Prep mile and 2 mile in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s

Groovy!

Which one is Malmo and which one is George Brooks.

The guy in direct center back row reminds me a little of Pre.

you also have to look at how shitty some of the winters were in those years. mid 90s had some horrible storms where you couldn't leave the house for days....

I'm pimpin' the front right. St Louis Dispatch football writer Bryan Burwell to the front left. We failed at getting Brooks to show up for the thug-shot, as usual.

No, Pre is the one in the center front!

doofus wrote:you also have to look at how shitty some of the winters were in those years. mid 90s had some horrible storms where you couldn't leave the house for days....

doofus wrote: you also have to look at how shitty some of the winters were in those years. mid 90s had some horrible storms where you couldn't leave the house for days....

i thought that was george with the 'fro on the far left.

I have a paper copy of the HS Annual from 1971. A few other interesting bits;

Chuck Smead, Santa Paula Cal. (who is still competing well at age 53) ran 2:23:04 marathon in 1969 then HS record, as a 17 year old.

Gary Bjorkland Procter MN. ran 20k on the track in 67::31 in 1968. HS record at the time.

Smead ran 11 miles 1463y for the hour run in 69.

Fred Ritcherson Salesian LA Cal. ran 50:01 for 10 miles and 12m, 23y for the hour run.

Dave Merrick Lin-Way New Lenox IL ran 8:56 2 mile as a junior and 11 miles, 186y for the hour run.

...their 'elite' ability in HS.

Malmo, your point is well taken regarding the many George Brooks' out there, but we are talking about people who did show up and get after it. I simply find it unfortunate that many become unable to continue with their elite status, no matter the reason. Conversely, though, there are those who were not as elite in HS who worked hard and became top collegians, world listers and yes, even Olympians.....

Some interesting stuff. What I also wonder is how things have changed at the longer distances. It wasn't unusual for high school kids to dabble in the marathon in the 70's. I had a HS teammate run a 2:27 on a certified course about 2 weeks after track ended his senior year, and I don't believe he was the top high schooler in that race. That time would win the NAIA marathon most years now. Anyone know the fastest HS marathon times of late?

Please someone send me that

I recall Scott Douglas writing an article that looked at the demographics between the Baby Boomers and Generation X. I decided to look at that data and to also look at the data for the millenials. It is interesting how the demographics also match up with the best times over the same period.

Baby Boomers - Born 1943 - 1960

High School years: 1960 - 1978 (the golden years)

Total Population: 77.7 million persons

Gen X - Born 1965 - 1975

High School years: 1982 - 1993 (the down years)

Total Population: 37 million persons

Millenials - Born 1980 - 1990

High School years: 1997 - current (the resurgence)

Total Population: 72.2 million persons

Simply put there are more people running in high school now, and the numbers are quite similar to the boomers. So with more people competing, the odds of a higher number of very good performances increase significantly.

Advances in training and the advent of resources like the internet certainly help. But the Baby Boomers did not have the internet. They certainly benefited from advances in training, but the performances were probably as good as they were for the simple fact there were so many more people competing in track and field.

about it being a numbers game. Also, playing devil's advocate, the internet could possibly be a deterrent to our youth rather than a plus. Talking smack, seeing their names in a false light, time spent on the machine etc. could hinder, not help the youth develop mentally and physically....

Malmo , Did you know Ron Rothgeb from your H.S. ?

Dave60625 wrote:

Baby Boomers - Born 1943 - 1960

High School years: 1960 - 1978 (the golden years)

Total Population: 77.7 million persons

Gen X - Born 1965 - 1975

High School years: 1982 - 1993 (the down years)

Total Population: 37 million persons

Millenials - Born 1980 - 1990

High School years: 1997 - current (the resurgence)

Total Population: 72.2 million persons

Your "facts" aren't facts at all. Cite your sources? Plus, even if your phony "facts" were correct, you are comparing apples to oranges, samples of 18 years, 11 years and 11 years.

From the previously cited NFHS study

Average number of high school students each year

70's (1970-1979) 12,300,000

80's (1980-1989) 10,970,000

90's (1990-1999) 10,900,000

The number of births during the years that would coincide with the time those students would be a senior in HS is

70s (1953-1962) 41,851,000

80s (1963-1972) 36,661,000

90s (1973-1982) 33,685,000

00s (1983-1992) 38,919,000

Clearly your facts are wrong.

The actual figures for the time frames you cited would be

1943-1960 (18 years) 68,199,000

1965-1975 (11 years) 37,976,000

1980-1990 (11 years) 41,665,000

Your figures 77 million, 37 million, 72 million.

"You can fool some of the people some of the time..."

Malmo, would you please send your color version to sau99@bellsouth.net? Thank you very much and great job. It's been great to see this upswing and hope it continues.

Malmo-

I sent your picture to Mr. Burwell of the Post here in St. Louis, and he asked what you were up to and how to get in touch.

If you're interested, send me your e-mail, and I'll forward you his.

Saving it for later wrote:

Lets look at some of the slowest years, they were saving themselves for college, right? Do you recognize any of their names?

Top 2 milers

1988, Ernie Shepard, Cajh Hafferty, Reggie Williams, Ian Alsen, Scott Hempel, Brian Grosso, Pat McDonough, David Scudamore, Chris Lewis, Eddie LaValle

1989, Chris Lewis, Brian Grosso, David Welsh, Bryan Dameworth, Stuart Burnham, Todd Orvis, Mike Mykytok, Mike Williamson, John Coyle, Jim Rodriguez, MArtin Morales, Abe, Valdez, Michael Cox, Kevin Berkowitz

Michael Cox was a stud runner for Kansas. David Welsh was at Arkansas and I'm pretty sure was an AA. I'm only 28 and have heard of those guys (as well as Myktok), so just because not everyone knows what they did in college doesn't mean they faded away.

The best point on here was that tons of guys who weren't at the top work their tails off to become great at the next level or just happen to develop later. My roommate was stuck in a high school mindset and always wondered what A.J. Footlocker was doing and why Mr. X was kicking his butt, I really couldn't stand those conversations!

I just did my best, trying not to bother with the "names." I have to admit thinking to myself during a race that Gabe Jennings really was pretty good. He put the hammer down from 300 m. out in an 800 m. and put 3 seconds on me -- splitting 1:46 to my 1:49!

Great post! Didn't Craig Virgin of Lebanon IL break

Pre's high school 2 mile record back in '73? I believe

he ran a sub 8:40 in a high school meet that summer.

I stand corrected. Virgin ran a 8:40.9 that year.