Rankin is a defending South Jersey Non-Public individual champion. He ran a winning time of 16:06 in November at Delsea.

Rankin also finished fifth in the state Non-Public A championships last year in 16:34. He was 14th - seventh among nonseniors - in the Meet of Champions in 16:18.

A Washington Township resident, Rankin has been running cross-country since seventh grade at St. Lawrence School in Lindenwold.

Question: Did you like cross-country right away?

Answer: It took a little while. I really fell in love with it my freshman year at Paul VI when I got the sense of the team aspect of the sport.

Q: How many miles do you run a week while you're training?

A: Around 50 or 60.

Q: Where's your favorite place to run?

A: I like to run at Valley Green in Philadelphia. I like Fairmount Park. Wissahickon Creek is probably my favorite. We run there on Sundays, and you can go miles and miles and always see something new.

Q: What's in your iPod?

A: I don't wear my iPod when I'm training, but I listen to music before races. Usually something calm like Elliott Smith, and then when the race gets closer I'll listen to Coheed and Cambria.

Q: Cross-country is partially an individual sport and partially a team sport. How do you balance that?

A: I'm very much into the team aspect. I feel like if I'm improving, the team is improving. If I'm out front and there's three guys following me and then three guys following those three, if I run better, everyone runs better. It's the same with everybody on the team. We push each other along.

Q: What are your plans for next year?

A: I'm not sure yet. I'm looking at La Salle, Temple, Philadelphia University. Maybe a couple others. I want to stay in the Philly area, and I definitely want to run in college.

Q: What's your favorite subject in school?

A: History. I'm like a history buff, especially American history, learning about the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.