Does Hereford have an advantage at the State XC Championship? 

Does Hereford High School have an advantage at the State Championship? 

After a discussion at the appellate court at Utica Park, the Supreme Court has granted certiorari and decided to take up this case.  The case in question concerns whether or not Hereford High School maintains an advantage at the State Cross Country Championships due to the fact that this is their home course.  The question that shall be addressed and ruled upon is:  Does Hereford High School have an advantage at the State Championship meet due to the venue?  

History of the State Championship Meet 

The State Cross Country championships have predominantly been held at Hereford High since 1980, with the exception of the years 1991, 1992, and 2013.

The course itself largely remained the same from 1990-2010, when construction of the water tower in 2011 changed the beginning of the race.  The state championship was held at McDaniel in 2013, while the course at Hereford thereafter saw significant changes due to remodeling of the school and fields. 

Team Analysis 

This analysis of both the Hereford girls’ and Hereford boys’ success at the state championship meet will be analyzed from 2010-2019. In order to determine the full results of a season, we will look at five results per year to get a more significant look at each year’s team and corresponding results.  For each squad, we will look at results from:  a random invitational to compare Hereford to other schools on a course besides Bull Run; Bull Run results to compare Hereford to a larger field; county championship results; regional results; and finally we will look at the results of the state championship meet and see how that fits into the larger picture.

Hereford Girls 

Hereford Boys 

Individual Analysis 

Outside of team success, we also take a look at individual success for more data to determine whether or not Hereford has an advantage at the state championship meet due to venue.

Hereford Boys  

Hereford Girls 

Conclusion 

While the court recognizes the geographical training advantage (which is not limited to the Bull Run course) of the Hereford High School cross country team, the justices on this bench have ruled in majority that Hereford does not have an advantage at the state meet due to venue. As seen in our analysis, having the state meet at Hereford does not preclude other teams or individuals from winning titles.  The success of the Hereford girls compared to the Hereford boys also indicates the course itself does not determine success at the state championship meet.  If the course gives an advantage, the boys’ and girls’ success should be more balanced.  A few notable figures include: the Hereford boys have no top 25 individual finishers in the past four years at the state meet;  the Hereford girls finished fifth in 2012 at Hereford and in the following year won the state title at McDaniel;  the Hereford girls won all ten regional championships in the past decade.  Furthermore, not extraneous to the case at hand, the Walter Johnson girls won five consecutive 4A titles from 2013-2017.  The court asks:  What advantage did Walter Johnson have during those years?  The results from both the Hereford boys and Hereford girls teams throughout their respective seasons are in line with their post seasons results, more specifically the state meet.  The Court does not have enough evidence to overturn precedent.  Thus, the state meet shall remain at Hereford.

It is so ordered.

Questions, concerns, corrections, dissents, and applications to join the Supreme Court may be sent to louisfoudos@gmail.com.