Is Anna Cockrell The G.O.A.T in NC?

Aug 05, 2016

As I mentioned on Monday, the discussion for the Greatest Of All Time (the "G.O.A.T.") can be highly subjective. What standard do you use to evaluate something like this? For this week's series of articles, we chose to focus primarily on all-time state records as listed on NCPrepTrack.com. Using state records allows us to compare athletes across generations, and it also measures the breadth of an athlete's ability. To earn a state record in one event is outstanding; to earn multiple state records in several events is even more amazing. Also, the all-time records are inclusive, crossing all classifications and sanctioning bodies in our state, which means everyone gets held to the same standard.

Other thinkers and writers might decide to use a different set of criteria. For example, you could tally up the number of individual state championships an athlete won. The problem with that, in my opinion, is that it doesn't adjust for the level of competition an athlete faced: how do you compare someone with, say, 10 1A state championships to another athlete with 8 4A state championships? Is it fair to count only outdoor championships for NCISAA athletes like Cockrell, who do not have a sanctioned indoor state championship, against combined championships for NCHSAA athletes, who have many more opportunities to win?

The point of all this: there is no right or wrong way to answer a question like this. it's OK if one person's choice for G.O.A.T. is different than mine. Of course, as the author of the article, I get to put my list in print! If you disagree, I encourage you to research and compile your own list, and send it to Jason Creasy (or post it in the forum if you prefer).

Well, maybe there ARE some wrong ways to answer the question. By popularity, for example - although it's natural to want to vote for an athlete that you know and love, that wasn't the purpose of this poll.