This kid is UNBELIEVABLE. He ran 8:55 and beat the third place finisher at Foot Locker by 5 seconds to win the Washington 3A State Meet. Then he runs 4:09 for third.
Did I mention he's a sophomore?
This kid is UNBELIEVABLE. He ran 8:55 and beat the third place finisher at Foot Locker by 5 seconds to win the Washington 3A State Meet. Then he runs 4:09 for third.
Did I mention he's a sophomore?
Will he and his brother Frank keep solving mysteries, or will he give that up for running?
Are we sure that Chet didn't give him a ride in his jalopy for part of the 3200m race? That seems like a really fast time.
His kick past Weitz looked effortless, as though he had a gallon or 2 left in the tank. It was simply shocking to witness.
Joe Hardy isn't even the fastest sophomore in the the country. Blake Haney ran 8:54 and 4:10. He ran the 4:10 early in the season, so I'm pretty sure he can run faster by now.
Will these type of kids burnout? I think he will be lucky to continue to be a national caliber athlete beyond high school
smitty werbenjagermanjensen wrote:
Joe Hardy isn't even the fastest sophomore in the the country. Blake Haney ran 8:54 and 4:10. He ran the 4:10 early in the season, so I'm pretty sure he can run faster by now.
4:09, 8:55 is arguably faster.
Those times alone are arguably faster. But, Blake Haney is more likely to improve than Joe Hardy for all I know. Haney had a teammate that qualified for footlocker as a senior, so it is unlikely that his coaches methods will burn him out before then, and also he knows how to coach fast kids. I am not aware of anything Joe Hardy's coach has done, but if there is something, I would like to hear it.
By the way, wasn't there another sophomore who broke 1:50 in the 800 this season. I would like to see what he could do in the mile with that type of speed. There are a ton of talented sophomores with a lot of potential this year.
mikeyxc wrote:
Will these type of kids burnout? I think he will be lucky to continue to be a national caliber athlete beyond high school
well, Seattle Prep has usually been a good program at developing talent...
smitty werbenjagermanjensen wrote:
Those times alone are arguably faster. But, Blake Haney is more likely to improve than Joe Hardy for all I know. Haney had a teammate that qualified for footlocker as a senior, so it is unlikely that his coaches methods will burn him out before then, and also he knows how to coach fast kids. I am not aware of anything Joe Hardy's coach has done, but if there is something, I would like to hear it.
By the way, wasn't there another sophomore who broke 1:50 in the 800 this season. I would like to see what he could do in the mile with that type of speed. There are a ton of talented sophomores with a lot of potential this year.
His coach has had multiple state champions (XC and Track), has coached kids to Footlocker, and had his team place 3rd and NXN NW last year....so yea, I think his coach knows what he's doing.
The kid has a ton of upside, he's made a large leap of improvement over the last year.
Geremia Lizier-Zmudzinsk of Oregon just ran a 3:53 1500 as a sophomore while playing soccer instead of running XC as a freshman and splitting soccer/xc as a sophomore. Now that he's committed to running 100%, he'll mop the floor with the 2 aforementioned guys next year.
mikeyxc wrote:
Will these type of kids burnout? I think he will be lucky to continue to be a national caliber athlete beyond high school
I think it is incorrect to base this assumption on a time run. It's always subjective, but physical development (the 8th grader that looks like a man child) and training (about which I know nothing for Hardy) are probably better indicators. Would it be better if he was slower?
smitty werbenjagermanjensen wrote:
Those times alone are arguably faster. But, Blake Haney is more likely to improve than Joe Hardy for all I know. Haney had a teammate that qualified for footlocker as a senior, so it is unlikely that his coaches methods will burn him out before then, and also he knows how to coach fast kids. I am not aware of anything Joe Hardy's coach has done, but if there is something, I would like to hear it.
By the way, wasn't there another sophomore who broke 1:50 in the 800 this season. I would like to see what he could do in the mile with that type of speed. There are a ton of talented sophomores with a lot of potential this year.
quick Seattle Prep history lesson (only bothering to look at the last 6 years... they had plenty of success before that, though, they've always been a state powerhouse)
2011 XC: Hardy qualified for NXN. Team was third at NXN-NW and one of the last teams in significant discussion for an at-large invite.
2011 Track: Not too significant... 3 guys at/under 9:35/4:25/2:00.
2010 XC: 3rd to North Central and University; top-10 at NXN-NW (#7). No elite individuals.
2010 Track: 2 guys at/under 9:35/4:25/2:00, one of which was a 4:11 and 8:58 guy.
2009 XC: Top guy finished 2nd at state (15:20), didn't run post-season... team was 4th at state, but didn't run post-season.
2009 Track: 4 guys at/under 9:30, 5 at/under 4:25, 2 guys at/under 2:00. Including four guys under 4:19 and a 1:54.
2008 XC: 2 runners in the top 8 at state (under 15:45), finished 2nd as a team to US champion North Central. 3rd at NXN-NW and had an NXN Individuals qualifier, but he opted for Footlocker West instead (and finished 13th).
2008 Track: 4 guys at/under 9:35, 2 guys at/under 4:25 and 2:00.
2007 XC: 2nd to North Central at state, 7th at NXN-NW. No elites (#29 at NXN-NW and a top-20 at state).
2007 Track: 1 sub-9 guy, 2 sub-4:25, 2 sub-1:57.
2006 XC: All-American at Footlocker (#15), State Champion (15:32 on the 5.2k course) with two other top-15 guys at state. Finished second to North Central (61-75) for their biggest scare since they started their streak.
hayward102 wrote:
mikeyxc wrote:Will these type of kids burnout? I think he will be lucky to continue to be a national caliber athlete beyond high school
I think it is incorrect to base this assumption on a time run. It's always subjective, but physical development (the 8th grader that looks like a man child) and training (about which I know nothing for Hardy) are probably better indicators. Would it be better if he was slower?
This sounds likes a mystery. "The Case of the Speedy Sophomores," maybe?
Hardy doesn't look like a grown man, but if you're looking for Sophomores who haven't matured yet, take a look at one of Washington's other phenoms: Kai Wilmot (North Central) is a pretty small guy and he's gone sub-9 (and was also top-50 at NXN) as well...
Burnout is a myth
mikeyxc wrote:
Will these type of kids burnout? I think he will be lucky to continue to be a national caliber athlete beyond high school
smitty werbenjagermanjensen wrote:
Joe Hardy isn't even the fastest sophomore in the the country. Blake Haney ran 8:54 and 4:10. He ran the 4:10 early in the season, so I'm pretty sure he can run faster by now.
Good sleuthing!
First of all, Hardy looks like a man among boys compared to Weitz and Wilmot. Rather Solinsky-like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHmnriiqpqk&feature=relmfu
(Race underway about 4:18:00 in, finish at 4:24:48)
Second, Weitz had a MASSIVE lead with 700 to go and Hardy took him down seemingly effortlessly. I've never in 40 years seen a prep run a sub-60 last lap so easily, and it was at the end of a 3200!
Well, yeah if you compare him to Wilmot, of course he looks like a man among boys. He looks younger than guys like Armstrong or Smith or Krotzer or Gardner, though. He looks like he's maybe 17 - developed for a soph, but not overly so.
Fantastic kick by him in the 3200 though, that was awesome to watch!
How crazy was it that Weitz ran 9:00 and 4:05 and won nothing? Might be the best non-winning prep double ever?