top high school states

maine has been producing guys lately way out of proportion to their size.

I would have to put Illinois at least in the top 5. No particular order, I think my top 5 would be Illinois, California, Massachusetts, New York and Michigan

Maybe Ohio depending how far back you want to go in history.

You'd have to rate Colorado and Wisconsin pretty high, too. But, you know, Foot Locker Cross Country champs have even come from New Hampshire, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Montana, so quality can grow anywhere.

Florida and California arent too shabby either. Almost every state has a standout individual. Some more than others.

I think when ranking states for any high school related thing, Texas and California should always be left out because of their massive population. If you look it up texas(21 million) has as many people as ark, louisana, miss, bama, s.carolina, and kentucky.

Contenders

California

Colorado

Wisconsin

Michigan

Washington

Oregon

Utah

New York

New Jersey

Illinois

Texas

My top 5:

1. California

2. Michigan

3. New York

4. Wisconsin

5. Colorado

Beyond:

6. Texas

7. Washington

8. Oregon

9. New Jersey

10. Illinois

11. Utah

Top-5 (in alphabetical order)

Illinois

Michigan

New York

Ohio

Oregon

You guys are way underestimating Oregon

The best marks from last year:

800: 1:48, 1;50, 1:52

1500: 3:47, 3:51, 3:53, 3:54, 3:54, 3:55

3k: 8:12, 8:14, 9:00 (2m), 8:30, 8:32, 8:33, 8:35

These are all from different people

They had three Footlocker finalists last year and should have 2-3 again this year and maybe the champ in Galen

look at the # of guys unerd 9:20 and 4:15 and see how well each state stacks up, it would be nice to see what its like. see how deep each state is

Illinois didn't stand out too much last year but if you scored 2002 NCAA XC Nationals by states the runners went to high school, IL would come out on top, I believe Michigan was second...This according to an article in Chicago Athlete magazine. This says more about depth than any standout individuals, and I'd rank the states like this.....

1) Illinois

2) California

3) Oregon

4) Colorado

5) Texas

i tell u one thing, MD is not last.

Connecticut had 2 runners in the top 8 (Ahmed Haji and Meghan Owen) last year and has 2 strong runners back this year (Haji and Gavin Coombs). Add the history (from most recent to oldest) of Brian McGovern, Liz Mueller, JT Burke, Jay O'Keefe, Ceci Hopp, Jim Euell, John J. Kelley, etc. and you have a good deal of talent from such a small state.

michigan belongs in all top five lists, and even all top three lists, three of the last four footlocker champs have come from there

In no particular order Illinois, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Texas, and California are the best

Bill wrote:

maine has been producing guys lately way out of proportion to their size.

How big are they?

The case for Oregon is strong. The state is low in population, cranks out amazing, durable athletes who do well after high school and produces cross country studs even though we compete for athletes with soccer.

This last point was made because Texas, California, and Washington have at least boys soccer in the spring. Oregon would be even more powerful if soccer was in the spring.

There are a lot of potential runners standing on the sidelines watching the action. The soccer community refers to these kids as "Olympic Development Athletes".

Michigan,Washington,Oregon. Plus the usual huge states.

though our history may not be as rich in running as some other states, indiana has been performing well on a national level as of late with the likes of nef araia and christian wagner. those two went 1-2 in the 3200 last year in the adidas national track meet, while nef was top 5 in footlockers. also, this year wagner is continuing to tear things up while his team is one of the top ranked high school teams in the nation. on a historical note, indiana did produce rudy chapa, and if i recall, he was pretty good.

I know one thing is for sure. Pennsylvania sucks some big balls when it comes to HS running, especially with the JOKE of a "program" if you can even call it that, at my high school and competing schools.