As a HSer back in the 80s
1. Co-ed
2. Co-ed was one of the best parts of being on the team.
3. There was no state meet in CA for my first 2 years and our team got progressively worse as I went from frosh to senior, but probably something like (for boys varsity) 8 my freshman year and 4 my senior year. Our girls weren't very good as a team, but we did have a good individual
As a coach today
1. Co-ed
2. I'd be happy to split the program if there were another coach who would put in the time and energy. Plus, our district would have to approve a second head coaching position.
3. Over the 20 years I've been coaching, boys have bounced around from 5-8 on the scale. Girls took a long time to get good, but the past three years have been a solid 7-8 (this year I thought we were more like a 9, but a couple of car crashes, a case of pneumonia, and a pelvic floor insufficiency kiboshed our results during the second half of the season).
The strength of team rating is kind of off (at least here in CA). I'd put it more like
1. Worst in League
5. Last team to qualify for section finals
8. Worst team at state meet
10. State Champion
There is overlap, of course. Last team to qualify for section finals in Southern Section might still place top 15 at state.