High School Harrier

NXN is as much of a PR event for Nike as it is a national championship. Sometimes it seems they'll make business decisions for the event to keep it the primary XC event. Once again I'm sure this will not be the actual 4 teams picked, though.

For one, I have yet to make sense of how NXN picks their at large teams, so it's not like there is a rubric to follow, but mainly because you have a team who could have a low stick in the single digits at nationals and why wouldn't Nike want that?

Here's a fun bonus rankings on this Thanksgiving week! This is how I would rank the NXN field for boys this year based on their regional finishes. Obviously CA still racing. I gave SW 2 at large spots and one to NW. Also gave one to Belen. Thoughts on at large spots as follows:

footlockercc.com Sad times for the sport. So many great memories from this event. Amber Trotter in 2001 and Ritz v Webb v Hall in 2000. Personally competing at the South meet while in high was a great experience. Anyone have a favorite FL memory?

@AdamKedge @eric13hill Coach, I'm not Marc Bloom. If I recall correctly his magazine Harrier ended around 20 years ago or so.

@HSHarrier @eric13hill Are you Marc Bloom? Or am I confusing HSHarrier with his old publication.

Due to academic commitments this fall I have not been able to work on rankings, but @eric13hill has put together rankings based on season performances which I have retweeted for you guys to check out. We'll know soon what the completed NXN field looks like.

@eric13hill @PrepCalTrack @vistanationxc @eric13hill I think this highlights the disparity between NE and NY regions and the rest of the country right now quite well. I think the committee should consider combining the region at some point in the future.

@eric13hill @PrepCalTrack @DougSoles I think these do a good job of showing who the top teams for at large consideration should be. Despite a poor showing at NXR, I also think Vandegrift should be a shoo-in for top 10, and could be a top 5 team if they show up in Portland.

South Boys Rankings 1. Southlake Carroll TX 2. Austin Vandegrift TX 3. Jesuit LA 4. Bentonville AR 5. Deer Creek OK 6. McKinney Boyd TX 7. Lucas Lovejoy TX #nxn #nikesouth #xc #crosscountry

South Girls Rankings 1. Flower Mound TX 2. Southlake Carroll TX 3. Lucas Lovejoy TX 4. The Woodlands TX 5. NW Nelson TX 6. Aledo TX 7. St. Joseph's LA #nikesouth #xc #nxn #crosscountry

Coming up this weekend are the first 3 Nike regionals; Northwest on Saturday, Heartland and Midwest on Sunday. #nxn #crosscountry #xc #highschool

While Mt. Vista dropped from the rankings after state, the results seem to indicate it was an "off day" and barring injury, it's very possible for them to bounce back to top 3.

Girls National Rankings 1. Air Academy CO 2. Niwot CO 3. Lone Peak UT 4. JSerra CA 5. Lovejoy TX 6. Tatnall DE 7. Ventura CA #nxn #xc #highschool #crosscountry

No movement in boys National Rankings from 2 weeks ago although with states coming up for many teams I expect to see some shifts.

Boys National Rankings 1. American Fork UT 2. Herriman UT 3. Southlake Carroll TX 4. Belen Jesuit FL 5. Christian Brothers NJ 6. Dana Hills CA 7. Downers Grove North IL #crosscountry #nxn #nationals #xc

National Girls Rankings 1. Niwot CO 2. Air Academy CO 3. Mt. Vista CO 4. JSerra CA 5. Lone Peak UT 6. Tatnall DE 7. Ventura CA #nationsls #xc #crosscountry #highschool

How many times does your team plan to race this year including the post season? #nxn #runninglane #aau #usatf #crosscountry #xc #highschool

Boys National Rankings 1. Herriman UT 2. Southlake Carroll TX 3. American Fork UT 4. Belen Jesuit FL 5. Great Oak CA 6. Christian Brothers NJ 7. Downers Grove North IL #nxn #rankings #crosscountry #nationals #running #xc