The Distance Renaissance

[CCman]

Originally Posted by Zen Miler

Guys, I removed the quoted text of the first post in stickdude and psychedfortrack2012 posts to make this easier to read.


Now I'll give my thoughts on John Polzin a little bit. I've seen a lot of press on John Polzin. The person who probably has seen the most is CCman because that was the guy he chased after and upset at the WISAA state meet in 1986. This newspaper article Unsung heroes key Marquette (Milwaukee Journal 1986) sticks out to me a lot and follows an on going theme with Polzin. Tom Scheller and Pete Henkes definitely spoke highly of him quite a bit to the newspaper but the super elite times never actually came outside the two times he broke 15:40 in cross country against no one. Respectfully, he was a WISAA state cross country champion but in the end he was a newspaper favorite and hyped up a lot.

16:18, 4:19/9:25

Here are a few quick thoughts that I have about John Polzin. He came shortly after the Hacker-Stinzi-Jenkins era that was pretty unbelievable. He also ran at a time when we had the split between the public and private schools at the state meet. He had a reputation as a distance runner that liked to push it from the gun - probably stronger in cross than in track. As a private school runner, we were always looking for some kind of respect from our public school counter-parts in that we knew our state meet was not that difficult. Polzin raced with a real edge - personally, I didnt like him. He seemed angry as a runner. But I'm sure that was my 17 year stupid idea without ever talking to him. He also wore the black colors of Racine St. Catherines. Plus, it was a Catholic school. It made it easy for me not to like him but I really respected him as a runner. That also made it sweet when I finally beat him - he seemed unbeatable to a lot of runners. I'm not sure if he was over-hyped. Maybe he just didnt have the big track marks to back up his legacy. He was certainly a very good runner for his time.

[CCman]

Originally Posted by >-CCwiz->

http://t.qkme.me/3pox4o.jpg

All I did was provide some thoughts about a runner (Polzin) whom zenmiler made reference to and had some questions about. zenmiler also said that i might be able to shed some light on this mid-80's runner. Thats all I meant to do - the jab was unnecessary. I respected Polzin a lot. He was tough.

[Zen Miler]

Originally Posted by CCman

All I did was provide some thoughts about a runner (Polzin) whom zenmiler made reference to and had some questions about. zenmiler also said that i might be able to shed some light on this mid-80's runner. Thats all I meant to do - the jab was unnecessary. I respected Polzin a lot. He was tough.

I apologize coach, this kid and his pictures lately

And CC-Wiz, CCman answered some key questions about Polzin that none of us could ever know.

Much thanks for the insight, CCman. From my perspective, it just seemed like his coaches did a lot of talking from the press I've seen but the press can only tell so much of the story. There's no doubt Polzin was a top dog and feared runner but he seems like he was short of one significant race. Perhaps the one where you caught him and became a legend yourself. I think you Schumacher and Wilson take the cake for most versatile in WISAA history.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Zen Miler

The history of Wisconsin distance running for boys dates back to as early as 1895 for track & field and 1913 officially for cross country. I'll argue, however, that Wisconsin's legacy-building as a prominent distance state began with the dominance of Monroe's middle-distance star Mark Winzenreid in the 400m-800m during the 1965-67 seasons. And it did not fully solidify istelf as a distance power until April 12th, 1969 when in-state rivals--Watertown senior Glenn Herold and Madison Memorial junior Dan Cautley--toed-the-line for a full mile at the USTFF Indoor State Championships and then again at the Monona Grove Invitational in mid-May.

At the UW-Madison shell, Glenn Herold put away the competition with a tremendous time--even by today's standards--of 4:14.5 to Cautley's 4:16.9. These were marks well under 4:18.4 which was the standing state record for Wisconsin Boys. On May 16th, 1969, Herold and Cautley met again at the storied Monona Grove Invitational. The much anticipated re-match saw an epic photo finish battle (photo above, right) in the mile that brought national standout times of 4:09.6. If you're lucky enough to know someone who was there to witness this mighty mile you'll know by their reaction that the race was quite extraordinary given the time and place of the story. The 1969 state meet, however, fell a little short of the showcase miles seen in the months prior due to a heavy rain during the finals of the Mile.

