Oklahoma 2A Cross Country Final Rankings 2020: The Worst Ballot in the Rewinds

The final 2020 2A poll, posted in mid-October, is the worst ballot in these rewinds — and given the season, that’s almost understandable. Almost. Girls’ poll: Hooker No. 1. Champions: Watonga, 55 points. Boys’ poll: Hooker No. 1. Champions: Carnegie, 73 points, from the No. 4 slot. The poll’s No. 1 went 0-for-2, and the boys’ champions weren’t even in the poll’s top three.

The girls’ race: Watonga 55, defending the title it had won in 2019 by a single point over Hooker. So the poll’s No. 2 was the defending champion, and the voters still picked Hooker. That’s not analysis, that’s recency bias with a ballot. And here’s the twist: Hooker’s Hollie Stalder won the individual title in 12:06.71. Hooker had the fastest girl in 2A and still lost the team race to Watonga. Pack beats star, again, forever.

The boys’ race: Carnegie 73, Calvin 83. The poll said Hooker, Timberlake, Calvin, Carnegie. The champions came from fourth, beating the poll’s No. 3 by ten points. Carnegie put three runners in the top 20 — the classic 2A formula: no superstars, no weaknesses.

The boys’ individual champion: Merritt sophomore Riley Herndon, 17:10.08. Merritt was No. 12 in the team poll. The fastest boy in 2A ran for the twelfth-ranked team. At this point in the rewinds, this isn’t a trend, it’s a law of nature: the individual race doesn’t care about your ballot.

The rest of the girls’ poll: Watonga, Waurika, Boise City, Cherokee, Laverne, Warner, Velma-Alma, Rush Springs, Merritt, Balko, Tushka, Okemah, Oklahoma Christian Academy, Minco, Hollis, Buffalo, Mooreland, Beaver, Carnegie, Chelsea, Oktaha, Hobart, Oklahoma Bible Academy, Goodwell/Texhoma, Tonkawa, Geronimo, Silo, Ryan, Ft. Supply, Okeene, Turpin, Lomega, Stroud, Sweetwater, Rattan. Boys: Timberlake, Calvin, Carnegie, Mooreland, Oktaha, Oklahoma Bible Academy, Oklahoma Christian Academy, Chouteau-Mazie, Lomega, Buffalo, Merritt, Warner, Goodwell, Stroud, Ft. Supply, Waurika, Walters, Tushka, Kremlin-Hillsdale, Geronimo, Laverne, Boise City, Latta, Hollis, Drumright, Fairview, Silo, Beaver, Wister, Hobart, Burns Flat-Dill City, Wright City, Stuart, Rattan, Braggs.

2020 2A: the poll went 0-for-2, the defending girls’ champions were ranked No. 2 behind the team they’d already beaten, and both individual champions ran for teams ranked 4th and 12th. The voters had a strange season to work with. The runners didn’t care — they just raced.

Final poll via ohstrack.com (2020); state results via the OSSAA championships recap. The 2020 season was run under COVID restrictions, with a patched-together schedule.