What is the Best CA XC Program of All Time?

McFarland has 9 state titles and 14 additional top-3 finishes.  Are they the best program in California history?  This week, YOU get to decide!

This week, we're going to try to answer what may be an unanswerable question: what's the greatest XC program in California history?  The question is so difficult because the criteria are subjective: one person may value state championships the most, while another puts a high emphasis on national rankings or finish at national championships.  And what about the LONG pre-State Meet era, when it gets even harder to judge the best teams?

To make this manageable, we had to set some standards.  Here they are:

• Boys and girls teams are judged as separate programs, to be fair to single-gender schools.
• State championships won was our first selecting criterion, followed by podium finishes at state meet. Every team that had at least 5 state championship wins in its history was automatically included in the tournament as a top-4 seed.
• National rankings, longest title streak, and years since last title were also considered to help seed the teams, and for tie-breakers.

Then, we had to come up with a format for "competing" these programs against each other, while also getting input from the greater California community.  We decided on a 16-team, bracket-style, single-elimination tournament, over 5 rounds of voting (including the "play-in" round. With the above criteria in mind, we were able to come up with 18 programs (9 boys and 9 girls).  That sets up the following rules for the competition:

• The 18 teams will be seeded 1-5 (four #1, four #2, four #3,  #4, and four #5).
• Each match-up between two teams will be open for public voting for 24 hours.
• Voting will follow this schedule:
• Monday: 5-seeds compete in "play-in" vote
• Tuesday: First-round voting starts
• Wednesday: Quarterfinal voting starts
• Thursday: Semifinal voting starts
• Friday: Final voting starts

On Saturday we will recognize the tournament champion, the winner of the popular vote, as well as revealing our own thoughts on the Best CA XC Program of All Time!

Meet the Contenders:

The following teams met our minimum criteria to be included in the tournament.

#1 Seeds:

Saugus Girls

• State Titles: 9
• Podium Finishes: 10
• Longest Title Streak: 7

Jesuit Boys

San Francisco University Girls

McFarland Boys

#2 Seeds:

Great Oak Girls

Flintridge Prep Boys

Loyola Boys

Palos Verdes Girls

#3 Seeds:

Woodcrest Christian Boys

Dana Hills Boys

San Lorenzo Valley Girls

Barstow Boys

#4 Seeds:

Corona Del Mar Girls

Nordhoff GIrls

#5 Seeds:

Yucaipa Girls

Arcadia Boys

Nordhoff Boys