Introducing the Newest Leaderboards: Illinois STAR Teams!

Batavia boys took home the 3A 1st place trophy last year on the strength of many events. But will they prove to be the deepest and most well-rounded team in 2023? 

It's a dilemma as old as track time itself: do the trophies at the state track meet actually go to the "Best Teams?" What even are the best teams? At the state meet, the point totals for teams represent their strength at the top of the rankings, but many squads who display depth throughout all their events are not reflected in the point totals since only nine performers can score anything. Perhaps you believe that sectional scores are more representative of the overall strength of a team, even if your team did not get qualifiers in every event. If the scoring system at state will never change, then how can all-around strong teams receive the recognition they deserve?

This year, we are introducing a new type of leaderboard that will try to do just that! These rankings will be called the STAR Team Rankings.

The concept is simple! These rankings will be a regularly-updated article that will rank teams by their overall event depth. This will be measured by how many events each team has at least one performer beyond the 2023 1A automatic qualifying standard (AQ) for that event. The 1A standards are chosen as the most accessible set of non-arbitrary standards that many teams can work to achieve. Every team will have a score between 0-18. If a team has at least one performer beyond the AQ, they will get, and keep, a point for that event for the whole year. Having more than one performance beyond the AQ will not affect a team's 0-18 score. 

Here is some more information about these new rankings in FAQ form:

What performances will be included in the STAR team rankings?

Performances must be done by athletes representing their school at an in-state IHSA event during either the indoor or the outdoor season to count in these rankings. Only performances that are included in the MileSplit database, or performances manually submitted by coaches via Twitter, Instagram, or raymond.j.lewis67@gmail.com, will be included. Performance can be FAT or hand-timed but must be wind-legal. 

Indoor and outdoor performances will be included, but only the 18 outdoor events will be included. There will not be conversions from 55m, 60m, 55mh, 60mh, 300m, 500m, 600m, or 1000m. Mile and 2 Mile conversions to 1600 and 3200 will be used.

Why is this called STAR team rankings?

Teams can achieve '2023 STAR Team' status by hitting the 1A AQs in at least 14 out of the 18 events. All teams that achieve STAR Team status during the year will receive a feature on the website that will highlight all the individual performances that helped that team achieve STAR Team status. All the 2023 STAR Teams will be featured in a summary article at the end of the season too. 

STAR Team isn't the highest accolade you can achieve, however: any team that hits 14 2A AQs will be lauded as a DOUBLE STAR Team. And you guessed it--if any team hits the 3A AQ in 14 of the 18 events, they will be a TRIPLE STAR Team. TBD on the award for that incredible honor.

Emmi Scales (left) and Mary Grace Hegberg combined to give St. Viator 44 points at the 2022 2A state meet. Ali Rapps was part of a well-balanced Geneseo attack that scored 47 points across eight events, a perfect example of how the state meet scores only tell a partial story.

What about Power Rankings?

They aren't going anywhere! We will still regularly publish the Power Rankings as the rankings that project finish order at state. Of course, the Power Rankings and the STAR Team rankings will be different each week, since the depth and top-end strength do not always correlate. 

How can I make sure my team gets included in these rankings?

We will keep close tabs on all performances, especially the teams who rise to the top of the rankings. But regardless of wherever your team falls, if you want to see where you stand, make sure to reach out on Twitter, Instagram, or email (raymond.j.lewis67@gmail.com). 

What are the marks that will be used for STAR Team Rankings?

As previously stated, the 2023 1A IHSA Automatic Qualifiers are the marks that will be used for all teams, 1A, 2A, and 3A. Those marks are listed below.

All marks are from the proposed standards from the 8/31/2022 Advisory Board meeting minutes.

When can we expect the first set of rankings?

Look ahead to February after a few weeks of competitions have gone underway to put some performances under teams' belts.