Is there such thing as a national powerhouse HS team that...

Looking at that ESPN article, I'd say Sendai Ikuei H.S., Saku Chosei H.S. and Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. at least have done pretty well.

They don't burn out their runners, it's just that runners who can contribute to a team in high school aren't all going to be good enough to contribute to a team in college.

US high schools. And Japan is only good at the marathon. Last time I checked all major championships have the marathon plus the 800, 1500, 5k, 10k, and 3k steeple.

Neuqua Valley H.S. in Naperville, IL - a program less than fifteen years old I believe. Their active runners in DI: Chris Derrick, Jim Riddle (indiv. qualifier to NCAA XC), Aaron Beattie (Washington's top runner at Regionals)

treadlightly wrote:

Doesn't "burn out" their runners? What consistent NC caliber HS team doesn't get a ton out of their kids already before they go to college?

If their HS coach didn't 'get a ton out of their kids already', they wouldn't be a national powerhouse.

lee bong ju wrote:

Neuqua Valley H.S. in Naperville, IL - a program less than fifteen years old I believe. Their active runners in DI: Chris Derrick, Jim Riddle (indiv. qualifier to NCAA XC), Aaron Beattie (Washington's top runner at Regionals)

Is there any info on their training?

Loyola High School - Los Angeles. They have been repeat NXN qualifiers on max 65 mpw. Alumni competing at top collegiate and post collegiate levels include David Torrence, Mark Matusak, and Michael Coe.

There is no such thing as "burn out."

There are a lot of competing priorities in college. Some good HS athletes realize that they are not going to be great college athletes early and decide to focus on other things.

The jump from a good HS athlete (All-State Caliber) to a good college athlete (All Conference Caliber in a decent conference) is enormous.

It doesn't take that much talent to be a good HS athlete if you're willing to put in the work. To be good at the college level you need to have the talent AND put in the work. That can be difficult when you are also trying to get a meaningful degree from a good school.

For perspective, I was a 4:10 HS Miler and a 3:41 College 1500M guy. I quit running competitively at 23 because I was wasting my time. I have never regretted quitting at 23.

CAGuy wrote:

Loyola High School - Los Angeles. They have been repeat NXN qualifiers on max 65 mpw. Alumni competing at top collegiate and post collegiate levels include David Torrence, Mark Matusak, and Michael Coe.

Michael Coe is not a Loyola Alumn.

The current issue of Running Times has a piece on Derrick's younger brother and talks about the coach's approaches with them. I don't think it is online.

East Kentwood near Grand Rapids MI. They are tremendous.

finnfinn wrote:

East Kentwood near Grand Rapids MI. They are tremendous.

And how do they train?

A quick Google search gives you the team website with some good info. Chris Derrick used to be somewhat active on the old Dyestat boards and was pretty open about his training, check over on the archives there in the General Running section in the thread titled "What was Your Workout Today".

East Kentwood has an amazing(imo) sprinting group and the 400-800 runners are also prety good (just not every year).

However, for everything above the 800m they are only decent.