Oklahoma 4A Cross Country Final Rankings 2022: Byng’s Girls Shock the Poll, Lincoln Christian’s Boys End the Drought

The final 2022 4A poll, posted September 25th, is a case study in halves. Boys: Lincoln Christian No. 1, and Lincoln Christian won state with 80 — their first 4A team title since 2019. Girls: Lincoln Christian No. 1, and the champions were Byng, with 108 points, from the No. 5 slot. One side prophecy, one side fantasy. Let’s take them in order.

The boys’ poll deserves its flowers. Lincoln Christian, Cache, Plainview, Bethany, Byng — and Lincoln Christian ended a three-year drought with 80 points. The individual title stayed home too: Andrew Smithwick won the 4A boys’ race in 15:28.53, leading his team to the crown. When your No. 1 team also has the individual champion, the poll isn’t predicting — it’s reporting.

Now the girls, where the poll face-planted. Final order: Lincoln Christian, Pauls Valley, Cache, Anadarko, Byng. State meet: Byng 108, champions. The fifth-ranked team won the whole thing, and 108 points says it wasn’t a fluke — that’s a pack running like it had somewhere to be. The voters had Byng behind four teams it proceeded to beat. That’s not a near-miss; that’s a different sport.

Here’s the cruelest detail: Pauls Valley — the poll’s No. 2 — went 1-2 individually, with Isabella Gutierrez winning in 12:00.42 and Kenzie Readnour second in 12:11.31. The two fastest girls in 4A ran for the same team, and that team finished fourth. Fourth! With the 1-2 punch! If you ever need a one-race explanation of why cross country is a team sport, frame this one. Two superstars, zero trophy.

The rest of the girls’ poll: Plainview, Kingfisher, Sulphur, Madill, Jay. Boys: Seminole, Marlow, Sulphur, Cascia Hall, Bridge Creek.

2022 4A: Lincoln Christian’s boys ended the drought exactly as forecast, Byng’s girls won from nowhere, and Pauls Valley proved — painfully — that the two fastest runners in the class are worth exactly two low numbers. The poll got the easy half right. The hard half is why we watch.

Final poll via ohstrack.com (2022); state results via the OSSAA championships recap.