All-Decade: Top Programs, Top 7 And Top Overall Individuals

The end of the decade is just a few weeks away so with this landmark date fast approaching, it's time to look back at the past 10 years and celebrate the elite programs and performers who've represented Ohio in cross country running competition.

For Ohio's men and women, we've subjectively chosen the best programs, the top overall runners, as well a group of 7 athletes who we feel stood out above the rest. Consideration was mainly geared toward success during the in-state postseason rounds, to state championship victories, as well to high quality performances at regional and national meets. In some circumstances, fast finishing times also helped steer our judgement in what amounted to be a very difficult series of decisions. 

Note that we based this exercise on an athlete's (or program's) body of work from the years 2010 to 2019 only and that our choices relate exclusively to cross country running accomplishments. Achievements that were attained in middle school, college or at the professional level were not taken into consideration. And while many of our top XC runners have also excelled in distance track events, again we are only talking about work on the cross country fields for this one. 

Many avid fans of our sport could likely present spirited arguments for an athlete who's either absent from our listing or why one who is present doesn't necessarily deserve inclusion. Quite honestly, this is one of the great aspects of the current cross country climate in our state. There's considerable depth, both in terms of individuals and programs, and this made for some second guessing and a lot of extremely difficult final calls. All this being said, we're confident in the selections that were made and we're sticking to them!