5K and three miles
I'm well aware that the high school distance for cross country meets has changed from 3 miles to 3.1 miles (5K). I ran cross country and have been covering running for 20 years.
Anyway, factoring in the .1-mile difference, boys' times today (overall) are MUCH slower than they were in the late 1970s and early 80s. That's a fact and wanted to hear some feedback on that point.
Tx,
Scott Purks, Times Staff Writer
The St. Petersburg Times High School Sports blog is written and compiled by the Times preps sports staff from Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties. We invite your participation in the comments area.
Maybe boys today, across the board, are softer and less interested in high school sports. Too many boys today after school sit around home drinking sodas and playing playstation. Maybe cc times are slower for the same reason high schools with 2000 students have a hard time getting 30 boys on a varsity football squad for a whole season. Heck the boys now even get beat up by the girls in academics.
Posted by: | September 28, 2006 at 03:05 PM
the sport is not taken seriously by the HS. 20-30 yrs ago, if you ran track or CC, it was a real sport, and the coaches demanded the same effort that the football or basketball coach did. now, the kids come to practice some, sometimes dont, make some meets, miss others. coaches put up with it as they dont take it seriously and the schools dont. its more like high end babysitting. more than half the kids on my sons team are doing it so they have something to put on the college resume, since they dont get cut.
Posted by: mike h. | October 04, 2006 at 12:22 PM