Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | Anaheim, California | January 10, 1957
Sport | |
Sport | Cross country, track, distance running |
Event(s) | Mile, 2-mile, 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, marathon |
College team | UC Irvine |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal best(s) | Marathon : 2:14:16 [1] |
Ralph Serna (born January 10, 1957) is a former long-distance runner. He was one of the most prolific high school distance runners in the late 1970s when he competed with Loara High School from his hometown, Anaheim in California. During this time he joined the rivalry between a notable generation of California high school runners, including the likes of Eric Hulst and Thom Hunt. Serna went on to represent the United States at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1975 and 1976, and also had a collegiate spell with University of California, Irvine.
Serna attended Loara High School of Orange County, California, and competed in cross country and track in a time when California was the national hub of the high school distance running scene. Serna's reputation for leading races and the disproportionate amount of talented distance runners among Californian highschoolers accumulated to storied rivalries between Serna, Eric Hulst, Thom Hunt, and others. In the 1974 National Postal 2-mile cross country race, Serna placed first with a time of 8:56 in a loaded field (the National Postal was the only national-class high school cross country meet at the time), ahead of fellow Californian Eric Hulst. [2] At the 1975 CIF California State Meet, Serna ran the fastest non-winning two-mile time in US high school history, in a time 8:45.90 (less than a second slower than winner Eric Hulst). [3] When Serna graduated from Loara High School, his personal best time in the mile was 4:07. [4]
Serna ran for UC Irvine, where he would become teammates with former high school rival Eric Hulst. While at UC Irvine, Serna's best times were 14:01.0 in the 5000 meters and 30:13.06 in the 10,000 meters. [5] However, on a cross country 10K course, Serna recorded 29:51.28 at the 1976 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships. [6]
Serna had a chronic injury issue later in his running career. He finished in 18th place at the 1981 Boston Marathon in 2:14:16, easily surpassing the Olympic "A" standard for the marathon. [1] In the 1982 New York City Marathon, Serna ran 2:14:22 and placed eleventh overall. [7] At the 1984 Mt. SAC Relays, Serna placed 16th overall in the men's 10,000 meters in a time of 29:02.1. [7] He qualified for the 1984 US Olympic Trials for the marathon, but did not run the trials due to a problem with his Achilles tendon. [8]
Steve Scott is an American former track athlete and one of the greatest mile runners in American history. The silver medalist in the 1500 meters at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki in 1983, Scott owns the U.S. indoor record in the 2000 meters (4:58.6-1981). He held the American outdoor mile record for more than 26 years and also is the former American indoor record holder in the same event. Track & Field News ranked Scott #1 in the U.S. on 10 occasions, and 11 times during his career he was ranked in the top ten in the world by T&FN. Additionally, he participated for the US team at the 1984 Olympics. He finished 5th in the 1500 meter run at the 1988 Olympics held in Korea. Scott was also an Olympian on the 1980 Olympics team which was not allowed to go to Moscow. He ran the sub four-minute mile on 136 occasions in his career, more than any other runner in history.
Robert Keyser "Bob" Schul is a former American long-distance runner. As of 2016, he is the only American to have won an Olympic gold medal in the 5000 m, at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Alan Lawrence Culpepper is an American distance runner and two time United States Olympian. Along with competing on four World Championship teams, his accomplishments include finishing fourth in the Boston Marathon in 2005, winning the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and finishing 12th at the 2004 Olympic marathon in Athens. His 2:09:41 at the 2002 Chicago Marathon tied him with Alberto Salazar for the fastest ever debut marathon by an American, and remains his fastest marathon. Culpepper has won three U.S. Cross Country titles and three track titles. His personal bests include 3:55.1 for the mile, 13:25 for 5k and 27:33 in the 10k.
Dathan James Ritzenhein is a retired American long-distance runner. He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009-2010, when it was broken by Bernard Lagat. He is a three-time national cross country champion with wins at the USA Cross Country Championships in 2005, 2008 and 2010. Formerly a Nike athlete for the majority of his professional career, Dathan joined the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project team in 2017 and has been sponsored by Brooks since then. In early May 2020, he announced his retirement from competition.
Adam Goucher is a retired American cross-country and track and field athlete. He ran for the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the men's 5000 meters. Goucher primarily competed in distance events and is featured in Running With The Buffaloes, a book revolving around the 1998 season of the University of Colorado cross country team.
Craig Steven Virgin is an American distance runner. He was born in Belleville, Illinois and grew up near Lebanon, Illinois. While in high school, Virgin won 5 state championships as well as setting the national outdoor high school 2-mile record of 8:40.9. Additionally, Virgin held the Illinois Boys Cross Country all-time state championship record for 47 years, running a 13:50.6 in 1972, a record that stood until November 9, 2019 when Josh Methner of John Hersey High School ran a 13:49.86. Virgin was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1973.
