Many of the anecdotal stories I see on LR are hard to believe. 11:00 as a freshman is really slow but you claim that such a runner improved to 9:11. When I was in HS, all of the top guys in the 2-mile ran 10:00 or faster as freshman.
Ohio High School great Scott Fry ran 10:45 as a freshman PR and then got down to 8:48 and multi-time national champion by the time he was a senior, and he even ran 9:06 as a junior.
I confirmed the 10:45 time but it’s not possible. When I ran, that time would have been about 10th place at our league meet in the F/S division. About 50% of the guys that ran that slowly didn’t even run track the next year. It would would have been like me making up a 90 second gap and beating Hulst my senior year.
If Fry really ran 10:45, there’s a lot more to the story. Jim Ryun was probably in the top 5 most talented milers in history and could have run 5:38 as an 8-year old. Improving from 5:38 to 4:07 in less than a year doesn’t happen.
I joined the track team my Junior year in high school. Opening 1600 meters after two weeks of training was a 5:40. My senior year I was able to run a 4:23. It can happen if the athlete is motivate and has some talent.
Ohio High School great Scott Fry ran 10:45 as a freshman PR and then got down to 8:48 and multi-time national champion by the time he was a senior, and he even ran 9:06 as a junior.
I confirmed the 10:45 time but it’s not possible. When I ran, that time would have been about 10th place at our league meet in the F/S division. About 50% of the guys that ran that slowly didn’t even run track the next year. It would would have been like me making up a 90 second gap and beating Hulst my senior year.
If Fry really ran 10:45, there’s a lot more to the story. Jim Ryun was probably in the top 5 most talented milers in history and could have run 5:38 as an 8-year old. Improving from 5:38 to 4:07 in less than a year doesn’t happen.
What do you mean you confirmed it but it's not possible? The story is that Scott Fry looked like a 12 year old as a freshman. He physically matured later on. Also, he started doing big mileage later on, so talent, maturity, and training led to the improvement.
Also, Scott Fry ran for Sandusky Perkins HS which was NOT in the the large school division, so his competition in Ohio wasn't all that great, on his team or beyond, so 10:45 for a freshman was quite encouraging for that team at that time.
Depends I guess. My son had no track times to speak of as he was triathlete but had run 15:20 for 5k and had placed 11th in Australian xc u18 champs. Div 2 school took a chance on him with 1/2 scholarship and he was all conference, all region in cross country and had some good track performances. The school even increased his scholarship to 3/4 by his last year. Good luck!
Everyone probably has at least one story of great improvement. I know a kid who ran a 5:28 1600 in the 8th grade. A year later as a 9th grader, he ran a 3200 in 9:45, and he got down to 9:10 as a senior. Some kids mature early in middle school and are beating everyone there. Some mature in time for 9th grade success. Others don't get that maturity boost until later in high school.