By Jon Mahoney & Ben Sylvan, Special to SI.com, RISE
To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of SchoolSports/RISE, we ranked the top 10 high school athletes of the past decade.
During the past decade, only Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods have dominated their competition the way LeBron did in high school. LeBron was a two-time National Player of the Year who led St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) to three state titles and a mythical national championship before becoming the first pick of the 2003 NBA Draft.
Before she became an Olympic medalist, Felix dominated the high school track scene by winning five state titles while at L.A. Baptist (North Hills, Calif.). As a senior, Felix broke Marion Jones' high school record in the 200 meters (22.52) and was named Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year.
Mauer might be considered MLB's top young hitter today, but as a senior at Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.) he was considered the best high school athlete in the country. Mauer starred in football, basketball and baseball and became the first USA Today National Player of the Year in two different sports (baseball and football).
Coughlin set national prep records in the 100-yard backstroke (52.86) and 200-yard individual medley (1:58.45) before graduating from Carondelet (Concord, Calif.). Coughlin, who went on to win two gold medals at the 2004 Olympics, was named Swimming World Magazine High School Swimmer of the Year as a sophomore and qualified for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials as a senior.
Webb graduated from South Lakes (Reston, Va.) as one of the top high school runners in history. As a senior, Webb set national prep records in the indoor mile (3:59.86) and outdoor 1,500 meters (3:38.26). But his crowning achievement that year came when he broke a 36-year-old high school record in the outdoor mile (3:53.43).
Parker graduated from Naperville Central (Naperville, Ill.) as a back-to-back USA Today and Gatorade National Player of the Year. The hoop standout also won the dunk contest at the 2004 McDonald's All-American Game before becoming the first woman to dunk in an NCAA Tournament game as a redshirt freshman at Tennessee last year.
Oden is simply the best high school big man of the past 10 years. A defensive force who once blocked 18 shots in a game, Oden led Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.) to three consecutive state titles and was a two-time USA Today and Gatorade National Player of the Year. He's now a freshman at Ohio State.
Pressel was not yet a high school senior when she cruised to the 2005 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship title and finished second at the 2005 U.S. Women's Open. When she wasn't golfing against the likes of Annika Sorenstam, Pressel was busy winning three state titles before graduating from St. Andrew's (Boca Raton, Fla.) and turning pro.
Leak graduated from Independence (Charlotte, N.C.) as the gold standard for high school quarterbacks. Now a star at Florida, Leak threw for a national record 185 career touchdowns while leading Independence to three Class 4A state titles. Leak also finished his prep career second all time in career passing yards and total yards.
The USA Today National Player of the Year in baseball as a senior at Brighton (Brighton, Mich.), Henson set national records for career home runs (70), grand slams (10) and RBI (290). Henson, whose homer record has since been surpassed, was also a Parade All-American in football as a senior.
