2009-2013 now @xcnation.runnerspace.com
ARCHIVES
National High School Hall of Fame
HALL OF FAME MEMBERS
MEDIA/JOURNALISM
Doug Speck, National HS Running Analyst; Founder Dyestatcal - Media (2010)
Marc Bloom, Founder Harrier Magazine & Harrier National Rankings - Media (2010)
John Dye, Founder Dyestat/ESPN - Media (2010)
Donna Dye, Founder Dyestat/ESPN Donna on the Side - Media (2010)
Bert Nelson, Founder Track & Field News Magazine - Media (2011)
Cordner Nelson, Founder Track & Field News Magazine - Media (2011)
Forrest Jamieson, Founder of the Postal National Championships (2013)
CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS
1980 Bloomington North HS, Bloomington, IN - Men's National Champions (2012)
1980 State College HS, State College, PA - Women's National Champions (2011)
1972 Lompoc HS, Lompoc, CA - Men's National Champions (2011)
1999 York HS, Elmhurst, IL - Men's National Champions (2010)
1974 South Eugene HS, Eugene, OR - Men's National Champions (2010)
1993 Mead HS, Spokane, WA - Men's National Champions (2010)
1977 Deerfield HS, Deerfield, IL - Men's National Champions (2010)
1981 Carmel HS, Carmel, IN - Men's National Champions (2010)
1987 Carmel HS, Carmel, IN - Women's National Champions (2010)
2004 Saratoga Springs HS, Saratoga, NY - Women's National Champions (2010)
1985 Beaverton HS, Beaverton, OR - Women's National Champions (2010)
1988 Palos Verdes HS, Palos Verdes Estates, CA - Women's National Champions (2010)
1992 Bend HS, Bend, OR - Women's National Champions (2010)
BOYS INDIVIDUALS
Bill McChesney, South Eugene HS, Eugene, OR (2010)
Steve Prefontaine, Marshfield HS, Coosbay, OR (2010)
Gerry Lindgren, Rogers HS, Spokane, WA (2010)
Terry Williams, Lompoc HS, Lompoc, CA (2010)
Craig Virgin, Lebanon HS, Lebanon, IL (2010)
Eric Hulst, Laguna Hills HS, Laguna, CA (2010)
Reuben Reina, John Jay HS, San Antonio, TX (2010)
Rich Kimball, De La Salle HS, De La Salle, CA (2011)
GIRLS INDIVIDUALS
Erin Keogh, Langley HS, Langley, VA (2010)
Melody Fairchild, Boulder HS, Boulder, CO (2010)
Ellen Lyons, Bishop Kelly HS, Boise, ID (2010)
Julia Stamps, Santa Rosa HS, Santa Rosa, CA (2010)
Erin Sullivan, Mount Mansfield HS, Jericho, VT (2010)
Lynn Jennings, Bromfield HS, Harvard, MA (2011)
COACHES
Pat Tyson, Mead HS, Spokane, WA - (3) National Titles (2010)
Chuck Koeppen, Carmel HS, Carmel, IN - (4) National Titles (2010)
Harry Johnson, S. Eugene HS, Eugene, OR - (3) National Titles (2010)
Brent Haley, Largo HS, Largo, FL - (2) National Titles (2010)
Joe Newton, York HS, Elmhurst, IL - (3) National Titles (2010)
Dave Houle, Mountain View HS, Orem, UT - (5) National Titles (2011)
Charlie Warthan, Bloomington North HS, Bloomington, IN - (1) National Title (2012)
Forrest Jamieson, Palo Alto HS, Palo Alto, CA - (2013)
Cross Country History
-Postal Notes: American Fork HS, American Fork, Utah has finished 2009-10 (9:20.16), 2010-11 (9:13.74), 2011-12 (9:20.06), 2012-13 (9:16.33) in the top 25 all-time Postal National Rankings. The Cavemen are coached by Timo Mostert, no other team has ever produced 4-consecutive seasons like American Fork.
-The first national championship system was implemented by Track&fieldnews founder Bert Nelson entitled "Postal Nationals" when former rival and Palo Alto HS coach Forrest Jamieson presented the idea where teams mailed via mail (postal) time trial results for 2mile and 3mile distances. These began in 1957 and ended in 1978. The Postal record for team times are 73:17.6 for 3-miles set in 1975 by York IL averaging 14:39.52 for 3-miles on the track! and 46:21.0 for 2-miles set in 1972 by Lompoc CA averaging out to 9:16 per runner for two-miles on the track.
