TOP 10 HIGHSCHOOL DISTANCE BOYS OF ALL TIME

No Rudy Chapa?

Video was very well made though, just don't completely agree with the list...

Forgot to list Rudy but he was one of the 5 honorable mentions. 28:32 10k (HS record)

Fixed it for you.

The order is up for debate depending on what you prioritize. I personally put very little weight into the fact that Ryun and Lindgren were considered "world class" in high school, since track & field back in the 1960s was a painfully shallow sport with no monetary incentives whatsoever.

Of everyone on the list though, Fernandez and Prefontaine should be replaced by Reuben Reina, Edward Cheserek, . Everyone up there either has an accomplishment or time that cannot be equaled by anyone else, in addition to a very good body of work. These guys are exceptions.

- Ryun has his mile (which has only been beaten by Webb) and his world class performances (at the time).

- Lindgren has his world class performances (at the time).

- Ritz has his World Jr. XC performance.

- Webb has his Mile.

- Verzbicas has his 2-Mile, along with the fact that he won the triple-crown at NBIN, and won NXN and FL in the same year.

- Rupp has his 5K.

- Reina has his 10K.

- Cheserek has his indoor 5K and 2-Mile, coupled with a very good body of work in cross country.

Fernandez' times are overshadowed in every way by Verzbicas, and he was comparatively poor in cross country. Prefontaine is likely only here because of his popularity.

Nelson and Virgin are somewhat questionable, as Nelson's claim is his 4th place finish at World Jr. XC (which is technically overshadowed by Ritz). Virgin's claim is his 13:50 course record in Illinois, which Non-Illinois residents never actually have the chance to break.

Don Sage. 4.00.28 mile, 8.42 3200, 3.59 1600, former nat champ at 4x800, 1.51 800, 14.03 3 mile.

Seyta wrote:I personally put very little weight into the fact that Ryun and Lindgren were considered "world class" in high school, since track & field back in the 1960s was a painfully shallow sport with no monetary incentives whatsoever.

Not at all true.

Track and field in the 1960s was a lucrative professional sport. Once you received prize money, you could/would lose amateur status and the ability to compete in the Olympics. This was regulated by each national federation, and some were much more strict than others. The AAU in the USA was very strict, but to be ranked as world class at the time, an amateur athlete from the US would be competing against international stars that were making a very good living from the sport.

Honestly didn't know many of Virgin's accomplishments but I don't think being exclusively world class at XC can automatically make you one of the best of all time. The 13:50 is impressive but agree that there are many better accomplishments left off of that list. So does everyone agree we take Pre, Virgin, Nelson, Fernandez off? Who replaces them?

Reina has his 10k? What are you talking about?

Reina has the course record in San Diego but I can't find much else on him..Rudy the HS 10k GOAT

DISCUS THE BOYS wrote:

Honestly didn't know many of Virgin's accomplishments but I don't think being exclusively world class at XC can automatically make you one of the best of all time. The 13:50 is impressive but agree that there are many better accomplishments left off of that list. So does everyone agree we take Pre, Virgin, Nelson, Fernandez off? Who replaces them?

Virgin held the national 2 mile record in HS, he broke 9:00 like 10 times in one season. He is one of the all-time greats at any level in this country. The tracks and the spikes were garbage compared to what is available now.

Seyta wrote:The order is up for debate depending on what you prioritize. I personally put very little weight into the fact that Ryun and Lindgren were considered "world class" in high school

Jim Ryun defeated snell in Highschool, and Snell is one of the all time mid D greats (1:44.3 on grass track). Ryun closed in 53.9 in that 3:55 race; beating both the Oly Gold and Silver medalists. Jim Ryun would be near world class today.

So far, no posters have state Martin Liquori. He made 1968 Olympic final, 1500m at age 19. No one else listed on this thread made an Olympic final before age 20.

This list is based off of high school accomplishments alone. Great runner in high school as well, but not top 10...

1. Jim Ryun

2. Gerry Lindgren

3. Steve Prefontaine

4. Alan Webb

5. Rudy Chapa

6. Lukas Verzbicas

7. German Fernandez

8. Edward Cheserek

9. Galen Rupp

10. Jeff Nelson

This should help -

https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/high-school-all-time-top-10s-boys/

Since the OP is so bent on DISCUS distance...here's one list of HS discus distances:

http://www.nfhs.org/recordbook/Record-book-result.aspx?CategoryId=1390

not a virgin at 40 wrote:

DISCUS THE BOYS wrote:

Honestly didn't know many of Virgin's accomplishments but I don't think being exclusively world class at XC can automatically make you one of the best of all time. The 13:50 is impressive but agree that there are many better accomplishments left off of that list. So does everyone agree we take Pre, Virgin, Nelson, Fernandez off? Who replaces them?

Virgin held the national 2 mile record in HS, he broke 9:00 like 10 times in one season. He is one of the all-time greats at any level in this country. The tracks and the spikes were garbage compared to what is available now.

Virgin also ran 13:58 for 5000m in high school.

Honorable mention should include the guy who held the national 3000m Record for 18 years.