Ryan Hall is a retired American long-distance runner who holds the U.S. record in the half marathon. With his half marathon record time (59:43), he became the first U.S. runner to break the one-hour barrier in the event. He is also the only American to run a sub-2:05 marathon. However, this time is not eligible to be a record due to the course being point-to-point and a net-downhill course. Hall won the marathon at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials and placed tenth in the Olympic marathon in Beijing.
Jordan Melissa Hasay is an American distance runner. She grew up in Arroyo Grande, California, and attended Mission College Preparatory High School in San Luis Obispo. She was unanimously selected 2008 Girls High School Athlete of the Year by the voting panel at Track and Field News. In March 2009, she became the ninth high school athlete and third woman on the cover of Track and Field News magazine. She attended the University of Oregon, where she studied business administration and competed on the cross country and track and field teams earning 18 All-American honors, 2011 Mile and 3,000 meters NCAA titles. Her father was a high school basketball star in Pennsylvania, and her mother was a national level swimmer in her native England. Jordan Hasay is no longer coached by Alberto Salazar due to his suspension.
Jon Peter Anderson, is a lifelong Eugene, Oregon resident. He was a publisher and runner best known for winning the 1973 Boston Marathon. Anderson was a competitive long-distance runner from 1966 to 1984. He represented the United States as a member of the 1972 US Olympic track and field team.
Desiree Nicole Linden is an American long-distance runner. She represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon. In 2018, she won the Boston Marathon, becoming the first American in 33 years to win the woman's category in the event.
Keith Alan "KB" Brantly is an American former professional long-distance runner who contended in the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Brantly finished twenty-eighth of one hundred and eleven runners who completed the race, in a time of 2:18:17. He is recognized for his extensive distance-running career that encompasses nearly three decades at distances that range from one mile to a marathon.
Juan Diego Estrada Constantino is a Mexican-American long-distance runner. He competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for Mexico. After some confusion about his eligibility after becoming a U.S. citizen, he was excluded from the U.S. Olympic trials even though it was later known that Estrada was misinformed on his eligibility possibilities. Estrada resides in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Marion Irvine is an American nun and former marathon runner. Irvine became the then-oldest person to participate in the United States Olympic Trials in track and field in 1984, when she was 54 years old. Following the Trials, she regularly ran on the marathon circuit and gained attention from the media, along with the nickname "The Flying Nun". Irvine broke numerous age-group records in distance running events during her career, and has been inducted into multiple running halls of fame.
Alan Webb is an American former track and field athlete and former triathlete. He holds the American national record in the mile, with a time of 3 minutes 46.91 seconds. Webb represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the men's 1500-meters race. He competed professionally for Nike until the end of 2013. He retired after the 2014 Millrose Games to focus on training for the triathlon. He currently serves as the Assistant coach at the University of Arkansas Little Rock Cross Country and track and field teams.
Fernando Cabada Jr. is an American distance runner. He first established himself in the national running scene while in high school when he was ranked among the ten fastest high school boys in the 3200 meters in the United States. Having developed a reputation as an elite prospect, he accepted a scholarship from University of Arkansas, but became disenchanted with school and attended a total of four different colleges before quitting running altogether and pursuing manual labor jobs in the early 2000s. Cabada then returned to competitive running with Virginia Intermont College coach Scott Simmons, who helped Cabada prepare for his 2006 marathon debut in Fukuoka, Japan, which he ran in 2:12:27. Since then, Cabada established himself primarily as a marathoner.
Thom Hunt is a retired distance runner who specialized in various events from the 1500 meters to the marathon. He represented the United States in international competition and was particularly prolific in cross country running. He was the junior runner-up at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1976 and won in 1977. He currently coaches Women's Cross Country at Cuyamaca College.
Eric Hulst was a distance runner who specialized in various cross country and track events. Although most known for his spell in California's high school running scene and for a remarkable training regimen, he also represented the United States in international competition and won the gold medal for the United States in the men's junior race at the 1976 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Hulst set multiple California high school records.
Eric Jenkins is a professional distance runner. He first began running at Portsmouth High School in his hometown, after which he was recruited by Northeastern University. After his junior year Jenkins transferred to University of Oregon, where he further established his reputation in collegiate distance running. After his collegiate career he signed a contract with Nike. He formerly ran with the Nike Oregon Project.
Luke Puskedra is an American long-distance runner who competes over distances ranging from 10,000 meters to the marathon.
Don Janicki is an American long-distance runner.