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National High School Boys Team Rankings - 11/23Published by
Just Over A Week Out From Nike Cross Nationals, The Chase Is On For What's Shaping Up To Be An Exciting Competition For The Championship By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor First a weather forecast update: The Portland metro area is expected to be dry until next Thursday, the day teams arrive for Nike Cross Nationals. Friday and Saturday are looking wet. All of that is to say, NXN at Glendoveer Golf Course is probably not going to be sunny and it's probably not going to be terribly muddy. But it will likely be wet, which is sort of the usual this time of year. The battle for podium spots in the boys championship this year could be fantastic and yet the outcome is likely to be decided by teams' fourth and fifth runners. Quality depth carries the day. But unlike recent NXN's in which Loudoun Valley VA or Newbury Park CA showed up and dominated, this year's championship is beginning to look like it could go a variety of ways. It's easy to imagine that American Fork and Herriman, Part V, could be the big matchup. At NXR Southwest last week, Herriman ran as a pack and got out conservatively according to coach Doug Soles' plan. The team moved up to easily take the second position behind American Fork, but came away knowing it needs to study when to start moving so that it's not too late. American Fork is riding a wave of positivity and has the best runner in the land in Daniel Simmons. But Herriman, the only team to defeat AF this year, will be ready to execute its game plan on Dec. 2. Sophomore Caden Leonard and Southlake Carroll dominated the South and showed that it is a legitimate national contender, with Nos. 4 and 5 scorers that can matchup with anyone. And Christian Brothers Academy cruised through New Jersey's back-to-back championship weekends at Holmdel Park with a lineup that also has the potential to be special, and perhaps every bit as good as the 2011 national title team, led by the undefeated Joe Barrett. CBA and Southlake Carroll are also motivated by what happened to them in 2022. The powerhouse programs got left behind. CBA, competing as Lincroft, finished 18th. Carroll was 20th. Both teams have come back stronger and more focused than ever. So Utah could have company. And then there's Belen Jesuit, which just did a very hard thing by running and winning the Florida state championship Class 3A final and then easily winning the NXR Southeast title all in the span of three days. This team has risen to the occasion to face every challenge this season and has the depth to compete for a podium spot as well. The California state championships are also this weekend. Could a national title contender emerge from there? It's not always easy to tell from Section finals whether teams are going full bore or holding something back. But it does appear that San Clemente and Dana Hills are the ones to watch this weekend. Two teams making their debut in the Top 30 this week are from New York. Saratoga Springs and Monroe-Woodbury tied for the Class A state title, with Saratoga taking the hardware by virtue of a superior sixth runner. But M-W opted to get the bad taste out of its mouth by running the following week at the Federation meet, and winning it. Was it better to rest, as Saratoga Springs did, or better to press on and win the second of New York state's prizes? Saturday's NXR New York will reveal two of the remaining automatic qualifiers for nationals. It could be them. It could be Fairport, which beat both of them on Oct. 14. The NXR Northeast should belong to CBA, but there is intrigue over which team could land at No. 2. Westfield NJ, Brookline MA and Ridgefield CT all have a shot at it.
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