Fastest 8th Grader in the nation?

Undoubtedly the fastest. I am a little suspicious of this race though. What big hs boys race has 6 of the top 15 in 9th grade or less? And all 6 running 16:52 or better?

Sounds short, downwind and/or downhill to me..

And where are the upperclasmen? This is a boys, not girls race.

Owens is legit though, track times were crazy for a 7th grader.

I'm not sure if it is a certified 5K course, but it's in the flat-coastal area of SC(definitely no down-hills). However, those schools in that area have been producing some solid runners the past few years. We'll see how the SC state meet goes next Saturday.

An Aussie 14yo (14 1/2 at the most, born 2000) ran 15.33 in June this year for 5km on a track.

http://www.nswathletics.org.au/Portals/18/Results/hws1results.pdf

Scroll about a third of the way down for the 5km race. The winner's age isn't stated but I can tell you he's a 2000 birthday.

How does that compare?

Cool man. Hopefully kids like these two aren't just going to get burnt out by college from overtraining. To be running this fast at such a young age is incredible.

two other legit eighth graders are Sam Affolder of Carthage, Ny and Noah Tindale of Guilderland, NY. Look them up on Milesplit or some other place if you want, not enough time to post all results.

Burnt out in college? Almost guarantee they will be burnt out or otherwise screwed up by the end of high school. To run that fast at that age means you are working too hard-likely with aggressive intervals. Very few survive to adult ranks.

I live in the upper state of SC so I can't say how fast this course is but I do know that it has to be as flat as a pancake as that is how the lower state is. Cane Bay is not too far from Charleston. The course is probably a little bit short. But nonetheless, placement is what matters in cross the most anyway.

Anyway this kid is the real deal, he's a prodigy. I ran against him twice last year - in the 3A Upper State Qualifer 1600m and then the following week at the 3A SC state. I barely edged him out both races... As a SENIOR. At state we both ran 4:27 in the 1600m. He can also run 2:00 in the 800.

look at Otis Ubriaco's career, Burnt Hills NY and Iona College. Hardly burnt out.

Also seconded for Noah Tindale. Just ran 15:41 the other day.

Also, Lucas Bourgoyne of TX ran a 15:36 last March. Looks like on the day before he turned 13.

http://age-records.125mb.com

Appears to have recorded 2k and 2 mile (9:56) marks en route.

duncnasty wrote:

This is the same kid that was running 4:30 1600's this past spring as a 13 year-old. The kid ran 15:54 yesterday in some semi-harsh weather I believe. I was wondering if there are any other 8th graders in the nation that are running this fast.

http://sc.milesplit.com/meets/185900/results/339094

Some things (just facts, but some of you will see some of them as positive and some as negative).

1) If the kid was 13 in the spring of his 7th grade year, then he's among the older in his grade meaning that there are current freshmen who are about his same age. Make a HUGE difference here.

2) He has run the 1600 in 4:27, so he's definitely legit.

3) USUALLY an 8th grade kid who runs so fast does so because he trains a lot (gotta have talent too, but there are talented 8th graders who just haven't trained that much yet).

4) I have seen WAY too many fast 8th graders (both boys and girls) who then either don't improve much or actually get slower in high school to be geeked about how fast they are at that age. Good for him, and he's certainly someone to keep an eye on, but USUALLY the kid who drops a ton of time from freshman year to sophomore year is the one who ends up better.

5) Finally, I know some 8th graders get to run in high school meets (and I don't know why), but that for sure gives any who do that an advantage of those who don't.

Anyway, good luck to this kid. Maybe he'll run 14:20 in high school some day. Maybe he won't.

Carter Cheeseman (8th grader) is one to look out for as well. After finishing his middle school XC season he joined the high school varsity team. Traveled to Jesse Owens for his first meet in which he ran 16:03. Later on he competed at the conference meet on a little slower course, muddy conditions and ran 16:12. This past weekend at the Tennessee State meet he finished 5th. Also has PRs of 10:03 in the 2mile and 4:37 in the mile.

There was a freshman who got 2nd in the large division race.

Noah Tindale ran 15:41 at SPAC.. 2.93 mile course. Needless to say, his speed rating was quite high for an 8th grader.

Flagpole wrote:

duncnasty wrote:

This is the same kid that was running 4:30 1600's this past spring as a 13 year-old. The kid ran 15:54 yesterday in some semi-harsh weather I believe. I was wondering if there are any other 8th graders in the nation that are running this fast.

http://sc.milesplit.com/meets/185900/results/339094

Some things (just facts, but some of you will see some of them as positive and some as negative).

1) If the kid was 13 in the spring of his 7th grade year, then he's among the older in his grade meaning that there are current freshmen who are about his same age. Make a HUGE difference here.

This isn't true. Most 7th graders turn 13 during the school year. Turning 13 in the spring is definitely not old.

I would like to address the first point:

Over 40 states have a Kindergarten cutoff date requiring that a student be 5 years old prior to August, September, or October 1st.

That means they will:

-Turn 6 in Kindergarten

-Turn 7 in 1st Grade

-Turn 8 in 2nd Grade

-Turn 9 in 3rd Grade

-Turn 10 in 4th Grade

-Turn 11 in 5th Grade

-Turn 12 in 6th Grade

-Turn 13 in 7th Grade

-Turn 14 in 8th Grade

I have no idea when his birthday is, but in the event that he turned 13 during the Spring of 7th Grade, that would actually put him right in the middle of his grade, or even in the younger half.

He would only be among the older students in his grade if he had something like a September-December Birthday, and even then, it would NOT be normal for high school freshmen to be his age.

Because South Caroline has a kindergarten cutoff date of 9/01, if he is presently a 14 year old 8th grader, the only freshmen that should be the same age as him are either:

-freshmen in states with an October 1st or later cutoff date in the event that he had a birthday in September

-freshmen who started kindergarten early

-freshmen who skipped a grade

Once again, it is NORMAL for a high schooler to be 18 during his or her senior year. In fact, almost all high schoolers across 40+ states with birthdays in September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, or May of their senior years will likely be 18 by the time of a standard State Track meet.

madinw02 wrote:

Noah Tindale ran 15:41 at SPAC.. 2.93 mile course. Needless to say, his speed rating was quite high for an 8th grader.

SPAC is not 2.93 miles. It is either 3.04 or 3.05 depending on who you ask. The 15:41 is a class record for the course by 7-8 seconds I believe.

My nephew ran a 4:37 in 8th grade and a 15:35 on the roads before his freshman year. In HS he ran 15:10 for CC and 4:15 and 9:16. In college he 30:10 and 14:30. He was always a small kid , but a pretty good athlete. He made the varsity BB team as a freshman, played a lot his 10th grade year, but not much as a senior. Respectable times but certainly not great.

Very interesting, I turned 14 the August before my freshman year, which meant that I graduated while still 17 and went into college as a just barely 18 year old.

Didn't realize that I would be way in the minority.

Nope wrote:

Very interesting, I turned 14 the August before my freshman year, which meant that I graduated while still 17 and went into college as a just barely 18 year old.

Didn't realize that I would be way in the minority.

Yeah you were likely the among the youngest in your grade. Not sure how old you are now, but most of your friends probably turned 21 (and could legally drink) during their Junior year in college. You likely had to wait until the beginning of your Senior year to get rid of your fake ID.