Boys Cross Country - Records & Results | Boys Cross Country | Sports | Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association

Boys Cross Country History

The WIAA goes back to 1913 to determine its first boys cross country tournament champion. Milwaukee Riverside was the first team champion. Otto Andel of Milwaukee North is credited with winning the first individual title as the first high school runner to cross the finish line that season.

Milwaukee Normal School (now University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) conducted the first State meet and the next 22. The meet has been staged in 13 different locations, including Milwaukee (four different sites), Madison, South Milwaukee, Whitefish Bay, Hartford, Kettle Moraine, Wausau, Kenosha, Wisconsin Dells and presently Wisconsin Rapids, where it has been since 1988 with the exception of 2020 when the championships were raced at Arrowhead High School for Division 1, Colby High School for Division 2 and at Maple Grove Venues in West Salem for Division 3 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was one class of competition until 1933, when for two years it changed to two divisions. The format reverted back in 1935 because of insufficient school participation until 1949 when it returned to two classes. It became three classes in 1956 and has remained at three except in 1968, 1969 and 1970 when it was two classes. Terminology was changed to Divisions 1-2-3 instead of Classes A-B-C in 1990.

Milwaukee Riverside not only won the first championship, but also the next seven, as well as six more from 1923 to 1928. Darlington also won six straight championships, capturing Division 3 titles from 2011-16.

Riverside has won the most championships with 16, and all of them were won between 1913 and 1936. Stevens Point has 14 titles, and South Milwaukee is next with 10. Shorewood has nine State team titles, and next on the list are Darlington and Madison West with eight; Fennimore has seven team titles; Albany, Milwaukee Bay View and Valders have six; and Cochrane-Fountain City, Milwaukee Washington, Port Washington and Whitefish Bay have five.

Only seven boys have won three individual championships. They are Jim Brice of Wrightstown (1975-77), Paul Voss of Clinton (1977-79), Phil Downs of Madison Memorial (1989-91), Chris Solinsky of Stevens Point (2000-02), Tyson Miehe of Darlington (2011-13), David Vannucchi of Luther (2016-18) and most recently Manny Putz of Onalaska (2022-24). There have been an additional 32 boys in Wisconsin who have won two individual titles.

Milwaukee Riverside has produced the most individual champions with 10, followed by South Milwaukee with eight and then Shorewood and Stevens Point with seven. Madison West has produced six. Menomonee Falls North and Milwaukee South have produced five individual champions, and Boscobel, Madison Memorial, McFarland, Port Washington and Whitefish Bay have claimed four individual championships. Individual titles have been won by runners from 134 different school programs.

State Results Archive

Boys Cross Country History

Tournament Series Results