What is this?New here? See how to read the rankings, with one example.
NovaRunners publishes independent statistical ratings of Virginia high school cross country: every rated run gets one number, comparable whatever the course or the day. The rankings below list each runner’s season best. Here is one row, for an invented runner, and what each part means.
EXAMPLE An invented runner and school, laid out as on the board. Each part is numbered to its note below. Hover, focus or tap a part or a note to light up the pair.
An example ranking row for an invented runner, with one example race line; each part is numbered to its note below.
Rank
Runner / school
Statistical Rating
Adjusted time
Adj. SE · grade
Reliable races
Season best from
12▲3 up 3 places since the previous board
Alex ExampleEXAMPLEExample High School
168.6+1.2
15:58.8
± 2.5 sB
3 of 4
Example Invitational · Sep 19
One race line, as a runner’s [+] list shows it:
An example race line for the invented runner; the season best is marked.
Date
Meet
Race
Time
Adjusted
Stat. rating
Grade
Sep 19
Example Invitational
Varsity Boys 5KSeason best
16:20.4
15:58.8
168.6
B
1Rank. The runner’s place on this board, among Virginia runners of the same sex and season. Searching or filtering never changes it.
2Movement. Places gained (▲) or lost (▼) since the previous board; NEW means the runner was not in its top 20. It appears after an update.
3Runner / school. The athlete, and the school recorded with the season best.
4Statistical Rating. One number for how fast the season-best run was, with the course and the conditions taken out, so runs on different courses compare. Higher is faster; 1 point is 3 seconds.
5Rating change. Points gained or lost since the previous board. Each update recalculates every race, so a runner who has not raced since can still move a little; ◦ marks them.
6Adjusted time. The same run as a time on one yardstick for every course; the rating comes from it. Lower is faster. It is not a predicted time.
7± seconds. How precisely the race was adjusted, in seconds at this runner’s time. Smaller is surer. It is not a range for the next race.
8Grade. The season-best race’s adjustment grade, from A (most precise) to E. It describes the race, not the runner; races graded A–C count as reliable.
9Reliable races. Varsity races graded A–C, out of every rated race this season. A runner needs two to be ranked (one in a season still in progress).
10Season best from. The meet and date of the run behind the rating. On the board, a linked meet name opens that meet’s results.
11Season best. The marked race is the one the board ranks. Each runner’s [+] opens every rated race of the season.
12Time. The finish time in the meet’s results, before any adjustment. Here the race ran slow, so the adjusted time is faster.
How it works explains how each rating is built, step by step.
THE LEADERBOARD
Boys · 2026
Data through · Updated
This week, , The VA XC Showcase 2026 joined the meets that set the boys’ scale, which moved every boys rating by −2.2 points; the season scale moved every boys rating by +2.6 points; the changes shown leave that out.
Copy link to the 2026 boys’ leaderboard
20 of 20 rows · 411 eligible athlete-seasonsRegular season · Statistical Rating: higher is faster · adjusted time: lower is faster
2026 boys rankings: the first 20 eligible athlete-seasons. Each runner row is followed by a list of every rated 2026 race.
Rank
Runner / school
Statistical Rating
Adjusted time
Adj. SE · grade
Reliable races
Season best from
01– same place since the previous board, rating −0.9
In each runner’s race list, Time is the finish time, Adjusted is the finish time on one yardstick across courses (not a predicted time), and Grade is the race’s adjustment grade; underlined headings sort the list.
Movement since the previous board (data through Oct 10, 2026 · updated Oct 11, 2026): ▲ places gained, ▼ places lost, – same place; NEW not on that board’s top 20. A signed number beside the rating is its change in points since that board, leaving out this week’s scale move stated above. ◦ No new race since that board. 3 runners from that board’s top 20 are not on this one.
Statistical Rating = 489.011 − adjusted seconds ÷ 3, shown to 0.1 point (1 point = 3 s). Each season has its own K (K by season). Ranks use unrounded adjusted times, so runners with the same shown rating stay in unrounded order. Filtering keeps each runner’s original rank. To qualify, a runner needs a verified Virginia profile and one reliable varsity race; a runner with one rated race so far is marked “1R”. Out-of-state runners appear on meet pages only. These are observed season bests, not predictions of a runner’s next race. 3,190 athlete-seasons in this sex and season would otherwise qualify but are left out because their affiliation is unresolved. How the rating is built
Provisional: the 2026 level can move as later meets are added. Partial 2026 season: 18 meets from Sep 4 to Oct 17, as of Oct 18, 2026. Lower-tier races stay in the fit but give no mark (a meet's boys races when no boy there rated above 170, its girls races when no girl rated above 100): all races of 4 more meets, and the boys races of 2 of the 18. Eligibility is a verified Virginia profile. Not statewide coverage: a Virginia runner who ran none of these meets, or whose profile is not verified, is not on the board. See the 18 meets counted on the 2026 meets page. Missing a meet? Tell us.
Statistical Rating. Higher is faster: points = K − adjusted seconds ÷ 3, so 1 point = 3 s; shown to 0.1 point, with a dash below 0. K is set for each sex and season so that our ratings sit on TullyRunners’ scale at meets both systems rated.Adjusted time. The finish time with the race adjustment taken out, then moved by half of a typical runner’s fitness gain or shortfall for its date, counted from late September. Lower is faster; it puts every course on one yardstick and is not a predicted time.Time. The finish time in the source results, before any adjustment.Date. The day the race or meet was run, from the source results.Meet. The meet’s name in the source results. It links to a meet page when we have one.Rank. Place among this sex and season’s verified runners, from unrounded adjusted times. Filtering keeps each runner’s original rank.Runner / school. The runner, and the school listed with their season best. The school does not decide Virginia eligibility.Adj. SE · grade. The ± is the typical error in the season-best race’s adjustment, scaled to this runner’s time; it is not a range for their next race. The grade rates that race on its ± at 20:00, not on the runner’s: A under 3 s, B 3 to under 6 s, C 6 to under 12 s, D 12 to under 25 s, E 25 s or more, unavailable or unidentified.Reliable races. Varsity races graded A–C, out of all rated races this season. A runner needs at least two to qualify (one in a season still in progress).One race. This runner has one rated varsity race this season so far, so the season best rests on it alone.Season best from. Where and when the season best was run: the lowest adjusted time from any identified varsity race. A best from a D or E race is flagged.Race. The race title as recorded; it can differ from the modeled distance. A JV race is rated only when its meet has a varsity race of the same sex and distance, and never counts as a season best; open races are not rated, and Varsity B races, a JV variant, are left out.Grade. How sure we are of the race’s adjustment, from its ± at 20:00: A under 3 s, B 3 to under 6 s, C 6 to under 12 s, D 12 to under 25 s, E 25 s or more, unavailable or unidentified. It grades the race, not the runner.