Washington State HS XC 2025 Season

So how short was the course at The Mook? Because those times are absolutely laughable to a person for both boys and girls.

Mead is the top Washington team right now, hands down!
Rocky and Jesuit looks good, but if you add 60-80 seconds they’re not all that impressive.

excited to see how Cda does

What is up with Steilacoom? Hot day? Times were way off from what I was expecting

I was at that race today and I saw more than one coach rolling the course, and they all said it really is the right distance. It's just a super fast course.They start on a downhill, and the last one k is totally flat.

(1) The Strava posts for the race largely reflect 3.0 miles or less. I didn’t see a single one that reflected 5k. And actual 5ks reflect the tangent distances so real 5ks have recorded entries that exceed 3.1 miles. Even the second place runner commented in his post that it was way short.

(2) The race’s own elevation profile map has it as less than a 5k as the final distance

(3) No HS coach is wheeling the course in the middle of or the day of a meet. Takes forever and this is HS.

As others mentioned before the race even started, it’s flat and it’s short. People running 5k faster than they ran a track 5k a few months ago? Everyone running a PR? It was a great race and great performances were had by many runners, but let’s not pretend it was a full 5k.

Then none of them know how to use a wheel because that course is short. Even shorter than last year.

Question of the day:

It’s 2025. Why can’t the courses be measured correctly?

NGL, as someone who is forced to run withQuenton, It's funny how slow he is. only a 4:35 in 6th grade? I could run that before I could walk. (Jokes aside I am actually on Quenton's team)

I was there. It was a little warm but that was a few seconds added at most. It’s a real cross country course with multiple big hills but even comparing to other years, it was slower than expected.

It appeared to be due to the dynamics of the race. Everyone predicted Compton and Voss would run away and pull everyone else to fast times. It never happened. Compton was never in it. The other runners let Voss lead it through the mile just under 4:50 but he dropped back as they headed up the first big hill just after that.

At that point, Herb and Lanese had to lead the race together for the bulk of the race. No one, probably including themselves, anticipated they’d be in that position. Voss has wheels and recovered to kick hard the last quarter mile to win.

Honestly, great effort and times for Herb and Lanese doing the real work in the race on a legit cross country course. Very disappointing result for Compton. And although he won, surprising and a little disappointing race for Voss.

Calling Ft. Stelilacoom a "real cross country course" and even insinuating it is slow is laughable considering 15 years ago it was the course everyone ran to get a PR. HS XC in WA has jumped the shark

When everyone is running The Mook, Hole in the Wall, Woodbridge, etc these days to get their PRs these days, Ft Steilacoom is certainly a real XC course. Sure, it would have been a fast course nationwide 15 years ago. And it’s not a slow course. But it’s certainly a real xc course today. I think HS XC in all states has jumped the shark. It’s turning into track on grass. That’s not Ft Steilacoom.

Part of it is the heat I believe. Back when we’d go there in 2010-2019 it seemed to be overcast and 60s throughout the day. No one complained about the heat or the sun, most people I spoke to mentioned it felt pretty warm at the end

Haven’t crunched numbers yet, but gut right now is

Mead

Mercer Island

Kamiakin

Tahoma

CPC (Bothell)

Central Kitsap

Hermiston

Gig Harbor

Stadium

Cheney

For boys

I’ll crunch some real numbers later

I’ll look more into the girls results as well, Olympia and Tahoma are definitely podium threats for 4a girls

Thanks for sharing these. Comparing corresponding ratings and times for the three mile race at Woodbridge confirms what everyone has been saying re The Mook having been short.

Does anyone have any baseline for comparing Steilacoom, MWC, and South Whidbey courses? Trying to get a sense for the 4A girls teams and wondering if at all comparable those courses/times are. Thanks!

Most athletes average 15-20 seconds faster at state versus Steilacoom (peaking, fitness, more racing etc)

MWC athletes can be 20-30 seconds faster at state

Not 100% sure on Whidbey, from what I have seen so far anywhere from 12-25 seconds on average

Again, all on average so some athletes will run much faster and others much slower.

What's Tahoma's training like? They've always been solid but have become a powerhouse the last 5-10 years

That being said- here are my current ratings for boys, I'll try to get to girls tomorrow

I think Seattle Prep can be higher, looks like they were missing a guy or two. Kamiakin was also missing one guy but I don't think he would have lowered their score.

Mead
Kamiakin
Mercer Island
Tahoma
Central Kitsap
Hermiston
Cedar Park Christian (Bothell)
Gonzaga Prep
Gig Harbor
Stadium
Curtis
Sehome

I honestly have no idea - Jeff Brady is a phenomenal person and coach though which is why they get over 60 kids on their boys team every year