Matthew Boling 4x400 Split 44.74

Dude, chill out. He’ll graduate as an 18 year old. Everyone where I am from was 6 in kindergarten. It varies by state, but you are clearly extremely narrow minded and judgmental. He is not abnormally old, you are just insecure that your children are not successful athletes.

44.5 wrote:

A kid (Henry Thomas) from CA split 44.5. That is the anchor leg split from the 3:07.40 HS record.

I ran against Thomas in the 4x400 a few times in HS at dual meets and invitationals and damn was he ever good. Their whole team was fast but the guys on that relay squad were amazing. Another one of them that was phenomenal was Sean Kelly. He was a beast at 800 and I got smoked by him on the regular. I don't think I've ever seen a more effortless looking stride than that kid had.

Are you smoking... wrote:

Dude, chill out. He’ll graduate as an 18 year old. Everyone where I am from was 6 in kindergarten. It varies by state, but you are clearly extremely narrow minded and judgmental. He is not abnormally old, you are just insecure that your children are not successful athletes.

WTF? I was 4 in kindergarten and graduated high school at 17, was even in college a few weeks before turning 18. Our cutoff was end of October -- my best friend was in my grade, was born Oct. 22.

Why do parents hold their kids back so long now?

The guy I was thinkingnof as the best comparison to Boling is Atlee Mahorn, IMO one of CAN’s best-ever clean sprinters. He was the same size as Boling and finished his career with pretty much exactly the times that Boling is doing now, both in the 1 and the 4.

Also, IMO they have a similar style. That Boling is hitting those levels early is interesting, we will see what happens.

Right now, Boling = Mahorn

Danny Democrat wrote:

Are you smoking... wrote:

Dude, chill out. He’ll graduate as an 18 year old. Everyone where I am from was 6 in kindergarten. It varies by state, but you are clearly extremely narrow minded and judgmental. He is not abnormally old, you are just insecure that your children are not successful athletes.

WTF? I was 4 in kindergarten and graduated high school at 17, was even in college a few weeks before turning 18. Our cutoff was end of October -- my best friend was in my grade, was born Oct. 22.

Why do parents hold their kids back so long now?

It varies a lot from state to state. When I graduated high school in 2004, 80% of our graduating class were aged 18 at the time of graduation.

Danny Democrat wrote:

Are you smoking... wrote:

Dude, chill out. He’ll graduate as an 18 year old. Everyone where I am from was 6 in kindergarten. It varies by state, but you are clearly extremely narrow minded and judgmental. He is not abnormally old, you are just insecure that your children are not successful athletes.

WTF? I was 4 in kindergarten and graduated high school at 17, was even in college a few weeks before turning 18. Our cutoff was end of October -- my best friend was in my grade, was born Oct. 22.

Why do parents hold their kids back so long now?

So they will more physically and maybe mentally developed and have more success I guess?

In Missouri a child must be 5 years old by August 1st to enroll in school. Almost all the kids I graduated with and knew from other schools were 18 by May. It goes from state to state.

Bingo. It’s not a race to force one’s child into elementary school as early as possible. The NCAA coaches, nor do the admissions offices, give you extra credit for being younger for your grade. The only person suffering from this decision is the child. Who selfishly benefits? The parent so that they can save money by having them off their budget sooner.

Also, some basic math that the guy who started kindergarten at 4 is clearly struggling with. If you’re in Kindergarten at 6, then you would be 8 in second grade. What does that make you as a 12th grade student? 18 years old.

Pretty crazy, right?

walter j wrote:

Nope adope wrote:

Nope. Just a coach. Everyone was thinking it. But the PA announcer? At a HS State Meet? Come on...

So what is wrong with saying that?

That’s messed up, come on...

I have lived in many states. The normal cutoff is September. People are saying that it varies widely. That is untrue. So if a school gets out the end of May, about 3/4 will be 18 and 1/4, 17. There will always be 1 or 2 kids who were held back who will be 19 at graduation. I have an uncle who has a June birthday and skipped 6th grade. He graduated at 16 and went on to be a CEO. Boling was held back a year but he is only a few months older than a normal senior. He is running as fast as the best College runners so it really doesn’t matter.

this is snek wrote:

This kid is not a pu$$y

lol

In NYC, most private schools have a September 1 cutoff, but many are even hesitant about accepting August birthdays at age 5 unless the kid is really mature. And for boys, they often push the cutoff back a couple more months because they mature more slowly than girls. Meanwhile, NYC public schools have a December 31 cutoff.

I agree that it is ridiculous (for most kids) to wait until age 6 to go to kindergarten, but in the private school world it is often the schools that are increasing the age instead of the parents. Sometimes the parents are just following along. You can see a situation where once upon a time one private school decided to do it, and then, to remain competitive, others started to increase age requirements.

So yes, some parents hold their kids back to give them an advantage over other kids, but you also have entire subpopulations of students who are being systematically held back by schools to give their students any advantage possible over the students from other schools.

When I was in HS in NJ, the cut-off was October 1 so the youngest kids in the class were born in September and the oldest kids were born in October. The better athletes generally were born October to December. The cut-off DOES vary from state-to-state.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

The guy I was thinkingnof as the best comparison to Boling is Atlee Mahorn, IMO one of CAN’s best-ever clean sprinters. He was the same size as Boling and finished his career with pretty much exactly the times that Boling is doing now, both in the 1 and the 4.

Also, IMO they have a similar style. That Boling is hitting those levels early is interesting, we will see what happens.

Right now, Boling = Mahorn

I ran once against Mahorn in the 4 x 400m when our anchor runner pulled a muscle in the 100m. I had about 30 minutes after my 3000m race until the race and the team was desperate enough to throw me in the race. They won by a mile. Very strong team and I think they set the Canadian interscholastic record that year. Being compared to Mahorn is a great compliment.

That you, P.K.?

Yep Mahorn was great. Had an issue with relaxation, but an excellent sprinter.

And he did it the right way. He had nothing on me to 50m, but the 2nd half was a different story.

Lol your story reminds me of when I was in heavy weight/acceleration training and they made me anchor an indoor 4x4 relay after the 200 and 60.

Told the story on here before—went out in a 200 time that was absolutely smoking, and then...

messed wrote:

walter j wrote:

So what is wrong with saying that?

That’s messed up, come on...

What's messed up about it? I honestly don't understand such a strong offence taken to it.

Againstrt wrote:

not 18 wrote:

Graduations are May-June. Cutoff dates for classes are end of September. So, more than 25% of people would be 17 when they graduated.

The cutoff rules vary from state to state.

No state has a cutoff in mid-June.

Are you smoking... wrote:

Dude, chill out. He’ll graduate as an 18 year old. Everyone where I am from was 6 in kindergarten. It varies by state, but you are clearly extremely narrow minded and judgmental. He is not abnormally old, you are just insecure that your children are not successful athletes.

There is not denying Boling was held back a year. He will be 19 in a month.

Not June wrote:

Againstrt wrote:

The cutoff rules vary from state to state.

No state has a cutoff in mid-June.

Sure, but many states don't make it compulsory to start Kindergarten the first year you are eligible to (such as Texas).