Last week, I introduced an All-time XC Championship article that only covered the All-Time teams from this past season's State Cross-Country Championship. After some thought, I wanted to see how the Meet would look if we took 30 of the best teams in KHSAA Cross-Country history, off of State Title numbers or generally regarded as top teams, and brought them into a meet. I also, in true cross-country fashion, took the 35 fastest runners outside of those teams and threw them into the race. Why 35? Because there are 7 regions in our State Cross-Country and the 5 fastest individuals from those Regions who were not on one of the teams who make State get to run at the State Championship, so I thought 35 was a perfect number. Without further delay, I now give you the All-Time State Cross Country Championship based on MileSplit data and KHSAA official reports.
| Athlete | Team | Time | Points |
| Michael Eaton | Greenwood | 14:35.9 | - |
| Bobby Curtis | St. Xavier | 14:41.0 | 1 |
| Jacob Thomson | Holy Cross (Louisville) | 14:43.9 | 2 |
| Joseph Buechler | St. Xavier | 14:52.0 | 3 |
| Ryan Snellen | Central Hardin | 14:54.5 | - |
| Lane Hoyes | Thomas Nelson | 14:54.6 | - |
| Jackson Watts | Madisonville-North Hopkins | 14:57.2 | - |
| Jim Sapienza | Trinity | 14:59.0 | 4 |
| Jimmy Mullarkey | Fern Creek | 14:59.7 | - |
| Cooper Wasson | Bluegrass United Homeschool | 15:03.4 | - |
| Johnnie Baum | Holy Cross (Louisville) | 15:05.0 | 5 |
| Isaac Lafond | South Oldham | 15:06.0 | 6 |
| Caden Miracle | Bell County | 15:07.7 | - |
| John Perkins | St. Xavier | 15:08.0 | 7 |
| Gavin Gaynor Sr. | Hancock County | 15:10.0 | - |
| Jacob Buckman | Butler | 15:10.5 | - |
| David Christian | Daviess County | 15:10.7 | 8 |
| Thomas Murley | Elizabethtown | 15:10.8 | 9 |
| Charlie Moore | Daviess County | 15:11.6 | 10 |
| Riku Sugie | Thomas Nelson | 15:12.7 | - |
| Tim Back | University Breckenridge School | 15:14.0 | - |
| Brady Masters | Madison Central | 15:14.2 | - |
| Patrick Gregory | Butler | 15:14.2 | - |
| Jonah Mitchell | Muhlenberg County | 15:15.3 | - |
| Cole Dowdy | South Oldham | 15:16.0 | 11 |
| Ron Duncan | Fleming County | 15:16.0 | - |
| Ryan Eaton | Greenwood | 15:16.2 | - |
| Connor O'Shea | Madison Central | 15:16.7 | - |
| Ethan Shuley | Highlands | 15:16.9 | 12 |
| Nolan Hester | St. Xavier | 15:17.5 | 13 |
| Austin Matthews | Paul Laurence Dunbar | 15:17.9 | - |
| Stacey Eden | Shelby County | 15:18.0 | 14 |
| Nicholas Waltman | Sayre | 15:18.6 | - |
| Evan Ehrenheim | Daviess County | 15:18.8 | 15 |
| Yared Nuguse | Dupont Manual | 15:19.1 | 16 |
| John Spencer | Lafayette | 15:19.8 | - |
| Matthew Thomas | St. Xavier | 15:19.8 | 17 |
| Connor Sheryak | St. Xavier | 15:20.0 | 18 |
| Ben Young | Tates Creek | 15:21.0 | - |
| Mike Wilson | Rowan County | 15:21.2 | - |
| Jake Wildenmann | Trinity | 15:21.3 | 19 |
| Eric Baugh | Villa Madonna | 15:21.8 | - |
| Brennan Fields | Madison Central | 15:21.9 | - |
| Christian Parker | Madisonville-North Hopkins | 15:22.7 | - |
| Mckay Mattingly | Daviess County | 15:23.0 | 20 |
| Nicholas Laureano | Lexington Catholic | 15:23.1 | 21 |
| Thomas Ashby | Apollo | 15:23.5 | - |
