Cross country runner German Fernandez has taken OSU by storm, winning the Big 12 Championship as a freshman. Fernandez will look to continue his success when the Cowboys host the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday.
He’s been called the greatest high school runner this country has ever seen.
He’s been called the best freshman runner in the nation today.
He’s the reigning Big 12 conference cross country champion.
And he turned 18 a week and a half ago.
German Fernandez is also the highest-rated recruit to ever come through OSU. Not a bad résumé for someone barely old enough to vote.
“What German’s been able to do thus far is pretty incredible,” coach Dave Smith said. “Especially considering most distance runners don’t hit their stride until their mid- to late-20s.”
Fernandez committed late. He signed in March of his senior year, long after most seniors sign their letters of intent. Cowboy fans will acknowledge he was worth the wait.
As a senior in Riverbank, Calif., Fernandez had three national high school records. He was the best runner in the nation in the 3,000m; 3,200m and the 2-mile.
“Even with all that talent, sometimes it takes guys a year a two to develop and adjust to the collegiate level,” Smith said. “But German came in and really hit the ground running.”
By comparison, Ryan Vail, who was a 2007 All-American for the Cowboys after finishing eighth at the NCAA Champions, finished 19th in his first Big 12 meet as a redshirt freshman in 2005.
Fernandez won the meet two weeks ago.
“It’s really hard to say how far he can go at this point,” Vail said. “He’s the best high school kid the country has ever seen, time-wise. I definitely see multiple national championships in his future.”
Fernandez doesn’t downplay the ride his first season in Stillwater has been.
“I’m living the dream right now,” he said. “I’m having a phenomenal freshmen year. Things have really been going my way so far.”
He immediately shifted gears, however, tying it all back to the team concept Smith has tried to instill in his runners.
“Everything’s going great for us, but you can’t get a big head about it,” Fernandez said. “We still have a long way to go, and hopefully we can finish strong at the end.”
He has been able to hold himself like someone who has been doing it for years. Nothing Fernandez does screams “freshman,” both Smith and Vail said.
“German doesn’t train like a freshman; he trains like a veteran would,” Vail said. “He looks around at what the older guys are doing and learns from them.”
Fernandez wouldn’t be a Smith-coached runner unless he also excelled in the classroom. Smith’s focus on academics is unparalleled, and he demands a lot from his runners. The “greatest high school runner in the country” is no exception.
“He’s a great student and a good listener,” Smith said. “He’s really bought into all the things we try and do here.”
Vail agreed.
“I don’t have any classes with him, but from what I hear, he does really well,” he said. “He’s been on top of his work, and his grades are great.”
Smith said the attitude Fernandez brings to the table every day in practice is big for the team.
“As a teammate, you couldn’t ask for better,” Smith said. “He’s more about how the team does than how he does individually.
“He’s run exactly how we’ve asked him to. In meets where he probably could have placed higher, like the Jamboree, he’s done what we asked him to for the team.”
Fernandez didn’t think he was going to be a Cowboy.
But, he said, Stillwater is home for him because of Smith and the other runners.
“They all had the same goals I had,” he said. “I knew they could take me to a level that no one else can get me to.
“I trust them.”
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Better than Jim Ryun? See Ryun’s 2 big high school races on YouTube, 3:58.3 Kansas State Champs, and National AAU in 3:55+ beating Peter Snell, Jim Grelle, et al. In 1965.
No kidding, in terms of talking about high school runners when Jim Ryun broke the 4 minute mile 4 or 5 times, beating veteran professionals, legends in the process. Interesting comment coming from Ryan Vail anyway, who is from the same city and class as Galen Rupp. Since Vail made the comment, just for his personal first hand experience he raced the guy in HS who set the national 3,000, and 5,000 records, as well as the national junior 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 records. German is a fine runner, and is proving a dominant force. Surely he will continue to improve and be strong in championship races. He broke a great record with his HS national 2-mile record. I think some people are already forgetting some of the things Dathan Ritzenhein did, or Alan Webb did, or the guys dating back further like Craig Virgin, Prefontaine, and especially Jim Ryun. German has a good legacy already, he ran brilliantly in HS but this argument about he is the best ever seen isn’t so accurate. You could say runner which is general between XC and track. When maybe Dathan is perhaps the greatest HS cross country runner. The debate rolls on…..
German Fernandez - What can you say other than the kid ran the fastest double ever by a High School kid including anyone that reads this board. Therefore give him his props and to the Coaching Crew at Okie State that has him running at such a high level. He’s part of the puzzle that they needed to have an elite team like they do now. We have a guy named Ryan Vail that only finished 8thhhhhhhh last year! That’s right I said eighth, which only guys with Big Nads finish in the top ten basically letting us know that this kid is going to be special. I’m sure he knows since he trains with him on a daily basis. We really can’t distinguish who the best of all time is unless they were all on the same track at the same time in their prime. Let the kid be and see what he does and see how many records he breaks at OSU, Big XII’s, and Nationally. Once he does this we’ll have a better understanding of where he falls in the History of Great US Distance Running. In the meantime, “Go Pokes” this weekend at Regionals and Nationals. All I hope is that Dave Smith has put in OSU’s budget to purchase some “Bling Bling” Rings come Nov. 25th.
GERMAN IS THE G.O.A.T. HE IS THE BEST COLLEGE FRESHMAN THIS YEAR AND CAN BEAT EVERYONE BUT MAYBE RUPP AND CHELANGA!!
Doh! Jim Ryun is so 20th century. I don’t think he’d be able to do what Fernandez is doing now.
Ryun couldn’t do what Fernandez is doing? Don’t forget Ryun ran 1:44 and 8:44 as a teen. He ran 3:51 his freshman year. If anything, he probably would be 3:47 today as a freshman.
In terms of high school, German was the best, stats on paper say he was. Now, this does not take away or add to the tremendous accomplishments of Jim Ryun in the 60’s, Gerry Lindgren in the 60’s, or Prefontaine or Jeff Nelson for that matter. What is great about this sport is that many standards of excellence have come and gone, German is now, he is today, he is here, and on paper he is all he is purported to be. In terms of college, thus far he is as sensational a freshman as Ryun, Lindgren, or Prefontaine. Now, if he were to somehow win NCAA’s over Rupp, then we could annoint him to something more than the greatest high school distance runner.