Where are the freshmen??

[libfan]

I thought it was interesting that there was only one freshman on the 2008 XC rankings....Katie Todd from Century. Bob, isn't there usually more than that?

[CoachSpongeBob]

Last year the county was very young, and with so much talent coming back, it makes it very hard for freshman to come in and make noise. Most teams in the county brought back a lot from last year.

It's funny though, cause i noticed the exact same thing. If you look at the top 20 times from 2a, there is also only one freshman on the list. I think it just points back to the amount of talent coming back.

I like to look into this more, but I have a theory I am working on. In stronger programs, I have noticed that less freshman make an impact (not none, just less). While at a county championship you might see more freshman making impacts then at the state level. Even more so, there are more freshman that make an impact at the 1a state meet then the 4a (there are still freshman that make an impact) and in fact you see more seniors making an impact in 4a then in 1a. I have noticed this with a lot of the results I have been putting up on carroll county running.

I have some theories that I am going to explore some. I think there is a reason for this. Just interesting things to note for now.

[CoachSpongeBob]

So I did my thing with numbers, and I thought this was kind of interesting (maybe I am the only one).

I went back over the last 9 years of XC State Championships in Maryland. I looked at the girls top 10, top 20 and state champions and their grade levels. I was able to find almost all the kids grades (just missing 3 girls that finished in the top 10 over the last 9 years - that is 357 out of 360, and missing only 5 girls grades out of the top 20 - that is 715 out of 720 I got).

What I found interesting was that there was a steady rise each year in the amount of each grade the placed in the top 10 and top 20. For instance, in all the girls that have finished in the top 20 at states in the last 9 years, 121 freshman girls have done it (the least of any grade) while 204 senior girls have (the most of any grade). For top 10, it was nearly identical numbers for juniors and seniors (105 and 104 respectively) well ahead of the other 2 grades.

The other thing I found intersting was the difference in classes. As you got to the bigger classes, freshman were less a factor and seniors were more of a factor. 37 freshman placed in the top 10 for 1a and 2a combined, while only 23 placed in 3a and 4a combined. On the flip, 44 seniors placed in the top 10 for 1a and 2a, while 60 placed in the top 10 for 3a and 4a. The same thing occurs with the numbers for top 20.

I find it interesting only because I have some people say that girls have a tendancy not to improve each year, but these numbers seem to show that is not true, especially in the larger schools. While you will see more freshman competing on varsity teams for girls then boys (the number of freshman girls that compete at states compared to boys isn't as big a difference as many would think), by in large, the top girls improve each year (with the help of good coaching).

A good example is Alison Smith of Atholton. As a freshman she took 2nd in the state in 20:29, and almost every year she ran faster, winning the state title each of the next 3 years (her senior year she actually ran 5 seconds slower then her junior year, but she won by 27 seconds)

[CoachSpongeBob]

Oh, and just as a note - Junior Girls won the most state titles over the last 9 years with 15 state titles. Seniors close behind with 12. Sophomores won 6 and 3 freshman won state titles.