| Landon Taylor | Daviess County | 15:23.9 | 22 |
| Sami Hattab | St. Xavier | 15:24.1 | 23 |
| Tyler Walker | Taylor County | 15:24.4 | - |
| Chase Geary | Muhlenberg County | 15:25.0 | - |
| Chase Atkins | Hopkinsville | 15:25.2 | - |
| Zachary Wilder | Woodford County | 15:25.7 | - |
| Tiger Bartlett | Ryle | 15:26.0 | - |
| Alex Mortimer | Tates Creek | 15:26.9 | - |
| Kal Clark | South Oldham | 15:27.5 | 24 |
| Jeremy Kazlauskas | Daviess County | 15:27.8 | 25 |
| Chuck Hamen | Campbell County | 15:28.0 | - |
| Will Sheets | Covington Catholic | 15:28.2 | 26 |
| Joseph Impellitteri | Conner | 15:28.5 | 27 |
| Trevor Warren | Trinity | 15:28.9 | 28 |
| Charles Ellis | Boyle County | 15:29.0 | - |
| Keith Barger | Madison Central | 15:29.0 | - |
| Drew Moore | Conner | 15:29.5 | 29 |
| Willie Polio | Owensboro Catholic | 15:30.0 | 30 |
| Ryan O'Dea | Trinity | 15:30.3 | 31 |
| Devin Swann | Daviess County | 15:31.0 | 32 |
| Jimmy Herald | Warren East | 15:31.0 | 33 |
| Gordy Dooley | St. Henry District | 15:32.0 | 34 |
| Luke Weishaar | Oldham County | 15:32.0 | 35 |
| Tanner Dowdy | South Oldham | 15:32.6 | 36 |
| Keeton Thornsberry | Holy Cross (Louisville) | 15:32.9 | 37 |
| Trenton Fryman | North Oldham | 15:33.0 | 38 |
| Jacob Brizendine | Oldham County | 15:33.0 | 39 |
| Ondrej Puskar | South Oldham | 15:33.7 | 40 |
| Steve Cornelius | Pulaski County | 15:34.0 | 41 |
| Rob Shoaf | Trinity | 15:35.0 | 42 |
| Matt Smith | Oldham County | 15:35.0 | 43 |
| Adam Patel | North Oldham | 15:35.1 | 44 |
| Connor Hayes | Lexington Christian | 15:36.9 | 45 |
| Michael Caldwell | Bishop Brossart | 15:39.3 | 46 |
| George Johnson | Conner | 15:39.5 | 47 |
| Mike Lueke | Trinity | 15:41.0 | 48 |
| Jacob Law | South Oldham | 15:41.0 | 49 |
| Alex McClarty | North Oldham | 15:41.9 | 50 |
| Michael Jesse | Shelby County | 15:42.0 | 51 |
| David Hamm | Dupont Manual | 15:42.0 | 52 |
| Nick Lewis | Trinity | 15:42.4 | 53 |
| Matthew Tabor | Bowling Green | 15:44.4 | 54 |
| Ryan Hanak | Conner | 15:44.8 | 55 |
| Chase Wilson | Paducah Tilghman | 15:45.0 | 56 |
| Taylor Sanders | North Oldham | 15:45.3 | 57 |
| Jeff Harris | Elizabethtown | 15:45.6 | 58 |
| David Altmaier | Pulaski County | 15:45.6 | 59 |
| Logan Warth | Conner | 15:45.8 | 60 |
| Canon Weaver | Oldham County | 15:46.1 | 61 |
| Nicolas Geary | Dupont Manual | 15:46.2 | 62 |
| DK Schnieders | Holy Cross (Louisville) | 15:46.7 | 63 |
| Caleb Bolus | Holy Cross (Louisville) | 15:46.7 | 64 |
| Clay Pendleton | Bowling Green | 15:47.7 | 65 |
| Dominic Perronie | Holy Cross (Louisville) | 15:48.0 | 66 |
| Aaron Harbolt | Desales | 15:48.0 | 67 |
| Jacob England | Warren East | 15:48.3 | 68 |
| Peyton Fairchild | Conner | 15:48.5 | 69 |
| Will Mullett | Lexington Christian | 15:48.9 | 70 |
| David Jacobs | Shelby County | 15:49.2 | 71 |
| Spencer Carman | Lexington Catholic | 15:49.4 | 72 |
| Chris Vincent | Lloyd Memorial | 15:50.0 | 73 |
| Brandon McKinney | Warren East | 15:50.0 | 74 |
| Daniel Murner | South Oldham | 15:50.4 | 75 |
| Jeff Miller | Owensboro | 15:51.0 | 76 |
| Jimmy Goldson | Pulaski County | 15:51.3 | 77 |
| Brian Hurst | Dupont Manual | 15:51.3 | 78 |
