1. Mez Barth 12 (Stillwater):
This is a major change in our rankings from past weeks. Barth has put together a consistently great season, running under 16 every race. Despite having a personal best that is slower than a handful on this list, Barth has proven himself in head to head matchups. At Deer Creek, he did lose to Williams by about 12 seconds, but did beat Maasen, Jones, Kimery, and McKinney handily. Mez has also beat Matthias three times. Matthias is an athlete who has run 15:18 and beat Williams twice, so this is substantial. At Cowboy Jamboree Barth placed 5th overall and was the top Oklahoman across the line. His time of 15:48 was very fast, especially considering the difficulty of the course. In this race he out ran Matthias by about 26 seconds and beat Maasen by almost 40 seconds. The out of state athletes that finished ahead of Mez all have personal bests in the very low 15's this season. Barth beat athletes like Dylan Plath who has run 15:01 and Griffen Saacke who has run 9:05 for 3200m.
2. Zachary Williams 12 (Cache):
Williams had another great race at Chili Pepper and set a season best of 15:17. Williams could easily be number one, and it was a very close decision when making these power rankings. Williams has beat Barth once, beat Maasen once, but has lost to Matthias twice. This season Williams has run 15:30 twice, 15:21 twice, and 15:17. Williams is your likely favorite for the 4A title.
3. Dominic Matthias 9 (Moore):
Matthias is on another level right now. Putting together a freshman season of this caliber is unheard of for our state. With a personal best of 15:18, Matthias is a candidate to win the 6A title. His losses to Mez put it tough to put him at the number one spot, but he certainly has a case for it. For now, we decided to put Matthias at 3rd.
4. Brody Maasen 11 (Jenks):
Maasen came out of nowhere in track season and had a successful summer track season. That success hasn't gone anywhere this season, as he is one of the best runners in the state. Maasen's highlight was the Rogers State meet where he led the entire race and out kicked McKinney for 1st overall. Maasen set his personal best of 15:26 at that race, and has put together an array of impressive sub 16 performances.
5. Ethan Jones 10 (Cache):
Jones has put together a season of consistency. Almost every race he has run under 16, with a personal best of 15:36. It seems that every race Jones is in the mix in the top group. It is likely that Jones will place top three in 4A.
6. Clay McKinney 11 (Regent Prep):
McKinney has had a bit of an up and down season. He placed 30th at the Cowboy Jamboree, losing to a handful of athletes that didn't make this list. Regardless, his performance at Rogers State puts him in 6th on our list. McKinney ran a personal best at that race in 15:27. He is the leader of a good Regent Prep team and can mix is one of the best in the state.
7. Nelin Kimery 11 (Piedmont):
Kimery didn't have a great day at Chili Pepper this past weekend, but his overall performance this season has been impressive. Highlighted by a 14:58 3 mile, Kimery has been the top finisher in all but one race for a Piedmont boys team that is the favorite to win the 6A title. Kimery is a candidate to finish in the top five.
8. Charlie Ritchie 12 (Bishop Kelley):
Ritchie has had some great performances, and some alright ones. Despite some up and downs to his season, his performance at Rogers State puts him on this list. Ritchie placed 3rd overall behind Maasen and McKinney in a time of 15:32. If this list was based solely off of time Ritchie would be 5th in the state.
9. Ty Brooks 10 (Lincoln Christian):
Brooks has put together a great season once again highlighted with his performance at Rogers State. He placed 4th overall in a time of 15:39 and is the consistent top guy for a very good Lincoln Christian team. Brooks is a dark horse candidate to upset Zachary Williams at the 4A state meet.
10. Tesfaye Lire 12 (Guymon):
Lire won 5A pre state and continued that good performance into this last weekend. Down in Texas Lire ran 15:41, which puts him right in the mix for the 5A individual state title. Guymon has a history of showing up when it matters, and Lire is just further proving that. It will be interesting to see how his matchup with guys like Charlie Ritchie will go. The 5A state title race is set to be a fast one.
Best of luck to all the athletes the rest of this season and thanks for reading!
- Shawn Rutledge