Consecutive Top-10 finishes at State

N

Newton's Third

Well-known member
Here is the 2020 list of current streaks of consecutive top 10 finishes at the state championship. I see it as another fun way to see long-term success of programs without a stutter in any given year. I do not claim this is the best way to gauge success but see it as “state” success rather than “regional” success of getting to state. 28 of the state’s 60 top 10 finishers across gender and all divisions were not top 10 in 2019. There were 20 in 2019. Division 3 boys had 6 enter the top 10 that was not there last year. 2019 boys D3 leader in current consecutive top 10 finishes Lee. Fairfield fell from the top 10. D3 Girls had the top 7 repeat from 2019 although in varying order. Minster must have had a rebuilding year or ran into a buzzsaw finishing second but maintained their streak at 21 years. The last time they were not in the state’s top 10 was 1999. That remains a standard for exceptional dominance. D2 Boys had 5 newcomers to the top 10 with leader Woodridge (6) adding another state title. D2 Girls added 5 teams that were not top 10 in 2019. Tippecanoe who had their 7th straight top 10 finish in 2019 fell off this year. D1 boys had just 3 teams in the top 10 that were not in 2019. They remain top heavy with schools with very large enrollments. In the Girls D1 race 6 of the top 10 were not top 10 last year.

Division 1 Boys active streaks of top 10 finishes Lakota West=1, Loveland=1, Louisville=1, Kenston=2, Beavercreek=2, Mason=4, Hilliard Davidson=5, Hudson=6, St. Xavier=12, St. Ignatius=14

Division 2 Boys active streaks of top 10 finishes River View=1, Marlington=1. Wauseon=1, Van Wert=1, Mariemont=1, Carroll=2, Waynesville=2, Unioto=4, Bay Village=6, Woodridge=6

Division 3 Boys active streaks of top 10 finishes Cedarville=1, Holgate=1, Canton CC=1, Columbus Grove=1, South Range=1, Fisher Catholic=1, Fredericktown=3, East Canton=4, Mt. Gilead=5, Sum. Country Day=5

Division 1 Girls active streaks of top 10 finishes Centerville=1, Shaker Heights=1, Kenston=1, Hudson=1, Perrysburg=1, Wadsworth=1, Mason=3, Hilliard Davidson=4, Lakota East=4, Beavercreek=4.

Division 2 Girls active streaks of top 10 finishes Waynesville=1, Hathaway Brown=1, Cloverleaf=1, Minerva=1, Bexley=1, Oakwood=2, Woodridge=2, Lexington=9, Granville=12, SVSM=13

Division 3 Girls active streaks of top 10 finishes Mineral Ridge=1, Colonel Crawford=1, Versailles=1, Maplewood=2, Liberty Center=3, Mt. Gilead=4, Fort Loramie=4, West Liberty Salem=4, Gilmour Academy=5, Minster=21
 
 
In the southwest, if you take 1 year away from each of Mason, Centerville and Beavercreek- they all have been unbelievable the last decade.

The last 11 years Centerville, Beavercreek or Mason has been on the podium. Either Centerville or Beavercreek has been podium the last 10 years and they are in the same conference.
All of this equates to 3 of the best coaches: Dave Dobson of Centerville, Howard Russ of Beavercreek and Chip Dobson of Mason. Crazy good programs.
 
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EuclidandViren said:
In the southwest, if you take 1 year away from each of Mason, Centerville and Beavercreek- they all have been unbelievable the last decade.

The last 11 years Centerville, Beavercreek or Mason has been on the podium. Either Centerville or Beavercreek has been podium the last 10 years and they are in the same conference.
All of this equates to 3 of the best coaches: Dave Dobson of Centerville, Howard Russ of Beavercreek and Chip Dobson of Mason. Crazy good programs.
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It's not just the coaches that equates to those teams' successes. They are in very big districts with the right demographics to produce some very good distance runners. Not taking anything away from them but there are some really great coaches that I feel have better programs than them, they just don't have the titles because the situation in their district is different.
 
grange45 said:
It's not just the coaches that equates to those teams' successes. They are in very big districts with the right demographics to produce some very good distance runners. Not taking anything away from them but there are some really great coaches that I feel have better programs than them, they just don't have the titles because the situation in their district is different.
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I’d love to hear the specifics on why you think there are better programs.
 
yj_runfan said:
I’d love to hear the specifics on why you think there are better programs.
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I would rather hear why you think they are great besides their state appearances and looking at just their varsity runners. I don’t want to argue about it but success at state doesn’t equal a great program or even a great coach.
 
grange45 said:
I would rather hear why you think they are great besides their state appearances and looking at just their varsity runners. I don’t want to argue about it but success at state doesn’t equal a great program or even a great coach.
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Having the right demographics and talent pools will certainly help but consistent success requires more than that.

