Not familiar with Eyestone's or Rohatinsky's highschool credentials, but Aidan Troutner won NXN. Hard to leave him out.
Yeah that’s a big miss on my part. You could swap Troutner for Eyestone. Rohatinaky was a four-time stare champion in high school and finished top 5 twice at Foot Locker (also had a 27th place finish).
Slag was pretty historically weak at XC, never making NXN and only running a PB of 15:21.
I would put Landon Heemeyer up on the list as well. Maybe not as big of a resume in terms of number of accomplishments, but considering that he got 9th at a very stacked footlocker field, and sports the fastest PR (14:38) in Idaho in a very long time (maybe all time), he could certainly fit in. (He also ran a solo 9:03 for his 3200 opener)
What would a NY all time list look like on the women? Obviously starts with Touhy...
Tuohy, Cuffe, Ryan, Baloga, Chmiel.
Huddle was very good but only 4th at FL (a national record on the track though). Similar resume to Chmiel and you could definitely swap them. The other four are non-negotiable IMO.
Honorable mention goes to Sue Girard. While she was not necessarily "fast" by today's standards, and only finished 5th at FL, she was absolutely a legend and incredibly dominant in the early days of women's cross country in New York. If she was born 30-40 years later she might have been a star on the same level as Tuohy.
if we going strictly by high school results and not what they did afterwards I’d have to say:
1. Jake Raines (15:26 Choctaw Trails old course record holder/ 9:03 3200m)
2. Robert Scribner ( 15:39 Choctaw trails old course )
3. George Kersh ( 800 guy who still qualified for Kinney)
4. Eric Johnson ( ran 15:31 and 15:38 on old Choctaw course)
5. ???
The course down in Clinton Ms was always the benchmark course for Mississippi XC. It has undergone some treatment in recent years and made for an easier course to maneuver.
originally it had a deep ditch a quarter of a mile from start most had to crawl out of w hands and knees. Being that close to the start… it made things interesting quick.
it also use to have a log one had to jump over mid race
and the ending of the race is up hill.
times I listed maynot seem that impressive but I assure u for that course, it’s a tremendous effort. Raines 15:26 was ran in early November at 11am and it was 80+ degrees.
Aislinn Ryan won FL, but Nicole Blood was in the same year as Aislinn, and IMO had a more robust career, plus she had an incredibly successful college career as well. It's hard because I don't want to hate on a national champ.
I don’t see any state beating this CA team:
Hasay, Trotter, Baxter, Lane, Stamps, Mortensen and Bei. Of course, we are talking strictly HS XC and not what they did on the track or after HS.
Well, Tuohy clearly wins. Trotter's FL performance was great but nobody ever dominated like Tuohy. She gets second though. Third is difficult, but Stamps has the best Balboa time and speed rating, so we'll go with her. Fourth and fifth are probably Baloga and Cuffe, they have the best Balboa times and Cuffe has the next best speed rating (also another all-time performance in her 17:16 Bowdoin record). Hasay slots in for sixth, a good Balboa time and great speed rating. Sara Bei is probably good for 7th, a great Balboa time and solid speed rating.
The hardest part is really the final three, and a lot of it comes down to who you pick. Lane was good but only won FL because the best runner each year was at NXN. The reverse is true for Baxter (although 2012 was such a weak year she likely would have won both). Chmiel was fantastic but never winning a national title will always be a mark against her (although facing the GOAT in your best years is a good reason not to win nationals). Mortensen, Ryan, and Erin Davis all have a FL title but not much else on their resume in XC, and a fairly slow winning time. Blood, Huddle, and Siraki all are in the same boat as Chmiel, great runners with no national title. Chmiel is probably the best of this group though, although 16:56 at Balboa by Siraki is pretty legit.
I'd probably say 8 Chmiel, 9 Huddle, 10 Lane, but who really knows. It's closer than I thought though! Cali definitely had some great runners, but never underestimate how good the NY girls are. If this is a race at Bowdoin Park or Portland Meadows, it's NY in a landslide, and I stand by that.
People should just add up the 5 fastest 3200m (or adjusted 3k/2mike) HS performers and see what we get to.
That would not totally answer the question because, for example, every CO time is at altitude and most MN times are in crap weather, but it would get pretty close.
certainly not the most competitive state but was thinking about North Carolina.
Ryan Hill, Matt Debole, Bradsher Wilkins after that it gets a little splitting hairs. Rocky Hansen, The Armentrouts, Jack Bolas, Ricky Brookshire, Milos Mitric, Jake Hursyz.
If I’m fielding Iowa’s boys’ team, I’m happy to pick 7 to give me some wiggle room to find our scorers. Alphabetically:
Chandler Austin - 8:51 3200, 2x 3A XC state champ, 15:05 at 2013 state meet
Stephen Dak - 9:07 3200, 2x 4A XC state champ, 15:05 at 2006 state meet (this was ridiculous - it was a cold and windy day and he ran 58 seconds faster than the next kid from any division…it’s a shame he didn’t compete at FL regionals)
Jim Eicken - 8:58.8y in 1974 stood as the Iowa all time best for four decades, 2x 4A XC state champ
Josh Evans - 1:50.98 - 4:06.32 - 9:00.97 for 8/16/32 wins at the 2014 state meet, 2013 4A XC state champ
Jackson Heidesch - 8:42y & 4:02y indoors this winter (both Iowa all time bests), 2x 4A XC state champ including 14:56 state meet record last fall, 14:39 at NXN Heartland regional, 5th at NXN
Thomas Pollard - 8:50 3200/4:08.00 1600, 2014 3A XC state champ in 15:04, 2x FL Nationals qualifier (13th in 2013, 12th in 2014)
Ford Washburn - 8:59 3200 as a JR (with 2:04 last 800) last spring, 14:41 at NXN Heartland regional to finish just behind Heidesch and Birnbaum, 22nd at NXN
My other comment will surely get deleted, so i’ll try to respond seriously to one of the most unserious opinions i’ve ever come across.
Colin is a 3:56 miler who won a national championship in cross country while running 14:03 on grass, 14:26 at woodward, and 8:33 on the track.
Nico is a national champion, former nxn record holder, the fastest ever over 3000m, and formerly, fastest californian over 5000m
Leo is a 3:40 1500 runner who was the top non east african at world junior xc, and a 14:25 guy at woodward park.
And I’m not even mentioning the guy who took nicos nxn record or the 2nd fastest high school 5000m runner ever.
Please give me a coherent train of logic as to why one of these people wouldn’t be top 5, much less 3 or more of them. So far the only possibilities I can come up with are:
1. you bought hard into speed ratings/the notion that woodward is running 15-25 seconds faster.
2. you think the spikes are worth 3-4 seconds a mile.
3. you’re an old head who can’t admit the newer generation actually has talented individuals.
None of these are rational.
I love Meb. He’s one of my favorite runners of all time. His high school self is getting beat by probably all 5 of these guys at their best.