Top High School Running States.

Michigan, hands down. And I'm a Marylander.

Michigan, hands down. And I'm a Marylander.

No mention of Pennsylvania or Michigan?

Utah at #6? Washington at #2? You MUST be from the West Coast.

Pretty good list. You definitely need new Jersey on here though. Florida is a meh state for running, drop that out in favor of New Jersey and the list is much better. And bump Arizona for Michigan.

I would put Illinois and Texas ahead of Washington.

So I would say more accurately:

1. California (being such a large state there is a huge pool from which to draw talent, simply too deep.

2. Texas (Again a huge state with great traditions and winners.)

3. Illinois (Suburb of Chicago teams are ridiculous often having 7 man teams at sub 16 or very close.)

4. Washington (Not so good on the individual side as much as great team depth.)

5. Indiana (I'm glad you put Indiana here, it is an exceptional running state and doesn't get very much credit.)

6. New Jersey (Has some outstanding individuals along with some great teams.)

7. New York (Dominant on the girls side, not as much on the guys side but still a large and affluent state provides quality and depth.)

8. Utah (Some ferocious teams from out West.)

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Honestly at this point, unless I am forgetting a state or two (probably am...) I feel like there is a distinct gap between the top 8 and the rest of the nation.

Spots 9-15 Could be in any order:

Michigan

Oregon

Connecticut

Florida

Ohio

Arizona

Pennsylvania

I welcome criticism and hearty debate. TEAR ME APART!

1. Washington, per capita.

Florida - what a joke.

The weakest? Wyoming maybe?

North Carolina

Sates like California have an unfair advantage, because they are such a big states.For the size of Rhode Island, I believe we are pretty good. We usually have a couple of kids who run excellent times, but being so small we only have a few. If we were as big as say California we would be a lot better, not saying as good as them but a lot better than we are now. The same can probably be said about other states.

Florida has actually been pretty solid the past 3-4 years. Sent guys to footlocker every year and have put 2 in the top ten in the past 2 years. http://fl.milesplit.com/rankings/2012/outdoor/hs/m/1600m?co=&m=50&cn=&r= Top 50 were 4:26 and under. Doesn't compare to California, but they're getting there. New Jersey is easily top 5 as well.

nj has CBA. best team in nation last yr. Will be best team in nation this year. Has many top 50 runners as well.

Trying to deal wrote:

4. Washington (Not so good on the individual side as much as great team depth.)

You're kidding, right? Last year Washington had 5 individuals ranked in the top 25. That leaves 20 spots for the other 49 states.

Pennsylvania NEEDS to be on this list. 4 Juniors that went 4:11-4:12 last year (Coyle, Ritz, Huemmler, Smathers), and 1 senior (Magaha) that went 1:48/4:07.

Nj has to be top 5. They have the best team in the country (CBA), and the best individual in the country (Cheserek). The Rosas and Robby Andrews are also from NJ.

1. Illinois

2. California

3. New Jersey

4. Texas

5. Florida

6. Ohio

7. Georgia

8. Virginia

9. Indiana

10. Washington

This list is based on boys and girls, all running events, not just the 1600, 3200 and cross country.

Minnesota is up there.

TrackFan19 wrote:

1. Illinois

2. California

3. New Jersey

4. Texas

5. Florida

6. Ohio

7. Georgia

8. Virginia

9. Indiana

10. Washington

This list is based on boys and girls, all running events, not just the 1600, 3200 and cross country.

Seems fair if sprinters are holding their weight... well, except I can't imagine how Illinois is ahead of California (or Texas not #1 or at worst #2) if you are really considering all track events + XC.

Very roughly, off the top of my head... boys + girls, teams + individuals

1. California

2-6. Illinois/New Jersey/New York/Texas/Washington (good arguments for any order there)

7-12. Colorado/Indiana/Michigan/Pennsylvania/Utah/Virginia (again, good arguments for any order there)

Obviously, if it was only boys or only girls, or only teams instead of including individuals, the list would be quite different.

Laupala wrote:

Minnesota is up there.

Agreed, can't believe nobody had MN in their top ten. Look at the list of NCAA All-Americans in the past few years.

yeah, you're probably right. I guess I kinda forgot about them for some reason... I think they are on par with the Virginia group in my other post (so #7-13).