Friday, June 6th, 1969

Mile Preliminaries
----------------------------------------------------------
Pl  Name           Cl  School              Time
----------------------------------------------------------
 1  Glenn Herold   12  Watertown           4:15.3 H1
 2  Dan Cautley    11  Madison Memorial    4:16.8 H2
 3  Dennis Biel    12  Wausau              4:16.8 H1
 
Saturday, June 7th, 1969
Mile Finals [RAIN]
----------------------------------------------------------
Pl  Name           Cl  School              Time
----------------------------------------------------------
 1  Dan Cautley    11  Madison Memorial    4:11.1
 2  Glenn Herold   12  Watertown           4:12.0
 3  Dennis Biel    12  Wausau              4:19.2
  
 Splits: 56.5-2:01.2-3:06.5-4:11.1

The private school league (WISAA)--which dissolved and its member schools joined the WIAA in 2001--also had a founding father for Wisconsin competitive distance running. On Monday, May 19th, 1969, after two days of weather delay Racine St. Catherine's senior Mike Lawless--a two-time WISAA cross country state champion--responded to the news of the 4:09s at Monona Grove by winning the Catholic Conference mile with an exceptional time of 4:13.6. He had agressive splits of 59-2:05-4:13. A week later Lawless won the independent schools state championship in 4:14.4.

These men--Winzenried, Herold, Cautley and Lawless--set the standard for the next 50 years of distance running in Wisconsin which has admittedly gone through various stages of ups and downs. They catalyzed an era that I label as the Distance Boom. Other eras I have roughly defined are The Golden Years, The Enlightenment, The Heroic Era, The Revial and, finally, the current phase, The Distance Renaissance. I believe we are in the middle of the peak of The Distance Renaissance. In this year's competitions, which have not completely finished, there were twenty-four sub-156s, twenty-five sub-4:20s and nine sub-9:20s. These numbers are astronomical compared to past eras which is why I think this is the rebirth of Wisconsin distance runnning.

Nice picture of Glenn Herold later in his career:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/201...UGENE1-10.html

1972 USA Olympic Trials 5000 Meters Results (Eugene, OR):

1) Steve Prefontaine 13:22.8 (AR)
2) George Young 13:29.4
3) Leonard Hilton 13:40.2
4) Sid Sink 13:43.8
5) Tracy Smith 13:44.8
6) Glenn Herold 13:47.8

Winzenreid had a heartbreaker at the 1968 Olympic Trials 800 meters:

1 Thomas Farrell USA 1.46.5
2 Wade Bell USA 1.47.1
3 Ron Kutschinski USA 1.47.8
4 Mark Winzenried USA 1.47.9
5 John Perry USA 1.49.0
6 George Hunt USA 1.51.8
7 Jim Ryun USA 2.02.6
8 Felix Johnson USA dnf

[Zen Miler]

Favorite race, Biff?






Decent shot of a 1:52.7 880yd (1:52.1y) at the Badger Conference Meet in 1967....



And of course the most epic mile race of the Distance Boom.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Zen Miler

Favorite race, Biff?

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...15215222_n.jpg

That picture has to be a fake. I remember that 1970 Class A Two Mile championship race as being much closer than the picture indicates.

Here is a link to the May 29, 1966 Milwaukee Journal:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=6480,4635386

There are three things of interest to anybody interested in WIAA track history.

1) Winzenried's 47.8 440 as a junior. He also won the 220 in 22.3 and finished 4th in the Long Jump while leading Monroe to the Class B state title. The Class B and Class C meets were held in Delavan. Winzenried competing in the Long Jump kills me, though it's very understandable for the era. As an FYI (not in the article), Winzenried was on Monroe's 1965 WIAA Basketball state championship team. He was a sophomore, I have no idea what he contributed. There was only one division in basketball back then.

