Chantelle Dron- 15yr old Soph. runs 2:10.66 and 4:51.62 (mile) indoors

What an advantage this girl gets over other high schoolers! She can train at whatever time of day she wants and however long she wants. If it's supposed to snow in the afternoon she can train in the morning. She doesn't have to wake up at 7am to catch a bus for school, or stay up late doing homework, so she doesn't have to worry about being overtired. Her training is probably as close to that of a professional athlete as you could possibly get.

At the University of Toronto yesterday Stephanie Smith, who I believe is 12 years old, ran 10:00.18 for 3000m, beating 2001 Canadian Junior XC Champ Diane Nukuri.

some 8th grade girl ran a 5:01 mile yesterday on a po'dunk arkansas state track. shes a russian home schooled girl i believe.

Vipam,

Check out the results from the BU meet yesterday.There was home schooled runner named Josh McDougal who ran 8:19 in the 3000 and 50.3 in the 400.This kid is going to be a monster.

Thanks Vipam. America needs to know the status quo.

Let's hope they don't get screwed by coaches who don't know

what they're doing.

arent girls different though, because it doesnt seem unusual for girls to have their best performances when they're young.

Aren't most home-schooled kids already social monster's.

It's too bad that she isn't restricted from all indoor races. Whoever her coach is already has her on a path of over-racing and chasing unimportant records by running with collegians and post-collegians. Who cares what her 10th. grade times are if she is injured or burnt out 4 years later and that is where she is headed. But, the coach will have his resume stats.

Looks like he is pushing Chantelle (and himself) for the female version of the Webb/Raczko Nike contract.

I sure hope that I am wrong, but let's see what you are posting about her down the road.

Watched FL finals in December and Chantelle ran very well. But you are right "q4life" she looks quite a bit more mature (as did ZOE) than her age would suggest.

Is this the same kid who ran fast enough in the FL South regional to qualify, but wasn't allowed to go to Nationals because she wasn't in the seeded race?

You know how many races Chantelle has run this indoors?

Four. Compare that to the number of races that other people are doing. Burn out? Nah.

She's gone:

3:29 - 1200

2:11- 800

2:10 - 800

4:51 - mile

Her coach is having her run open races because they're the only meets she can run at. Her coach is probably the best coach in the North East. He has had two Junior Olympic National Champions (4x800 relay intermediate boys, and young men), and a FL qualifier in Chantelle. He trains smart, and does not overrace at all. Chantelle won indoor nationals last winter in the Frosh girls mile. Outdoors she ran 4:30 in the 1500 at Junior Nationals. Then she won Maine Distance festival going sub-5:00 completely alone.

Chantelle is a talent, and is one of the best runners I have seen. Her coach (my summer) coach is one of the most modest people I have ever met. He is not coaching her so she will run fast, he is coaching her so she has fun. And she has fun running fast.

So shut the hell up, you don't know anything about her or her Coach. Chantelle is going to keep getting better as the years go on, and is going to keep impressing people.

One last thing: Do you think Nicole Blood runs dual meets?

A female 15 year old runs 2:10, and older runners look out

for her best interests. We are grateful that you responded,

but don't tell us to shut up.

Thanks for your input.

The indoor season is 3 weeks old and Chantelle has raced 4 times and who knows how many time trials. Most knowledgable track coaches would say that is too many.

If Nicloe Blood, or any other runner, is racing an equal amount as Chantelle, then they are also overracing and their coaches are fools that do not have the runner's best interests at heart.

Noone is disputing her talent or that she is having fun running fast times and getting early age group records. The question is how will she resond to the first stress reaction or bout of achilles tendonitis.

My son is one of the fortunate kids who has the privilege of working with Chantelle Dron's coach, Mick Grant. Eighteen months ago my son ran 4:37 to take fifth in his class meet at the state championships. In the eighteen months since he has been getting input from this coach he has (as part of a relay team) won two US National Titles, set an American age group record, won his class meet at states, and brought his personal mile time down to 4:22, etc. etc.

However, more important than any of this, he has had an immense amount of fun. Over-raced? Well in the course of 9 months on his high-school team he ran more than 70 competitive races - in the eight months(two summers) that he spent with this coach he raced a total of 8 times. If he was being over-raced it was never by this coach.

As to the coach needing to pad his resume? Trust me, he doesn't need to; it features National champions, Hershey champions, FootLocker finalists, State champions. Athletes he has coached have been recruited by - and are now attending, or about to attend - Stanford, Yale, Cornell, Colgate, Harvard, UNH, Haverford College, Princeton, etc.. But you will never hear this information from him - he is quiet, modest, dedicated, and immensely knowlegeable about the sport. His athletes trust him totally, and they are learning to love the sport of running - as a sport that you play. He believes that success will follow if athletes are training wisely and racing for fun.

If anyone wants to truly talk about this issue, please email me. I won't hide behind any cloak of anonymity and I would ask that you don't either.

All the best,

Giles.

As someone who has met Chantelle and knows Mitch from the U.S. Olympic Training Center, he is one of the most modest coaches out there. If you look at Chantelle's race schedule last year, she raced fewer than anyone at her level (I believe in outdoor track she had only 5 races or so and I also believe her x-c season consist about 5-6 races also). Chantelle is a dedicated young lady who is very educated, a talented piano player, and still has a long way to go before she even levels off. Mitch is very careful with Chantelle, as well as with all his athletes. Keep up the great work Mitch and Chantelle!

-James

Don't know how I wrote Mitch, it's way past my bed time. Anyway, Mick keep up the great work. And good luck Chantelle!

are you saying that all high school sports should be eliminated to avoid burnout or are you speaking specifically about one athlete? What specific information do you have about her over-racing and/or over-training? Suzy Hamilton ran 4:25 for 1500m at the same age and Mary Decker ran faster for both 800 and mile at a younger age. We won't even go into the African or European Juniors who are even faster. Nicole Blood ran 4:50 as a 13 or 14 year old.

Fast times are a poor indicator of potential burnout. What do you say about a boy running these times at this age? Are they likely burnout candidates?

Please lay out your plan for proper development, rather than putting down a 15 year old girl. Offer us some suggestions. We can learn a lot from you.

do you look out for the best interests of 15 year old boys who run 2:10? how do you go about looking out for these athletes' best interests? thank you for caring!

sincerely,

15 year old boy who runs 2:10