Let's talk Ohio HS XC

Ask and thee shall receive. Out of 178 finishers, there were 38 sophomores. I like this list better than the freshman list, as I think things start to come together perhaps in sophomore year and one can see who put together a good three-year progress, i.e., Gabelman: 26th--4th--1st. I think this list is accurate:

1. Saketh Rudraraju (Orange): 16th--6th

2. Ben Gabelman (WN): 26th--1st

3. Connor Reed (Mass. Perry): 27th--7th

4. Steven Miller (WK): 29th--62nd

5. Evan Trapp (St. X): 31st--12th

6. Elliott Zuckett (Mass. Jax): 34th--25th

7. Jerry Xu (Mason): 44th--53rd

8. Sam Ricchiuti (Dub. Jerry): 45th--4th

9. Ryan Smith (WK): 49th--DNF

10. Brody Boyd (H. Davidson): 53rd--36th

11. Ethan Cope (Tol. St. Francis): 54th--34th

12. Luka Bork (Lakewood): 55th--did not participate

13. Max Liao (Mason): 56th--11th

14. William Prato (Mass. Jax): 63rd--37th

15. Jake Sebaugh (Medina): 66th--9th

16. Dylan Wood (Copley): 67th--DNF

17. Brock Ferris (Boardman): 70th--13th

18. Connor Long (Anthony Wayne): 72nd--8th

19. Blake Baker (Canfield): 78th--22nd

20. Cael Bell (Mass. Jax): 80th--49th

21. Cole Zender (Springboro): 89th--122nd

22. Miciah Smith (Springboro): 99th--59th

23. Lucien Flores (Hol. Springfield): 105th--did not participate

24. Andrew Bugner (Medina): 106th--33rd

25. Dominic Jackson (St. X): 115th--113th

26. Weston Day (Dub. Scioto): 119th--14th

27. Matthew Biddell (Mentor): 125th--did not participate

28. Eric Bucher (Centerville): 128th--54th

29. Josh Huzyak (Mass. Jax): 132nd--is this Andrew Huzyak? (who was 123rd in 2023)

30. A.J. Hawkins (WK): 134th--did not participate

31. Logan Reese (Mass. Jax.): 147th--45th

32. Pranav Khadkikar (Dub. Jerry): 150th--did not participate

33. Grant Brown (Louisville): 155th--did not participate

34. Charles Guerrera (Dub. Jerry): 156th--19th (I didn't realize he is a senior this year?)

35. Owen Rice (Lancaster): 157th--139th

36. Ian Kimbrough (GlenOak): 161st--did not participate

37. Levi Knuth (WK): 165th--did not participate

38. Connor Neumeyer (Anthony Wayne): 169th--did not participate

Three year-progressions--of the sophomores from 2021, these 14 improved their place of finish from 2021 to 2022 to 2023:

1. Ben Gabelman: 26th--4th--1st

2. Connor Reed: 27th--14th--7th

3. Brody Boyd: 53rd--47th--36th

4. Ethan Cope: 54th--52nd--34th

5. Max Liao: 56th--18th--11th

6. Jake Sebaugh: 66th--34th--9th

7. Brock Ferris: 70th--43th--13th

8. Connor Long: 72nd--29th--8th

9. Blake Baker: 78th--28th--22nd

10. Cael Ball: 80th--53rd--49th

11. Miciah Smith: 99th--77th--59th

12. Weston Day: 119th--17th--14th

13. Eric Bucher: 128th--93rd--54th

14. Logan Reese: 147th--59th--45th

On a previous post, I misspoke. I stated that Eli Ilg DNFed in 2022: that's not true. It was William Prato who DNFed for Mass. Jax. in 2022.

The prediction beforehand about Ilg winning and Mass. Jax. taking the title prompted me to do a deeper dive: when was the last time in D1 boys that the individual overall champ and the team champ were from the same school?

2008--Mason as team champ and their runner Zach Wills as the overall individual champion.

All of this talk about progressions--Wills had a helluva four year-progression at the state meet:

2007: freshman: 4th

2008: sophomore: 1st

2009: junior: 1st

2010: senior: 1st

there has only been one other multiple holder of individual state titles as well as a non-senior to win in D1 boys since Wills: Dustin Horter--2016 and 2017

And when did the overall #1 and #2 individual finisher come from the same school in the same race?

1986: Westerville North's Eric Nelson finished first and sophomore Bob Kennedy finished second. This has not happened since.

I think it's a lot of factors that you listed. In tandem with my posts on progression, I think this being their third consecutive state meet with basically the same core team helped immensely --> your factors on senior led, having been there before leading to super sharp focus and determination which then of course also leads to experience of getting through conference--district--regional and putting it all together in November.

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM! They capitalized on their previous finishes of 7th with mostly sophomores (2021) and 7th with mostly juniors (2022) of nearly identical point totals (215 and 217) to get to this year. Ilg catapulting from 37th place in 2022 to runner-up this year to become a big front runner for a battle-tested squad helped immensely of course.

A+ effort indeed and their 2023 title should be a blueprint for success for future squads.

correction: 1985

Bob would have been a Jr in the fall of '86.

Zach Wills is (arguably) the best Ohio High School boys runner of the 21st century.

Likewise, Mason Head Coach Tom Rapp may be the greatest of all time for D1 boys.

4 State Championships, 4 State Runner-Up finishes, and 16 top 10 finishes since 2007. Including 3 individual titles for Wills, numerous all-state athletes, Regional titles, District titles, GMC titles, etc.

St. Xavier is the only D1 boys school that comes close since then (3 Championships and 3 Runner Up) and they’ve had multiple head coaches.

