Boys Regional Rankings, 11/5

By Paul Schmitz for DyeStat

Heartland

Minneapolis Washburn stunned the state of Minnesota with its second place finish in Section 6AA and stopped nationally ranked Edina and Wayzata from qualifying for the state meet.  Given the the head-to-head victory Washburn moves to the No. 2 spot in the region, but something tells us Edina is prepared to pull off a comeback at the Nike Heartland regional meet on Nov. 15 and secure an NXN bid. Dowling Catholic took care of business in the Iowa state meet with a win over preseason Watchlist team Cedar Falls High. Cedar Falls only lost to DC by 10 points and could make things interesting in Sioux Falls as well. Another team to watch in the region continues to be Nebraska state champion Millard West.  MW’s top 4 can run with the top teams but the gap needs to close between 4 and 5.

1. Hopkins MN

2. Minneapolis Washburn MN 

3. Dowling Catholic IA

4. Edina MN

5. Wayzata MN

Midwest

Last week we had Carmel IN ranked 21st in the national poll. After the Greyhounds' win Saturday at the Indiana state meet we are ready to move them up. They appear ready to compete with Sandburg and Lafayette for one of the top two spots in the Nike Midwest Region. Carmel is led by individual state champ Ben Veatch (14:59 5K).  Lafayette qualified for its state meet with Devin Meyrer (15:56) and Alec Haines (16:12) finishing 1-2 in the regional.  However, Lafayette needs to close its gaps to catch Sandburg or hold off the teams positioned behind. That competition includes St. Ignatius OH, which placed five in the top 10 of its region and qualified for this week's Ohio state meet. Neuqua Valley slides from this list with the loss of their No. 1 runner Connor Horn to injury but the team still managed a 15:36 average at the West Aurora Region to qualify for the Illinois state meet and should be very competitive.  Along with favorite Sandburg and new regional No. 5 York, Neuqua Valley, Hinsdale Central or Lyons Township could return to the list after the very competitive Illinois state meet.  

1. Sandburg IL

2. Lafayette MO

3. Carmel IN

4. St. Ignatius OH

5. York IL      

Northwest

The top teams from Washington appear to be rounding into shape and ready to compete regionally. Class 4A No. 1-ranked Tahoma looks improved over the past few weeks.  Class 3A No. 1-ranked North Central had an impressive victory over No. 2 Kamiakin in the regional match-up with a 16:20 5K average as the team prepares for this weekend's state meet. Washington will look to prove our rankings wrong at NXN Northwest.  

Bozeman MT vaults to No. 1 spot this week with its 33-point finish in the Montana state meet. The Hawks put five in the top 12 and had an impressive 15:22 average on the 3-mile course at Great Falls. A potential sleeper in the region is a team from our preseason Watchlist, Hellgate from Missoula, Mont.  Hellgate finished second at the Montana state meet with a three-second spread among the top four. If that pack moves up, it could be dangerous. Also making the grade this week is Summit OR, the 5A state champion, Crater OR, the 5A runner-up, and Central Catholic OR, the 6A champion.     

1. Bozeman MT 

2. Summit OR

3. Crater OR  

4. Central Catholic OR

5. Mountain View ID

South

After maintaining that Southlake Carroll was the top team in the South all season, we're starting to like The Woodlands a little bit better. The Highlanders have been running too fast to ignore and they move up to the top spot in the region. Their 15:08 3-mile average shows that they are the team to beat at the UIL Texas state meet on Saturday. Jenks OK maintains the No. 3 spot after winning the Class 6A Oklahoma state title last weekend. Jenks scored 41 points but will find an entirely different level of competition at NXN South on Nov. 21.    

1. The Woodlands TX

2. Southlake Carroll TX

3. Jenks OK

4. College Park TX

5. Katy TX  

Southwest

We had Ogden UT and Mountain Vista CO 28th and 29th, respectively, in the national rankings last week. However, after MV’s impressive win in the Colorado 5A championship last Saturday we are flip-flopping those two teams and bumping Ogden out of the regional Top 5. Mountain Vista scored an impressive 50 points in the meet and beat the closest competitor at all levels by more than 12 seconds per man. The Southwest is a region that will have a good chance at an at-large bid for nationals, but no one will want to leave their fate in the hands of the selection committee.  

