is a 5:11 road 1500m by a 6th grade girl good?

son of one tree hill wrote:

Was at a half marathon on the weekend that had a kids' road 1500 m. A 6th grade girl set a course record of 5:11. How good is that?

If you look at AAU Junior Olympics from 2009 (just a sample year), and look for 11 year old girls (6th grade) here -

You'll see top 5:

Asja Baker 5:06.47

Antwonette Thomas 5:07.63

Jalisa Williams 5:10.67

Madison Boreman 5:13.13

Brooklynn Broadwater 5:13.15

Also the national record set in 2005 of 4:53.57.

So, 5:11 is pretty good for a 6th grade girl, but it was on the road and could be short or aided (downhill) in some way.

What road was it?

It's solid. As Flagpole posted, it could have been aided although it's just as likely that there were hills or tight turns.

Don't go ape over it though. Check the link below. Do you recognize any of those names among this year's juniors and seniors? Maybe a few on the track but no xc runners and only a couple are still competing at a high level at the national level. Fast 6-8th grade times are by no means an indication of future capability, especially for girls. Many of the girls in those results either plateaued for their career or peaked in 6-8th grade.

Take it for what it is, a solid time.

http://www.usatf.org/events/2005/USATFJuniorOlympicTFChampionships/results/national/F204.asp

chikin wrote:

It's solid. As Flagpole posted, it could have been aided although it's just as likely that there were hills or tight turns.

Don't go ape over it though. Check the link below. Do you recognize any of those names among this year's juniors and seniors? Maybe a few on the track but no xc runners and only a couple are still competing at a high level at the national level. Fast 6-8th grade times are by no means an indication of future capability, especially for girls. Many of the girls in those results either plateaued for their career or peaked in 6-8th grade.

Take it for what it is, a solid time.

http://www.usatf.org/events/2005/USATFJuniorOlympicTFChampionships/results/national/F204.asp

Very true about no indication of future capability, ESPECIALLY for girls. Man what a crap shoot that is for them. USUALLY the boys get a lot faster beginning in about 7th grade as they finally hit puberty, and after that it's mostly training and interest that determines if they will continue to be good or not (assuming they were good as 10 and 11 year olds). I'm interested in this right now because I have a 10 year old son who runs 2 miles in 12 minutes...he would be the No. 1 runner on my daughter's (the boys team) middle school team right now, but he has to wait another two years before he's in 7th grade.

NO!

Who the F runs a road 1500?

I've never heard of a road 1500m but 5:11 sounds darn good to me for a 6th grader. I barely ran a 7 minute mile in 6th grade.

Thanks for the responses and link, Flagpole. It was a loop course, no aid due to downhills. I know it might not mean anything for the future, I was just curious since it was the course record. A good run on a good day, at any rate.

Good time, but since it is not certified, I wouldn't get too excited about it. If she has laid down a time in a legitimate track meet, then we could compare performances. I have seen girls run great times as 6th graders, and plateau for years, despite increased training and mileage. They just grow at different rates.

I know two of the girls in the middle of the lists and they both improved a bit (about 10 seconds) by their junior/senior year. Whatever happened to Danielle Menlove? She ran well her freshman year, but that was it.

Who said it wasn't certified?

I know a few of these girls but Googled most...

1 Claudia Francis 4:41.62 (2:07 last year, her sister is an Oregon freshman)

2 Danielle Menlove 4:45.19 (She may be coming back this spring. She's had a debilitating illness since Footlocker 08)

3 Destiny Jenkins 4:46.20 (looks like low 5:0X for 1600)

4 Katherine Delaney 4:53.51 (4:36 1500 last year)

5 Tiffany Heflin 4:58.13 (88th at Footlocker)

6 Kaylor Murray 4:58.40 (5:05 for 1500 last year)

7 Katherin Shirley 4:59.81 (Went to Saugus, did not make their varsity XC team)

8 Meagan Brandli 5:01.24 (5:23 1600 last year)

9 Olicia Williams 5:02.04 (2:11 last year)

10 Ashley Welker 5:02.19 (2:14 last year)

son of one tree hill wrote:

Was at a half marathon on the weekend that had a kids' road 1500 m. A 6th grade girl set a course record of 5:11. How good is that?

Wait till puberty hits. My daughter ran 800m in just under 3 minutes when she had only just turned 8 years old (no training at that age, obviously). Now, she's nearly 12, has just hit puberty and can't run even that fast, nearly 4 years later. Those hormones really mess with a girl's athletic abilities, I can tell you.

short course.

flagpole, what happens to the African American distance runners so successful in the AAU ranks at early ages, through youth track clubs, when they hit high school? Why do they all disappear from the distances? There are high participation rates among African American kids in junior olympics, as I saw at a Savannah qualifying event for states last year (there were no white kids at all!).

jjjjjjj wrote:

flagpole, what happens to the African American distance runners so successful in the AAU ranks at early ages, through youth track clubs, when they hit high school? Why do they all disappear from the distances? There are high participation rates among African American kids in junior olympics, as I saw at a Savannah qualifying event for states last year (there were no white kids at all!).

I have no idea what happens to them, but you are right that there is a big African American participation in AAU athletics. I'm not sure what the reason is...AAU being touted more in the inner cities than the burbs? Really, I have no idea why this is.