Top XC Teams – Legacy Ratings

For decades, coaches in our state have enjoyed seeing how their team ranks on a historical basis. For many years, the vehicle was the “Top Teams of the Decade” that had been devised by Kermit Ambrose in the early 1960s. But as our sport grew, the shortcomings of that tabulation became apparent. For instance, a team placing 11th at state (a fantastic result!) got zero points. And teams that had to move into a different class/division lost all their points, which denied recognition to programs like Saugatuck that bounce back and forth between divisions through no fault of their own.

The Michtrack Legacy Ratings debuted in 2019. They reflect the school’s legacy at the state finals over time, no matter what division they were in. The ratings include all teams that get a team score in the finals and give a truer measure of a school’s strength or even dominance. The formula is simple: 1 point for competing in the finals, and 1 point for every team beaten. So the winner in a 27-team final gets 27 points, while last place gets 1 point. Very simple. And rankings can be generated for any time span: 1922 to the present, or 2000 to the present, or a decade listing, the 2020s, for instance.

Here, schools are listed by their current division (and please correct me if a few are in the wrong division here–though it doesn’t change their scores).