Prefontaine Cost an OR HS Team a State Championship

WHATTA BADASS, you're just mad cuz he is better than you

So now high school kids have to be running 80-90 miles so that they can finish a 5k??? You are a f***ing idiot if you are being serious.

old3aboy wrote:

So now high school kids have to be running 80-90 miles so that they can finish a 5k??? You are a f***ing idiot if you are being serious.

i agree. calling 80-90 mpw "properly trained" for a high schooler is wrong. doing that much in hs is stupid and unnecessary. too many people ruin their longevity by doing high mileage in hs and even college.

Mtn Dew wrote:

So he finished his last 1200m in 3:00 and lost two dozen spots? Wow, if closing at 4 minute mile pace loses ground how fast did the winners close?

Good point. I'm surprised that no one else seems to think that this is strange. I'm enjoying the mental picture of two dozen high school kids running along at 15+ minute pace and then suddenly just taking off at 3:50 mile pace with 1200 to go leaving the one kid who only managed to crank it up to 4 flat pace in their dust.

churchguy wrote:

If the kid had been trained properly with solid mileage behind him (80-90mpw) he wouldn't have faltered in the last 400 meters. It's just weak training pure and simple. You can blame the kid or the coach - take your pick.

You're kidding right? You want a freshman to run 80-90mpw so that his team can win a trophy? You really think that high mileage immunizes you from fading if you make your move too early.

Either your tongue is firmly planted in your cheek or you no nothing about training and racing.

Tony Waldrop did the same thing when he would race on the track in high school. Go out like a bat out of hell and then die in the last lap of the 800. He still usually won though. At the North Carollna state meet I think he did that and won in 1:53. He turned out to be a decent runner you know. A bit different that 5k XC though. Obviously you haven't been in a situation like this. The kid may have been thinking selfishly but shit, sometimes it happens. Maybe he's immature, maybe he makes poor decisions sometimes, or maybe he was dying anyway and decided to give it one last final push. There are tons of scenarios that could explain what happened. I doubt it's Prefontaine's fault. Blame Nike's marketing ploys and the legend that they built if you want.

Unbelievable.

I know a lot about this situation, so this thread just clarifies to me just how ridiculous most posts on this message board are and how unintelligent most of the people posting are.

He's well coached. He went out conservatively. He is a freshman. His coach specifically talked to him about that exact situation later in the race. The kid's desire to win overtook all thoughts, instincts, and feedback from his body. He simply ran himself into the ground, literally, within the last 1/2 mile. It was unwise, but he is 15 years old.

He will learn from it. Doesn't have to do anything with Prefontaine, poor coaching, lack of training, or any other absurd idea most of people have come up with on here.

Isn't Pre's most memorable CC win the come from behind victory over Nick Rose, who went out hard trying to defeat Pre? So wouldn't it be more appropriate to say Nick Rose cost an Oregon HS team....

It is interesting that you point to that XC race with Nick Rose. Pre didn't "risk" in that race by going with Rose. He actually ran within himself because Oregon was going after an NCAA team title. In the Olympics, Pre could show "guts" because it was his race and his alone. No teammates to let down. Just an Olympic Gold Medal and his legacy at stake. Two very different scenarios and two very different races by Pre.

If this really happened, wouldn't it be on youtube?

i like it when kids go "PRE" and then practically walk the last mile

722 wrote:

a journalist wrote:

"Pre dies, but I won't, 'cuz I'm hitting the first mile in 5:30."

i lol'd

I agree. That was funny stuff.

Sometimes I look back on my high school career and wonder "what if" I would have just gone for a victory and seen what I could do rather than running "within myself" so often. Even if I failed, I would have learned what it feels like to get further out of my comfort zone.

Mtn Dew wrote:

So he finished his last 1200m in 3:00 and lost two dozen spots? Wow, if closing at 4 minute mile pace loses ground how fast did the winners close?

WIN!

if anything, he pulled a salazar and ran his body into the ground.

more than once i have thrown in tremendous surges in order to help teammates run a qualifying time, and died a horrible death. i thought i was doing a service, but i'm sure there would be critics of my efforts.

what a shame this kid actually tried to win. when this is a thread, you know it's a slow news week. when i am responding, you know i am sitting in my skivvies with not much better to do.

To the rescue!!!

The athlete in question was a very likely top 5 finisher prior to the meet. In two previous meetings this fall he beat the eventual second place finisher by 7 and 15 seconds. He beat the 5th place finisher in the 6A race (Oregon's largest division) earlier this year. It is clear that on Saturday he bonked in an attempt to win the race. However, it's not like he went out way too hard and died at the mile or two mile mark. At the time he made his move I'm sure he thought he would be able to finish that last 200m. Hindsight is a nice benefit to have when analyzing race tactics.

There are some well though out comments about the race on this thread, but the majority of these assumptions are nothing more than Monday morning quarterbacks making absurd leaps in logic and judgement about a high school freshman.

Personally, I think he used up all his energy stores shivering at the start of the race. If he'd just ingested a gel before the surge he'd be the state champ as I type this crap.

For all the stinking extremist right-wing conservatives who weigh in on this site, I'm surprised no one has pointed out the obvious:

It's not Prefontaine's fault. It's not the coach's fault. It's not Nike's fault. It's not the fault of any quote.

THE KID MADE AN UNFORTUNATE DECISION IN HIS RACING STRATEGY AND HE PAID THE PRICE. HE AND HE ALONE IS ACCOUNTABLE!