2) The Nicolet and Whitefish Bay Class A sectional results. Two state champions would come from those meets. One week later at Monona Grove, Nicolet sophomore Mike Gaborsky won the state title in the 220 in 21.8 (a huge upset over the great John Zoelle of Fond du Lac) and Whitefish Bay junior Howie Zien won the 180 lows in a state record 19.1. That record was later tied, but never broken before the switch to 330 in the late 70's. Nicolet likely had their hard surface track back then. Whitefish Bay still had a cinder track. Non-cinder tracks were not common in 1966. If you fell on cinder, pull out the tweezers and have a fun ten minutes getting all the embedded stones and chips out.

3) By far the most interesting thing is the throwaway article about ex-Badger star Emil Breitkreutz (Breitkreutz is the proper spelling, the article is wrong). Emil won the Bronze in the 880 at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. The article says that he was 82 (in 1966) and quick research shows he was born in late 1883, which means he probably graduated from high school in 1902. The article says he attended Wausau high school and set the state records in the 880 and Mile. That is COOL to read, this is 1902 we're talking about. It kills me that the times weren't given. Quick research shows that he ran 1:56.4 in getting that Bronze in 1904. I'm guessing those state 880 and Mile records lasted for a long time, maybe decades. Anybody want to prove me wrong?

[Hotrod]

Very cool data! Why such a deep field during the golden years?
Also noticed Ryan Kromer was not listed after finishing 2nd in the 3200, and 6th in the 1600.

[Zen Miler]

Pre-Distance Boom (1896 - 1966)
Key Dates:

• Friday, May 9th, 1963
  Madison West junior, Bob Gordon, betters the existing state mile record at the Monona Grove Invitational (4:20.5, 1961 Greg Gard Granville & 1963 Dean Martell Somerset) with a 4:18.2. This is the first sub-4:20 mile in state prep history!
• Friday, May 7th, 1964
  Madison West's Bob Gordon runs 4:16.2 to set an all-time state best in the mile at the Madison City Outdoor Championships.
• Friday, May 21st, 1965
  Bob Gordon, runs a 4:16.5 to Portage's Don Batty's 4:27.4 at the Monona Grove Invitational.
• Saturday, May 29th, 1966
  Monroe Junior Mark Winzenried sets state record for 440 yard dash in 47.8 seconds at the WIAA Class B state meet at the Borg Athletic Complex in Delavan-Darien.

The Distance Boom - (1967 - 1975)
Key Dates:

