Folders |
Northwest Region Boys Preseason XC Rankings 2018Published by
Northwest Power Lies In Eastern Washington By Paul Schmitz of DyeStat Boys NXR Northwest Preview Central Valley (Spokane) WA is looking to make it two in a row in the Northwest. The Bears burst onto the national scene last year with an upset victory at NXR NW to secure their first NXN berth. This was after the team placed second in the Washington Class 4A state meet. Right on their heels is Washington Class 3A champion and NXR runner-up Kamiakin. It projects to be a year of dominance for teams from Washington, with Lewis and Clark (Spokane) and Edmonds-Woodway coming in at Nos. 3 and 4. Rounding out the top five is the pick from Idaho, Rocky Mountain. Lurking just out of the top five is another team from Washington, the Camas Papermakers, who have the potential to move up in the region. Although there are some strong individuals, it looks to be a down year (so far) for Oregon teams. Jesuit, Ashland, Franklin, Sunset and Central Catholic could all step up with the addition of new talent. The Beaver State had qualified a team for NXN five years in a row before being shut out in 2017 by its neighbors to the north. 1. Central Valley WA. The Bears return three of five and five of seven. They were 13th at NXN in 2017 and could improve on that finish in 2018. Low stick Ryan Kline finished second in the Washington 4A 3,200 this spring with a 9:12. 2. Kamiakin WA. Led by a solid 1-2-3 up front of Ryan Child, Porter Grigg and Stanford Smith, Kamiakin earned its second NXN bid in 2017 and finished 17th. With four of the top five back, and five of the overall top seven, look for this team to move up nationally. 3. Lewis and Clark WA. This is the team that beat Central Valley for the Class 4A state title last fall, 86-87. The Tigers fell off a bit in the regional and finished fifth, but they return five of seven and can compete for one of the top two spots. Wil Smith is the third-fastest returning junior from NXR Northwest. 4. Edmonds-Woodway WA. This team returns all seven of its runners from 2017, when the Warriors finished fourth in Class 3A and then did not attend the regional meet. This team runs as a pack and if it can improve a few seconds from last year’s times, it can close the gap on the top three teams. 5. Rocky Mountain ID. No team from Idaho has ever qualified for NXN. The team from Rocky Mountain has an outside chance to break through. The Grizzlies are the defending state champions and return five of their top seven runners. They finished 12th at NXR Northwest last year.
Watchlist
More news |