I know Mason is big high school, but so are Lakota West, Lakota East, Centerville, Walnut Hills, Mentor, Gah. Lincoln, Oak Hills, Hamilton, Middletown, West Clermont, (I could go on) and Coach Rapp has had more success than those schools combined.

Also helps that he’s a great and humble guy.

She gapped the field but didn't quite win by 30 seconds. Close to 30 seconds, though.

She did get under Katie Clute's time from last year. I honestly thought that she might have threatened to break 17:00. She did break 17:00 earlier in the year at VOA.

Super talented girl.

Willis was fantastic but there are a few others that may were also outstanding in the 21st century.

Two that instantly come to mind are Allen Bader of Cincinnati LaSalle. I believe that he won the state XC championship twice.

Jeff See of Middletown also should be up for consideration. See was 12th his 9th & 10th grade years and was the champion both his junior and senior years. Also in the state track championships, See also has one 2nd place finish in the 1600, three 1st place finishes, one 1st place in the 800, one 2nd place finish in the 4x800, and one 1st place in the 4x800. I may be missing something. The guy was a stud and had a successful post-prep career. I would probably give him the edge over Wills just on versatility alone.

For coaches, collectively, I would also consider what Lancaster has accomplished over the years. Bob Reall was a long-time coach with tons of success over the years. Jeff Koksal has been there since the mid-2000s, I think. IIRC, there was a coach between Reall & Koksal for a short time. As a program Lancaster may not have had all of the top results that Mason has had but the sheer number of runners from that program that competed at a high level in both high school and college, is impressive. They also always seem to be in the hunt, year in and year out. Lancaster probably has 1500+ more students than Lancaster does. Those other large schools that you mentioned probably have 1000 more students than Lancaster does. Reall coached back in the days of AAA schools which today would be denoted as D1.
Rapp is a fantastic coach, no doubt, but stating the "greatest of all time for D1 boys," is debatable.

Not D1, but Jeff Howard of Woodridge should be considered one of the best all time coaches in Ohio. He has been there 29 or 30 years and Woodridge has made the state meet the majority of those years. I heard someone say that they have 21 years in a row now but I would need to check that. In 2019 Woodridge arguably had one of the best teams in Ohio regardless of division. At the very least, they were close to D1 champion St X. Woodridge is a D2 school but the enrollment is somewhere around 650 for grades 9-12.

This is a great team from last year who returned most everyone. I think last year they won regionals and then went into state and did not realize what they were capable of. So they bring everyone back with the mentality that they need to aim for the top, Ilg had a stellar track season, their 4x800 placed 12th at state. They stay healthy don't over race in the season. Then they go out in cross have one if the best 1-2 duo in the state, with a really good 3,4,5 behind it. Look at them vs Medina, Medina has a 1 and 2 on the level of Jacksons 1 and 2 but Medina's 3 is 20 seconds back of Jackson's 3. and their 4,5,6, and 7 are not better than Jackson's 7th. Thats why Jackson was so good, two low sticks, a huge step up from their 3rd who was close to all Ohio and great performances all around. Congrats to Jackson on their dominant performance, hoping to see them race NXR.

Lancaster is an incredible program and Koksal is another great and humble guy. Tons of success in that program.

Jeff Howard is my choice for greatest of all time across all divisions, at least on the boys side (Minster is hard to ignore) and there really isn’t anyone close to what he has done at Woodridge.

Yep, fantastic performance by Jackson. Definitely a deserved team win.

The NE Ohio teams, once again, were discounted a bit by the rest of the state in D1. Most of Ohio probably did not expect Jackson to win and Rocky River & Medina to be in the top 6 and Hoover to take 11th.

The girls side also had NE Ohio teams Shaker, Wadsworth, Avon, St Joe's and Rocky River all in the top 10.

The NXN regional in Terre Haute is the upcoming Saturday. Has anyone seen the entry list? I checked the website and did not see it.

Mason probably has 1500+ more students than Lancaster does *

Some great names on that list. I'd forgotten how well some of these guys raced two years ago. To make All-Ohio (or close to it) as a soph is pretty noteworthy. It looks like some may have regressed, but I wonder if it's more a function of a phenomenal 10th grade race combined with an average or subpar 12th grade race. I mean, athletes finishing in the 30-70 range are all very similar, talent-wise. It's not that different, really, than what one sees at NCAAs. So much talent, so many runners within seconds of one another, that the results would completely shuffle is the race were rerun a week later.

Thanks for doing this, PG.

Funny post to look back on...

NE Girls region were strong at State..I think Westlake would also be in that top 10 if Peer raced..they were 3rd last year. They graduate a bulk of their top 7, including Peer, so not sure what to expect of them next year State wise.

Shaker Heights looked super strong as they seem to do at State lately..they do lose a bulk of their top 7 for next year but I am sure they will reload. Can't believe they tied Mason! They were 9th last year at State.

Wadsworth I think surprised many with their postseason run, especially considering they did not qualify to State last year. They seem to only lose their #1 runner within their top 7. They should also be a top 10 State team next year. A young team on the rise.

Avon finished 12th last year at State, so that was a nice jump..Their #1 is a Sophomore and she finished 5th overall and they also return 4 of their top 5. Similar to Wadsworth, Avon should also be a top 10 State team again next year.

St. Joe's only loses 1 of their top 5 like Wadsworth and Avon, and their #1 is a freshman so that is promising. Potentially a top 10 State team next year also forsure.

Rocky River only loses their #1 in their top 7 which leads me to think they can also be a top 10 team next year with being a younger team. They have been pretty consistent the last 3 years (7th, 13th, now 10th)

I think these teams (including Shaker despite losing a bulk of their top 7) will be back looking to be a top 10 team in the State again next year.

Also for St. Joe's, they were 17th last year at State so also a nice jump this year