Kim Gallagher's legendary 2:00 is probably the best HS distance record. Chanelle Price came very close to it in HS, and it looks like Ajee Wilson is the real deal. She not only has speed over 400, but possesses astonishing strength over the 1600 and at one point had the US #1 in that event as well as the 800.
At New Balance Nationals she just split 2:00.5 on a relay leg, with perfect splits of 60-60!! Could we see this record go down soon? Wilson is the real deal.
Her team is also #4 all time in the sprint medley!
I think Lynn Bjorkland's 3000m, 9:06 from 1975 is better. No relation to Garry Bjorkland.
Funny how you got Garry Bjorklund's first name right....
ck3237 wrote:
I think Lynn Bjorkland's 3000m, 9:06 from 1975 is better. No relation to Garry Bjorkland.
Funny how everyones split times are faster than their PR's
no
Because a runner start in an 800 is sooo helpful as you're trying to grab a stick
ck3237 wrote:
I think Lynn Bjorkland's 3000m, 9:06 from 1975 is better. No relation to Garry Bjorkland.
You are joking right!
Kim's 2 flat 800 would probably would have been in the top 25 performances in the world last year, while a 9:06 3k in most years would not even make the world list. Kim's 800 PR would have been in the top 5 in the U.S. last year, which was one the U.S.'s best years for the 800. 9 times out of 10 her time would win the NCAAs Champ and make the U.S. sr national team. - Don't get me wrong, Lynn's 3k record is incredible, but it is not on par with the HSR 800.
As a side note, one of Kim's biggest regrets is not lowering her 1500/mile time; Kim generally ran mutiple events and geneally just ran to win. Kim flet that if she had run a 1500 around the time she ran her 800 PR, she could have went sub-4:10. As crazy as that sound nowaday, people that know her don't doubt it. I think Kim's 1500 PR was run in April and her mile PR was part of a 3 event package or vice versa. Kim did not run indoor, did not take XC serious, was a relay specialist durning the H.S. outdoor season and focused on the summer. Kim, like a lot of runners during that era had strong ties to their club and was in her best shape in the summer.
I saw both Mary Decker and late Kim Gallagher run as high schoolers. They were incredible. I have not yet seen Ajee Wilson, but a 2:00.5 800 meter split, as a sophomore, is a compelling time. A relay split for an 800 is an attainable time for a young runner in an open race with some more training and some good competition.
How many U.S. women of any age can run a 2:00.5 800 split? The number is very small. Three women represent the U.S. in London in 2012 in the 800. She's a plausible prospect for the team, just as Mary and Kim were in their era as high schoolers.
Talent bursts onto the scene every once in a while and you just can't discount how extraordinary Ajee Wilson's performance was because she was anchoring a relay.
Made it look easy...positively "Wheating-like"
http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/237134/341881
That video was amazing. 2:00.59, so a 2:00.6. She passed a girl who ran a 2:07 split with so much speed and a power. The time was impressive enough. The video is even more so. No question, huge talent.
I have watching Ajee run since she was in the 6th grade and she is the only great youth runner that Ibelieve is the real deal.
Her mom is very slim, so I do not believe she will have growth issues. Wathch her run, she is as smooth as silk; a beautiful running style that just cannot be taught.
Wilson and Gallagher are far more similar than Price. For one Price focused far more on time and individual events, while Wilson and Gallagher were racers and focused more on relays and walking people down. This does not take anything away Price, becasue I am sure she ran what and how she was taught. Wilson and Gallagher have/had tremendos raw 400m speed, but enjoyed running the mile, while Price while Price was pretty good at the mile as well, but she never liked the event.
Btw, I hope everyone does not overhype Wilson becasue a 2:00 relay split chasing someone is only equal to about a 2:02 scratch, which is still pretty darn fast. Also, it is not uncommon for girls to run fast 800s their freshman and sophomore year and make only slight improvementst the next two years; we have seen this with just about every H.S. 800 runner, which Price and Roster coming to mind.
Ajee's mark is better than Decker's 2:02 soph record, and Galagher's 2:01 Jr. class record.
As for "chasing " in a relay, that is similar to running in a field of pros, conditions in which the other marks were set, so it's a wash. The second-best prep performance ever,and by a soph.
even though it's a split, it would have won NCAA's.
Price only got faster as HS went on, and ran one of the fastest times ever (and a PR) as a senior in HS. Since then, she has really worked on strength and is running some very fast 1500s (and was part of Tennessee's very good recording setting relay teams).
Ajee Wilson is very impressive. She has a very good sense of pace and has the speed AND the strength. This may be the future of USA mid distance.
disgusting
Even if she split it, anyone think she could put together a 2:01? Would love to see her at USAs...
Yes, can she get into USAs?
Phenomenal... couldn't she run through the darn line, though? That's another couple of tenths for the slight slowdown.