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1988

1988 National High School XC Rankings

"To look back for a while is to refresh the eye...to restore it and render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward"

If you have ever been a part of a state championship team you know the feeling of accomplishment accompanied with victory. Each year there come very special programs across the country whom step beyond simply winning and into a realm of total domination. It is in these moments of triumph that the questions of a teams "greatness" are raised. Extraordinary accomplishments that warrant recognition and validation to set in stone once and for all, their XC Legacy.

(Recap) In 2004 Nike changed the face of prep cross country with the implementation of Nike Team Nationals. After decades the hopes and dreams of avid cross fans were finally realized. Hosted by Nike, NTN allowed the top xc programs in the nation to compete in one true national championship race at Portland Meadows. Many state associations do not allow prep teams to travel so teams register as clubs in order to compete in this post season event.

The true excitement of national team cross country stardom began with the publication of the Harrier magazine in 1974. The Harrier was the premier national high school cross country report. In 1989 Marc Bloom's Harrier magazine began publishing the Harrier Super 25 National XC Rankings. It was this publication and the excitement it created that would play a part in inspiring the formation of Nike Team Nationals. The Super 25 Rankings allowed teams around the country a national forum and an opportunity to win the coveted Harrier Super 25 National XC Championship released through the Harrier report.

Delving back in time, it is clear that the Harrier was a source of inspiration for teams throughout the country before those first national rankings in 1989. From 1980 until 1988 teams throughout the country competed at a national championship level without the recognition as true national cross country champions. Track & Field News used to have the "National Postal Competitions". In these events five runners on a team would compete in a two-mile on the track. For this reason, York, IL, has claimed that they own the national championship every year from the late 1960's until 1989. This is quite perplexing considering cross country is not a track event and not all cross country runners participate in track. What is clear is that York is not the only team to have dominant programs before 1988.

XC Legacy is going back to the years from 1980 until 1988, seeking to fill in those missing seasons with national rankings based upon individual team xc performances. We will begin with the boy's national champions from 1980-1988, releasing a new story until we complete this important time period in prep cross country. Perhaps now a spotlight can rest on those teams who deserve recognition for superior national performances.

1. Mead, Washington: The Co-National Champions

There are few in the world of high school cross country who are not familiar with the names Pat Tyson and Mead High School.  For the last two decades they have exemplified the pinnacle of excellence for this sport claiming an improbable 14 state titles in a 21 year span (9 in a row 88'-96').  In 1993, the Harrier Magazine crowned Mead National Champions.  That was a team featuring three Foot Locker finalists in their varsity squad and is considered as the single greatest squad of all time.  However, the run of 14 state titles in 21 years began 5 years prior in 1988, with an equally impressive squad, also featuring a duo of Foot Locker Finalists and the inspiring philosophy of a lost brother.

“Go out Hard, Take Charge, and Have Fun”

That was the motto of Matt Zweifel, who was destined to begin the 88’ season on the varsity squad.  According to Coach Pat Tyson, “Matt would have been our 3^rd runner”, however tragedy struck and Matt passed away following a fatal traffic accident.  Just days prior Matt had penned a hand written note to Coach Tyson stating:

“Mr. Tyson,

            Thanks for choosing me for Spring Leadership Camp.  I hope that next cross-country season I can use the knowledge I’ve learned to make the team better.  (Although were already going to be the best.) It was a great experience teaching me to work better as a group instead of as an individual.

                                                Thanks a lot for everything,

                                                Matt “Baby Huey” Zweifel

Go out Hard, Take Charge, and Have Fun was his inspiring message left to a stunned team and coach.   However, perhaps no one else would have been as prepared by destiny to assist those young men to overcome such a loss as Pat Tyson was in 1988.  You see, only a decade earlier he had lost his best friend, the spirit of his team, known to the world simply as Pre.  To Pat, life is energy and the ability to channel it correctly is the difference between success and failure and following Pre’s death he sought to take Pre’s spirit to everyplace and everyone he met.  That was Pre’s legacy and Pat Tyson’s commitment to it.  With the loss of Matt, the team and coach pulled together, they made a commitment and began a season which undoubtedly established the foundation of the great tradition we know today simply as Mead. 

A tradition and spirit began with Steve Prefontaine and Matt Zweifel, with a team and coach unified in the spirit of loss, courage and hope.  Mead is spirit and perhaps no program in the country has as much of a claim on that as the program out of Spokane, Washington.  Prophetically he was right, that seasons Mead squad would be the best, in the state of Washington and Nationally as the 1988 XC Legacy National Champions.  As his mother expressed in a heartfelt letter prior to the seasons start regarding the season dedication to him, “Matt must be so proud, as we are, his life touched so many in such a positive way, we love him and miss him”. 

Pat Tyson, "The accident happened after the Clear Lake camp in August, it was shocking because of his love, passion, and spirit. Everyone loved Pre's spirit and everyone loved Zweifel's spirit. He was a kid who endured."

Running with the Best

Interestingly enough, the first individual state title winner for the State of Washington went to Frank Knott of Mead High School in 1959.  In 1988 Mead was led by defending state champion and Foot Locker Finalist Chris Lewis who would later that spring go on to run 8:48 for two miles and post the nations fastest mile in 4:04.  He was accompanied by future Footlocker Finalist (1989) Greg Kuntz, future state Mile Champion (1990-4:10) and future Washington State University super steeplechaser Nathan Davis (older brother of Matt and Micah Davis), Yukon Degenhart, Rod Howell, Erik Johnson, and Rick Willett.  Yukon gaining notoriety for running a 4:29 mile in the 8th grade as well as beginning the pink argyle socks trend that symbolized the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Mead squads.  Following this they began painting their shoes, a tradition which quickly spread across the northwest and nation throughout the 1990’s as the Mead program reached astronomical heights of success.

Pre sparked Oregon, Zweifel Sparked Mead

Capping a phenomenal undefeated season, the squad of harriers posted a team average of 14:55 over the difficult 3-mile state course defeating cross town rivals Ferris High School 43-115 and posting a state record team time of 74:39.  Amazingly, Ferris who placed second to Mead was led by another Foot Locker All-American, Stuart Burnham (7^th 1989).  In 1988 Mead was simply unstoppable and unbelievable, with even the renowned 1993 squad, labeled nearly indisputably as the greatest of all time only besting the overall team time state record by one second, posting 74:38.   In 88' there was something special underneath the surface and that was the inspiration and influence of Matt Zweifel, the heart of Mead.  In the letter from Zweifel he stated that he hoped the knowledge he had learned would help the team, 1. Go out hard, 2. Take Charge, 3. Have Fun, this was his motto, and are principles that have inspired over two decades of dominance and he certainly has touched so many in a positive way by contributing immensily to the foundation for Mead's first National Championship and legacy of excellence.

 ACTUAL 1988 PAPER CLIPPINGS DOCUMENTING THE SEASON COMING SOON!

1. Cincinnati Elder, Ohio: The Co-National Champions

Ohio cross country has carried a legacy all its own. The home of legendary Olympian Bob Kennedy, Ohio stands as a beacon for the sport of prep cross country. In 1982 a team from Cincinnati set sail on a remarkable season. Led by Hall of Fame coach Steve Spencer the Panther's almost capped a perfect season and finished 2nd in the national rankings. It would be 6 years later that a new team would emerge to complete what that '82 team fell short of, a National Championship.

In what can be called one of the great seasons in Ohio cross country history, Cincinnati Elder went 170-0 in dual meet scoring and swept through the season in national championship style. This season, it was Cincinnati Elder who would claim the title as Ohio's best and National Champions.