Have there been any truly not great runners in HS, that have gone on to the Olympics or to become truly great runners? Who are they and what kind of times did they run in HS?
Have there been any truly not great runners in HS, that have gone on to the Olympics or to become truly great runners? Who are they and what kind of times did they run in HS?
Kip Keino ran a 5:40 mile as a 16 year old. Frank Shorter ran 4:30 in HS; hardly "piss poor" but not indicative of a double-Olympic medallist, either.
Butch Reynolds only ran 48 in the 400 in high school.
Yeah i probably used piss poor as the wrong adjective. I'd say more like someone that wasnt on the the level of everyone else in the state.
Pat Porter wasn't all that good in high school. Did he actually make an Olympic squad though? For some reason I think he didn't. He did win 9 USA XC titles.
I'd like to go slightly off topic. Consider this: John Zishka of Lancaster, OH ran a 4:03 full mile as a SR in HS. Compare that to Bob Kennedy's 4:05 1600 meter run. It is interesting that Bob did what he did vs. Zishka, who was basically not heard of much again.
If im not wrong Peter Snell got 3rd in his school 800m in his senior year with a 1.59. Not a piss poor effort at all, but not an outstanding time many high school runners here wouldnt have achieved.
Daniel Lincoln was an unrecruited walk-on at Arkansas. He came in with something like a 4:18 pr in the 1600m. I think McDonnell did a pretty good job with him.
Lincol was even an Olympic finalist...
brettman10k wrote:
I'd like to go slightly off topic. Consider this: John Zishka of Lancaster, OH ran a 4:03 full mile as a SR in HS. Compare that to Bob Kennedy's 4:05 1600 meter run. It is interesting that Bob did what he did vs. Zishka, who was basically not heard of much again.
Although most anyone would be considered "not heard of much again" compared to Kennedy, Zishka continued as a solid collegiate runner. He was All-American at Penn State, XC (first frosh -23rd overall) & 3rd indoor (3K). Zishka transferred to Oregon and was a multiple All-American in XC and 5k outdoor (Oregon didn't run indoor). Despite fighting multiple injuries, Zishka ran 13:42 and went on to run decent road times (mid 23's for 5 miles) periodically including sub 31:00 as he was approaching 40 years old. Interestingly, Zishka, like Kennedy, also came from a low-mileage HS program although it included a lot higher intensity.
Dave Wottle was a 4:20 high school miler.
Lyle Alzado wasn't recruited by any D1 schools and went to some very small, no one ever heard of schools.
I will be the first.
well there was a man by the name of george young and if memory serves correct it wasnt untill his senior year or after that before he broke 10 minutes for two miles.
Going by his own recollections in Best Efforts, it doesn't look like Kenny Moore was a great h.s. runner.
But for WWII, Gunder Hagg, the Swede, would've been an Olympian. He was the last man to hold the mile record over 4 minutes.
As a teenager his father measured a 1,500 meter course in the woods on his property and timed Gunder on it. He ran 5'50" but his father said it was 4'50" so he wouldn't lose interest. The rest is history.
[quote]big think wrote:
"As a teenager his father measured a 1,500 meter course in the woods on his property and timed Gunder on it. "
Yeah and I bet that was an accurate course!
Probably none were worse in high school in the modern era than Ron Daws, who only ran 4:4x in high school but made the '68 Oly marathon team.
bill rodgers who won 4 boston and 4 new york marathons was a 9 minute 36 second 2 miler in high school, and said in his book his best college 2 mile was 8 minutes 58 seconds, he ran poorly in the 76 olympics, in 1980 he would have been one of the favorites, but with the boycott he did not even run the trials.
Ron never broke 5:20 in HS.
I think its funny that 4:20 milers are being listed as "piss poor."