Anonymous wrote:There seems to be a huge divide between the sprinters and the distance runners at our HS. It is odd to me- some of the distance runners seem to be kids who could excel at the 300m or 500m runs too.

But it is almost like the kids have to choose which side they are on.

Yes I would agree with this. It’s because coach has kids to run these shorter events but not those who can switch out and do the longer events.

-Parent of a top distance runner who would love her kid to run the 400 or even 500 sometime. All he gets is the 800,1000, 1600, and 3200.

There seems to be a huge divide between the sprinters and the distance runners at our HS. It is odd to me- some of the distance runners seem to be kids who could excel at the 300m or 500m runs too.

But it is almost like the kids have to choose which side they are on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t know who posted the previous, but plenty of the football players from fall participate in winter and spring track for sprints and field events. They just don’t compete in cross country which is at the same time as football.

Also, all the talk about talent and being born with speed. True, but most of the top players on the track team also just work very hard as well.

Sprinting definitely required both innate skill but also, hard work as part of track practice.

Of course, nobody is suggesting football players run XC.

At some schools, however, kids are either forbidden or discouraged from participating in T&F. Its gotten a little better in recent years but there are still many elite athletes not running track because they are either not encouraged, or are actively discouraged from doing so.

There are various theories on sprinting but some involve very, very little practice. Search for Tony Holler, well known sprint coach. And many coaches follow similar philosophies. Maybe not all as extreme as TH but even when I was a HS midD runner, we would laugh at the practices the sprinters had to "endure". Run the bend, sit down for 10 minutes. 2x (3x40) with 5 min between reps and 15 min between sets. lol Tough life. But that's how you train those physiologic systems.

I was a NCAA D1 All American 1500 meter runner. The best sprinters trained very hard - my coach was an Igloi disciple and I did more speedwork than most. But I would not have wanted to do Clyde Hart's workouts (Michael Johnson's coach) at Baylor given the high intensity. Sprinters also do lots of cross training. Sub-10 100 meter guys and 20 flat 200 meter guys (and the women's equivalent) work very hard and in my experience were often as sore and beat up as we were - i.e., 8 x 400 in 55 with 200 meters jog in between. You are correct - different training to be sure, but very arduous.

Anonymous wrote:Don’t know who posted the previous, but plenty of the football players from fall participate in winter and spring track for sprints and field events. They just don’t compete in cross country which is at the same time as football.

Also, all the talk about talent and being born with speed. True, but most of the top players on the track team also just work very hard as well.

Sprinting definitely required both innate skill but also, hard work as part of track practice.

Of course, nobody is suggesting football players run XC.

At some schools, however, kids are either forbidden or discouraged from participating in T&F. Its gotten a little better in recent years but there are still many elite athletes not running track because they are either not encouraged, or are actively discouraged from doing so.

There are various theories on sprinting but some involve very, very little practice. Search for Tony Holler, well known sprint coach. And many coaches follow similar philosophies. Maybe not all as extreme as TH but even when I was a HS midD runner, we would laugh at the practices the sprinters had to "endure". Run the bend, sit down for 10 minutes. 2x (3x40) with 5 min between reps and 15 min between sets. lol Tough life. But that's how you train those physiologic systems.

I went on I my first indoor track meet yesterday and while it was long- it was cool to watch the different events. There are some fast kids in this area across a variety of high schools. The long jump and pole vault were my favorite to watch.

Don’t know who posted the previous, but plenty of the football players from fall participate in winter and spring track for sprints and field events. They just don’t compete in cross country which is at the same time as football.

Also, all the talk about talent and being born with speed. True, but most of the top players on the track team also just work very hard as well.

Sprinting definitely required both innate skill but also, hard work as part of track practice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My limited knowledge based on one high school- the kids who have never run competively that do really well seem to be soccer players.

Agree. My DC was a soccer player and started track in HS and was a top 3 runner in the state championships in his event. Other soccer players were also fast. The downside was that the soccer players didn’t do XC so didn’t usually do longer distances.

Football players used to be the sprint and field stars but at our HS they had to do spring training so didn’t do track. A waste really because the football team was quite weak.

+1 at my kids' FCPS HS, for both men and women. Many of the top sprinters play soccer, which makes sense bc they have built up the cardio stamina over the years.

Sprinting doesn't require any cardio stamina at all. In fact, many coaches regard aerobic running as harmful to sprinters.

Soccer players more often make good distance runners. The WCAC boys XC winner this year was apparently a first year runner who played soccer for 3 years. And some soccer players are no doubt fast but that speed is speed they were born with.

Its really silly those schools that don't allow or don't encourage football players to run track (or throw). If you are an elite HS sprint or throws talent, ignore your coach and go sprint or throw. Seriously. The sprint training will make you a more attractive FB player and if you are a big fella, track coaches in college don't care where the points come from. Discus winner scores the same as the 100m winner at the conference meet. Even if you never tried throwing..try it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My limited knowledge based on one high school- the kids who have never run competively that do really well seem to be soccer players.

Agree. My DC was a soccer player and started track in HS and was a top 3 runner in the state championships in his event. Other soccer players were also fast. The downside was that the soccer players didn’t do XC so didn’t usually do longer distances.

Football players used to be the sprint and field stars but at our HS they had to do spring training so didn’t do track. A waste really because the football team was quite weak.

+1 at my kids' FCPS HS, for both men and women. Many of the top sprinters play soccer, which makes sense bc they have built up the cardio stamina over the years.