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National Team Rankings - 11/26 Boys - XC - DyeStatPublished by
Regional meets shake up the order
By Paul Schmitz for DyeStat
It was a wild week at the NXN Regionals. The Woodlands TX boys survived a mud bowl to win the South with in-state rival South Lake Carroll coming in second. It is tough to know just what to take from the times given the conditions, but SLC closed a 79-point defeat to The Woodlands at the UIL state meet down to just 19 points at the regional. Given the possibility of wet conditions in Portland, SLC should have a shot of confidence heading to NXN.
The Southwest finish was even crazier than the Texas mud. Only one point separated the top three teams and even the fourth place finisher has a decent shot at an at-large bid. Even though Mountain View Colorado won the meet with 108 points, we are going to give a one spot advantage to Timpanogos UT in our rankings. We think Timpanogos front runners William Handley and Joe Benson have a chance to run away from the Mountain View pack so we are giving them the nod by a razor thin margin. The tough luck third-place team was Lone Peak UT. We believe Lone Peak is deserving of an at-large bid and we are ranking them right behind Timp and MV with only their lack of depth at the sixth and seventh spots keeping them behind those two.
To make things even more complicated, fourth place American Fork actually had the lowest five-man team average time thanks to the strength of front-runner Casey Clinger and his 14:42 finish. This will make for an interesting conversation for the at-large committee. Their fourth place finish in this race filled with ranked team (they beat former #5 Davis UT and former #15 Lehi) bodes well and AF's performances compare well against top teams from other regions. So far we only have third place finishers Lone Peak and Edina MN ahead of AF on our rankings for at-large contenders.
We are sticking with Sandburg as our US#1, but it is a very thin margin over Great Oak CA. We are knocking the Midwest down just a bit this week. Neuqua Valley IL is back in our rankings at 16th, close to where it started the season. An impressive second place finish sent them to Portland. The third place finisher in the Midwest, Lyons Township IL has a great portfolio for an at-large bid as well. Lafayette MO's fourth place finish in the region has it on the verge of elimination.
Teams that just missed our top 30 but still have a chance to represent their regions in Portland include St. Xavier KY, Needham Broughton NC, Trinity Prep, FL and St. Anthony NY.
The Top 30, 11/26
1. Sandburg IL
2. Great Oak CA
3. Hopkins MN
4. Downingtown West PA
5. Christian Brothers Academy NJ
6. Liverpool NY
7. Fayetteville-Manlius NY
8. Dana Hills CA
9. Edina MN
10. The Woodlands TX
11. Don Bosco Prep NJ
12. Wayzata, MN
13. Timpanogos UT
14. Mountain Vista CO
15. Lone Peak, UT
16. Neuqua Valley IL
17. La Salle Academy RI
18. American Fork UT
19. Lyons Township IL
20. Summit OR
21. East Aurora NY
22. Marietta GA
23. Dulaney MD
24. Madera South CA
25. Bozeman MT
26. Old Bridge NJ
27. Mount Tabor NC
28. Jesuit CA
29. Lafayette MO
30. Southlake Carroll TX More news |