
* In 2015, Arcadia's (CA) Phillip Rocha was one of six boys to break 15 minutes for 5K through the month of September
Photo Credit: MileSplit Colorado
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Ten years ago, just six boys in high school cross country had broken the 15-minute threshold for 5,000 meters through the month of September, and that was across the United States.
Today?
With one weekend and six days left in the month, that number has skyrocketed to 46, a 666-percent growth rate over 10 years. That number is sure to change by week's end.
We also looked at the amount of boys who have broken 16 minutes in the 5K over that same span. In 2014, that number was at 660. Ten years later, it's ballooned to 1,447.
High school cross country has increasingly gotten faster at the highest levels, across both genders.
While boys improve at higher volume more often than girls, girls are also generally getting better, too. Girls have seen a 300-percent bump in the amount of girls under 17 minutes over the last 10 years, while that pe...