Back in October, MileSplit intern Maxx Bradley published a popular article to our National site where he ranked the country's top 5th runners.
Replicating his idea to the state level, see in the table below Ohio's fastest fifth runners for the 2023 cross country season.
Bradley's lead-in to his data report captured the importance of the fifth runner perfectly.
Per Maxx Bradley:
"Cross country fans know that the fifth runner of a team can make or break a race."
"No matter how well the top four runners of a team perform, if their fifth runner struggles, a meet could be lost."
"The fifth runner is a vital part of the team's success, so we compiled a ranking of the fastest fifth runners in the state based on this season's 5k PR."
"The fifth runner, in many ways, holds the most important position on a cross country team. They close out the loop and finish out strong."
"It's possible that fifth runners race with more pressure than th...
