| Top 10 Boys Teams of the Decade (2000-2009) - Cross Country By: Stephen Bain Perhaps the most difficult task in this project series is comparing teams from different years. With many dominant teams in the past decade, it is hard to compare how others would have competed against some of the other champions. Even harder is determining if a tough second place team were able to compete with a champion. Well, I have gone through the numbers and come up with a ranked list to tell you who the best teams were in the past decade. Honorable Mentions: Valparaiso 2005, Fort Wayne Carroll 2008, LaPorte 2007, Columbus North 2001 #10 Northridge Raiders 2004 State Champions 104-131 over Carmel NTN/NXN Qualifiers Top 5 at State: Braxton Fritz (11th, 16:26) Ken Collins (25th, 16:39) Loren Spirito (35th, 16:54) Andy Williams (57th, 17:06) Ladd Mercer (69th, 17:17) Going into the 2004 state meet, things were wide open. Lawrence North had been undefeated through the season and got 9th at the semi-state. Teams from all corners of the state were looking to win, and the Raiders came ready to run. When all the teams woke up that morning, they were greeted by a wonderful 40mph wind. Remember this as you look at the times of this team's state performance at the first meet in Terre Haute. They went on to get a bid to NTN/NXN as well, where they placed 16th. #9 Warren Central Warriors 2006 State Champions 100-123 over Franklin Central Top 5 at State: De'Sean Turner (1st, 15:54) Ondraius Richardson (5th, 16:13) Caleb Pack (49th, 17:05) Micah Aldrich (55th, 17:11) Cody Smith (58th, 17:13) The 2006 State Meet was a slop fest to say the least. However, with the very solid front-running of the Warren Central Warriors, they were able to win with a comfortable margin for their repeat title. Turner got his first state title here to go with his blue team ring. #8 Fishers Tigers 2007 State Champions 102-112 over LaPorte Top 5 at State: Drew Shields (5th, 16:04) Cale Allen (17th, 16:20) Nate Piggush (31st, 16:34) Alex Shields (42nd, 16:40) Tyler Stegman (72nd, 16:59) This ended up being another interesting match up as the Honorable Mentioned LaPorte '07 team had a great team make up to give Fishers a scare. The Fishers squad dominated all season but knew going into the state meet that LaPorte was only going to score 4 guys. However, the newly established Fishers school earned its first state title quickly in 2007 with their own fire power up front as their #2 Cale Allen was the big difference maker in the points. #7 Columbus North Bulldogs 2002 State Champions 79-120 over Franklin Community Top 5 at State: Christian Wagner (2nd, 15:19) Ryan Hutton (10th, 16:04) Ryan Dixon (39th, 16:30) Ben Milroy (42nd, 16:31) Jonathan Rathert (46th, 16:34) After the previous season's runner up to Franklin Community, these Bulldogs got revenge. Perhaps the biggest significance about this team is that it gave Columbus North their first XC Title which helped give an extra boost in creating a true dynasty. #6 Carmel Greyhounds 2008 State Champions 100-110 over Fort Wayne Carroll Top 5 at State:
J.D. Smith (15th, 15:57) Dan Kinn (21st, 16:02) Tom Ohlman (27th, 16:06) Chris Walden (37th, 16:16) Dan Porter (39th, 16:18) While the Greyhound program is dominant, this was its lone state title this past decade. The team that was able to capture the crown deserves some respect. These guys made a tough run to get a national bid, and probably deserved one as well. They had plenty of guys go sub 16 throughout the season which sent an intimidating message to the rest of the state. While Honorable Mention Fort Wayne Carroll came down to Terre Haute with a purpose, they were not able to match the depth of front-runners that Carmel had put together. Warren Central 2005 State Champions 118-130 over Valparaiso NTN/NXN Qualifiers Top 5 at State: De'Sean Turner (2nd, 15:25) Ondraius Richardson (7th, 15:41) Tim Armstrong (40th, 16:16) Cody Smith (75th, 16:42) James Hodges (78th, 16:43) The warriors rolled through the season lead by tremendous front-running. Richardson was clutch at the state meet to help hold off the great pack of Honroable Mention Valparaiso. This was the first of a repeat title for the Warren Central Warriors. Tim Armstrong was the difference maker between this team and the '06 team as well. The team got 15th at the NTN meet. #4 Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs 2001 State Champions 91-106 over Columbus North Top 5 at State: Ryan Warrenburg (4th, 15:48) Colin Riessen (8th, 15:53) Jeffrey Powers (29th, 16:24) Bradley Wheeler (31st, 16:27) Jared Campbell (72nd, 16:55) This team is another group made up of great front-running power. This is just hard to match for any team as they get beat through two, and to have their top guys with the 3, 4 of the Grizzlies. FComm grabbed their first XC Title here. Valparaiso Vikings 2000 State Champions 79-111 over Carmel Top 5 at State: Joe Dillabaugh (11th, 15:51) Eric Fleming (14th, 15:55) Jeff Kent (18th, 16:00) Ryan Hopper (35th, 16:22) Matt Costakis (53rd, 16:32) This is an absolutely unreal Valparaiso team that put on a dominant performance at the state meet. With none in the top 10, the Vikings were sure to pile in their front three not far behind that and then Hopper and Costakis were able to finish well enough in the more crowded part of the race to give a fairly large margin of victory. Columbus North 2009 State Champions 63-131 Over Chesterton Top 5 at State: Andrew Diehn (9th, 16:23) Evan Scruton (17th, 16:37) Christopher Kelsey (18th, 16:40) Corbin Brooks (19th (16:41) Gabe Ocasio (22nd, 16:49) That's right, you got to see one of the best (and arguably the best) team of the decade this past season. Andrew Diehn and Chris Kelsey made major breakthroughs going into this season to truly make this team not only a contender, but a championship team. Somehow, this team remained underdogs until late into the post-season, and even then had some doubters. Columbus North 2003 State Champions 43-146 over Fort Wayne Northrop Top 5 at State: Christian Wagner (1st, 15:37) Ryan Dixon (11th, 16:01) Aaron Smith (19th, 16:14) Ben Milroy (21st, 16:15) Eric Cave (40th, 16:36) With the 6th lowest score ever in the history of our sport, and the widest margin of victory since 1980, the Bulldogs of 2003 are rated the #1 team of the past decade. First, with the front-running of Wagner, this team was only going to score 4 in nearly any meet, as Christian got 7th at Footlockers this year. The biggest thing is the dominant way that this team rolled over the state for a repeat title. | |