High School
Ritzenhein ("Ritz") emerged as a cult figure among high school track fans during his junior and senior years at Rockford High School, especially since he graduated from high school in the same year as Alan Webb and Ryan Hall, America's other budding distance prodigies. He set numerous state and national high school records during this time, notably in the 1600m (4:05.9) 3200m (8:41.10) and in the 5000m (13:44.70). He won back-to-back regional (Midwest) and national titles in the Foot Locker high school championship races in the fall of 1999 and 2000. There was major build-up to the 2000 championships due to the impending clash between Ritz, Webb, and Hall. Ritz scored a resounding victory over Webb and Hall in Orlando, Florida, running the 5k course in 14:35. Perhaps more impressive, the previous year he claimed an unexpected national title while setting the course record in 14:29. As a senior in high school he set the Michigan high school 5k record of 14:10 at state finals; second place was 15:05. His final cross country race in high school was at the IAAF junior world championships in Ostend Belgium where he won a bronze medal to become only the second American runner to ever medal in the race along with American distance great Bob Kennedy.
Read more about this topic: Dathan Ritzenhein
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