-Craig Virgin of Lebanon ran 13:50.6 in 1972 to set the Illinois State Cross Country Championship record. This is the oldest state cross country record in the books. Virgin, the top prep in the nation broke Steve Prefontaine's two-mile record that season running a solo high school only 8:40, went on to win NCAA and USA Cross Country Championships. Of his greatest feats Virgin is the ONLY American to claim a World Cross Country Championship which he won in 1980 and 1981. America's greatest cross country runner.
-Founded in 1890 the USA Winter XC Championships are the nations oldest national championship.
-The first official rankings to girls HS teams was released in 1977 by Marc Bloom's Harrier Magazine. Edison, CA was awarded the team national championship.
-The Track&fieldnews '57-'78 Postal record for two-miles is 8:51.8 set in 1975 by York HS Ron Craker.
-Lukas Verzbicas is the only high school athlete to win both Nike Cross and Foot Locker Nationals in the same year becoming the first consensus national champion in history. Add in his triple crown winning mile, two-mile and 5000 meters at the National Indoor Championships; the 8:29 two-mile national record run at the Pre Classic; and the 3:59 mile at the Jim Ryun Dream Mile and Lukas is the best prep distance runner wire to wire in US history.
-The tightest 1-5 spread in US history at state meet competition happened at the 2012 Shore Conference Championships when Christian Brothers Academy, NJ ran a 7-second spread with a 15:08.67 team average to top the previous mark set in 1981 at the Indiana State Cross Country Championships when Carmel HS, IN averaged 15:16.66 with a 9-second 1-5 spread. To be noted, the '81 Greyhounds broke the 15:30 team average barrier three times that season and 8-times perfect scored invitationals.
-The Track&fieldnews '57-'78 Postal record for 3-miles is 13:43.6 set in 1973 by Rich Kimball of DeLaSalle.
-The fastest individual 5000 meters in US history happened in 2000 at the Michigan State Championships when Dathan Ritzenhein blasted 14:10.4.
-Boston Bill Rodgers won the first medal for the USA at the World Cross Country Championships finishing 3rd in 1975 a month before winning his first Boston Marathon.
-Most know Jim Ryun as America's greatest miler and first sub-4 prep. However, he was also an accomplished cross country runner leading Wichita East to the 1964 team championship behind a state record 9:08 for two-miles.
"The runner is much more than a point-producing, time-recording machine. He's an artist, as much as a man who plays a violin or writes poetry. The runner must be allowed to develop his running as an art form." Forrest Jamieson, to Runner's World Magazine "Booklet of the Month" No. 3 September 1971
In 1956 Forrest Jamieson had a different idea. If he could help runners such as Ron Larrieu develop world-class talent, why couldn't other high school coaches throughout the country do the same? Seeking to further develop American distance running talent at the grass roots level, while concurrently promoting interest and participation in the sport of cross country, Forrest began the process of organizing and promoting a nationwide series of "postal meets", two mile races run on tracks following the conclusion of the cross country season.
This variation on postal track meets from his Drake years would determine an unofficial national high school cross country team champion: simply total up the times from the top five runners from each participating postal meet team; the team with the lowest aggregate time would be the winner. Standardized track surfaces and the two mile distance would ensure the accuracy of this nationwide competition. Coaches from around the country would mail or telex their team and individual times to a central reporting body; results would then be tabulated and announced soon afterwards.
Forrest first approached SPORTS ILLUSTRATED - and was promptly sent packing. A more sympathetic ear had to be found - and was, just a few miles away in the adjacent town of Los Altos. There, Bert Nelson, Forrest's former high school rival, was editing a small, growing publication titled TRACK AND FIELD NEWS, a magazine he co-founded with his brother Cordner in 1948. Nelson readily agreed to promote Forrest's postal meets. Postal meet directors would mail results to TRACK AND FIELD NEWS, which would tally up the results and report the top teams and individuals in its January issues.
Through this format, Forrest annually challenged the nation's top high school cross country teams to match the marks put up by his Paly squads. With publicity offered through the magazine and the PALO ALTO TIMES newspaper, the first two mile postal race competitions were launched throughout the United States following the conclusion of the 1957 cross country season. 1957's national winner was Morningside of Inglewood, CA in 50:25.5 (10:05.1 per runner); Paly placed second in 51:14.2.