SI's Prep Top 50 (er...51)

Sports Illustrated has always been a great showcase of high school athletics, and in the Lebron era, this spotlight has only grown more bright. Accordingly, SI has recently stepped up it's coverage of prep athletes.

While this promotion of high school athletics is a mixed bag, I always look forward to SI's annual list of top prep sports programs. This year's list was no different. While my beloved alma mater, Chaminade, has yet to crack the annual list, there are a number of other schools with which I share tangential relationships.


A picture of the track would have been so much better

For instance, in Albuquerque, Mrs. Morganobrien.com and I would do our sprint training at La Cueva High School in the Northeast. I also covered the gridiron exploits of former La Cueva and University of Texas star Aaron Lewis for an award-winning piece in the Kirtland Air Force Base Nucleus (not kidding). I got a kick out of seeing that Falls Church's George Mason High is Virginia's representative, because that's where I do my sprint training now.


I had my camera the other day to get a picture, but I forgot the memory card

And while the 'Nade isn't on the list, our arch rivals, St. Anthony's, represent New York. A friend of mine argues that this is due to St. Ant's co-ed nature, they're able to compete in twice the amount of sports. Interestingly, I can't remember ever wrestling at St. Ants, all my matches against Friar opponents either came in the House of Noise or neutral sites during Leagues.

I have friends/coworkers that attended St. Ignatius and Regis in Ohio and Colorado, respectively. Which brings me to my next point--the Jesuits have heavy representation on this list--helming 5 schools (Regis Jesuit, Gonzaga, Jesuit, Rockhurst and St. Ignatius).

Overall, there is some heavy Catholic representation (I count 18 schools) on the list, with most coming from the diocesan ranks. In addition to the Jesuits, here are the other orders represented:

Don Bosco Prep- Salesian
Bishop Hendricken- Christian Brothers
St. Anthony's- Franciscan

I'm a huge proponent of Catholic education (especially single-sex), and think it's great (for the most part) that our sister institutions are so well represented on this list of national giants. That said, Catholic schools have a specific mission and athletics are only a part--a small part--of developing upstanding young men and women.

A friend of mine thinks that St. Thomas Aquinas (alma mater of the likes of Chris Evert and Michael Irvin) represents everything that can go wrong when Catholic education moves its focus from Jesus. In related news, and not that I'm competetive about these things, but so far as I can tell, John Curtis is the only "religious" (yeah right) affiliated school on the list in addition to the Catholics.

One final note, Punahou, President Obama's alma mater, is pretty badass and represents Hawaii.

State	School	Location
Alabama	Leeds	Leeds
Alaska	Dimond	Anchorage
Arizona	Hamilton	Chandler
Arkansas	Fayetteville	Fayetteville
California	Archbishop Mitty	San Jose
Colorado	Regis Jesuit	Aurora
Connecticut	St. Joseph	Trumbull
Delaware	St. Marks	Wilmington
Florida	St. Thomas Aquinas	Fort Lauderdale
Georgia	Collins Hill	Suwanee
Hawaii	Punahou	Honolulu
Idaho	Highland	Pocatello
Illinois	Central	Hinsdale
Indiana	Ben Davis	Indianapolis
Iowa	Ames	Ames
Kansas	St. Marys	St. Marys
Kentucky	St. Xavier	Louisville
Louisiana	John Curtis	River Ridge
Maine	Camden Hills Regional	Camden Hills
Maryland	DeMatha	Hyattsville
Massachusetts	South	Newton
Michigan	Muskegon	Muskegon
Minnesota	Eden Prairie	Eden Prairie
Mississippi	Sumrall	Sumrall
Missouri	Rockhurst	Kansas City
Montana	West	Billings
Nebraska	Millard West	Omaha
Nevada	Bishop Gorman	Las Vegas
New Hampshire	Salem	Salem
New Jersey	Don Bosco Prep	Ramsey
New Mexico	La Cueva	Albuquerque
New York	St. Anthony	Huntington
North Carolina	North Davidson	Lexington
North Dakota	Bismarck	Bismarck
Ohio	St. Ignatius	Cleveland
Oklahoma	Union	Tulsa
Oregon	Jesuit	Portland
Pennsylvania	Neumann-Goretti	Philadelphia
Rhode Island	Bishop Hendricken	Warwick
South Carolina	Bishop England	Charleston
South Dakota	Lincoln	Sioux Falls
Tennessee	Hillsboro	Franklin
Texas	The Woodlands	The Woodlands
Utah	Lone Peak	Highland
Vermont	Hartford	White River Junction
Virginia	George Mason	Falls Church
Washington	Skyline	Sammamish
Washington, D.C.	Gonzaga	Washington
West Virginia	Charleston Catholic	Charleston
Wisconsin	Arrowhead	Hartland
Wyoming	Southeast	Yoder

SI's Methodology: Whether it's school size or the depth of the regional talent pool, not all state champions are created equally.

After sifting through state tournament results for the 2008-09 school year, contacting athletic directors from top programs, examining all-around success rates as well as weighing the importance of producing star athletes and teams that excelled on the national level, SI.com has assembled a list of the top high school athletic program in each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.

Link: CNNsi