Why Does New York State Produce So Many XC Girls Phenoms?

EliseChristine wrote:

I've just kind of put this together New York state is pretty much a given for producing some of the fastest high school girls in the country every XC season examples would be Aisling Cuffe, Mary Cain, Katelyn Tuohy, Carly Benson, Jessica Lawson, Kelsey Chimmel...I could go on but I'll stop there. My question is why? Thoughts?

Did I just see a NYS XC GOAT post without mention of Nicole Blood?

State

not

States

umm . . . ever hear of Molly Huddle?

Fayetteville-Manlius has a lot to do with it.

Demographics is no doubt part of this. New York is the fourth largest state by population. Combine that with the high percentage of families in the socio-economic class that is oriented to distance running and you have your answer.

Long term effects of parents/grandparents who lived through the Love Canal radiation leaks of the late 1970’s..

EliseChristine wrote:

I've just kind of put this together New York state is pretty much a given for producing some of the fastest high school girls in the country every XC season examples would be Aisling Cuffe, Mary Cain, Katelyn Tuohy, Carly Benson, Jessica Lawson, Kelsey Chimmel...I could go on but I'll stop there. My question is why? Thoughts?

One reason could be that NY allows 7th and 8th graders to run for the HS, so they have two extra years to develop and by 9th or 10th grade they have a much higher fitness level than a runner who starts in the 9th grade.

A long way from Albany wrote:

Long term effects of parents/grandparents who lived through the Love Canal radiation leaks of the late 1970’s..

This is the only possible explanation. End of thread.

There are a lot of programs with a long and rich history in upstate New York. Saratoga Springs High School was F-M before F-m was F-M. They were ranked first in the country for about 8 straight years. They produced some great talent (Cheri/Sherry Goddard during my era in NY). Jen Rhines was from western NY and is still a great runner, even 20+ years later.

I think that it is a matter of size and tradition as much as anything else. It is a big state, and at certain schools, being on the cross country and track teams is actually well-regarded (whereas in some other places, there may be even more options for kids, and those teams are lower in the pecking order).

Underrated post. In states that let JH'rs run, there are many 7/8/9 graders that sprinkle the state championship lists every year. If girls start running before puberty hits, they may have a better chance to be competitive later.

Don't forget about Erin MF Davis and Christine Curtin

Probably tradition, particularly at the always good programs. A good runner will be more inclined to join the team and keep the success going. And good coaches.

The key is having 6 grades to populate your cross country teams and individuals getting an earlier, smarter start to their careers.

One reason could be that NY allows 7th and 8th graders to run for the HS, so they have two extra years to develop and by 9th or 10th grade they have a much higher fitness level than a runner who starts in the 9th grade.

No- you can develop a 7th or 8th grader on your modified/jr high team as well as you can on your varsity team and with the shorter race distance there is less chance of injury or burn out (which is very common).

It's the Socio-economic thing.

dsiugcsiu wrote:

The key is having 6 grades to populate your cross country teams and individuals getting an earlier, smarter start to their careers.

Again- No

If you could follow the careers of many selectively classified girls there are a lot (I don't have definite numbers obviously) who peak early- 10th grade or so.

Too much work and too many 5K's as a 12-14 year old takes a toll on their bodies.

You can develop them the same in a modified program.

janktown wrote:

Fayetteville-Manlius has a lot to do with it.

I would argue that Saratoga Produces more then Fayetteville.

Only Texas and California have larger populations, so that is likely part of the reason. Both those states also produce some big time runners. A diverse pot of 20 million people is ideal for finding talent.

I don't think that New York is better than California (which is almost twice the size), but culture also plays a part. Running is nice upstate; and as far as urban running environments go, NYC is hard to beat. Large and well educated middle class as well.

It's the apples

Many kids do burn out because of them starting to young but the smart coaches know how to get them more training, than a typical middle school program, and still allow them to grow over all 6 years. You can't tell me there is no advantage to having a good coach have them in the program an extra 2 years. Almost all my kids get better over the 4 years I coach them and it would be even easier to do that same over 6 years.

Why don't they do better professionally? Obviously Huddle is incredible and Cain had her moment, but I'd think a state as big as New York would do better than Missouri where Quigley, Frerichs, and Sisson all graduated high school.