| Eric Grossman | Atherton | 15:52.0 | 79 |
| Joey Carroll | Conner | 15:53.0 | 80 |
| Josh Meiman | Holy Cross (Louisville) | 15:53.1 | 81 |
| Adam Huff | Lexington Christian | 15:53.3 | 82 |
| Daniel Wolfer | St. Henry District | 15:54.0 | 83 |
| Brandon Gayheart | Cordia | 15:54.1 | 84 |
| Kyle Johnson | Bowling Green | 15:54.6 | 85 |
| Kyle Bowling | Dupont Manual | 15:55.1 | 86 |
| Josh Hannon | St. Henry District | 15:55.3 | 87 |
| Aaron Wier | Lexington Christian | 15:56.2 | 88 |
| Keith Combs | Cordia | 15:56.5 | 89 |
| Mitchel Drees | Covington Catholic | 15:56.8 | 90 |
| Justin Griffin | Bowling Green | 15:56.9 | 91 |
| John Borders | Somerset | 15:57.0 | 92 |
| Thomas Canary | Lexington Catholic | 15:57.0 | 93 |
| Jake Pyles | North Oldham | 15:57.7 | 94 |
| Dixon Ryan | St. Henry District | 15:58.3 | 95 |
| Austin Stallings | Owensboro Catholic | 15:58.3 | 96 |
| Junior Sloan | Paducah Tilghman | 15:58.5 | 97 |
| Adam Walker | Lexington Catholic | 15:58.8 | 98 |
| John Hieronymus | Pulaski County | 15:59.0 | 99 |
| Austin Adams | Somerset | 15:59.1 | 100 |
| Ethan Ransdell | North Oldham | 15:59.6 | 101 |
| Zac Holtkamp | Bishop Brossart | 16:00.3 | 102 |
| Jimmy Hatler | Shelby County | 16:00.8 | 103 |
| Brad Dunlevy | Bishop Brossart | 16:01.0 | 104 |
| Pat Brown | Bishop Brossart | 16:01.1 | 105 |
| John Cason | Owensboro Catholic | 16:01.2 | 106 |
| Brian Mirrielees | Highlands | 16:01.9 | 107 |
| Marcus Grady | Atherton | 16:01.9 | 108 |
| Jeff Moll | Lexington Catholic | 16:02.0 | 109 |
| Ken Prater | Oldham County | 16:02.0 | 110 |
| Travis Keown | Warren East | 16:02.3 | 111 |
| Reece Johns | Dupont Manual | 16:02.3 | 112 |
| Joe Mallek | Oldham County | 16:03.5 | 113 |
| Wesley Patton | Owensboro | 16:04.0 | 114 |
| Emon Casey | Paducah Tilghman | 16:04.0 | 115 |
| Chris Danks | St. Henry District | 16:04.3 | 116 |
| James Clements | Shelby County | 16:04.5 | 117 |
| Andre Braima | Paducah Tilghman | 16:05.0 | 118 |
| Nathan Ruth | Bishop Brossart | 16:05.3 | 119 |
| Andrew Madden | Lexington Christian | 16:06.2 | 120 |
| Josh Buffolino | Shelby County | 16:06.3 | 121 |
| Alex Hagan | Oldham County | 16:06.3 | 122 |
| Griffin Austin | Highlands | 16:06.8 | 123 |
| Mark Berry | Dupont Manual | 16:07.0 | 124 |
| Lucas Ridley | Bowling Green | 16:07.1 | 125 |
| Colton Bullington | Warren East | 16:07.2 | 126 |
| Matthew Paverd | Shelby County | 16:07.4 | 127 |
| Brian Marshall | Covington Catholic | 16:08.0 | 128 |
| Sam Smith | Pulaski County | 16:08.4 | 129 |
| Wesley Reed | Pulaski County | 16:08.6 | 130 |
| Colin Grandon | North Oldham | 16:08.9 | 131 |
| Adam Wier | Lexington Christian | 16:09.2 | 132 |
| Curt Rader | Somerset | 16:10.0 | 133 |
| Armand Frigo | St. Henry District | 16:10.1 | 134 |
| John Pipkin | Atherton | 16:11.0 | 135 |
| Christian Cole | Lexington Catholic | 16:11.6 | 136 |
| Geoffrey Mearns | Highlands | 16:11.8 | 137 |
| Harvey Trogdlen | Owensboro | 16:12.0 | 138 |
| Brooks Jones | Ballard | 16:12.6 | 139 |
| Johnny Jones | Owensboro | 16:13.0 | 140 |
| John Reinhart | Lexington Catholic | 16:13.0 | 141 |
| Chas Warden | Elizabethtown | 16:14.5 | 142 |
