Great Oak graduates an incredible senior class, arguably the best group of boys distance runners within a single grade ever. Will that bring the Wolfpack back to the field next fall, or will runners like Solomon Fountain keep them on top?
While researching year-round performances for distance runners over the last 5 years to prepare my cross country preseason countdowns, I've noticed a strong correlation between success in the fall and demonstrated depth in the 1600 and 3200 during track season. It's not a one-to-one link, of course; there are some teams that are very good in cross country that don't put as big an emphasis on track season. However, many of the state's perennial powers are strong, at least in part, because they have a large number of runners competing (and therefore training) year-round. That allows athletes to develop more in the 9 months between the ends of one cross country season and the beginning of the next, and therefore improvement in the mile and 2-mile are strong predictors of future cross country success, in my experience. This applies to individuals (you can spot rising stars for the upcoming fall season by looking at runners whose 3200 times took a big step forward this spring), and it also applies to teams.
With all that said, let's look at the teams with the best team results in the 1600 and 3200 counting only the runners that are returning for the 2016-2017 school year (that is, without this year's seniors).
NOTE: a team must have at least 5 athletes with recorded times in a particular event to show in these rankings.