I would like to hear more shout outs to small town, small enrollment, lower income school coaches. Jim white is retired but I know there are a lot of coaches out there that have prospered despite all the above mentioned challenges. It’s a lot harder to be consistently successful if you can only recruit from 300 kids that don’t even know what cross country is and their parents aren't pushing them beyond their limit.
If you are looking for rural schools I would say Loftus at Crater meets your definition. I don't know any super good teams with 300 kids at the school but Crater is rural and not a super school.
According to this website, Tatnall DE enrolls 241 students grades 9-12. Their girls team made NXN every year between 2006-2012. They also made NXN in 2023 and they took 9th there
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What about those that are successful only when they get two families?
Hard to believe people still spout this BS.
Standout Newbury Park High School Performances under Sean Brosnan (excluding Young and Sahlman siblings)
(2022 results include results officially coached by his wife where he wrote the workouts)
Girls 4xMile Relay - National Record Performance: 19:48.58 Athletes: Samantha McDonnell, Ailish Hawkins, Bella Chittenden, and Morgan Nygren Meet: New Balance Nationals Outdoor (June 18, 2022)
Daniel Appleford 3200m: 8:46.43 at the Arcadia Invitational (April 9, 2022) 5k Cross Country: 14:19.46 at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships (December 4, 2021)
Jace Aschbrenner 3200m: 8:44.93 at a Time Trial during Pandemic (May 23, 2020) 5k Cross Country: 14:26 at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic (September 21, 2019)
Aaron Cantu 3200m: 8:57.62 at the APU Meet of Champions (March 19, 2022)
Dev Doshi 3200m: 9:02.13 at the CIF-SS Division 1 Finals (June 5, 2021) 5k Cross Country: 14:59.51 at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships (December 4, 2021)
Isabella Fauria 800m: 2:10.96 at the Dublin Distance Fiesta (March 16, 2019) 1600m: 4:55.77 at the Azusa Meet of Champions (March 23, 2019)
Nicholas Goldstein 3200m: 8:59.19 at the Marmonte League Finals (April 29, 2021) 5k Cross Country: 14:31.91 at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships (December 4, 2021)
Ailish Hawkins 3200m: 10:20.10 at the Arcadia Invitational (April 8, 2022)
Hector Martinez 5k Cross Country: 14:52.72 at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships (December 4, 2021)
Samantha McDonnell Mile: 4:38.93 at the Brooks PR Invitational (June 15, 2022) 800m: 2:08.06 at the Azusa Meet of Champions (March 26, 2022)
Brayden Seymour Mile: 4:06.66 at the Brooks PR Invitational (June 15, 2022)
Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships Top 7 boys under 15:00
There are other standout times, but these should cover most of the top performances.
Seymour was not coached by Brosnan in spring 2022. He was still in Florida back then
If you are looking for rural schools I would say Loftus at Crater meets your definition. I don't know any super good teams with 300 kids at the school but Crater is rural and not a super school.
According to this website, Tatnall DE enrolls 241 students grades 9-12. Their girls team made NXN every year between 2006-2012. They also made NXN in 2023 and they took 9th there
That's ridiculous. 2 sub 4:20 4/9 sub 4:30. 2 girls sub 5 as well(this year). They beat teams like York, SLC, Wayzata, DGN and other teams with upwards of 10X their enrollment.
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It’s a private school. Doesn’t matter who small they are. They have no geographical restrictions and can hand pick kids.
Given the tuition is $37K, they aren’t handpicking runners. If parents do send their kids there, it’s unlikely their decision to do so, had anything to do with distance running.
It’s a private school. Doesn’t matter who small they are. They have no geographical restrictions and can hand pick kids.
Given the tuition is $37K, they aren’t handpicking runners. If parents do send their kids there, it’s unlikely their decision to do so, had anything to do with distance running.
Had nothing to do with distance running? Hate to break it to you, but distance running is the new money sport. Families with means will absolutely send their kid to private school to run, especially if their public school team sucks. On top of it, if they're good age group kids, they may not be paying full tuition anyway.
