Theoretical high school team of ritz, rupp, webb, hall, solinsky(at 17-18 yrs old). Do they beat Newbury Park top 5?

I'm also an old runner. I like this All Time California team. I'd add Dave Taylor, Merced '73. What about Lindgren, Pre, Dave Merrick, Craig Virgin and Terry Williams? I'm pretty sure they'd crush Newbury.

Close race on the track between Nico and Solinsky I bet. Kids nowadays generally have more chances to run in super-fast races.

Anyone saying one guy definitely beats the other is mistake. Ritz to me is a notch above when it comes to Cross.

Definitely time to admit Runninglane was quite short. Goucher ran 14:41 on the Balboa Park course. Todays winner was about half a minute slower. My guess Ritz, Goucher, Webb, etc. would have run mid thirteen on the Runninglane course.

Even with the guys you’ve mentioned there’s some variation. Hard to imagine Ritz not somewhere around 13:45-55, but the other guys maybe get towards 13:55-14 but maybe not and right near NP top 3.

round and round wrote:

This is a hilarious thread!

I’m going to watch the careers of the Newbury park boys and see if any of them break American records, win Olympic medals, or become multiple time US champions. No pressure!

The “old guys” have run 1:43, 3:46, 12:55, 26:44, 59:43, and 2:06 (Hall’s 2:04 is bogus)

They are the fastest US born runners ever.

The "old guys" I wouldnt say are necessarily all the best high school xc runners ever Ritz and Solinsky yes, the others just recognizable names maybe not top tier all timers. Nobody would give a crap if you asked if they could beat Ken Cormier or Michael Fout.

Nico running American junior records is a good start for NP though.

??????????? wrote:

coachcommentsnicely wrote:

Solinsky ran 14:41 at FootLocker solo and 8:43 solo. You’re really going to do him dirty with that small comment? Solinsky would lose to no one from NBP. Nico is great, and watching him dominate at NXN his senior year was an incredible thing. But no way does he finish within 5 seconds of the ROCKET.

So Solinsky gets credit for dominating a national title XC race solo, but not Nico dominating solo? Nicos 7:56 3000m isn't worth a 8:43 2mi solo?

Nico won by 14 seconds, Solinsky by 21 seconds.

Solinsky solo'd 8:43 with a 4:27/4:16 split:

Nico was in a professional race:

I'm not taking any credit from Nico for dominating. Just saying that Nico beating Solinsky isn't so cut and dry.

the all-star team would dominate them

coach brosnan wrote:

5k Xc course, moderate to minimal elevation changes.

Who wins? Do the high school versions of ritz, rupp, webb, hall, solinsky have what it takes to take down the great newbury park.

Thoughts?

You have to sub in Withrow for Rupp. Matt Withrow was a straight Baller in High School XC. Craig Virgin would hold his own in 2021 also.

Things I've learned from this thread.

1. Runninglane was a short course

2. Super shoes provide at least 5 seconds advantage per mile.

3. Cheptegei was nowhere near the fitness bekele was in. Going with the 5 second per mile rule, bekele in super shoes runs under 12:24 which is sub 4 minute mile pace

4. The only thing holding Ryan hall back from high school dominance was Accutane treatment

5. Webb lost footlocker because he did a special mile specific workout right before the race burning himself out

Anyone other wisdom to pass down? I'm taking notes.

As good as the NP kids are, none of them would beat Ritz and probably Solinsky. Rupp would probably beat Aaron Sahlman but not the top 3. Hall and Webb I think would be behind Aaron Sahlman but obviously better than Appleford.

Old timer: 1 2 6 8 9 = 26

NP: 3 4 5 7 10 = 29

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

Even with the guys you’ve mentioned there’s some variation. Hard to imagine Ritz not somewhere around 13:45-55, but the other guys maybe get towards 13:55-14 but maybe not and right near NP top 3.

oh so ritz would've ran... exactly what he ran on a track

joed|rt wrote:

Definitely time to admit Runninglane was quite short. Goucher ran 14:41 on the Balboa Park course. Todays winner was about half a minute slower. My guess Ritz, Goucher, Webb, etc. would have run mid thirteen on the Runninglane course.

scratch that, 15 seconds faster than a track. obviously.

Wheating ran 1:44/3:30.

Hough ran 14:10 at Running Lane, 14:49 at the Michigan state course, and 15:11 at Balboa.

So, Ritz was 39 seconds clear of him at the Michigan state course and ran 14:35/14:29 in Orlando. The former broke the course record by 47 seconds, while the latter was in warm, humid conditions with a 20 second margin over Alan Webb and Hall. Solinsky ran 14:41 at Balboa with a record-tying 20 second margin. Those guys were going to hand it to all five top NP runners, including Nico. Ritz was an even better xc than track runner, so in case NP beats 13:44 (Nico ran 13:50ish in not great conditions in hs), that won't mean much for xc.

Switch former and latter. The 14:29 was in his junior year, the 14:35 as a senior.

This is a joke

Old timers near sweep after hall takes it out n ritz drops pace harder , Webb falters slightly

So by your guys logic, Hall would have lost to NP top 3 by over 20 seconds at Woodward Park based on PRs, and Ritz beat Hall by the same amount, so therefore NP top 3 are all as good as Ritz.

I think the biggest difference is the old guys weren't training to peak in high school. They were somewhat conservative to ensure long term success. There is a zero percent chance that the Newbury Park crew has 2 out of their 5 guys reach the same level the old guys hit in their pro career.

A lot has changed in 20 years. Training has changed significantly, nutrition, technology (GPS watches and recovery modalities), and most critically shoe technology.

If the old guys were in high school 20 years later, they would SMASH newbury park 15-50.

This is the dumbest thing ive ever read. Ritz was notorious for overtraining in HS, Hall ran 85-90 a week, Solinsky was 90+ a week as well. Pretty sure NP has said they dont run over 60.