The Streak: District Dominance

By Blake Behney

For as long as I’ve followed PAHS cross country, there’s been one constant: District 1 and District 7 teams on top of the podium at AAA states. In fact, you have to go all the way back to Cedar Cliff’s state title in 2003 to find the last time a school outside of District 1 or 7 won Class AAA. The monopoly D1 and D7 have on large-school distance running hasn’t had a negative impact on the sport at all, in fact their dominance has made this season even more interesting in my opinion. That’s because for the first time in recent memory, many pundits are pegging a team outside of the Big 2 to win the AAA state title (Carlisle).

The 13 year stranglehold D1 and D7 have had on the state is an impressive feat that not many people seem to be talking about. Additionally, the entire storyline of an outside team ending the streak is something that I have yet to see anything written about. But I feel like the potential for something like this to happen should have everybody talking. And while they might not seem like one initially, Carlisle is definitely an underdog. This is a program that, despite their reputation, surprisingly has never won a team title or had an individual champ at cross country states in school history. They always seem to put it together on the track, but being the top team on the trails has eluded them. And don’t let their big names up front fool you; the Herd’s place among state title favorites this fall is definitely uncharted territory.  

This post isn’t meant to make you guys support Carlisle, its purpose to make everyone aware of a narrative that I believe should be receiving more attention. The streak is something that’s extremely impressive in this day and age of distance running, and the fact that it could potentially end this fall adds another exciting element to a state championship race that already looks like it could be one of the best in recent memory. So buckle up and prepare for the ride.