Picking the top cross-country teams in the state before the season begins is never easy. A lot can happen over the course of three months. Athletes can experience breakthrough seasons, newcomers can emerge as key contributors, and, of course, injuries to important runners can quickly change the outlook for a team.
But we’ll do our best to set the stage for what we expect will be another exciting season on the trails. For some of the state’s top teams, the outlook appears fairly straightforward if everything goes according to plan. For others, however, the picture is far less clear, and where they’ll ultimately finish by season’s end remains anyone’s guess.
Beginning with No. 10 and counting down to No. 1, here’s our preseason ranking of the top 10 boys’ teams in the state. As always, if we’ve given your team a little bulletin-board material based on our rankings, you’re welcome. It certainly won’t be the first time.
(Above photo by Sterling Vernon @rhodeandtrack)
***
No. 8, Classical High
Last year’s results: Third (6-2), Suburban Division Championships; Sixth, RIIL Class A Championships; 12th, RIIL State Championships
Key returnees: Noah Johnson, Junior, 16:39.20; Evan Bubier, Junior, 16:54.30; Gabriel Niederman, Junior, 17:49.50; Jesse Lichtenstein, Junior, 17:59.10.
Outlook: Not much has changed from last year for Classical. Actually, nothing has changed, with all seven runners returning from a 2025 squad that was sixth at the Class A Championships and 12th at the State Meet. That’s a good sign for the Purple, a team that we feel can crack the top 10 for the first time since finishing fifth in 2019.
Leading the charge for Classical is Johnson, who was 27th at last year’s States with a time of 17:02.39. The talented junior ran a best of 16:57.88 at Ponaganset to take 17th at the Class Meet. Johnson proved during the track season that he’s capable of improving his time by a significant margin after running 9:09 for the 3K distance this past spring. Bubier went sub-17 on the lightning-fast 5K course at the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational in Cape Cod and ran a best of 17:41.17 on the Chieftains’ covered-bridge trail, an improvement of nearly a minute and a half from last fall.
Like most teams, the key for Classical this year will come from its fifth and final scoring runner. After Niederman and Lichtenstein posted high-17-minute clockings at the State Meet, Classical’s next finisher was more than a minute behind. Closing that gap will make a difference.
