The battle for the top spot in the 4A division on the boys' side may once again come down to a tight race between Coronado High School and Thompson Valley High School. At the state meet last year, Thompson Valley won by three points over Coronado. What gave Thompson Valley the edge was their tight spread of only 32 seconds between their 1-5 runners. Though Coronado also had an impressive spread of 58 seconds, it was not enough to beat Thompson Valley. The story may be the same once again.
On paper, Thompson Valley currently has a 37.96 second spread from their top returners. Coronado's spread is 2:05, which a huge spread can be detrimental in a large competitive race. Bigger gaps means more runners from other teams to fill in those gaps, causing the Cougars' score to go up. Coronado's strength is their top three runners, however. Again, on paper, their top three runners are ahead of Thompson Valley's first runner. This is only based on personal best times, so still take these standings...