Here's what I know about Washington:
The broad strokes, 7.5 million people, 5 classifications for XC and 6 for track & field. Read on if you wish.
The state's population as of 2018 was 7,536,000 which is ranked 13th. The population has doubled since 1977. Seattle is the largest city at 724,000 and obviously growing. Herein lies the problem though: 60% of the state's population lives in the Seattle Metro area, yet the state is ranked 18th in land area, so there are some extremely rural and remote areas that make the most sparsely populated areas of Ohio seem congested.
Classifications are based on total enrollment in grades 9-11 (single-gendered schools have their enrollments doubled for an accurate basis of comparison). The state proposed adding a reduction factor for free and reduced lunches. They also proposed adding a 30% cap on a multiplier for private schools. I don't know if either proposals ever were brought to a vote, but a newspaper article discussing the proposals erroneously stated that Ohio enacted an enrollment adjustment based on free and reduced lunches. We obviously examined the possibility of doing so, but it failed along with the "tradition factor."
Washington had 5 classifications for XC this past fall (1B/2B, 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A) and 6 for track and field (1B, 2B, 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A). I don't now all the specifics, but Washington allows schools to "opt-up" to compete in larger divisions. The primary reason cited for why schools "opt-up" is to keep leagues together since league membership is often based on classification. There are only about 65-70 schools in each classification.
Also, it appears for track and field that Washington has a district-state tournament format. I got curious when my brother told me his local HS won the 4A state title in track & field last spring. I haven't looked at the XC set-up too closely. There are 9 districts in Washington. After each district learns how many qualifiers will advance to state from its district meet, district boards can opt to combine their meets into 1 meet for a given classification to increase the number of qualifiers from that meet. For example, say the Class 1B meet in District 8 will get 3 individuals per event advancing to state while the Class 1B meet in District 9 only has enough schools to yield 1 qualifier per event. The 2 districts can combine to make 1 Class 1B meet and get 4 qualifiers per event. That might create additional travel for the schools but relieves the district boards of the expense of operating 2 separate district meets for that classification.
Washington also has performance standards that an athlete can be met during district finals to qualify to state if they place outside of the number of automatic qualifying spots that the meet has been allocated. However, the performance standards are not easy to meet. The standards are based on the average 6th place performance from the previous 5 years at that classification's state meet. They drop the high and low from those 5 years and average the middle 3 performances to calculate the at-large standard. However, the good news is every athlete knows exactly what that standard is heading into the district meet. At-larges are accepted up to a max field size of 24 entrants. IIRC, the Class 1B, 2B, and 1A meets were all held in Chaney at Eastern Washington U. last spring. 2A, 3A, and 4A were held at a HS in Tacoma. Also, if you qualify to the next level in an event, you must run that event unless the meet medical staff determines that you are unable to compete. If you decide to scratch an event before the meet, your school administration must notify the next entrant in line to fill the spot.
The following batch of performances netted 50 pts. to win the 4A state title last spring
Javelin: 187-11, 4th and 177-3, 6th
1600: 4:12.80, 6th
Shot Put: 59-10, 2nd
Discus: 180-1, 1st
110H, 14.84, 5th
300H: 37.43, 1st
4x100: 42.99, 5th
200: 22.58, 6th
Other differences in WA: It's a 3-day state track meet, and they do not contest the 4x800. The 1600 is run on Thurs, and they run an 800 prelim on Fri. The 3200 is on Sat. It also appears that they intertwine the events for all 3 divisions, but perhaps not. Top 3 guys in the 4A 3200 broke 9:00: 8:56.02, 8:57.38, and 8:57.65. What a race that must've been! My bro's HS had a soph. girl run 4:52 to finish 2nd in the 1600 on Thurs. and 10:45 to finish 3rd in the 3200 on Sat. The top 3 girls in the 1600 were 2 sophomores and a freshman. The girl that won 3A ran 4:43 and 10:10 and was only a sophomore! In general, Washington is a pretty good state for distance running but less than stellar in sprints and field events which is no great surprise given the state's demographics.
This fall, the boys 4A team XC champion had a top 5 spread of 34 seconds ranging from 15:18 to 15:52. The boys 3A team champion had identical times for its top 5 but also had a 6th man run 15:55. The best girls team in the state won 3A with a top 5 ranging from 17:26 - 18:24. The girls 4A team champion had a more mundane but very respectable top 5 ranging from 18:36 to 19:37 (top 4 were 18:55 or faster). A total of 16 teams qualify to state in each classification. The quality falls off rather quickly in the smaller classifications as the schools rapidly decrease in size
The state XC meet was held at a golf course in Pasco. Along with Kennewick and Richland, Pasco is part of the "Tri-Cities" which are located in South Central Washington at the confluence of the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima Rivers. Next door to the golf course is a regional airport to the north and Columbia Basin College across the street to the west.
