There has been a lot of talk recently about the FM girls team who won nationals with an incredible score of only 27 points, but I can't help but noticing that there has been a lot of negative feedback directed towards the coach because none of the girls have ever done anything in college and beyond.
The real question is, how is high school supposed to be coached then? Are we trying to win championships, or are we trying to train runners for the next stages in their running career? There was a recent article on runners world about the 2000 Footlocker race between Webb, Ritz, and Hall, all great runners. Even though Ritz was much faster than Hall in high school, Hall has definitely improved more over time. In the article, it explains how Hall's dad who was basically his coach when he was young didn't give him a lot of speedwork and just built up a huge base.
So the question is, are these high school super star teams (FM, York) only focusing on the speedwork and the intervals while the best individuals come from a large aerobic running base? And what do you think, as a high school coach, you should stick too?