1. Timpanogos UT

2. Davis UT

3. Lehi UT

4. American Fork UT

5. Mountain Vista CO  

New York

The New York rankings will become clearer after this week's section meets. For now, East Aurora retains the top spot in the but that might only be because No. 2 Fayetteville-Manlius was idle. The defending national champs continue to get better as the season goes on. East Aurora will have to continue to improve likewise in order to stay in the driver's seat. Behind the strength of US#11 Aidan Tooker, Saratoga Springs moves up to the No. 4 after a convincing Suburban Council Championship win. A team that isn’t on this list that could make things interesting in New York is Corning, which just won its conference championship with an impressive 16:20 5K average.   

1.  East Aurora NY

2. Fayetteville-Manlius NY

3. Liverpool NY

4. Saratoga Springs NY

5. St. Anthony’s NY

Southeast

The Southeast continues to give us headaches for trying to figure it out. Two more teams have emerged as candidates for NXN consideration. Lake Braddock VA and Weddington NC are two more teams in the region to keep an eye on. Add defending NXN champ Severna Park MD to the mix and it gets even more complicated. Lake Braddock trounced the competition at its 6A regional with a 15:28 3-mile team average, besting the nearest competition by more than 30 seconds. LB remains on the Watchlist for now, but it is apparent this group is peaking at the right time.  

The presumed top Class 4A team in North Carolina, Needham Broughton, led by Jeremy Brown’s 15:19, won its regional with 40 points and a 15:48 5K average. Mount Tabor, another top 4A school in the state, qualified for the state meet with 30 points at its regional and averaged 16:02.  Then there is Class 3A frontrunner Weddington, which dominated its regional, finishing 1-3 let by senior Mitchell Risor’s 15:29. 

It is difficult to gauge just how fast Marietta GA is after its regional win. The team scored a perfect 15 points and its fifth runner beat the next fastest runner in the race by almost 20 seconds on the way to a 16:13 team average. Marietta should run away with the Georgia 6A title this weekend.   

1. Needham Broughton NC

2. Marietta GA

3. Dulaney MD

4. Mount Tabor NC

5. Weddington NC      

Northeast

Look who’s back: It's La Salle Academy RI.  La Salle ran well and beat previous No. 3 Bishop Hendricksen at the Rhode Island class championships this past week. They were led by David Principe Jr (15:19) and Matthew Bouthillette (15:28), but also welcomed back Jack Salisbury, who made his season debut. La Salle’s minute and a half spread will hurt it in bigger races but the team is definitely back in contention for an NXN berth. New to our Watchlist is Pinkerton NH, which had an impressive first-place finish at the New Hampshire state meet, placing six runners in the top 14 and finishing with a 16:09 average for its five scorers on the 5K Derryfield Park course.  

1. Downingtown West PA

2. Christian Brothers Academy NJ 

3. La Salle Academy RI

4. Old Bridge NJ

5. Central Bucks West PA  

California - by Erik Boal

Roosevelt upset former No. 4 Martin Luther King in the Big VIII League final, allowing Burroughs and West Torrance to move up. Great Oak rested several elite athletes and still won the Apache Invitational at Arcadia County Park. Dana Hills swept the top three spots at the South Coast League final with Mason Coppi, Jake Ogden and Jack Landgraf. Jesuit had Benjamin Holland, Sean Kurdy and Michael Lackner finish second, third and fourth to prevail at the Delta League finals.

1. Great Oak (Southern Section Division I)

2. Dana Hills (Southern Section Division I)

3. Jesuit (Sac-Joaquin Section Division I)

4. Burroughs (Southern Section Division I)

5. West Torrance (Southern Section Division II)