| Patrick Jenkins | Pulaski County | 16:15.2 | 143 |
| Kevin Ryan | St. Henry District | 16:15.9 | 144 |
| Chris Loos | Bishop Brossart | 16:16.2 | 145 |
| Ben Currey | Ballard | 16:16.2 | 146 |
| Stephen Schwab | Covington Catholic | 16:16.5 | 147 |
| Will Tate | Covington Catholic | 16:16.5 | 148 |
| John Michael Griffith | Highlands | 16:17.7 | 149 |
| John Thompson | Owensboro Catholic | 16:18.0 | 150 |
| Brandon Murley | Warren East | 16:18.0 | 151 |
| Jeff Birt | Atherton | 16:18.0 | 152 |
| Cody Chism | Bishop Brossart | 16:18.1 | 153 |
| Rhett Mosley | Cordia | 16:18.9 | 154 |
| Chris Young | Dayton | 16:19.1 | 155 |
| Zac Garrard | Owensboro | 16:19.2 | 156 |
| Shawn Stanley | Cordia | 16:19.4 | 157 |
| Jef Scott | Fort Campbell | 16:19.6 | 158 |
| Tim Martin | Owensboro | 16:20.0 | 159 |
| Chase Kauffeld | Owensboro Catholic | 16:20.1 | 160 |
| Brian Menke | Covington Catholic | 16:20.8 | 161 |
| David Webster | Elizabethtown | 16:21.3 | 162 |
| Samuel Polio | Owensboro Catholic | 16:22.7 | 163 |
| Joey Landrum | Lloyd Memorial | 16:23.0 | 164 |
| Steve Kennedy | Dayton | 16:23.6 | 165 |
| Sam Thompson | Owensboro Catholic | 16:23.9 | 166 |
| Joseph Kiely | Covington Catholic | 16:24.1 | 167 |
| Austin Greer | Bowling Green | 16:26.0 | 168 |
| Albert Calhoun | Somerset | 16:26.0 | 169 |
| Jamey Herbst | Dayton | 16:26.0 | 170 |
| Jared Wynne | Paducah Tilghman | 16:26.0 | 171 |
| Rashid Derricks | Ballard | 16:26.1 | 172 |
| Aaron Osborne | Warren East | 16:26.4 | 173 |
| Shannon Stevens | Ballard | 16:26.5 | 174 |
| Keith Knapp | Lloyd Memorial | 16:26.5 | 175 |
| Jon Kramer | Desales | 16:27.0 | 176 |
| Matthew Gray | Highlands | 16:27.0 | 177 |
| Chris Elliott | Lexington Christian | 16:27.3 | 178 |
| Neal Smith | Owensboro | 16:27.7 | 179 |
| La'Mone Owens | Fort Campbell | 16:28.1 | 180 |
| David Scott | Elizabethtown | 16:28.5 | 181 |
| Todd Jacobs | Fort Campbell | 16:30.0 | 182 |
| Ethan Weston | Desales | 16:32.5 | 183 |
| Chase Russell | Bowling Green | 16:32.6 | 184 |
| Kennan Kruskamp | Lloyd Memorial | 16:33.7 | 185 |
| Darrell Smith | Fort Campbell | 16:34.0 | 186 |
| Andy Dobelstein | Atherton | 16:35.0 | 187 |
| Malcolm Robertson | Highlands | 16:35.9 | 188 |
| Tedi Henderson | Atherton | 16:38.6 | 189 |
| Eric Kinman | Lloyd Memorial | 16:39.2 | 190 |
| Wes Freeland | Elizabethtown | 16:39.4 | 191 |
| Nick Martin | Desales | 16:40.0 | 192 |
| Ben Hall | Atherton | 16:40.7 | 193 |
| James Scott | Fort Campbell | 16:40.8 | 194 |
| Keenan Krus | Lloyd Memorial | 16:42.0 | 195 |
| Shane Quinlan | Ballard | 16:42.3 | 196 |
| Jym Crowson | Elizabethtown | 16:44.4 | 197 |
| Tony Duran | Fort Campbell | 16:45.2 | 198 |
| Jeff Welch | Fort Campbell | 16:46.0 | 199 |
| Carden Willis | Ballard | 16:46.0 | 200 |
| Mike Murphy | Dayton | 16:50.0 | 201 |
| Aaron Moore | Lloyd Memorial | 16:50.3 | 202 |
| Neal Clark | Paducah Tilghman | 16:51.0 | 203 |
| Terence Cook | Cordia | 16:52.1 | 204 |
| Adam Joplin | Somerset | 16:52.4 | 205 |
| David Willis | Paducah Tilghman | 16:53.0 | 206 |
| Bryan Combs | Cordia | 16:53.3 | 207 |
| Isaac Clark | Ballard | 16:55.2 | 208 |
| Shaun Hartlage | Desales | 16:58.0 | 209 |
