[Blue_Blinker]

You are correct, the rankings here are totally by time, and the courses around the state vary. The courses in Lexington and Louisville tend to be very fast and very flat. I find the kids from Nky run very hilly courses and are ranked lower going into the state meet, but tend to pass many kids in the rankings at state. I believe the hilly courses better prepare them come state. I would think the south eastern teams would have some more challenging courses as well.
The Trinity Valkyrie race usually brings PR's for many, many runners. It is a fun race for kids to post fast times, but you can't really judge the kids with the rest of the state from that race.

You're exactly right sstack. Valkyrie has set a patter of amazing PR's that are usually never reached again, at least that's what I've observed the last few years. I don't want to take anything away from Brown's time though...he's the real deal and has been throughout his career.

Pulaski is an extremely hilly course, I was surprised by the times run by the field that day, as I was there watching my daughter compete. I'm happy to see some mountain kids climbing in the rankings...anything that can help the sport grow in our area is a good thing.