I would argue that there are districts with very similar demographics and talent pools to those districts that are mentioned that don't have near the success. Conversely, there are districts with demographics that are different that have consistent success at state. While not D1 schools, one only needs to look at the Lexington girls, Unioto boys, East Canton boys, and the Woodridge programs to illustrate that point.
 
grange45 said:
I would rather hear why you think they are great besides their state appearances and looking at just their varsity runners. I don’t want to argue about it but success at state doesn’t equal a great program or even a great coach.
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I didnt claim they were great. The only one that made a claim was you. I just gave you the opportunity to help us understand your position.
 
yj_runfan said:
I didnt claim they were great. The only one that made a claim was you. I just gave you the opportunity to help us understand your position.
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Sorry I was not referencing your post but the person that commented this: "All of this equates to 3 of the best coaches: Dave Dobson of Centerville, Howard Russ of Beavercreek and Chip Dobson of Mason. Crazy good programs."

Again I don't want to argue about it but there are alot of times coaches/programs look great due to their success from the outside looking in but it is simply not true.
 
My idea for this list came from comparing programs who have risen above just making it to state. Obviously size of the schools, community demographics, and coaching helps some and hurts others. I was trying to compare like-schools to each other, like St. Ignatius and St. Xavier. I thought whenever a program is getting above 3-4 in a row that is saying something about year-in year-out success at the state level. When fantastic programs like Woodridge, Lexington, or Centerville have one blip, they just go about starting a new streak the next year. Top 10 was just an arbitrary level of success anyway. Why not 8 or 12? I thought those schools in double digit streaks are saying they are always in the hunt to some degree and that should be applauded.
 
Newton's Third said:
Division 3 Girls active streaks of top 10 finishes Mineral Ridge=1, Colonel Crawford=1, Versailles=1, Maplewood=2, Liberty Center=3, Mt. Gilead=4, Fort Loramie=4, West Liberty Salem=4, Gilmour Academy=5, Minster=21
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Gilmour Academy actually has an 11-year streak of top 10 finishes. In 2015, they moved up to D2, where they placed third, then back to D3 the following year. That was the year of the "average enrollment" fiasco, and the boys' numbers pulled the girls up. With that year included, the Lancers have placed 9th or better every year from 2010-2020.
 
ChickenSalad said:
Gilmour Academy actually has an 11-year streak of top 10 finishes. In 2015, they moved up to D2, where they placed third, then back to D3 the following year. That was the year of the "average enrollment" fiasco, and the boys' numbers pulled the girls up. With that year included, the Lancers have placed 9th or better every year from 2010-2020.
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Great catch. I assume that I didn't look for them in D2 for that season. I will make the correction. There might be others that I missed as they changed divisions. If anyone catches others please let me know.
 
This is fun research. I’m curious what teams may be in the midst of a “down” period whose streak may be inactive. In other words, maybe they are out of the top 10 the last year or two but were strong previously. It would be interesting to discuss what may be different in those places.
 
psycho_dad said:
$V$M boys was on a nice run until this year.
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I had a feeling you'd say that. I saw Coach Lancianese at the district meet, and he told me the team had a lot of upperclassmen but not much experience. Many of them had not run before this year.

I'll throw McDonald out there. The boys did not qualify to state this fall or in 2016, but aside from those 2 years, they placed in the top 5 every year since 2006. The McDonald girls did not qualify to state this year which snapped a 6-year streak of placing in the top 7. I don't think anything more is happening there beyond a case of a small school experiencing a rebuilding year in a traditionally competitive region. Both teams will eventually be back and contending for state championships.

FWIW, McDonald does not offer soccer, but they play football and golf. The OHSAA's website also states that they offer girls tennis, but I don't know if they field a full team or just a couple players here and there. By contrast, archrival Maplewood offers soccer but not football.
 
It's pretty impressive that the Mason boys are still on the active streak list. In addition to their #1 runner breaking his leg at the regional meet, their #3 runner got hurt at the state meet and didn't finish. Their 1, 2 and 3 runners are all underclassmen so if everyone comes back healthy I'd expect the streak to continue. X always reloads but it will be interesting to see what happens with West, they're extremely senior heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if this year was just catching lightning in a bottle...not that they'd trade this season for anything!
 
Defiance and Lexington boys had down year for them. I believe Lexington had a very strong JH team so they could swing back up not so sure how quickly Defiance will return to be near the top and if they move back up to D1 will be even harder.
 
runs4funs said:
It's pretty impressive that the Mason boys are still on the active streak list. In addition to their #1 runner breaking his leg at the regional meet, their #3 runner got hurt at the state meet and didn't finish. Their 1, 2 and 3 runners are all underclassmen so if everyone comes back healthy I'd expect the streak to continue.
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It is impressive but it's not surprising. Mason has such a huge pool of talent and good coaching. That's a recipe for perennial success. The boys team has 90+ on the roster and the girls have 110+.

There's also a developed running culture in Mason. The Mason Track and Field Club starts with kids in grade school and they train and have meets through the summer.

The kid that fractured his femur head is just a sophomore so with diligent rehab and patience he'll be back.
 
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