What's the Easiest State to Become an Individual High School State CC Champion?

Footlocker lists wrote:

NC, along with the rest of the South, is pretty bad. The only way the South will get better is when more people move from the Northeast. That is starting to happen as the population gradually shifts south. However, if this shift was not occuring, the Southeast would basically suck forever. They need to readjust the regions for NTN and Footlocker to make it more competitive. There are always individuals in the Northeast who could easily qualify for FLN out of the South but are left home; same goes for teams making it to NTN. Just look at the results from nationals - the Southeast is almost always at or near the bottom.

This could possibly be due to the fact that running just isnt as popular in the south as other sports. Extremely hot summers, football, yada yada yada. I would find it hard to believe that there just isnt as much talent in the South as the rest of the country, but hey, who knows, maybe there isnt

whoever said mississippi's state meet course is flat and fast is wrong...plus, it's hot as hell most yrs at both state xc and track

Usually this stands true, however on the Girls side the SE is a notch above the north. See results of Eastern States. You can't base too much info off NTN, as it's only in it's second year.

Probably the biggest problem with FLN and the south is McAlpine. It's basically a track and it sends people every year that probably wouln't go if it was a true xc course.

Also, I wouldn't call NC one of the worst states, they have produced some solid ind runners and great teams.

Also, related to this point is the fact that populational obesity and republican voters are directly correlated. And if you take that one step further and generalize a bit, that obesity is more prevalent in the midwest.

Craft Advocate wrote:

Since it is an election day-after, I must point out that blue states are generally faster and deeper than red states. Certainly there are some infrequent exceptions, but most of the nations best distance runners come from blue states----this is despite the fact that blue states generally have worse weather. Again, there are a few exceptions to this, but it is nonetheless true.

Don't call me a troll until you check the facts.

Also, I would appreciate being called something other than troll---that's so 2004.

"Talent" isn't the problem; talent is everywhere. If you randomly select 1000 HS students in New York and 1000 HS students in South Carolina and analyzed them regarding potential for endurance performance (VO2 max, LT, white/red muscle fiber percentages, bodyfat percent, etc.) you will find almost the same numbers. The larger the sample you select, the closer the numbers will become. When you consider an entire state's population, the numbers will be virtually identical. I don't think the weather is the problem either. Most people would much rather train in sunny and 90 degrees than in snow/ice and 15 degrees. The problem is the "attitude of mediocrity" that exists. Runners can qualify for states and even place at states with such slow times that there is no incentive to run any faster. I'm in my 30's and could barely make the top-7 of my CC team in high school even as a senior and we were a slightly above average team. Now, living in the South, I can qualify for states in the 800, 1600, and 3200 in more than one classification. Funny thing is I'm slower now on the track than I was in high school. I can run a 10K faster today but can't touch my times under 3200 meters. Things will gradually get better as the population in the Northeast stagnates and that of the Southeast explodes due to the influx of Northerners. More importantly, these new "Southerners" will possess "Northern" attitudes toward training and hard work in general.

haha, i cant believe no one has mentioned North Dakota on this thread. We had our one shot in the light when Corey Ihmels won footlockers back in the mid 90's. Other then him, i dont recall anyone else ever even making the team on the boys side. Girls have had 2 sent to Footlockers in the last 5 years, which is fantastic for us. You can win the Class A 2 mile in around 9:30 every year (there is only 2 classes, A and B) and the B one is won in around 9:50, with your every 3-4 year exception where a class B kid can run. It was 4 years ago when the last time a guy broke 4:20 in the mile.

Yeah, its pretty sad up here, if you run 16:40 your in the hunt usually. (There is some crazy kid running 15:20 for 5k right now though, he is pretty amazing)

Choctaw Trails is definitely flat; I ran there all 4 years of high school (not that you didn't, mr. kersh). I agree that it's not THAT fast, but I was comparing it to the courses I've been running on in New England, in which case it IS a pretty fast, albeit very legit, course.

You sure you want to stick by that statement?

Girls Top-10 Finishes at Footlocker Nationals

State Region Top-10s

California West 41

New York Northeast 26

Ohio Midwest 14

Pennsylvania Northeast 14

Illinois Midwest 13

Virginia South 13

Colorado Midwest 11

Michigan Midwest 11

New Jersey Northeast 11

Indiana Midwest 8

Washington West 8

Massachusetts Northeast 7

Minnesota Midwest 7

Missouri Midwest 6

Oregon West 6

Connecticut Northeast 5

Nevada West 5

Texas South 5

Utah West 5

Maryland Northeast 4

Montana West 4

New Hampshire Northeast 4

Wisconsin Midwest 4

New Mexico West 3

North Carolina South 3

Vermont Northeast 3

Arizona West 2

Florida South 2

Kansas Midwest 2

Maine Northeast 2

South Dakota Midwest 2

Tennessee South 2

Georgia South 1

Hawaii West 1

Idaho West 1

Iowa Midwest 1

Kentucky South 1

North Dakota Midwest 1

Wyoming West 1

Alabama South 0

Alaska 0

Arkansas South 0

Delaware Northeast 0

Louisiana South 0

Mississippi South 0

Nebraska 0

Oklahoma South 0

Rhode Island Northeast 0

South Carolina South 0

West Virginia South 0

Total top-10's by Footlocker Region

Midwest 80

West 77

Northeast 76

South 27 (13 from Virginia, practically a Northern state)

Total top-5's by Footlocker Region

Northeast 42

West 37

Midwest 37

South 14 (9 from Virginia)

Sorry, but that has to be the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard in my entire life. Blame the course? Please tell me that was meant to be a joke.

the course is just really fast , If you're not a hill runner you can amke fl fomr the south , but your not going to do that good there

Wiseass wrote:

runnnnnnnnnnnn wrote:

Illinois, their cc courses are only 2.75. And they are moving to 3 classes next year! They currently have 8 in football.

