Heartland 1s: Edina boys, Willmar girls

The Heartland Boys

By Paul Schmitz 

Coming off a year with three qualifiers and two teams in the top 10 at NXN, the Heartland boys is region on the rise. Looking ahead to 2015, there are two looming questions here: Can anyone compete with the teams from Minnesota and could this be another NXN wildcard year?  

1.  Edina MN:   One of the great stories of NXN last year came from the Edina boys.  They didn’t qualify for their own state meet last year getting beat out in sections by Wayzata and Hopkins.  They regrouped and finished second in the Heartland and then placed ninth at NXN.  They return a deep and balanced team.  

2. Hopkins MN:  They lost star Joe Klecker to Colorado but return their next five.  Not the deepest team on the list, but only five scores get counted.

3. Wayzata MN: The second place finisher at NXN lost a great class to graduation but also has great depth and a potential one point scorer in Jaret Carpenter

4. Prairie IA: The team to beat in Iowa returns its top two (Jake Moore and Tysen Vandraska) and the back of their lineup is is balanced and deep.  This could be their year to get back into the No. 1 spot in Iowa after winning in 2013 and finishing second in 2014 to Linn-Mar.

5. Millard West NE: The second best team in Nebraska last year returns all of its top seven.  The tight pack of their top six will need to move up if they want to compete with the teams above them on this list.

Watch list:  

Bismarck ND

Madison La Follette WI

Cedar Falls IA

St. Thomas Aquinas KS

Dowling Catholic IA

Stillwater MN

Washburn SH, Minneapolis MN

Sioux Falls Roosevelt SD  

Linn-Mar IA   

Grinnell IA   

Manhattan KS   

The Heartland Girls

By Adam Kopet

The strength of the Heartland comes from Minnesota. In 2013, Wayzata, on the frozen turf in Portland, won the National Championships. They followed that up with sixth place last year. However, this may be the season where another team from Minnesota comes to the forefront.

1. Willmar MN: The Cardinals return six runners from their 14th place finish at NXN a year ago. With a strong pack of five athletes, they are well placed to improve. And without a senior in their projected varsity lineup, Willmar's success can only grow.

2. Edina MN: The Hornets beat Willmar by two points on the way to second at the Minnesota AA state meet in 2014 but then missed qualifying for NXN by placing third at regionals. Returning the bulk of last year's varsity, Edina will be in a strong position to stamp its ticket to Portland.

3. Wayzata MN: The former national champions graduated their top runner, but they remain formidable. The Trojans are led by the duo of Michaela Keller-Miller and Annika Lerdall, who will be looking to make their fourth straight appearance at Nike Cross Nationals.

4. Forest Lake MN: Last year, the Rangers finished off the podium at their state meet and the Heartland Regional. Returning their entire varsity lineup, they are in position to move up the leader board. However, without the teams in front of them faulting, it may be difficult to crack into the top three.

5. Urbandale IA: The J-Hawks will be looking to break up the Minnesota party at this year's regional. After a second-place finish at last year's Iowa Class 4A championships, they are back and dominated by seniors. This may well be the best chance the J-Hawks will have in making a splash on the regional and national scene.

Watch list:

Minnetonka MN

Johnston IA

Whitefish Bay WI

St. Thomas Acquinas KS

Marshall MN

The Road to Portland and the Introduction of the 2015 Dyestat Nike Regional Rankings.

The DyeStat regional rankings offer a glimpse of who we think has the best chance to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore. on Dec. 6.

As such, the "regions" are established by the nine areas created by Nike for their qualifying purposes. There have been slight variations to this configuration over time but since 2008 they have remained consistent:  New York, given its dominance in the sport over the years, is a region unto itself.  California, given its massive population and success, is also a region and its qualifiers come from a power merge at the conclusion of the CIF state championships. The rest of the country is divided into 7 areas:

The Southeast:  Delaware, Maryland, Virgina, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and District of Columbia.

The South:  Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Mississippi.

The Heartland:  Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The Midwest:  Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.

The Northeast:  New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

The Southwest:  Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada.

The Northwest:  Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. 

These regional meets are open to any high schools from its corresponding states. If there is high demand, selectors ensure that the top teams are guaranteed a spot in the championship race.   The top 2 teams in each of the eight regions and the top 2 teams from the California merge all automatically qualify for NXN.  Nike also invites the top five individuals from the nine regions.  In addition to the automatic qualifiers, there is a committee that selects the next four deserving teams in the nation, bringing the total of participating teams to 22 each year.  

Every two weeks on Dyestat, Paul Schmitz (boys) and Adam Kopet (girls) will examine each region and make predictions about which teams are most likely to auto qualify for NXN. It is a big country to cover and we welcome your feedback. DyeStatCal editor Erik Boal handles the California rankings.