Sorry in advance for the geek out here.
I recently heard some pretty eye opening times from Verse's high school track career and want to share a little perspective on them. My older son just graduated from college where he ran four years for a high level (top 10/20 nationally) D2 program, specializing in the 1500 and 800 meter. He was recruited by a few D1 schools out of HS as well, most notably UM. He made states four times and ran on Lincoln's 4x8 team in 2017 that finished third in the state and at one time had the fastest 4x8 time in the country for that year. All four of the runners on that team went on to run in college, two D2 and two D1, one at FSU. My younger son is currently on the distance team for the same program, he is more of a cross country guy and will likely run the 5k and 10k on the track. Needless to say, over 8 years I went to a LOT of high school track meets.
So I heard on a podcast that Verse ran 11 something in the 100, 22 in the 200 and was on a 4x4 team that ran around 3:30. What impresses me most of those times is the 400. My educated guess is that if he ran on a 3:25/3:30 team he was capable of running, at worst, around a 52 second 400, 50 to 51 is more likely. So what does that mean? The 400, as a mid distance event, is an entirely different animal than the 100 or the 200 which are sprints. Not to denigrate the sprints, but at the HS level they are run almost entirely on natural talent, there is very little training required and they are over so quickly there in no suffering involved. You have to train for the 400 to run it much under 60, you have to have a strong work ethic and the will to race through pain. It says something about what he is like as an athlete.
I've never seen someone over 210 lbs run a 400 at the HS level in less than 55 seconds. It just doesn't happen. It blows my mind to think that Verse could drop a 50 or 51. My son, who ran 1:56 in the 800, was a sit and kick type runner with more natural speed than endurance. He was pretty solid in the 400 as well, though he didn't focus on it. In HS he was 5'11 and weighed about 150 lbs. He also trained year round for track, no football or basketball or soccer after his sophomore year. He ran 50 flat in the 400.
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about Verse' athleticism.
I recently heard some pretty eye opening times from Verse's high school track career and want to share a little perspective on them. My older son just graduated from college where he ran four years for a high level (top 10/20 nationally) D2 program, specializing in the 1500 and 800 meter. He was recruited by a few D1 schools out of HS as well, most notably UM. He made states four times and ran on Lincoln's 4x8 team in 2017 that finished third in the state and at one time had the fastest 4x8 time in the country for that year. All four of the runners on that team went on to run in college, two D2 and two D1, one at FSU. My younger son is currently on the distance team for the same program, he is more of a cross country guy and will likely run the 5k and 10k on the track. Needless to say, over 8 years I went to a LOT of high school track meets.
So I heard on a podcast that Verse ran 11 something in the 100, 22 in the 200 and was on a 4x4 team that ran around 3:30. What impresses me most of those times is the 400. My educated guess is that if he ran on a 3:25/3:30 team he was capable of running, at worst, around a 52 second 400, 50 to 51 is more likely. So what does that mean? The 400, as a mid distance event, is an entirely different animal than the 100 or the 200 which are sprints. Not to denigrate the sprints, but at the HS level they are run almost entirely on natural talent, there is very little training required and they are over so quickly there in no suffering involved. You have to train for the 400 to run it much under 60, you have to have a strong work ethic and the will to race through pain. It says something about what he is like as an athlete.
I've never seen someone over 210 lbs run a 400 at the HS level in less than 55 seconds. It just doesn't happen. It blows my mind to think that Verse could drop a 50 or 51. My son, who ran 1:56 in the 800, was a sit and kick type runner with more natural speed than endurance. He was pretty solid in the 400 as well, though he didn't focus on it. In HS he was 5'11 and weighed about 150 lbs. He also trained year round for track, no football or basketball or soccer after his sophomore year. He ran 50 flat in the 400.
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about Verse' athleticism.
