And the winner of the Most Iconic Cross Country Course in California is...
Laguna Hills High School!
The Hawks went all in on the voting from the beginning of the poll, and they steamrolled over every other course to take the victory. That's always part of the fun for us when we post any kind of poll: which groups will really get into it? We appreciate the enthusiasm whenever schools come out in numbers to represent their course, team, or individual runners in these competitions.
Looking at the "Big Four"
Part of this exercise was to compare what are historically the most visible and important courses in the state: Crystal Springs, Woodward Park, Mt. SAC, and Balboa Park. Just about everyone in the state recognizes these courses, and they have national cachet as well. Even though the semifinals didn't come down to just these four courses, which would have allowed for a more direct comparison, we can still evaluate how much support each of the Big Four had during the final stages of the poll.
Looking at average number of votes received per round (since these courses didn't all face the same number of rounds), we get these results:
1. Mt. SAC: 1081
2. Woodward Park: 414
3. Crystal Springs: 293
4. Balboa Park: 280