RunDE wrote:
A great example would be Tatnall from Wilmington DE--I don't go there myself, but Keelin Hays of Tatnall went this year individually, and I believe they've sent 9 full girls teams since 2000. Coach castagno is truly a phenomenal guy and coach, and with around 60 kids per grade, his effort speaks for itself.
Tatnall has been an amazing team and the coach deserves a tremendous amount of credit. Their success has drawn great runners to their school and team.
But in regards to school size private prep schools are not a great example for comparisons.
I'm not near Tatnall so I don't know the specifics behind their program but we have a really strong distance program school in our region and ALL of the promising middle school kids magically end up attending that school. Even some of the successful freshman runners from public high schools in the area have transferred. In their case it really doesn't matter how many kids are at the school when.
Find me a public school of that size that is successful and I would be more impressed.