XC season is almost over at the high school ranks and now that I'm a NY I'm more aware all the top kids seem to be out in the country or the suburbs.
So what's the best innercity XC team in the country? Inner city can mean a lot of different things so feel free to define it how you want. Feel free to make this historical. Are city kids anywhere doing well in XC?
In Massachusetts BC High, Brookline, Cambridge, Lowell have been pretty good over the years.
In my era, Cretin-Durham Hall, Saint Paul, MN was a solid city XC. The male team went to state numerous times.
State College high school is located right by the University of Pennsylania campus. They seem to consistently be a top ten XC team in the state.
Whitney Young in Chicago has been pretty good lately.
Hello this is what I think wrote:
You would think inner city kids would be good at xc with all the running they do growing up.
That's mostly sprinting dude.
I grew up in Manhattan (went to NYC public school) and we had some good sprinters in the city. A few top middle-distance guys and some good distance runners, but the top XC guys in the city were in the mid-16 minutes for 5k.
For the schools in poorer areas, kids have problems and it's hard for them to commit to distance running. For schools in nicer areas there are a lot of options for kids growing up in the city (and I mean that in a good way) and distance running isn't necessarily the nicest. My school didn't have a football team but we had other sports and a lot of weird clubs.
One of the best mile races I've ever seen was this High School Millrose Mile race from back in the day -- it really draws you in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20NnQLpgFkoThe winner went to a NYC public school and competed for her club team but not the school team. The NYTimes says she was 14 (competing against high schoolers):
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/28/sports/14-year-old-wins-girls-mile.html.
State College is home to Penn State, not U Penn. Its in the middle of rural PA and most certainly not "inner city"
In my era ... wrote:
In my era, Cretin-Durham Hall, Saint Paul, MN was a solid city XC. The male team went to state numerous times.
Highland is not "inner city."
Jones College Prep is better as a whole.
800 dude wrote:
In my era ... wrote:
In my era, Cretin-Durham Hall, Saint Paul, MN was a solid city XC. The male team went to state numerous times.
You read what Wejo stated: Define inner city as you choose. Because most the kids attending Cretin Durham have parents earning above the median does not tell the entire story. I know kids who went to Cretin who were sons' of city bus drivers with mothers who got up at 3:30am to deliver the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.
Highland is not "inner city."
wejo wrote:
XC season is almost over at the high school ranks and now that I'm a NY I'm more aware all the top kids seem to be out in the country or the suburbs.
So what's the best innercity XC team in the country? Inner city can mean a lot of different things so feel free to define it how you want. Feel free to make this historical. Are city kids anywhere doing well in XC?
Pretty hard to find a public inner city X team thats successful.
Back in the day: Essex Catholic of Newark, NJ. Coached by Fred Dwyer .
The school no longer exists.
Power Memorial in the Bronx had some decent runners back in the day. Not sure if they ever had a great team...too lazy to search.
Well, technically, Loyola High School of Los Angeles is located in the "inner-city."1901 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90006
CIF-SS Champs - 1984, 1985, 2002, 2004, 2007;
CIF State Champs - 2002 (first ever appearance), 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015;
Nike Cross Nationals - 2007 (8th in U.S.), 2008 (15th in U.S.)
Harrier Magazine Rankings: 2002 (6th in the US)
Notable Graduates: David Torrence, Mark Matusak, Elias Gedyon, Matt K. Miller, James Kostelnik, Robert Brandt, Charlie Marquardt, Micah Tyhurst
Hello this is what I think wrote:
You would think inner city kids would be good at xc with all the running they do growing up.
Poly High, Long Beach, CA.?
C4L wrote:
Well, technically, Loyola High School of Los Angeles is located in the "inner-city."1901 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90006
CIF-SS Champs - 1984, 1985, 2002, 2004, 2007;
CIF State Champs - 2002 (first ever appearance), 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015;
Nike Cross Nationals - 2007 (8th in U.S.), 2008 (15th in U.S.)
Harrier Magazine Rankings: 2002 (6th in the US)
Notable Graduates: David Torrence, Mark Matusak, Elias Gedyon, Matt K. Miller, James Kostelnik, Robert Brandt, Charlie Marquardt, Micah Tyhurst
LOL there's a big difference between "in a city" and "inner city". Any good Compton XC teams?
On the more historical side...
In Wisconsin, Milwaukee Riverside won sixteen state championships between 1913 and 1936. (Sidenote: going even further back, Riverside alum Alvin Kraenzlein won gold medals in the 60 meter dash, 110 meter high hurdles, 200 meter low hurdles, and long jump at the 1900 Olympics, setting Olympic records in each event. Kraenzlein is credited with perfecting and popularizing the modern style of hurdling with a straight lead leg.)
In Minnesota, Minneapolis Southwest won seventeen state championships between 1946 and 1973, while Minneapolis South won four consecutive championships from 1988-1991. More recently, Hassan Mead is a Minneapolis South alum.
East St. Louis Lincoln High (IL) was really tough in the 80’s and early 90’s.
Sadly, the school is now closed.
Chicago Mendal Catholic was also good at that time. Private, but most definitely an inner city demographic. Closed now too.
The common thread between the two schools was dynamic and dedicated coaches.
In my era ... wrote:
800 dude wrote:
You read what Wejo stated: Define inner city as you choose. Because most the kids attending Cretin Durham have parents earning above the median does not tell the entire story. I know kids who went to Cretin who were sons' of city bus drivers with mothers who got up at 3:30am to deliver the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.
Highland is not "inner city."
Look, it's just not inner city. I know wejo said you can define it how you choose but some schools just aren't inner city.
Sesamoiditis wrote:
In Massachusetts BC High, Brookline, Cambridge, Lowell have been pretty good over the years.
I doubt the home of Harvard counts as inner city . Frankly hard to think of any inner city school that is top notch in distance although Newburgh has some good quality middle distance runners from time to time
In my era, Cretin-Durham felt like a city school. C-D used to compete in Saint Paul Conference against Johnson, Central, Harding, etc. Cretin-Durham is a city school and they used to compete in a city conference. Now C-D is a city school but they compete against Roseville, Stillwater, Woodbury, etc.