Given the tuition is $37K, they aren’t handpicking runners. If parents do send their kids there, it’s unlikely their decision to do so, had anything to do with distance running.
Had nothing to do with distance running? Hate to break it to you, but distance running is the new money sport. Families with means will absolutely send their kid to private school to run, especially if their public school team sucks. On top of it, if they're good age group kids, they may not be paying full tuition anyway.
I don't know what planet you are from, but noone in my state is sending kids to private school and paying $20k+ a year so they can run cross country. AINT HAPPENING JACK!
Had nothing to do with distance running? Hate to break it to you, but distance running is the new money sport. Families with means will absolutely send their kid to private school to run, especially if their public school team sucks. On top of it, if they're good age group kids, they may not be paying full tuition anyway.
I don't know what planet you are from, but noone in my state is sending kids to private school and paying $20k+ a year so they can run cross country. AINT HAPPENING JACK!
Rich families are absolutely doing this.
You also missed the part that said if the kid is very good they won’t pay full tuition. They may not even pay anything.
Overtraining kids for his own ego is definitely not the same thing as "coaching" - the community knows what's up now and doesn't trust him. He can barely recruit a team of 10 girls, much less keep them all healthy to run a full season lol
Given the tuition is $37K, they aren’t handpicking runners. If parents do send their kids there, it’s unlikely their decision to do so, had anything to do with distance running.
Had nothing to do with distance running? Hate to break it to you, but distance running is the new money sport. Families with means will absolutely send their kid to private school to run, especially if their public school team sucks. On top of it, if they're good age group kids, they may not be paying full tuition anyway.
The new money sport? Professional athletes in the major sports make millions and professional runners in the tens of thousands. For most athletes, even receiving a scholarship is a long shot. Tetnal’s fastest runner in 2025 was 9:20. Is that worth $27K per year?
Had nothing to do with distance running? Hate to break it to you, but distance running is the new money sport. Families with means will absolutely send their kid to private school to run, especially if their public school team sucks. On top of it, if they're good age group kids, they may not be paying full tuition anyway.
The new money sport? Professional athletes in the major sports make millions and professional runners in the tens of thousands. For most athletes, even receiving a scholarship is a long shot. Tetnal’s fastest runner in 2025 was 9:20. Is that worth $27K per year?
Yeah I doubt kids would go(at least there). The team with the real advantage is Menlo since they are in an area where tons of people can and will pay 40k+ a year for their kid to run fast(decent academics too).
Had nothing to do with distance running? Hate to break it to you, but distance running is the new money sport. Families with means will absolutely send their kid to private school to run, especially if their public school team sucks. On top of it, if they're good age group kids, they may not be paying full tuition anyway.
The new money sport? Professional athletes in the major sports make millions and professional runners in the tens of thousands. For most athletes, even receiving a scholarship is a long shot. Tetnal’s fastest runner in 2025 was 9:20. Is that worth $27K per year?
Not money sport as in what the athletes are paid. Money sport in the expense to families. Trainers, spikes, GPS watches, workout super shoes. What used to be a bare bones, low gear sport has become very costly for families in the last 5-10 years.
Look at the high school xc teams that are consistently good in your state and chances are they are big affluent public schools, small affluent public schools that are working some kind of special program or tuition that increase their population reach, or they are private schools.
Its doesn't seem to be true though. I looked at the patterns of transfers(on the girls side specifically) and it seems more of athletes wanting to run at a more competitive program. The 2nd poster also claimed that Tatnall trains athletes hard from 3rd grade which I am skeptical of.
I don't know what planet you are from, but noone in my state is sending kids to private school and paying $20k+ a year so they can run cross country. AINT HAPPENING JACK!
Rich families are absolutely doing this.
You also missed the part that said if the kid is very good they won’t pay full tuition. They may not even pay anything.
Not always the case.....the private schools in my area DO NOT offer reduced tuition for athletes unless it is football or basketball.
