Oklahoma 5A Cross Country Final Rankings 2020: The Poll Was a Mirror and the Chalk Held

If the 2020 5A poll has a flaw, it’s that it was too good — there’s nothing to argue about, and arguing is half the fun. Boys’ poll, posted October 6th: Piedmont No. 1, and Piedmont won state with 52. Girls’ poll, posted November 10th — a full month later, which tells you everything about how that season went: Bishop Kelley No. 1, and Bishop Kelley won with 70. The poll’s No. 1s swept. In 2020, that was as good as it got.

The individual champion was Sapulpa’s Stailee Heard. Sapulpa was No. 3 in the girls’ team poll — so the fastest girl in 5A ran for the third-ranked team, which is the kind of detail that keeps polls honest.

The rest of the boys’ poll: Tahlequah, Guymon, Bishop Kelley, Santa Fe South, Sapulpa, Guthrie, Duncan, Elgin, Mt. St. Mary, Tulsa Edison, McGuinness, Durant, Classen SAS, Carl Albert, Collinsville. Girls: Noble, Sapulpa, Coweta, Tahlequah, Piedmont, Carl Albert, McGuinness, Santa Fe South, Collinsville, Mt. St. Mary, Guthrie, Lawton Ike, Elgin, Durant, Claremore, Pryor, Tulsa Edison, Shawnee, Woodward.

2020 5A: the poll was a mirror, the season was a minor miracle for happening at all, and Piedmont’s boys and Bishop Kelley’s girls made the chaos look orderly. Sometimes the chalk holds, and in 2020, chalk was a comfort.

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.