Colorado teams hold top three spots in Southwest

By Adam Kopet of DyeStat

There has been a changing of the guard atop the Southwest Region rankings. Teams from Utah, which have owned the top spots in recent years, have stepped aside for a resurgence of teams from Colorado.

Colorado holds the top three spots to begin the season, led by Broomfield, which finished seventh at NXN last year. Mountain Vista also makes the list, another team with NXN experience. Battle Mountain also makes its presence known after returning all seven runners from last year’s squad.

Chandler AZ could have had a better finish last year at NXR Southwest, but the absence of Morgan Foster hurt the outcome for the Wolves. Should she return to last year’s form, she will be a big help for Chandler.

Utah finally makes an appearance in the rankings with Maple Mountain. The Golden Eagles have already been in action, winning at the Highland Invitational in Salt Lake City. They beat American Fork and Mountain View, both watch list teams, by more than 50 points.

Individually, the Southwest is wide open. Last year saw the Southwest individual runners at NXN figure prominently, with six athletes placing in the top 17. The top non-senior, Grace Ping, has returned to Minnesota with her family to begin her freshman year at Cotter MN following a sixth-place finish at NXN last season. That leaves Peak to Peak CO junior Quinn McConnell as the top returning runner in the region.

1. Broomfield CO: The Eagles return all six runners who finished at NXN and placed seventh last season. All six are seniors this year and have the experience to again return to Portland. The seventh-place NXN finish happened after taking third at NXR Southwest.

2. Battle Mountain CO: The Huskies return all seven runners from the fifth-place NXR Southwest team. They are led by senior Elizabeth Constien and junior sisters Lizzy and Naomi Harding.

3. Mountain Vista CO: The Golden Eagles return all but one from last year’s NXR Southwest championship team, which went on to place 13th at NXN. Sophomores Sarah O'Sullivan and Jenna Fitzsimmons are the top returners.

4. Chandler AZ: The Wolves finished 20th at NXR Southwest last year, but they were without top runner Morgan Foster. Now a junior, Foster could lead Chandler to a high NXR Southwest finish after Arizona Division 1 rival Desert Vista has advanced to NXN two of the past three years.

5. Maple Mountain UT: Utah's Golden Eagles return their entire squad that easily won the medium open race at NXR Southwest last season. The team of all seniors dominated the season-opening Highland Invitational against many of the top teams in Utah.

Watch list:

Mountain View UT

American Fork UT

Desert Vista AZ

Pine View UT

Albuquerque Academy NM