XC signing

Is it just me? or does it seem like we have gotten soe pretty good runners?

the Just announced the top Cal runner is coming

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2012/4/11/MXC_0411123940.aspx

Welcome Danny.

Nice. We need to keep this up, like Conner always does. Trevor who?

This signing and the other two we've had this year so far have been quite good. Besides being excellent runners, I think they really fit the profile and culture of the program. While it's fun to get the attention of recruiting the athlete with the national profile, these are the kind of recruits that the program has been built on over the years. I don't know if we are in a position to reach the Top 5 nationally, but we are poised to continue our 7-12th place status, it seems.

And the Pilot athletics site has announced a fourth cross country signing: Sergio Gonzalez of Arcadia High School in California. Gonzalez was the California high school champion in a different class than Martinez (who we signed earlier). He was also part of the high school cross country team that won the unofficial national cross country championship his junior year. So we've signed two California state cross country champions. Both were also high finishers in the Nike National high school cross country meet this past year. Add them to the two outstanding Washington runners previously signed and that makes for an excellent recruiting class. Coach Conner says it might be the Pilots best recruiting class ever. Barring injuries and other unforseen things, the future looks very good for Pilot XC.

Third fastest at Mt Sac is legit.

Speaking of Mt. Sac: Danny Martinez won the Mt. Sac Invitational 3200 m. this past week in record time. And one of our Washington Recruits, Isaac Yorks, ran a 1:51.75 in the 800 meters last week which ranks as the 10th best 800 time in the nation thus far for a high schooler. So, it looks like a great class.

Just to clarify: Yorks's 800 time is the 10th best in the nation THIS YEAR.

Nice 800 time.

PurpleGeezer wrote:Is it just me? or does it seem like we have gotten soe pretty good runners?

the Just announced the top Cal runner is coming

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2012/4/11/MXC_0411123940.aspx

Welcome Danny.

Another nice article about Danny Martinez -

What Danny Martinez meant to the St. John Bosco High School cross country and track and field programs went beyond all the school records and championships he won.

Tim McIntosh, his coach, will remember for much more than all that.

“Danny Martinez is the best runner we’ve ever had, he’s had the best attitude we’ve ever had and will be sorely missed,” McIntosh said during a ceremony at the Bellfower school in which Martinez signed a national letter of intent with the University of Portland.

http://wavenewspapers.com/sports/article_32177c80-9983-11e1-98fe-001a4bcf6878.html

From the Lakewood Patch:

On Saturday afternoon, Izaic Yorks ran around the track at Mount Tahoma Stadium -- and right into the state record books.

Yorks, a senior at Lakes High School, finished the 1,600-meter run in 4 minutes, 4 seconds at the Class 3A West Central/Southwest bi-district championships.

According to the News Tribune, not only was Yorks' performance an all-time best mark in the state, he wrested away the 2012 national lead from White River senior Marcus Dickson (4:05.83).

Yorks reportedly hit the two-lap mark at 2:03, and completed his third lap in another 60 seconds. His final 400 meters clocked in at 1:01.

“I had planned on running hard in this race,” the University of Portland-bound Yorks told reporters. “It came together.”

Yorks also won the 800, in 1:57.62.

dammmmn.

It's a very impressive performance. It isn't quite as fast as Gerry Lindgren's amazing high school mile times in the 1960s in Washington State, but it's still pretty fantastic.

The only downside is that it's only a matter of time before the Ducks start trying to recruit him

ekrauss wrote:It's a very impressive performance. It isn't quite as fast as Gerry Lindgren's amazing high school mile times in the 1960s in Washington State, but it's still pretty fantastic.

The only downside is that it's only a matter of time before the Ducks start trying to recruit him

Yea, I was thinking Lindgren ran 4:00 or 4:01, so this must be a 3A record for Yorks.

It would be 4:01 in 1964, according to this.
http://www.cs.uml.edu/~phoffman/nats/milers1.htm

I think the article I read stated that Yorks has the Washington State record (for all classification levels) for 1600 meters, which covers runners after 1979. Prior to '80, Washington ran the mile and Lindgren's 4:01 is, to my knowledge, the Washington all-classification record at that distance. Yorks's time for 1600 meters would be something like a 4:05.5 mile, which is still quite stellar and as was stated earlier is currently the best high school 1600 time in the country this year. Add that to Yorks's 1:51.50 in the 800 (which currently ranks 16th in the nation) and you've got quite a double. His 3200 time of 9:05.43, while not quite as spectaular, currently ranks 48th best in the nation.

