CA has 3x the population (39 million people) vs. IL (12.7 million) and California also has way better weather for training.
Compare runner's success after college, when they go pro. I mean, looking at ON Athletics roster: Alisha Monson is from WI, Jared Nuguse is from KY, Klecker is from MN. People are from all over.
Newbury Park has a population of 44K and would defeat any state except its own.
What state would win an XC race with their all-time top 5 runners?
My guess would be CA vs IL. Who would win between these two states? Any others?
Doing my best to summarize Colorado’s all timers:
Boys Goucher Wolfe Zane Bergen (young man who broke up the Newbury Park sweep in 2021) Sprout (Nico vs. Sprout was a serious debate in HS) Vaughn Fauble Kincaid Schoolmeester
Both Megan & Katelyn Kaltenbach Rebekah McDowell 4-time XC state champ who just never ran foot locker for some reason Michalak Allori Lauren Gregory Riley Stewart Watch out for Delaney Reuter
I think Colorado’s boys are maybe 4th or 5th but ain’t nobody beating Colorado’s girls for top-end talent or depth. Five NXN or FL champs (Fairchild, Ritz, Oakley, Kaltenbach, Rainsberger), two #2s (Cranny & Michalak) and just tons of other superstars across eras.
NM .. got to have Simon Gutierrez and maybe Mica Comstock
Of those listed I think that Chip Smith is the only FL All-American in that group. Clearly missing are - - -
Shadrack Kiptoo - 3rd at FL, 4:01 in HS, multiple All-American for Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona
Benjamin Johnson - 3rd at NXN, 6 at FL, 2x NCAA All-American steeple for Stanford.
Others to be considered:
Peter Graham, Santa Fe, ended up being an NAIA national champ at Adams State
Dr. Tony Sandoval, Los Alamos, ended up making the 1980 Oly marathon team.
Brandon Leslie, Gallup, did well nationally and won large school state XC 3 times.
Chuck Aragon, Los Lunas, ended up finishing 4th by a hair at the Oly trials 1500m
There's also a boy that won state 5 times when the whole state was one division. His name is Gery Garcia and he ran for a school that no longer exists (El Rito). As impressvie of a feat as it was, I dont think he did or would have run faster than a 4:30-ish mile.
If I was to pick the fastest 5 in HS I'd say Shadrack, BenJo, Peter, Brandon, and Chip or Dr S.
NM .. got to have Simon Gutierrez and maybe Mica Comstock
Of those listed I think that Chip Smith is the only FL All-American in that group. Clearly missing are - - -
Shadrack Kiptoo - 3rd at FL, 4:01 in HS, multiple All-American for Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona
Benjamin Johnson - 3rd at NXN, 6 at FL, 2x NCAA All-American steeple for Stanford.
Others to be considered:
Peter Graham, Santa Fe, ended up being an NAIA national champ at Adams State
Dr. Tony Sandoval, Los Alamos, ended up making the 1980 Oly marathon team.
Brandon Leslie, Gallup, did well nationally and won large school state XC 3 times.
Chuck Aragon, Los Lunas, ended up finishing 4th by a hair at the Oly trials 1500m
There's also a boy that won state 5 times when the whole state was one division. His name is Gery Garcia and he ran for a school that no longer exists (El Rito). As impressvie of a feat as it was, I dont think he did or would have run faster than a 4:30-ish mile.
If I was to pick the fastest 5 in HS I'd say Shadrack, BenJo, Peter, Brandon, and Chip or Dr S.
Got to have Simon G on list. Top 3 at FLN and ran at World Jr's in High School. Ran sub 30 in 10K in HS as well.
What state would win an XC race with their all-time top 5 runners?
My guess would be CA vs IL. Who would win between these two states? Any others?
Doing my best to summarize Colorado’s all timers:
Boys Goucher Wolfe Zane Bergen (young man who broke up the Newbury Park sweep in 2021) Sprout (Nico vs. Sprout was a serious debate in HS) Vaughn Fauble Kincaid Schoolmeester
Both Megan & Katelyn Kaltenbach Rebekah McDowell 4-time XC state champ who just never ran foot locker for some reason Michalak Allori Lauren Gregory Riley Stewart Watch out for Delaney Reuter
I think Colorado’s boys are maybe 4th or 5th but ain’t nobody beating Colorado’s girls for top-end talent or depth. Five NXN or FL champs (Fairchild, Ritz, Oakley, Kaltenbach, Rainsberger), two #2s (Cranny & Michalak) and just tons of other superstars across eras.
CA has 9 inidividual girls FL/NXN champions. The top 3 girls teams are clearly CA, NY and CO.
Here is the list of individual champs from those states.
Hasay, Baxter, Lane, Fairchild and Tuohy were multiple champions. CA would actually have to leave 2 national champions off the team. Jorgensen and Gordon would be my picks.
Taylor Ewert, though she and her Pennsylvanian contemporary Marlee Starliper seems to have fallen victim to the Foot Locker curse extending to top-3ers in college
Boys Goucher Wolfe Zane Bergen (young man who broke up the Newbury Park sweep in 2021) Sprout (Nico vs. Sprout was a serious debate in HS) Vaughn Fauble Kincaid Schoolmeester
Both Megan & Katelyn Kaltenbach Rebekah McDowell 4-time XC state champ who just never ran foot locker for some reason Michalak Allori Lauren Gregory Riley Stewart Watch out for Delaney Reuter
I think Colorado’s boys are maybe 4th or 5th but ain’t nobody beating Colorado’s girls for top-end talent or depth. Five NXN or FL champs (Fairchild, Ritz, Oakley, Kaltenbach, Rainsberger), two #2s (Cranny & Michalak) and just tons of other superstars across eras.
CA has 9 inidividual girls FL/NXN champions. The top 3 girls teams are clearly CA, NY and CO.
Here is the list of individual champs from those states.
Hasay, Baxter, Lane, Fairchild and Tuohy were multiple champions. CA would actually have to leave 2 national champions off the team. Jorgensen and Gordon would be my picks.
Its a shame we never got to see lane VS tuohy in xc in HS. It would have been the biggest individual battle since ritz/webb/hall. Both of them basically destroyed every course record on opposing coasts.
Tuohy's Bowdin record is still mind blowing. I remember in 2017/2018 she would go to huge meets and be top 10 in the merge for the boys lol.
Michigan would definitely have a dog in the fight with:
Dathan Ritzenhein
Grant Fisher
Hobbs Kessler
Riley Hough
I don’t know who the 5th would be though, maybe Carter Solomon?
2024 grad Hunter Jones deserves consideration with 8:40.
Hunter Jones might be one of the best all time any state. His 14:21 at Nike Midwest won’t be broken. He then went on and broke Footlocker course record in Wisconsin. His mistake is that he raced to hard to many weeks in a row and ran out of gas at nationals. Hunter Jones is the Michigan XC goat.
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