• 1967
  • Friday, May 19th
    Monroe's Mark Winzenried records a 1:52.7 at the Badger Conference Championships at Monona Grove High School.
  • Sunday, August 26th
    Representing the Kegonsa Track Club, Monroe's Mark Winzenried runs 1:50.9 for 880 yards in Des Moines, IA at the Jaycees Outdoor Championships
• 1968
  • Saturday, June 1st
    Nicolet's Tom Bach records first sub-4:20 mile in a state meet setting at Monona Grove High School.
• 1969
  • Saturday, April 12th
    Watertown's Glenn Herold and Madison Memorial's Dan Cautley run 4:14.5 and 4:16.9 at the USTFF Indoor Track & Field Championships.
  • Friday, May 16th
    Glenn Herold and Dan Cautley battle to a photo finish 4:09.6 at the Monona Grove Invitational
  • Monday, May 19th
    Racine St. Catherine's Mike Lawless records 4:13.6 mile at Catholic Conference Championships at Pius XI High School.
• 1970
  • Friday, June 3rd
    In the first state 2-mile competition, Menomonee Falls North senior Steve Stintzi battled wire-to-wire with Rudy Alvarez, a talented junior from Racine Horlick. They recorded fastest 2-mile finishes in state history 9:15.1-9:15.2 with Stintzi taking the crown. Madison Memorial's Joe McGhee placed third in 9:19
  • June 13th
    Steve Stintzi of Menomonee Falls North places 5th in the 2-mile (9:12.1) at the Golden Midwest Invitational in Elmhurst, IL.
• 1971
  • Saturday, May 8th
    Mike Gahagen splits 1:51.3 to anchor Edgewood's 2-mile relay at the Pius XI relays.
  • Friday, May 14th
    West Allis Hale star Jim Fleming lowers the two-mile best in state history to 9:07.4.
  • Saturday, May 22nd
    Madison Edgewood senior Mike Gahagen defeats Kenosha St. Joseph's John Beaumier in the WISAA state mile with a time of 4:10.7-4:14.2.
  • Tuesday, June 1st
    Jim Fleming races to a 4:12.7 at the West Allis Hale sectional meet.
  • Friday, June 4th
    Rudy Alvarez wins the state meet two-mile in 9:15.2 the same time he ran at the 1971 state meet against Steve Stintzi.
  • Saturday, June 12th
    Jim Fleming records a 4:12.7 mile at the All-American Prep Invite at Lombard, IL to place 3rd. Racine Horlick's Rudy Alvarez placed 4th in the two-mile with a 9:16. Gahagen droppped out of the mile.
  • Saturday, June 19th
    Gahagen finishes 6th in the Golden West Invitational mile with a time of 4:15.0. Jim Fleming of West Allis finishes 9th in the two mile with a time of 9:12.1
• 1972
  • Sometime between 4/27 to 5/11
    Kenosha Tremper's Ron Fink records the fastest 2-mile in state history (9:10.1) in a dual meet against Racine Saint Catherine's Chuck LeRose (9:13.0).
  • Friday May 21st
    Racine Saint Catherine's junior Chuck LeRose wins WISAA two mile in 9:19.9
• 1973
• 1974
  • Saturday, March 30th
    Steve Lacy sets an all-time best for the indoor mile running 4:12.8 in the Madison West Relays Class B meet.
  • Saturday, April 5th
    Steve Lacy runs 9:07.6 for 2-miles at USTFF to become the fastest two miler ever in Wisconsin prep history.
  • Friday, May 10th
    Steve Lacy lowers all-time state best in mile with a time of 4:07.6 at the Monona Grove Invitational. Lacy doubled back in the 880 with a 1:54.1
  • Friday, May 31st
    Steve Lacy records an 8:56.6 for two miles at the WIAA state meet, a record among all divisions.
  • Saturday, June 8th
    Steve Lacy finishes second in the mile with a 4:07.3 at International Prep Invitational in Elmhurst, IL.
  • Saturday, June 22nd
    Steve Lacy upsets Rich Kimball of Concord, CA to win the 1500m in a time of 3:48.3 (4:05.1c, 4:06.5 mile) at the Golden West Invitatonal.
• 1975
  • Saturday, April 12th
    South Division's Tony Rodiez stuns USTFF crowd with a 9:11.1 two mile.
  • Friday, May 23rd
    South Division's junior Al Avila and senior Tony Rodiez split the mile and two-mile at the City Conference meet. Avila edged Rodiez 4:14.1-4:15.2 while Rodiez claimed the two mile title in 9:29.

[Biff]

As always, thanks Zen. I can't wait for the next update.

Below is a list of the Large School State Cross Country Individual Champions for that time frame. It's just a strange coincidence how the same names just sort of seem to appear:

1962: Bruce Fraser, Milwaukee Washington
1963: Bob Gordon, Madison West
1964: Bob Gordon, Madison West
1965: Dennis Kramer, Antigo
1966: Jerry Liebenberg, Milwaukee Marshall
1967: Tom Bach, Nicolet
1968: Glenn Herold, Watertown
1969: Dan Cautley, Madison Memorial (McGhee 2nd, Fleming 3rd, Alvarez 4th, Stintzi 11th)
1970: Rudy Alvarez, Racine Horlick (13:05 vs. Fleming's 13:09, 2.5 Miles)
1971: Ron Fink, Kenosha Tremper
1972: Joe Young, Wisconsin Rapids
1973: Dennis O'Brien, Racine Case
1974: Steve Hahn, DePere

Lacy was the King of Small in 1972 and 1973.

Bob Gordon had a hell of a career.

[Zen Miler]

There's also some great compilations at the WCCCA website.

Pre-1974:http://www.wisconsinrunner.com/wccca...uals_pre74.htm
1974-present: http://www.wisconsinrunner.com/wccca...ndividuals.htm