Oklahoma 4A Cross Country Rankings: Week 4 (Sept. 28, 2026)

The 4A poll dropped its Week 4 edition, and it comes with the oldest argument in cross country: what actually makes the best team? Cache is the fifth-ranked boys team in the class. Cache also enrolls the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 8 individual runners in 4A. If that looks like a math problem, pull up a chair — the answer is the sport itself.

Up top, Byng holds No. 1, followed by Sulphur at No. 2 and Bridge Creek at No. 3. OCS is fourth, then our friends from Cache at No. 5. Weatherford, North Rock Creek, Bethany, Heritage Hall and Perkins-Tryon round out the top ten.

Now the individuals. Etahn Jones of Cache is No. 1 at 15:37, run at Deer Creek way back on August 22nd — and keep that number in your pocket, because it is the fastest top-ranked time in any Oklahoma class we have covered so far this season. Teammate Dylan Lawlor is No. 3 at 16:16. Tyler Rumble, also Cache, is No. 8 at 16:48. Three of the top eight, one school, ranked fifth as a team. Meanwhile the No. 1 team in 4A, Byng, does not place a single runner in the individual top eight — their best is Landon Luna at No. 9 in 16:52.

Here is the thing the rulebook will tell you if you actually read it (we did): team rankings are not the sum of your front-runners, and they were never supposed to be. Five score, the sixth and seventh displace, and the poll — like the state meet itself — rewards the best pack, not the best individuals. Byng’s one-through-five compression is apparently elite enough to hold No. 1 without a single runner in the individual top eight. Is that the right philosophy? Reasonable people can argue it all the way to November. But it is not an error; it is a value judgment. Cache’s gripe is not with the poll’s math — it is with the poll’s values. And there is exactly one way to settle that argument.

Behind Jones: Isaac Anderson of OCS is No. 2 at 16:11, Jayden Polk of Purcell No. 4 at 16:25 from Pre-State, Morgan Brown of Sulphur No. 5 at 16:28, and Keon Lackey of Weatherford No. 6 at 16:33 from Hennessey just last Saturday. Bentlee Hernandez of Clinton (No. 7, 16:44) splits the Cache duo.

The girls’ poll, mercifully, adds up. Sulphur is the No. 1 team and backs it up with Jayden Lee (No. 3, 12:04) and Hensely Jarman (No. 5, 12:07) in the individual top five. Byng sits No. 2 as a team and boasts the individual No. 1: Caris Tilley, 11:51 at Norman on August 15th — a mark that has stood untouched for six weeks. Bridge Creek is No. 3 on both sides, the model of consistency. OCS fourth, Metro Christian fifth.

Jacey McGee of Stilwell is No. 2 at 12:01, Pippin Gormley of Mannford No. 4 at 12:04 from Holland Hall, and the OCS duo of Joplyn Gribble (No. 7, 12:17) and Violet Russell (No. 8, 12:21) gives the Eagles two in the top eight. Morgan McNutt of Bethany (No. 6, 12:14), Chloe Coenen of Plainview (No. 9, 12:28) and Brooklyn Moore of Heritage Hall (No. 10, 12:33) complete the top ten.

So the girls’ poll is a picture of order and the boys’ poll is a philosophy seminar. Cache — if you are reading, and somebody in that field house definitely is — the poll did not disrespect you. It just graded something different from what you are best at. Go grade it back in November. Nothing settles an argument like a trophy.

Rankings via ohstrack.com, updated September 28.

Correction (Sept. 30): an earlier version of this post framed Cache’s No. 5 team ranking as a poll error. Per OSSAA scoring rules, it is the sport working as designed — the debate is about philosophy, not math. The Red Dirt Runner regrets the mispriced outrage.