25. Manny Putz class of 2025 (4:36.92 equivalent - rural WI): Won XC states 3 times in a row, won the 1600 and 3200 his junior year, and came 2nd at NXR twice in a row. 5k best of 14:32. He's a senior this year and recently committed to University of Wisconsin.
24. Carter Cutting (4:36.83 - suburban Portland, OR): Moved briefly to Utah then back to Oregon again, where he came 3rd at XC states. Won state in the 800 and 1500 his senior year with a 1:50 and 3:47. Committed to BYU, took a redshirt season and just broke 4 in the mile last weekend.
23. Will McCoy (4:36.57 - suburban San Diego and Sacramento, CA): Didn't beat this mark - or even break 5 again - until his junior year, when he ran 4:34. Focused on the 800 after that. Committed to American River College in town, stuck at 2:01. Didn't run this past season.
22. Colton Thress (4:36.53 - rural central OH): Finally broke out his senior year when he ran a 15:38 5k. Specializes in the 800, committed to Ashland University and runs a personal best of 1:50.
21. Quintin Lowe (4:36.48 - suburban Chicago, IL): won his competitive conference in XC his senior year, came 4th at state in the 800 that year with a 1:53. Committed to Purdue University and has run decently.
20. Micah Blomker class of 2024 (4:36.14 - suburban Kansas City, KS): won XC states sophomore year and again senior year, 5k PR of 14:49. Committed to University of Tulsa and is currently taking a redshirt season.
19. Steven McCartney (4:36.00 equivalent - suburban Atlanta, GA): never beat his 5k PR of 15:48 from freshman year. Committed to Charleston Southern University, redshirted, finished top-10 in conference in the 1500. Raced infrequently this XC season.
18. Alexander Lodewick (4:35.51 equivalent - suburban Bay Area, CA): won CIF North Coast XC section his senior year (for D3 - together with Badcock in D1) and logged a 3200m PR of 9:13 that spring. Committed to UC Berkeley but has raced infrequently.
17. Aidan Cox (4:35.30 equivalent - southeast NH): Won XC states in 10th and 11th grade, won the 1500/1600 and 3000/3200 at indoor and outdoor state championships in 12th grade. His greatest achievement might be at RunningLane Nationals in 2021 though, where he ran 14:18 - faster than anyone on this list in high school - placed 7th, and beat every non-senior other than the Newbury Park boys. Committed to UVA and hasn't raced much (redshirt, then maybe injury) but logged an impressive 14:10 5k on the track.
16. Braydon Honsinger (4:35.21 - rural eastern MI): This was the fastest mark set in any middle school regular season. Improved slowly, but eventually ran 15:34 for the 5k his senior year and placed 3rd at state in the 800 with a 1:54. Committed to Saginaw Valley State University.
15. William "Billy" Carlton (4:34.70 equivalent - suburban Atlanta, GA): Never beat his 5k PR of 15:37 from freshman year. Nevertheless, won the 800 and 1600 at his competitive county championships two years in a row. Committed to Georgia Tech, took a redshirt season and logged a 3:52 1500 and 24:33 8k.
14. Broen Holman class of 2025 (4:34.56 equivalent - Sierra Nevada, CA): I don't know if anyone has ever run this fast as a 6th grader. Won Sac-Joaquin D4 section three times in a row, placed 2nd at D4 state championships this year, broke 14 in the 3-mile at Woodbridge, and placed 5th in the Arcadia seeded 3200 with an 8:54. Recently announced his commitment to Northern Arizona University.
13. Jared Khalil (4:34.10 equivalent - southeast NH): Though he's a fabulous runner, Khalil's primary sport has always been basketball, for which he has forgone the former to play at Plymouth State University, a D3 school, close to home.
12. Alex Leath (4:33.50 equivalent - Birmingham, AL): Became big mid-distance guy. XC performance was decent. Won the 800 at all four championships (indoor and outdoor) from junior to senior year, and the 1600 at three of them. Committed to University of Virginia with Aidan Cox and improved his 800 to 1:47, fast enough to take him to nationals.
11. Zack Munson (4:33.50 equivalent - Bellingham, WA): Won XC states senior year, came 6th at NXR Northwest. Won all three distance events at track states that spring. Committed to Northern Arizona University, redshirted, logged a 13:55 track 5k and 23:24 8k.
10. Jared Fortenberry (4:33.40 equivalent - suburban Atlanta, GA): Improved his times to 4:15 and 15:14. Placed 2nd at states his senior year. Committed to University of Maine and has run decent but not amazing.
9. Reese Vannerson (4:32.82 equivalent - Houston, TX): Broke 15 his senior year, won back-to-back UIL 6A races (maybe the most competitive state championship out there) with a 4:08 1600 and 8:49 3200. Has found major success in triathlons.
8. Ty Garrett (4:32.46 equivalent - IN to CO and back again): He is the only XC runner in the entire class of '23 to place top 5 in two different states. Committed to Wake Forest University, redshirted (is now a fellow freshman of phenom Jojo Jourdon), has run alright.
7. Marcus Reilly class of 2024 (4:32.13 - central MA): The fastest on this list who would've returned if not for COVID. 3-time podium finisher at XC states, has run a 4:03 full mile twice. Committed to University of Michigan, currently a redshirt.
6. Hunter Jones (4:32.00 - rural northern MI): Went on a rampage senior year, winning every single meet he ran up to NXR Midwest and Footlocker Midwest on consecutive weekends, the former in 14:21. (May have also set a record for most XC meets run in one season: 16.) Won the 2-mile and 5000m at Nike Indoor Nationals that winter. Also committed to Wake Forest but did not redshirt.
5. Zack Gilbertson (4:31.00 equivalent - southern NC): Went nearly undefeated senior year and won state. 1600 PR of 4:07. Committed to University of Mississippi but has only run one race.
4. Bryce Stachewicz (4:30.49 - suburban Minneapolis, MN): Improved considerably toward the end of high school, won state in the 1600 senior year following an undefeated season. Committed to University of Wisconsin and built on his times, running a 4:02 full mile, 23:57 8k, and recently an 8:08 3000m on the indoor track.
3. Nathan Lopez (4:28.70 - suburban Boston, MA): 3-time state XC podium finisher, won state in the 1600 once and the 3200 twice, the latter with an 8:59 senior year. Committed to University of Michigan and continues to improve, shaving off 90 seconds from last year's 8k.
2. Drew Costelow (4:26.29 - IN to CO as well... I'm curious to know why both moved at once): won both the 800 and 1600 at Colorado states two years in a row, reaching 1:50 in the former at Arcadia. Committed to CU Boulder, took a redshirt season.
1. Elliott McArthur (4:22.40- suburban Minneapolis, MN): I don't think anyone paid much attention because it was from a high school meet, but McArthur was in fact the fastest middle-school aged runner in 2019. Stayed pretty consistently in the mid-4:10s all through high school. Committed to NC State, took a redshirt season. Broke 25 in his first 8k.
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What strikes me is how few of the runners setting the top marks today are part of this list. No Lex and no Leo. No Aaron Sahlman. No Tyrone Gorze. No Rocky Hansen, no Carson Noecker, no Connor Burns, no Kole Mathison (barely), no Simeon Birnbaum, no Kevin Sanchez. And it wasn't just I couldn't find any results for them. They just weren't as good!...
Similarly it's amazing how there are so many athletes at the top of the ranks who just disappear off the radar.
To all the young high school runners out there who feel like everyone has a headstart on you, just remember it means less than you may think. The whole playing field can change in just a couple years. Keep at it!