CHICAGO -- Chris Derrick never used to allow himself to go too far with thoughts of becoming a professional runner.
That has changed.
In just his sophomore season at Stanford, Derrick, a former cross-country state champion at Neuqua Valley, has already become a major name in the running world and put himself in position to be one of the country's top long-distance stars in years to come.
With that, of course, there is a great likelihood of a future professional career for him.
"I think that coming into college I was hoping to run professionally and hoping to do things," Derrick said recently. "It's more and more of a reality now. I'm more willing to balance other things out in favor of running. Definitely if it's the case where I can get a few more hours of sleep before a race or study for a test to get an A-minus or a B-plus, I will get the sleep. I've always wanted to stay in this sport as long as possible. It's becoming more of a reality, which is pretty cool."
Much of Derrick's stardom was built by setting the American junior record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:29.98 in May at the Payton/Jordan Cardinal Invitational, which was held at Stanford.
"I think it's just based on the fact Chris set that junior record pretty handily and shattered it," Stanford coach Jason Dunn said. "It's safe to say his time is better than any U.S. Olympian at this age, any Olympian produced at 5,000 meters."
Along with Derrick, Oklahoma State sophomore German Fernandez is the other young runner considered to be a future U.S. long-distance star. Derrick himself sees Fernandez as everyone's "chosen one."
"I think all the weight is on his shoulders," Derrick said. "It's kind of the way things worked out. I read message boards and stuff. I know what's going on. I think definitely there's more attention on German, which is good for me. It keeps me more relaxed."
Last week, Derrick led the way as the Cardinal swept the Stanford Invitational. The victory moved Stanford up into the No. 1 spot in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Poll.
While Derrick has shown he has tremendous athletic gifts, Dunn has been impressed by more than just that.
"I knew he was a talented guy and he wanted to be good, but it wasn't until his freshman year here could I see the other talents other than the obvious physical ones," Dunn said. "The most important thing is he has a really good head. He's very focused and very driven, but he's also very confident and level-headed. He never gets too high and never gets too low from an emotional respect."
Scott Powers covers high school and college sports for ESPNChicago.com and can be reached at preps@espnchicago.com.