Under the right guidance and appropriate training, what are the chances of a 9:20 HS Senior going on to a Division 1 college and becoming an All-American in cross country? How many of these HS school runners have become All-American over the past few years? I was checking last years results and I saw a couple of 9:20+'s in there.
It's not outside the realm of possibility. There are so many factors at work here. If you were running 9:20 off of low mileage and few workouts then the possibility is much greater than of you were blasting 100 mile weeks with two hard workouts. It's really difficult to predict an athlete's trajectory. Cam Levins would be a great example of this. There are plenty of high school studs who also never pan out or love up to expectations on the collegiate level. All you can do is work hard and smart and see where it gets you. Putting limits on yourself is silly especially at such a young age. I believe in working hard and smart so just do that and the rest will take care of itself.
Its certainly possible. I Would expect every year if you looked at XC AA you will find a couple of guys who ran 9:20 in high school.
At the same time however, every single year there are over a hundred kids who break 9:20 in the US so its more likely you are not an AA.
Possible though.
I'd say it's fairly close to certain, if this runner is female.
Pay attention wrote:
I'd say it's fairly close to certain, if this runner is female.
No it's not. It is fairly certain a 9:20 HS female would not ever compete in the NCAA let alone become an All-American.
Pretty good in DIII!
crazy raisin wrote:
No it's not. It is fairly certain a 9:20 HS female would not ever compete in the NCAA let alone become an All-American.
Why not?
A somewhat recent example that I am aware of was Trent Hoerr at Illinois. 9:20 in 3200 and I don't think he broke 4:20 for the 1600. 18th in the Illinois state cross meet after going out too fast (he was better than that - should have been top-5). Ran pretty good mileage in HS if I recall (60-70 mpw?). Finished 16th at the NCAA Cross Country meet in 2007. Also, was a sub-29:00 guy on the track. Was coached at Illinois by McRaven who is now at Texas A&M.
Pruner wrote:
Why not?
At that level they would almost certainly be a professional runner with a massive contract competing at the Olympic level.
Mark Nenow, who set the 10k American record in 1986 that stood for 25 years, was a 9:17/4:22 high school runner.
http://www.runblogrun.com/2007/11/a-runner-looks-at-fifty-thoughts-on-mark-nenow.html
I ran 9:37 for 3200m my SR year in high school and became an AA at DI Steeple.
I never ran under 10:15 in HS and was Div I xc AA. It's definitely possible.
wid0 wrote:
I ran 9:37 for 3200m my SR year in high school and became an AA at DI Steeple.
Name please so we can verify.
I know a kid that went from 9:18 as a senior to sub 14 and 29:30 in 2 years, and had qualified for NCAA XC nats the fall before (year and a half after just being a 9:20 kid).
I was a 9:50 guy (from altitude), but I went to a Division 2 school. I would have, with out a doubt in my mind, been a Division 1 All American in both cross country and track. My senior year I was in the top ten times in the 10k, regardless of division, and it was much faster than this year. For example, my time would have been third in this years list.
Like posters above said, if you had little training in high school (I only ran my last year and a half at 50 miles a week) you can make huge improvements in college. If you were running weeks of 80+, your room for improvement will be much slimmer, but it is still possible.
There was a guy at my college who was a 9:4x guy in high school and became an pll American, later ran 28:20 for 10k on the roads. There were a few other guys who were 9:20 types in our history who were AAs as well.
Alan Culpeppers HS PR for 3200 was 915, so roughly 918 for 2 miles. Yeah, it's possible.
Quite high if they go to Colorado.
Alan also was 5th at Footlocker and ran 3:50 in the 1500. Lets say, he didn't suck in HS. I think the OP is talking about guys that were average in HS.
Yeah.....but wrote:
Alan also was 5th at Footlocker and ran 3:50 in the 1500. Lets say, he didn't suck in HS. I think the OP is talking about guys that were average in HS.
You all have a skewed perspective if you think a 9:20 deuce is average.