many jr high stars stand out simply because they have gone through puberty already.
Based on my observations, a 7th grade boy under 5:20 would be among the best in the state.
suburbanxcore wrote:
ran a 4:59 to win districts
How many "districts" are in your district? If the answer is one, then the word is "district". As in, "I managed to poop on a baby squirrel whilst competing at the DISTRICT MEET".
Honestly, if a kid runs a sub 6:00 in 7th grade there is definitely potential to become a great runner, assuming he isn't running 30 miles a week already.
When I was in middle school we ran 4x a week, 2 miles each day... breaking 6 minutes off of that was a pretty good indicator that you could become quite good.
I was a year younger than everyone, but I ran 6:04 in 7th grade. Ran 5:52 in 8th grade. In HS ran 10:17 for 3200, age 25 16:20 5k.
I ran 4:58 in 7th grade on soccer fitness and 1 track workout a week with my track club. Come Senior year of HS... 4:35. Injuries and poor HS coaching helped a lot with that time.
When I saw the subject I thought this was a historical thread and I was going to say no, the 1600's were not a good time for 7th grade boys, but I don't think they even had 7th grade back then.
Come on I have coached two girls that have run 4:47 for 1600, as early as 7th/8th grade. Go to USATF Junior Olympics and scan the years just after Bantam. Some of the boys I coached in the Midget age range, much faster...just ran at Arcadia. However, many are correct, several killer kids at that early age we thought were gonna be monsters in a few years...just fizzeled out. Strange. Alot has to do I think with their real personal passion for distance. The coaches in for the long haul. When he gets knocked down one year...he just has to get up and keep going at it.
Check this, you will have to convert from 1500m:
http://www.thepowerof10.info/rankings/rankinglist.aspx?event=1500&agegroup=U15&sex=M&alltime=y
I would consider 5:20 to be an excellent 7th grade time, and 5:10 to be an excellent 8th grade time.
It depends on the training, however. At the middle school where I teach, the kids "train" for only a few weeks before their 4 meet season begins. A lot of those 5:10 8th graders end up being 4:30 miles and 9:45 3200m runners by sophomore or junior year.
those kids are older than equivalent US 7th graders. I believe 7th grade students on average turn 13 sometime during the school year.
Fastest 7th grade boy I coached ran a 4:56, never ran that fast again. Hovered around 5:00 for a few years, quit by his junior year and is now in college.
To beat this dead horse, it doesn't matter what you do at 13-14, sometimes it shows you may have a promising future, other times you are just more developed than your peers at that age.
plurals are for squirrels wrote:
suburbanxcore wrote:ran a 4:59 to win districts
How many "districts" are in your district? If the answer is one, then the word is "district". As in, "I managed to poop on a baby squirrel whilst competing at the DISTRICT MEET".
The answer is not one, smart guy.