We wanted the list to be objective as possible and the first step was to narrow the list down to a manageable number of athletes to review. We decided that the fairest way to do this was to set some standards for consideration. If you met one of these standards, you were included in our list to review. Here are the four standards.
1. Ranking in the AA-A All Time Top Ten High Point list using Inclusive or Exclusive Methods.
2. Being ranked in the AA-A All Time Top Ten in more than one event.
3. Winning the state meet high point award more than once.
4. Scoring 25 points or more for the decade high point scoring.
This left us with a list of 25 athletes to review. Once again, our goal was to be completely objective so we set to creating a formula for ranking the athletes selected by the above criteria. Details of the scoring system and a full list of athletes and scores are included below. Here are the top ten athletes of AA-A.
AAA All Time Top Ten List
1. Steve Taylor - St. Marys (1980-1983)
2. Scot Jemison - St. Marys (1979-1981)
3. Tony Belt - Berkeley Springs (2003-2005)
4. Mike Barrows - Magnolia (1995-1997)
5. Randy Jamison - Big Creek (1979-1981)
6. Mikey Cox - Athens (1990-1993)
7. Jon Huffman - Ritchie (1997-1999)
8. Eric Knapper - Dunbar (1984-1986)
9. Lloyd Galloway - Liberty Raleigh (1980-1983)
10. Brad Keys - Winfield (2001-2004)
The Athletes were ranked using the following scoring system.
Total List Points + (Number of Events x 3) + (Number of All Time Marks x 2) + Number of Decade Marks + (State Meet Points Scored / 10) = Ranking Points
Total List Points - Points were given for each mark on the all time list using the 10,9,8...1 scoring system. That means if you were second in the All Time AA-A Long Jump and fifth in the All Time AA-A 200 Meters, you were given 15 points (9 for 2nd and 6 for 5th). Points scored in relays were not counted for these points as it was deemed unfair to those athletes that had less talented teammates than those that might have had a lot of help on the relays.
Number of Events - For each individual All Time List the athlete made in their class, they were given 3 points. If an athlete had 3 marks all on one list, they were given 3 points. If another athlete had marks on 3 different lists, they scored 9 points. The reasoning behind this was that an athlete would score more points for a team if they were great in multiple events than if they were great in only one. A coach would rather have an athlete that was among the greatest of all time in 3 events than one who was the best of all time in one event.
Number of All Time Marks - For time an athlete's name was listed on an AA-A all time individual list, they were given two points. The reasoning behind this was that we wanted to close some of the gap between a person who had one mark in the top ten (1st for 10 points) and another person who had two marks in the top ten (8th and 9th for 5 points). The person who turned our marks good enough for the all time top ten list in multiple years would have benefited their team more than a person who only did it once (no matter how good they were).
Number of Decade Marks - For each time an athlete's name made a decade top six list, they were given one point. The reasoning behind this was that this helped give some extra credit to athletes who just missed the all time top ten but still had an outstanding time.
State Meet Points Scored - For each point the athlete scored at the state meet they were given .1 ranking points (also known as points scored divided by 10). This was designed to give additional points to those athletes that may have not been great at a third or fouth event, but were good enough to gather places in a state meet. It also benefited those that were very good for multiple years of their career. The factor of dividing by ten was added so that this score would not tip the balance of the rankings.
Here are the athletes and their scores.
Rank Name TLP NE TM DM SMP RF Reason 1 Steve Taylor 35 3 5 5 82.5 67.25 1,2,3,4 2 Scot Jemison 28 2 4 5 50 52.00 1,2,3 3 Tony Belt 26 2 3 4 55.5 47.55 1,2 4 Mike Barrows 22 2 3 4 58 43.80 1,2,3 5 Randy Jamison 17.5 3 3 3 40 39.50 2 6 Mikey Cox 12 3 3 5 71.5 39.15 2,3,4 7 Jon Huffman 16 2 3 4 61.5 38.15 1,2 8 Eric Knapper 19 1 2 4 78 37.80 1,3,4 9 Lloyd Galloway 16.5 2 3 3 54 36.90 1,2 10 Brad Keys 15 2 2 4 62 35.20 1,2 11 Chris Claudio 18 2 2 2 42 34.20 1,2 12 Robert Painter 16 2 2 2 39.75 31.98 1,2 13 Larry Brandon 11 2 2 4 60 31.00 2 14 Paul Reed 7.5 1 2 6 102.5 30.75 3,4 15 Josh Watson 10 2 2 4 64.5 30.45 2,4 16 Scott Gemberling13 2 2 2 51 30.10 2 17 Odie Rakes 7.5 2 2 5 69 29.40 2,3,4 18 Tott Mitchell 8 2 2 3 67 27.70 2 19 Josh Natali 10 1 2 3 67 26.70 4 20 Quenton Steptoe 8.5 2 2 2 34 23.90 2 21 Donald McDowell 10 1 1 2 49.25 21.93 1 22 Lloyd Thomas 9 1 1 1 23 17.30 1 23 Kerry Marbury 1 1 1 5 62 17.20 4 24 Tom Still 1 1 1 2 72.5 15.25 4 25 Andrew Benford 0 0 0 2 89.5 10.95 4 TLP = Total List Points (See Explanation Above) NE = Number of Individual Events on All Time List for AA-A TM = Total All Time Individual Marks on All Time List for AA-A DM = Total Number of Decade Individual Marks for AA-A SMP = State Meet Points Scored HS = High Points Scored in any one state meet (FYI Only, did not effect rankings) RF = Ranking Factor. This score dicatated where the athlete was ranked. Reason = Why the athlete was considered for the list. 1 = All Time AA-A Top Ten High Point Athlete 2 = Being ranked in the AA-A All Time Top Ten in more than one event 3 = Scoring 25 points or more for the decade high point scoring. 4 = Winning the state meet high point award more than once. (2000 Decade not yet eligble due to only two years for 25 points in a decade purposes)