Nick Willis and Will Leer SCALPED by Canadian high schooler

For Will Leer, I hate to say it...but what's new.

wtf will leer. why do you get sponsored by nike? i want some nike stuff wtf.

While this topic doesn't warrant 5 threads on it, I think it's pretty notable for a 17 year old to beat a 1500m Olympic medalist in an 800m. It's not like it was a 200.

1:47.1 is very quick for a 17 year old.. he probably feels on top of the world right now. I'm also pretty sure Nick Willis (despite probably not caring much about the race) wasn't thrilled to lose to a high schooler.

Who cares about Will Leer? Hard to tell from how Nick came up if maybe he let the HS kid have it (Willis is clearly a class act, and it really looks that way to me), but it also looks like maybe the Canadians have found their next Gary Reed.

I think 4 Americans have run faster in high school, but Robby and Jock didn't.

If you watch the video of the race, it seems like Willis makes a lazy tactical mistake and tries to pass McBride on the inside down the final straightaway. McBride smartly holds his ground and Willis doesn't really have enough time left to drop back and go around him on the outside. I think that McBride would lose to Willis right now at the 800m 9 times out of 10, but his race was still bloody impressive.

It looked to me like Willis spotted him too much ground on the assumption he'd come right back. He was right, sort of, but didn't have enough room to make the move on the straightaway. I highly doubt Willis would let anyone beat him.

I was there and had a good spot at the 600m. McBride looked great and made a beautiful move, but Willis looked very relaxed and was not showing any sign of stress.

He pulled even with 60 to go and then seemed to ease off.

After the race I spoke to him and said how great it was that he came to the meet and he replied that he was very happy to have come.

He is a class individual and I think his prep is going very well.

BTW, I think McBride can run 1:45 this year-he looked that good.

McBride is the best male (Ajee may be as good) high school track athlete in North America. The Canadian HS system is later, so you should see some big things from him in the next few weeks.

well, an American high schooler just ran 20.14 in the 200m, .01 off Roy Martin's record, which is better on the world scale than 1:47 in the 800m, Ajee Wilson has middle distance comp with more range and nearly the same at 800m (Cain and maybe more), and there are some 10 low sprinters out there, including Marvin Bracy, so I don't think that we can call McBride the best male track athlete in N.A.

Not the best, but top 5 for sure with aldrich bailey and a few others

It really sucks how I missed this race, had to leave early or i'd be back at 3 am...

You can't compare 100/200m to longer races. It is much more common for HS age athletes to run well in the sprints. It is more difficult as you move up where it takes a few more years to reach world class.

You can't diregard this feat as "nothing" how common is it to see high schoolers running elite times in the sprint? IT HAPPENS IN TEXAS EVERY YEAR! Now how common is it to see a high schooler run 1:49 or better? Crickets......

The interesting this is, in Europe this guy would be consider a huge talent and gotten help to train smart and reasonable to future championships. In America, talent like this just dissapears. Its incredible how bad America is at 800 (I know this guy is canadian) considering all the talent that are there.

Can Willis steer him to Michigan?

Oh wait, that would be Brannen's job and he's a ....

Barakus Obama wrote:

The interesting this is, in Europe this guy would be consider a huge talent and gotten help to train smart and reasonable to future championships. In America, talent like this just dissapears. Its incredible how bad America is at 800 (I know this guy is canadian) considering all the talent that are there.

Yeah because Europeans are a real threat on the world stage. Whatever happened to James Brewer, Adam Cotton, etc., etc...

This is Leer's last season as a sponsored runner. His performances have been disappointing. Hope he enjoys flippin' burgers!

thirty two wrote:

[quote]Barakus Obama wrote:

Yeah because Europeans are a real threat on the world stage. Whatever happened to James Brewer, Adam Cotton, etc., etc...

Europeans ARE a real threat on the world stage :

Ksczot

Lewandowski

Borzakowski

Osagie

Holusa

...only Rudisha can legitimatly claim to be better than these guys.

On par with a guy like Aman for some.

Just last week a French guy on his 20th Bday (P-A Bose) & an Irish Junior (M. English) ran 1'45

A 15 year old soph won the Missouri state high school meet in 1:49 last weekend.

Wow. Speed kills. Kid made a nice adjustment when Willis tried to pass and held on. He also has guts and made his move early. Bright future.