Every year the weekend after State Meet, there is a gathering of coaches from throughout Kentucky to determine runners for the All-State Teams. These teams are released to the coaches via email and to various media in the state, including local newspapers and websites such as KYTrackXC.com. Year-in and year-out, the immediate question from coaches, parents, and runners is, "Why was Runner A put on this team instead of Runner B?" Each year there is no exact answer, though a runner's finish at the State Meet can be a general guide. As the state rankings coordinator and chair of Cross Country All-State Committees, this year I seek to alleviate these questions.
In previous years, I have been involved with the All-State Committees, and questions have come up with certain outstanding Kentucky high school runners. In a particular situation, several on the committee thought the runner was deserving of 1st Team All-State, though the runner's placing at the State Meet below top ten stated otherwise. So the questions became: Is it fair to this runner to not be placed on 1st Team since the runner is clearly one of the best in the state? But, at the same time, what about the runner who would be bumped out if this runner was moved up?
There are two general areas of opinion when it comes to postseason awards: Following no specific guidelines and basing teams on a matter of opinion OR strictly using performance at the State Meet as the final determiner. The first method of following no specific guidelines and placing runners on teams by vote or opinion is flawed by nature. With no real explanation as to why certain runners are selected for certain teams, athletes, coaches, and parents are oftentimes left confused and frustrated by the committees' decisions. Additionally, the coaches acting as area reps are there to represent their areas as a whole, but with no guidelines, reps have no true starting point from which to draw their team selections. Therefore, it may be difficult for a coach to not let their vote be swayed by personal interests, as is human nature, especially in this method based solely on opinion.
The second method to determine All-State Teams is a strict following of State Meet results. This is the method used in college, where, for example, the top ten individuals in the post-season race are 1st Team, the second ten are 2nd Team, and so-forth. There are many high school coaches who want to use this method because it is ABSOLUTE rather than a matter of opinion. However, this system is flawed by the reality of high school athletics. The goal of any competitor is to perform his or her best in the post-season. But, as we all know, with teenagers this is not always the case. Teens have a million things going on and may be just having a bad day because of issues entirely unrelated to running. Should a runner who is clearly top five in the state for the season be penalized if he or she finishes 11th at the State Meet? At the same time, if I, as a coach, train my athlete to peak at State and he runs his best race of the season, finishing 4th, should my runner not be rewarded if he was not top ten during the regular season? A fair and balanced approach of evaluating performance both during the regular and post-season is essential to determining All-State Teams. For this reason, I offer guidelines for the All-State Committee to follow when forming the teams.
Two years ago, Charlie Shoulta (Head Cross Country Coach at Burns Middle School) and I devised the following outline for All-State Teams in Kentucky. We feel this method offers a hard-line approach but, at the same time, allows for flexibility. Normally, there are 1st and 2nd Teams, each composed of 10 runners, then an additional 25 runners who are Honorable Mention All-State. Generally in the past, to receive an award, an athlete would need to place in the top 45 at the State Meet, period. However, with our proposed method, performance beyond State Meet is considered. Here are the basic guidelines to the new method of selection, based on current year KHSAA State Meet Results:
1-8 places Automatic 1st Team All-State
9-16 places Minimum 2nd Team All-State
17-38 places Minimum Honorable Mention All-State
There are ten places on the 1st All-State team. Eight are guaranteed based on State Meet results. The other two are chosen by the committee and based on a full season of work, allowing for a runner to have a sub-par state meet and still receive the post-season award he or she likely deserves. If a runner finishes ninth, he must be 2nd Team All-State (but can be 1st Team) and is guaranteed to be rewarded for State performance and not penalized for possibly peaking at state. If the ninth and tenth place runners are deserving of being on 1st Team, then the committee goes onto 2nd Team where 11-16 are given, then the next four are chosen by the committee. This system allows for runners to be either rewarded for state performance OR not penalized for poorer state performance with a good regular season behind them.
An additional benefit is that runners and coaches have a guideline to follow before State Meet. A runner can know, 'If I finish 10th at State Meet, I WILL BE at least on the 2nd All-State Team.' Of course, a runner is not going into State Meet for the purpose of trying to make 1st or 2nd Team All-State! However, once the race is over, the runner and coach can know that certain performances will be rewarded and recognized for the benefit of the runner. This also puts in place a system to be used every year to give much-needed stability to the all-state process in Kentucky. This system can be utilized for the other All-State committee decisions, including the KTCCCA Super Team and the Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Teams. For the teams based on athletes' grades, the top eight fastest times from the state meet make it onto the list, with the last two being decided upon by the committee. And the Super Team, composed of the top 10 runners regardless of class, should automatically include all three individual state champions, then the next five fastest times, again regardless of class. This leaves the committee with two athletes to add to the Super Team. Of course, in a sense, this is more difficult than the All-State teams because the runners are in different races with different races speeds and conditions.
Just as an example to everyone of the need for a change in All-State Team determination, a certain case has always stuck out to me from several years ago. An athlete was the second runner for his team that year during the regular season, behind a top-tier runner (who went on the run in college). This athlete had a good season, but at State Meet he really exploded, finishing in the top ten overall and first on his team. He was rewarded for this hard work with only Honorable Mention All-State! This is, of course, just one example, but it did not set a good example for other high school runners that finishing top ten at State did not even get him 2nd Team All-State.
No system is entirely perfect. However, this system creates a solution to one very distinct problem I have seen in Cross Country in the state of Kentucky. As such, if without significant objection, this method of determination will be put into motion beginning immediately with the 2006 Cross Country post-season.