Webb transitions to college

His name is synonymous with the high school mile.

Alan Webb. 3:53.43 -- nearly two seconds faster than Jim Ryun's previous 36-year-stranglehold on the record.

Last year, he achieved legendary status at the Penn Relays. He ran the fastest 800 meter high school split in the 107-year-history of the meet, 1:49.1. He anchored the distance medley to a Penn Relays record time of 9:59.66. He was the overwhelming choice for the High School Male Athlete of the Meet for the second consecutive year.

Not a bad weekend.

"It was a storybook ending to a storybook senior year," Webb said. "Going into my senior year, we had all been there before, so the whole year, [a victory in the DMR] was something we talked about.

"We went there, and we won both the DMR and [4x800m]. It was unbelievable, and I couldn't have asked for anything more."

Webb competed and excelled during his three high school years at the Penn Relays.

He thrives under the spotlight of the big meet. He loves the competitive atmosphere. And in Webb's mind, there is nothing like the 108-year tradition.

"The Penn Relays is its own meet and that's the reason why I love it so much," Webb said. "Nothing can compete with 10-15 thousand fans cheering for you."

The venue and the atmosphere will be the same for Alan Webb when he anchors his team's DMR and 4x800 meter relays for his fourth consecutive year.

But this weekend will feature a new Alan Webb.

Not the Alan Webb who obliterated Jim Ryun's formerly untouchable high school record. Not the Alan Webb who garnered more accolades at South Lakes High School (Va.) than fellow alumnus and NBA All-Star Grant Hill.

This is Alan Webb -- the University of Michigan freshman.

This weekend, Webb will don the maize and blue track uniform for only the second time in his collegiate career. The freshman placed 11th at NCAA cross country championships and was the Big Ten's cross country male athlete of the year during the fall, but did not compete during the indoor track season.

After red-shirting the indoor season because of achilles tendonitis, Webb competed in his first collegiate track event ever last week at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. The Wolverines' freshman finished ninth in the 1500 meter run in 3:44.74, after holding the lead for the first 800 meters of the race. Villanova junior Adrian Blincoe grabbed first in the race in 3:41.85.

"Who knows how fast he'll be able to go at the end [during the relays]," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "[The 3:44] was a little disappointing for him. According to his workouts, I really think that he can run 3:30 -- a 3:39 -- but we all know how that works. You gotta do it when you have to do it."

Webb has never had an issue coming through in the clutch -- in his second collegiate race, he will get the chance to "do it."

And it isn't only the running that Webb remembers about the Penn Relays -- though that certainly tops his list.

"They had their senior day at this time last year," Webb recollected. "I don't know exactly what it's called but there's a little library there, and a green -- we always used to stretch up in that area up there."

Webb recalled the hallowed tradition of Hey Day, where the rising juniors march around campus celebrating their ascension to seniorhood. He also mentioned his favorite spot on the Penn campus being College Green.

When it comes to the Penn Relays, however, Webb's mind immediately transfers to Franklin Field, the structure for which the relays were originally built in 1895.

"I think the reason why Penn is so special is because it's the effort," Webb said. "You can hear just as large a cheer for the junior high division as for us."

It was that competitive spirit that brought the loudest cheers during the preliminaries of the 4x800 relay on Friday morning April 27, 2001, where Webb was even more dominant than in his performance during the finals' heat.

"That's the whole idea behind the preliminaries -- run fast enough to get to finals," South Lakes track coach Scott Raczko said. "Alan knew what he had to do to get his team into the finals and he did it."

Nothing like pressure to spur a champion.

In the preliminaries, Webb took the baton with South Lakes in fifth place. But after a 1:50.2 800-meter split -- at the time, the fifth-fastest split in Relays history -- Webb pulsed South Lakes to victory over John Jay High School (N.Y.) by two-tenths of a second.

"The people were just going crazy at that race, because it was so close and people just love seeing that competition," Webb said. "I really like that atmosphere, and I really thrive on that."

Whether Webb becomes a Penn Relays sweetheart once again remains to be seen, but it most likely will not come in the form of a Michigan relay victory.

Villanova, Stanford and Arkansas enter the DMR as the heavy favorites -- the Wildcats were last year's NCAA Champions in the event and will again feature Blincoe as their anchor leg.

Freshman or not, Alan Webb is the man that Michigan wants to carry the baton across the finish line of any race.

"Alan is the American miler," Warhurst said. "Down the road, he's going to be tremendous.

"I think what he's going to have to learn how to do is race, and not just run fast like he did in high school. He's a marked man so they're looking to get him. I think once he settles in, you're going to see the great potential that everybody expects of him."

But Webb enjoys being the marked man. He thrives under the pressure, and the track spotlight does not burn any brighter than during the third weekend of April.

The Penn Relays are Webb's time.

He is not a high school miler anymore.

He is a Michigan Wolverine.

He is the American miler.

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