The road to the MaxPreps Cup championship ran through Georgia during the spring as 14 schools finished in the Top 100, led by Marist (Atlanta), which finished No. 1.

The War Eagles won three state championships in the spring and finished runner-up in three other sports to zoom past winter leader and 2019-20 overall champion Carmel. Marist finished with 2,196 points while Carmel came in second with 2,100. Westminster (Atlanta) was third with 2,078 points. In all, four schools from Atlanta finished in the top 10 with Pace Academy at No. 5 and Lovett finishing tenth.

One reason for the high amount of success in Georgia was the state's ability to field an entire high school sports school year. COVID prevented several states, including California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii, from holding any state championships in the 2020-21 school year while several other states in the Northeast fielded state championships only in the spring. As a result, states in the South dominated the MaxPreps Cup standings this year.

The MaxPreps Cup is an effort to rank the top high school athletic programs in the country. Points are awarded for state championships, state runner-up finishes and national rankings. Points are awarded based on popularity of sport, based on participation numbers, the size of the state, the size of schools in a playoff division and the number of teams participating in that playoff division.

Past MaxPreps Cup Winners
2012 — American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.)
2013 — Westminster (Atlanta)
2014 — Bentonville (Ark.)
2015 — Bentonville (Ark.)
2016 — Jesuit (Portland, Ore.)
2017 — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
2018 — American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.)
2019 — Jesuit (Portland, Ore.)
2020 — Carmel (Ind.)

The Top 100 teams in the MaxPreps Cup standings are listed with their final point total, and the number of fall, winter and spring state champions and runners-up.


9. (5) Bentonville (Ark.) —1,616
Fall state champions: Boys cross country, girls cross country, boys golf
Winter state champions: Boys swimming, boys wrestling, girls swimming
Spring state champions: Girls softball, girls tennis, girls track