Interestingly enough, our other recruit from the state of Washington, Jacob Smith, ran a 9:02.19 in his district meet last week, which ranks 34th in the nation. And our two California recruits continue to run well and have times that are in the top 50 nationally (Danny Martinez's 9:01.93 ranks 33rd and Sergio Gonzales's 9:05.33 ranks 47th giving all four of our major recruits top-50 national times in the 3200).

Looking at this in a different way, our recruiting class for cross country is the rough equivalent of having 4 Top-100 ESPN national recruits in basketball. Of course, high school performance doesn't always translate to college success, but one can't help but be a little bit excited about the future of cross country and track on the Bluff.

Good eval, ekrauss. For those of us who only run when being chased, it is great to have someone put all these times in perspective.

I admire the heck out of Rob Connor, for a whole bunch of reasons, but he's a truly remarkable coach and recruiter -- an opinion apparently shared by many.

We've never had a recruiting class quite like this one. Funny, we lost Dunbar and ended up with our best recruiting class in school history.

I want to make some sort of reference to the Hydra battling Hercules, but I don't want to compare us to a creature that ultimately gets slayed....

From Tacoma's The News Tribune: (emphasis mine)

On a brilliant and sunny Star Track Saturday, Lakes’ Izaic Yorks wrapped up his stellar Washington prep career by smashing the Class 3A record in the 1,600 meter run and taking home the title everyone expected him to win, while also grabbing the 800 meter run title to add to his massive collection of first place medals.

“No regrets, I got better each year and I got to where I wanted to be at the end,” said Yorks, who will run for University of Portland next season.

Yorks goal of posting a sub 4-minute time in the 1,600 took a bit of a hit when the winds kicked up a little in the afternoon. It also didn’t help his chances after running to victory in the 800 earlier in the day. Yorks broke the 3A meet record of 1:50.96 set by John Cote of Lindbergh in 1997 with a time of 1:50.56.

The 1,600 was anything but a blowout win. Shadle Park’s Nathan Weitz was running right with Yorks for most of the race. It wasn’t till the last 75 yards where Yorks truly pulled away. He crossed at 4:04.77, easily beating the record of 4:09.28 set by Dave Smith of Tumwater in 1988. Weitz finished at 4:05.60.

“Mentally it was pretty tough,” Yorks said. “The wind made it tough. I knew Nathan was right behind me, and I’m sure he knew I was hurting from the 800. But at the same time, I wanted it so badly.”
While his high school season is over, Yorks is just getting started.

“I still have some things I want to achieve and I have the postseason to do that,” he said.

He will travel to New York City’s Icahn Stadium to compete in the Dream Mile race on June 9 against the top high school runners in the country.

He has the fastest time in the 1,600 in the country at 4:04.00 and he wants to keep it that way, while breaking the 4-minute barrier.

“The conditions are going to be perfect,” Yorks said. “I have so much to prove. I feel like going under four is one of them. I don’t think I’m going to feel comfortable unless I’m tops in the nation.

Woodless! wrote:We've never had a recruiting class quite like this one. Funny, we lost Dunbar and ended up with our best recruiting class in school history.

Here´s to hoping that these guys can leave Dunbar´s quacks as well as BYU in the dust next season...

Last 75 yards?

pilotram wrote:Last 75 yards?

Ha ha! I was thinking the same thing. It's what happens when a guy who usually only writes about football now has to cover track.

It wasn't until the last 68.58 metres...

Just doesn't have the same ring.

Maybe it was run on the last 440 yard track in existence.

onetouchfutbol wrote:

Woodless! wrote:We've never had a recruiting class quite like this one. Funny, we lost Dunbar and ended up with our best recruiting class in school history.

Here´s to hoping that these guys can leave Dunbar´s quacks as well as BYU in the dust next season...

Wasn't Dunbar all about the mile/1500m? Gonna suck for him when Yorks beats him as a frosh.