The Top 50 American scholastic field hockey teams of 2003
Whew!
After loads of research, stacks of paper, and deliberations in the office, our list is complete, including a few "Bear In Mind" candidates that should not be forgotten.
Our list includes, as per usual, as many champions as we can stick on it; like the USA Today football, this site consults with a network of writers, considering quality of competition in the state or league, the quality of individual talent, and, when all else fails, gut feeling.
Of course, to make the compilation of these kinds of surveys easier in the future, I hope to see school athletic directors and state athletic bodies allow field hockey teams to create challenging non-league schedules and to foster more inter-state competition instead of throwing up roadblocks.
| School | State | Record | Notes | |
| 1 | Voorhees Eastern | NJ | 23-0-1 | Federation-record unbeaten streak now at 114 |
| 2 | Kingston Wyoming Valley West | PA | 20-1-1 | Got OT goal to best Hummelstown Lower Dauphin |
| 3 | Marathon | NY | 23-0 | Winning streak presently at 68 |
| 4 | Mountain Top Crestwood | PA | 22-3 | Elvetta Gemski's crew part of impressive District 2 sweep |
| 5 | San Diego Scripps Ranch | CA | 25-0 | Exner's 67 shutouts now a national record |
| 6 | Wilmington Tower Hill | DE | 20-0 | Team now has 14 state championships |
| 7 | St. Louis St. Josephs Academy | MO | 18-3-1 | Defense, OT goal bests John Burroughs |
| 8 | Richmond Collegiate | VA | 20-0 | 6-0 win over Midlothian James River made a statement |
| 9 | Moorestown | NJ | 20-0-2 | OT win gives Quakers 14th state title |
| 10 | Fairfax W.T. Woodson | VA | 21-1-1 | First Northern Virginia team to win AAA in 15 years |
| 11 | Dedham | MA | 23-0-1 | Got by Smith Academy in state final |
| 12 | Hummelstown Lower Dauphin | PA | 26-2 | HOF coach Kreiser couldn't win third title |
| 13 | Severna Park | MD | 18-1 | Seized 3A title game before 23 minutes elapsed |
| 14 | Durham Academy | NC | 17-1 | Won championship with victory over CCDS |
| 15 | Worcester Notre Dame Academy | MA | 22-1-1 | Dominant throughout Division II playoffs |
| 16 | Gahanna Columbus Academy | OH | 18-1-1 | Bested Toledo Ottawa Hills in final |
| 17 | Oley Valley | PA | 26-3-1 | Late OT break leaves Lynx wanting |
| 18 | Lakeville Hotchkiss School | CT | 19-0 | Dominant force in Western New England prep league |
| 19 | East Chapel Hill | NC | 14-1 | Spearheading growth of the sport in Carolinas |
| 20 | Emmaus | PA | 22-4-1 | Young team almost made it to AAA final |
| 21 | Rye | NY | 23-2 | Great tactical team won "B" title |
| 22 | Dexter | ME | 18-0 | Viazie's retirement a threat to 63-game win streak? |
| 23 | North Salem | NY | 16-3-2 | Gave Marathon all it could handle in B title game |
| 24 | Oak Park River Forest | IL | 19-2-4 | Did the necessary things to win states |
| 25 | Skowhegan | ME | 16-0 | Thumped Portland Deering 5-0 in final |
| 26 | Madison | NJ | 21-3 | Got by Allentown 2-1 in Group II final |
| 27 | Ann Arbor Pioneer | MI | 17-2-4 | Bested Huron for state title |
| 28 | Martinsville Pingry School | NJ | 19-3-2 | Won Group I title game without goal in the run of play |
| 29 | Mountain View St. Francis | CA | 16-2-1 | Jenna Long a key in first Central Coast crown |
| 30 | Salem | NH | 16-0-1 | Edged Timberlane in Class L final |
| 31 | Allentown | NJ | 20-2 | With just four seniors, a threat for 2004 |
| 32 | Hartford | VT | 15-2 | Took Division I title with great passing team |
| 33 | Louisville Assumption | KY | 24-0 | Strong senior class brought second straight title |
| 34 | Washington Warren Hills | NJ | 17-5-1 | Gave Moorestown a tremendous match |
| 35 | Pomperaug | CT | 20-0 | Outlasted Guilford 1-0 in Class L final |
| 36 | St. Louis John Burroughs | MO | 20-4 | Deserved a better fate |
| 37 | Shrub Oak Lakeland | NY | 22-2-1 | Danielle Fiore the power on the circle |
| 38 | Carlsbad La Costa Canyon | CA | 20-5 | Topped Rancho Buena Vista in Division I final |
| 39 | New Egypt | NY | 15-1-3 | What do Warriors have for an encore? |
| 40 | Silver Spring Springbrook | MD | 15-2 | OT result vindicates area youth development programs |
| 41 | Branford | CT | 17-0-2 | Terrorized all other Class M opposition |
| 42 | Woolwich Kingsway | NJ | 20-1-3 | Draw with Eastern snapped win Vikings' win streak at 92 |
| 43 | Englewood Kent Denver | CO | 17-0 | Won title 1-0 over Greenwood Village Cherry Creek |
| 44 | North Kingstown | RI | 16-1-2 | Skippers bested Lincoln for Division I title |
| 45 | Oklahoma City Casady | OK | 14-1 | Took SPL title in 1-v-1 shootout from the 25 |
| 46 | Dover St. Thomas Aquinas | NH | 14-1 | Faced 24-round penalty corner tiebreaker in tournament |
| 47 | South Kingstown | RI | 16-3-1 | Upset Woonsocket 1-0 in overtime of Division II championship |
| 48 | Mount Abraham Union | VT | 12-1-4 | Got it done with perseverance |
| 49 | Newport Beach Newport Harbor | CA | 20-1 | Beat favored Harvard-Westlake with late goals |
| 50 | Woonsocket | RI | 18-2 | First title match in 26-year history of team |
AND BEAR IN MIND: Virginia Beach Princess Anne (Va.) 14-5-2, Palmyra (Pa.) 21-4, Flemington Hunterdon Central (N.J.) 21-2-1, Greenwich (Conn.) Academy 15-2, Wissahickon (Pa.) 20-3-1, Granby (Conn.) Memorial 12-5-1, Lawrenceville (N.J.) 14-3, St. Louis Mary Institute-Country Day School (Mo.) 19-3, Radnor Archbishop Carroll 13-4-1, St. Louis Lafayette (Mo.) 21-4, Philadelphia Germantown Friends School (Pa.) 8-6-3, The Episcopal School of Houston (Texas) 10-4, Concord Middlesex School (Mass.) 13-0-3, Philadelphia George Washington (Pa.) 14-0, University School of Milwaukee (Wisc.)