| Kevin Crank | Dayton | 17:06.0 | 210 |
| Shannon Menning | Dayton | 17:06.2 | 211 |
| Tom Mack | Dayton | 17:07.0 | 212 |
| Eric Wilson | Somerset | 17:15.0 | 213 |
| Brent Martin | Desales | 17:22.0 | 214 |
| Joey Ratterman | Desales | 17:25.0 | 215 |
| Eugene Bush | Cordia | 17:25.3 | 216 |
| Jon Hardesty | Somerset | 17:43.9 | 217 |
| Teams | 7-Man | 5- Man |
| St. Xavier | 82 | 41 |
| Daviess County | 132 | 75 |
| South Oldham | 241 | 117 |
| Trinity | 225 | 124 |
| Holy Cross (Louisville) | 318 | 171 |
| Conner | 367 | 218 |
| North Oldham | 515 | 283 |
| Oldham County | 523 | 288 |
| Dupont Manual | 530 | 294 |
| Shelby County | 604 | 356 |
| Lexington Catholic | 670 | 393 |
| Lexington Christian | 715 | 405 |
| Warren East | 736 | 412 |
| St. Henry District | 693 | 415 |
| Pulaski County | 678 | 419 |
| Bowling Green | 772 | 420 |
| Bishop Brossart | 774 | 476 |
| Owensboro Catholic | 871 | 542 |
| Elizabethtown | 940 | 552 |
| Highlands | 893 | 556 |
| Covington Catholic | 867 | 556 |
| Paducah Tilghman | 966 | 557 |
| Owensboro | 962 | 624 |
| Atherton | 1043 | 661 |
| Cordia | 1111 | 688 |
| Somerset | 1129 | 699 |
| Lloyd Memorial | 1184 | 787 |
| Desales | 1256 | 827 |
| Ballard | 1235 | 827 |
| Fort Campbell | 1297 | 900 |
| Dayton | 1324 | 901 |
Just as before, the winners of this All-Time XC State Championship were the men from St. Xavier. Led by Villanova legend Bobby Curtis and KHSAA Official and Coaching legend Joseph Buechler, St. Xavier dominates this meet. That wasn't unexpected either as St. Xavier has won 24 State Championships.
Slightly surprising, however, is that Daviess County finishes 2nd overall. I say slightly, because Trinity High School has won the second most State Championships at 20 compared to Daviess County's 10. Nonetheless, Daviess County performs strong here.
Another surprise came in that Top 3 as a team with only 4 State Championships, South Oldham, find themselves in remarkable shape here. Not only do they have a low stick in Isaac Lafond, but they also have solid depth as there 3,4, and 5 guys fall between 36 and 49. Speaks to a deeper meaning about Cross Country racing as you are only as good as your 5th man and South Oldham's depth helps them here.
The top Class 1A team in this race is perhaps the team of the 2010's. Holy Cross (Louisville) won 4 straight Cross-Country Championships in the years 2017-2020. Those teams, of course, were led by Keeton Thornsberry, Caleb Bolus, DK Schnieders, and Josh Meiman who all went under 16 minutes. However, the All-Time Cougars are led by the 2023 USA Half Marathon Champion, Jacob Thomson, who finishes 3rd all time in this race.
Notable results among those without a team, Michael Eaton wins the All-Time State Cross Country Championship with the overall state record of 14:35.9, a record that has stood since 2005. Only Lane Hoyes from Thomas Nelson and Jacob Thomson ran faster 5000m races then that and they came on the track. Thomson of course ran 14.34.78 which was surpassed just two years ago by Hoyes' 14:33.68.
As we look to next season, let's hope some athletes join/move up this list in an effort to take down Michael Eaton's 14:35.9.