Hand him the Foot Locker crown now- Drew Hunter runs 14:20 - 34 seconds faster than he did last year

HS watcher wrote:

The Ethipoian chic also scorched the couse in 16:29. I doubt anyone beats her as well.

Fiona O'Keefe ran a very relaxed 16:32 at Stanford this year - does anyone know if she has run FL in the past?

HS watcher wrote:

I know xc times don't mean a lot but the kid is gonna win. Trust me.

"Senior Drew Hunter of Loudon Valley, Va. left no room for doubt about his No. 1 ranking on Saturday, as he scorched a nation-leading time of 14:20.8 over 5k with splits of 4:31 and 9:15. To give that mark some perspective, Hunter ran 14:54 here last year before going to win Foot Locker South and place fourth at Foot Locker Nationals."

http://www.milesplit.com/articles/166090?page=5

The Ethipoian chic also scorched the couse in 16:29. I doubt anyone beats her as well.

WHY?

14:20 on a fast pancake flat course, perfectly cool conditions and a pace cart.

Great splits though! Pretty close to what you expect for 5k on the track. Less the pace cart.

Acali Runner wrote:

HS watcher wrote:

I know xc times don't mean a lot but the kid is gonna win. Trust me.

"Senior Drew Hunter of Loudon Valley, Va. left no room for doubt about his No. 1 ranking on Saturday, as he scorched a nation-leading time of 14:20.8 over 5k with splits of 4:31 and 9:15. To give that mark some perspective, Hunter ran 14:54 here last year before going to win Foot Locker South and place fourth at Foot Locker Nationals."

http://www.milesplit.com/articles/166090?page=5

The Ethipoian chic also scorched the couse in 16:29. I doubt anyone beats her as well.

WHY?

14:20 on a fast pancake flat course, perfectly cool conditions and a pace cart.

Great splits though! Pretty close to what you expect for 5k on the track. Less the pace cart.

The pace cart doesn't pace the runner. It just leads the way and shows the runner where to go, never actually matching his pace or being close to the runner. Have you ever run a cross country meet before? Have you ever been near the front? I'm gonna guess you ran the 8k in sub-24 in college because you use letsrun, so never mind.

For one thing, the course is not pancake flat, and has several hills. Is it fast? Certainly. But last year, it was only Hunter's 4th fastest course, and he ran Footlocker South 18 seconds faster. If he does that this year, that's 14:02 on an xc course, for those keeping track at home.

For another thing, he ran 14:20 for a legit 5k. What the hell does he have to run for you to think he will win? Has anyone other than Ritz run faster for xc ever? the New Balance Track 5000m races are generally won in 14:15-45, so 14:20 on an xc course, no matter how fast a course, is absolutely incredible.

Finally, Hunter has run 4:02, best among his class, 8:42, best among his class--and better than the running world's revered Grant Fisher--he's already the top returner at Footlocker, and he's raced sparingly this season. Tamagno is pretty much the only person I can think of who MIGHT beat him, but even then, it's gonna take a Herculean effort by him, and Hunter having an awful, awful day.

fast course but has a fair amount of turns and bad footing with a few inclines so not a pancake, he will run on faster

looked smooth but he always does, switched gears fast on the homestretch about 150m out and hammered it home

fast course but has a fair amount of turns and bad footing with a few inclines so not a pancake, he will run on faster

looked smooth but he always does, switched gears fast on the homestretch about 150m out and hammered it home

But. . . wrote:

For one thing, the course is not pancake flat, and has several hills. Is it fast? Certainly. But last year, it was only Hunter's 4th fastest course, and he ran Footlocker South 18 seconds faster. If he does that this year, that's 14:02 on an xc course, for those keeping track at home.

Not gonna happen. Let's be honest.

How old is Hunter? When is his birthday. He looks mature. Needless to say, he is outstanding regardless. Nevertheless I am curious.

Isheold? wrote:

How old is Hunter? When is his birthday. He looks mature. Needless to say, he is outstanding regardless. Nevertheless I am curious.

He's not older than normal for 12th grade.

5 September 97

Age: 18 years 43 days

Who are his rivals? Tamagno? (Sp?)

Having a June birthday I didn't turn 18 until after I graduated from high school. I thought that was normal. Apparently I should have waited a year to get an edge on my competition. Seems like all kids are older these days.

"Normal" is turning 18 DURING your senior year. It's not that difficult of a concept. You missed the "normal" range by a couple weeks. Big deal.

rojo wrote:

Isheold? wrote:

How old is Hunter? When is his birthday. He looks mature. Needless to say, he is outstanding regardless. Nevertheless I am curious.

He's not older than normal for 12th grade.

5 September 97

Age: 18 years 43 days

That actually is a bit old for a senior in high school. About a year old. Many seniors turn 17 in Sept, Oct, Nov, and December, not 18.

In Virginia, the cut off date is in September. No kids turn 18 in October or beyond unless they skipped a grade, did private school for Kindergarten, or moved in from another state with a different enrollment cut off date.

He is a NORMAL aged senior. Drop the age debate all of you people that just can't rationally believe a HS kid can run fast without doping or age cheating.

In a few minutes his mom will start posting on this thread defending his age as normal too.

Yeah how dare anyone accuse a WHITE AMERICAN BORN person of age cheating, that's only something we say about Africans.

Another Dumb Ass wrote:

He is a NORMAL aged senior. Drop the age debate all of you people that just can't rationally believe a HS kid can run fast without doping or age cheating.

In a few minutes his mom will start posting on this thread defending his age as normal too.

He's a year or more older than many high school seniors.

If VA cut-off was 9/1/97 for the class of 2015 as another posted stated, then he missed being in last year's class by 5 days. IN many states the cut-off is 12/31. He is nearly 16 months older than some kids in the class of 2016 from those states.

No need to try to psycho analyze those who do post facts that run counter to your feelings.

This is quite simple and factual.

What was the time for the runner-up in the boy's race.

Actually, the cut off is Sept 30. So Hunter could have graduated last year, but would have been one of the youngest seniors in the class. And for any of you youngsters here who don't have kids and are clueless about parenting, school readiness, and most other things, you will find that being the youngest kid in your class, especially for boys, is not usually a great idea, and many educators will recommend that parents think about waiting if their child has a mid to late summer birthday. Doesn't even have to do with sports.

Virginia parent wrote:

Actually, the cut off is Sept 30. So Hunter could have graduated last year, but would have been one of the youngest seniors in the class. And for any of you youngsters here who don't have kids and are clueless about parenting, school readiness, and most other things, you will find that being the youngest kid in your class, especially for boys, is not usually a great idea, and many educators will recommend that parents think about waiting if their child has a mid to late summer birthday. Doesn't even have to do with sports.

So he actually "should have been" in the class of 2015 and so is older than the average high school senior. Based on the facts.

Which is not to say he is in anyway cheating. Many kids are not deemed ready to being school when it is their time per the cut-off age. Especially boys, as you noted.

So, unless he began school with the class of 2015 and was held back in order to advance his high school athletic career -- something that did occur back when I was in high school with usually the 8th or 9th grade being repeated after transferring from one school to another -- , recognizing the fact he is a bit older than most high school seniors does not mean he is being accused of age cheating.