- See Less -After a few standout performaces as an underclassmen in high school, German came to prominence in his senior year when he broke Marc Davis' course record by 14 seconds at the 2007 CIF Cross Country State meet. He then won the Foot Locker West Regional and placed third at the finals. A few months later he won US Junior Nationals in Corss Country and earned a trip to the World XC Champs where he lead Team USA with a 25th place finish. At the end of 2009, German was named to the ESPN Rise All-Decade Team as one of the best 7 HS XC runners from 2000-2009. In track, he really turned heads with two amazing performances. At the CIF State Meet, German ran 4:00.29 to break Ryan Hall's meet record and then came back 3 hours later to win the 3,200m in a blistering 8:34.23. This is widely considered the best HS distance double of all time. A few weeks later he broke Jeff Nelson's HS Two Mile record at the Nike Outdoor Championships, winning in 8:34.40. He also borke Galen Rupp's 3,000m HSR running an en-route 7:59.82.
As a freshman at Oklahoma State, German won the Big 12 Cross Country title, but a mid-race injury left him a disappointing DNF. He came back strong in indoor track by breaking the World Indoor Junior mile record twice, with 3:55.02 being his fastest. That time is also an NCAA record. He skipped the NCAA Championships to focus on the World Cross Country Championships after he defended his US Junior Cross Country title. At Junior Worlds, he lead Team USA with an 11th place finish. During outdoor track, German won his first NCAA title, winning the 1,500m in 3:39.00. At the USA Championships, German broke Chris Derrick's weeks old US Junior 5,000m record when he placed 5th in the nation with a 13:25.46. He was a finalist for the first ever Bowerman Award for his stellar freshman year on the track.
During his sophomore season, German struggled with injury, but still helped his team win Big 12, Mid-West Regional, and NCAA National team titles.
he's afraid of rupp. if he was a true competitor, he would have jumped at the opportunity to go head to head with rup.))
Hey Matt, I couldn't agree with you more. He was afraid of Rupp. If he was a true competitor, he would do the 100 meter freestyle against Michael Phelps.
Come on guys, this is nationals, people are going to run the race where they can put forth the best result... And German raced the only two runners this year who beat Rupp (Ulrey and Centro), so give him some respect.
Nice interview though. Its a good idea to take some time off.
(Hahaha, okay, so no one is allowed to NOT like him just cuz of his accomplishments? You're an idiot. And i think everyone has a RIGHT to speak his or her mind and to call anyone anything they want. If you seriously take the time to b*tch about someone else's opinion, go **** yourself. Better yet, go j*rk off to some more German vids.
Oh, and since 99.999% of the ppl in this country aren't NCAA champs, why don't we all just leave the country so German can walk on his own ground like he's Jesus...(according to your statement))
COLBY...IS THAT YOU?
“Does anyone else see the irony of anonymous COWARD2 calling Fernandez a coward. If you are going to call someone out have the balls to sign your name COWARD.”
“None of you have earned a right to call german a coward. Most of you dont even deserve to walk on the same ground that german has walked on. Have any of you HATERS won a NCAA individual championship? How about as a freshman? Didnt think so. So until you have any accolades that are remotely close to german how about you shut the hell up. :)”
Oh, and since 99.999% of the ppl in this country aren't NCAA champs, why don't we all just leave the country so German can walk on his own ground like he's Jesus...(according to your statement)
Unbelievable talent and I wish the best for him, but I'm not a huge fan of him as a person.
I was going to say something about your comment, but since your only 16, your comment really don't matter.
“He didn't do the 5k cuz he was afraid of RUPP...coward”
No doubt this kid has talent, and the brightest of futures...better than Rupp? I say his running style is stronger than Rupp, in mental toughness they are equals. I think his ultimate success it is a matter of patience and maturity ith respect to getting injured - and I think he is plenty smart enough to know that.
“He didn't do the 5k cuz he was afraid of RUPP...coward”
He is legit at 1500m, no doubt about that (more than legit). But i wouldve liked to see him challenge himself
Stay cool and keep working hard!