High School kid Gotcher mixes it up with Kenyans

Yes... very cool... anyone know what Gotcher's 5K split was?

Didn't see any splits....but I did find it amusing that the kid has committed to running again next year.

Gags and Lanana just might have something to say about that!

He ran this race last year and ran very fast ( forgot the time ) and people where talking like he was the next coming. Yeah, he ran 4:13 and 8:55 his sr year in HS and got was a non factor in the state 2 mile finishing up the track...Is the Kid good Yes, very good and I'm sure he will develop into one of stanfords best 5K-10k guys. But please he was two minutes behind the winner and it was a 6 mile course not 10K. It was a very good race nowlet's let the kid develop!

last year he ran 29:50something. this year 29:20. it's a six mile race, but still a very good time for a soon-to-be freshman, especially since the course is so up and down. also, the kenyans went out very slow. 4:49 at the mile, 9:46 (so I heard) at the 2-mile. but he still held on very strong and closed in like 4:31 (the last 400 is downhill).

very rarely am i extremely impressed with a high schooler, but i am with this kid. having spent approximately 5 miles trying to catch up with him, (only to have him outkick me to the finish), i would guess to say that the guy is going to be a factor in college pretty soon. the race did go out slow, (main pack at 4:51, 9:46, and his 3-mile time was probably about 14:48-14:50), but he put himself right in it and finished the race strong. that course is very similar to running west coast cross-country, so judging from his strength and willingness to go out with the leaders, i'd say he's looking at a good future at stanford.

Gotcher is done. He is a basketball player. How do you think he spends his winter? 26th at FootLocker as a junior, and a non-qualifier as a senior...

9:21 as a sophomore, 9:05 as a junior, and 8:55 as a senior, and where was he at the state championship? Shouldn't he have finished a little better than 9:09, oh but wait, that's right, that is good for a basketball player.

Please, hold your applause...

This is off the subject but:

If the race was THAT slow through the half, and not that fast overall, why couldn't some American win? All of these American runners bitch that there's no financial support for them because they think that just because they can break 29 for 10k or 14 for 5k that they are too good for road races and that they are the next US gold medal hope and should only set their precious feet on the track or XC, where they get smoked anyway. Paula Radcliffe does it all, wins money on the road, reps GBR in XC and Track par excellence. Note her ways and be wise 13:40 10k guys who think that marathons and road races might wreck your precious (pipe dream) track career.

Dude, fist off he doesn't play basketball any more...he did as a freshman, now he runs. Secondly the opening mile was 4:51 and "mixing it up with the kenyans" is an exageration. And as for the race being slow, with an opening mile of 4:51 that means the final 5 miles were 22:25 for the winner on a rolling course. Not flat like the road 8k champs but "rolling..." So before you say the race is slow do your math. As for Gotcher he was the second american! The guy in 6th has a 28:16 10k pr and a 2:14 marathon under his belt. Granted he is coming back from being hurt not bad for the kid. Stanford, which in my opinion is very good for elite kids, bad for those who need development will do well. May not run post college but he'll do well.

And here is some pointless controversy for you. The wharf to wharf prides itself in being a race for the community. Well at $25 x 14,000 it makes a lot of money. They give back about 5,000 per school in the county and take credit for take payers putting in a all-weather track at Aptos HS. However the only all-weather tracks are at the schools who's coaches are on the board of directors for the wharf to wharf.

I know who cares...I just hate politics. Any one know what the race director makes for income compared to what they "give back?" Shoot they don't even give you a time unless you are top 100.

Anyways, enough of this pointless rambling

Because nobody showed up.

It was the Kenyans and a few guys from SLO and Santa Cruz.