Obviously not from Illinois, right? Boys course standards have been 3 miles for years. The girls courses were 2.5 miles up until 3-4 years ago, but they've been 3 miles ever since. The state meets are all 3 miles. Some of the meets and invites during the season and even some sectionals are odd lengths (2.75 miles, 5Ks, etc.) but the state meets are 3 miles, as are most of the in-season meets, and have been for years.

BTW, to win the IL state meets this year you would have had to have run faster than 14:55 in the small school class and under 14:07 in the large school (again, 3-mile courses). Personally, I'd look somewhere like Montana, with a low population, or the state with the lowest population that has two classes.

Illinois isnt that easy...do you know who has come from here. A few names, Sage, Torres, Withrow, and now Jager..i would like to see any kid in the country try and compete with Jager for the title this year...Illinois is the toughest. And the 3 mile flat state final course makes it that much harder...the last 1.5 is all guts with no hills to relax on.

In term of easy...how about the Michigan Upper Peninsula...if you anywhere under 17:00 for a 5k, you've got a chance to win it.

This is the first year the top Delaware contenders have a legitimate shot at sub-16:00. Every other year states alternate between Killens Pond (flat, fast) and Brandywine Creek (hilly, slow). At Killens, if you can run under 16:30, most years you have a great shot to win. At Brandywine, if you run under 17:00 you are almost assured a win. Only 2 divisions and about 35 schools, which is totally dumb dividing the competition in half.

The Truth Doctor wrote:

Footlocker lists wrote:

No boys - Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii

No girls - Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, West Virginia

It's tough to determine which state is easiest without knowing such things as the population of the state, the number of classifications, the winning times of the state champions in typical years, etc.

That said, I would list my top-10 easiest as:

1) Wyoming - easiest

2) Idaho

3) Alaska

4) Louisiana

5) Arkansas

6) Mississippi

7) South Carolina

8) North Carolina

9) Montana

10) Hawaii

This helps explain why the South gets its ass kicked at Footlocker every year, too. Especially the South girls.

Thanks for the answer. It's interesting that Arkansas, a state with a University that is a perrenial power in distance running, sucks so bad at the high school level. I guess the Razorbacks aren't doing much recruiting in state.

You guys are really underestimating Wyoming. They definitely aren't one of the hardest states, but they have a couple programs that are very good and consistently churn out sub 4:20, sub 9:30 type guys so they couldn't be the easiest state to be state champ in.

How bout Nevada? In recent years the winning boy for the lowest division did not break 18 minutes.

You've made some good points, but don't include Virginia in this group. Right now Virginia can hold its own with almost any state in the country. Especially on the girls' side. Midlothian girls are probably the best team in the country right now. They smoked some traditional NE powers at Manhatten last month. At the Virginia AAA northern regional last week, over 50 girls ran under 20 for 5K (converted from a 2.98 mile course). Unless the weather is atrocious Saturday, there might be 60-70 girls under 20 at the State AAA meet. Talent in Virginia is extremely deep.

I agree, Virginia is clearly the class of the South. This is especially true on the girls' side. To me, Virginia is basically a northern state located south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Girls Footlocker Qualifiers

Virginia 74

Texas 39

Florida 32

Georgia 15

North Carolina 12

Kentucky 8

South Carolina 7

Tennessee 4

Oklahoma 3

Alabama 2

Mississippi 1

Arkansas 0

Louisiana 0

West Virginia 0

430miler you're an idiot. Rhode Island has some VERY strong runners.

Definitely small schools in Louisiana. Here is class C.

Event 2 Boys 3 Mile Run CC Class C

==================================================================================

Name Year School Avg Mile Finals Points

==================================================================================

1 #64 Davis, James LA School For Deaf 6:12.3 18:36.83 1

2 #57 Schellenger, Johnny Grace Christian 6:17.9 18:53.67 2

3 #41 Gates, Trevor Elizabeth 6:19.9 18:59.46 3

4 #38 Anderson, Seth Elizabeth 6:23.4 19:10.17 4

5 #79 Bernard, Justin Reserve Christian 6:24.0 19:11.86

Same course as 5A.

Event 2 Boys 3 Mile Run CC Class 5A

==================================================================================

Name Year School Avg Mile Finals Points

==================================================================================

1 #2425 Guidry, Brett Jesuit 5:05.3 15:15.74 1

2 #2366 Borne, Brett Covington 5:09.3 15:27.80 2

3 #2587 Orso, Brandon Denham Springs 5:15.9 15:47.69 3

4 #2570 Hall, Seth West Monroe 5:18.7 15:56.03 4

So its not that Louisiana has terrible runners, we just have way too many classes. In my opinion we should have 2 instead of 7.

Footlocker lists wrote:

I agree, Virginia is clearly the class of the South. This is especially true on the girls' side. To me, Virginia is basically a northern state located south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Maryland is also located south of the Mason-Dixon line. Please tell me how you are defining Virginia as a northern state.

Wyoming is not one of the easiest states to be champ at by far!!! with a winning time of 15 45 at 6000+ feet on a hilly course isn't exactly easy. yeah we aren't the best but we aren't a bunch of bitches either we will hold our own anyday.