Boys Regional Rankings, 11/17

By Paul Schmitz

Southeast

St. Xavier KY and Brentwood TN have been 1-2 all season and are practically interchangeable. Brentwood began the season at No. 1 and St. Xavier later bumped ahead because of better depth. However, Brodey Hasty and Taylor Vroon were so fast at the Tennessee AAA meet, and the 3-4-5 runners have improved.   

The difficulty to predict doesn’t get any easier after the top two. On the strength of Connor Lane's 15:12 low stick, Cardinal Gibbons had the lowest top-five team average at the North Carolina state meet.  However, the team was third behind Needham Broughton and Green Hope 67-68-74.  It will be a toss-up between those three North Carolina schools at the NXR  Southeast when many more quality teams are added to the mix. Loudoun Valley VA and Trinity Prep FL came out of their respective state meets as the fastest teams and Auburn AL put together a strong effort in Alabama last Saturday.   

The Southeast is arguably the least successful region at Nike Nationals.  In fact, this region has never secured an at-large bid.  That streak could be broken this year as Brentwood and St. Xavier are running like top-12 teams nationally. If both run well and one of the aforementioned teams can hang with them, or beat one of them, then the selection committee will have to pause and take a long look at the Southeast.       

1. Brentwood TN 

2. St. Xavier KY

3. Loudoun Valley VA

4. Trinity Prep FL

5. (tie) Broughton, Green Hope, Cardinal Gibbons NC  

South  

New York and California have their own regions and at this point it feels like Texas has its own as well. Texas has owned the NXR South since Rogers AR made it to nationals in 2007.  Oklahoma state champion Bartlesville is a longshot this weekend against the Lone Star State, which has all of the top five teams. The Woodlands has separated from the pack, with Southlake Carroll and Flower Mound atop the next tier of teams. Northwest Nelson, Kingwood, El Paso and Bartlesville OK comprise the next group and could be ranked in any order.  

1. The Woodlands TX

2. Southlake Carroll TX

3. Flower Mound TX

4. El Paso Eastwood TX

5. Northwest Nelson TX

Heartland 

Wayzata and Edina continue the recent Minnesota run to NXN with their 1-2 finish at the Heartland Regional.  The gap between Wayzata and the rest of the field will make it difficult for Millard West to make a strong case for an at-large bid to NXN.  Plucky New Town ND's valiant run came up nine points short of a trip to Portland.   

1. Wayzata MN

2. Edina MN

3. Millard West NE

4. New Town ND

5. Pleasant Valley IA  

Midwest

There was total Illinois domination at NXR Midwest with the state taking the top four spots in the team standings. US#3 Neuqua Valley continues its impressive year with a 48-point win over the nearest competition.  Class 3A rival Downers Grove North gets the second regional automatic qualifier with 136 total team points.  The Midwest region has picked up an at-large bid six of the past seven years and those odds bode well for third place finisher Mahomet-Seymour (2A).  Lyons Township may also have a case for a trip to Portland pending the results yet to come in from other regional races.     

1. Neuqua Valley IL

2. Downers Grove IL

3. Mahomet-Seymour IL 

4. Lyons Township IL

5. Solon OH

New York

US#20 Corning bested a field of nine in the New York State Class A meet.  Warwick Valley moves onto the list after matching Liverpool with 80 points and then holding the sixth-runner tiebreaker. New York gets complicated after that. Saratoga Springs was six points behind WV and Liverpool. Class B champion Burnt Hills didn't run its best race and still comfortably took home the title. Fayetteville-Manlius and Ithaca have been regularly in the rankings and neither of them made the state meet field, having been knocked off by Corning and Liverpool, respectively. Corning is not so far ahead in the state that it can't be overtaken for regional title.   

1. Corning NY

2. Liverpool NY

3. Warwick Valley NY

4. Saratoga Springs NY

5 (tie). Fayetteville-Manlius and Ithaca  

Northeast

CBA and Colts Neck continue to live up to their billing and retain the top two spots in the region.  Princeton slides up to third after their third place finish in our merged results at the New Jersey Group Championships.  Wellesley MA and Lowell MA ran in two different divisions in the Massachusetts Eastern State Championships, but they ran almost identical races. Each took home crowns with a 16:16 top-five team average.  Wellesley's No. 5 was a bit faster than Lowell's No. 4, so it's a slight edge for Wellesley. Staples CT could be a contender after an impressive win at New Englands.        

1. Christian Brothers Academy NJ

2. Colts Neck NJ

3. Princeton NJ

4. Wellesley MA

5. Lowell MA

Southwest

With the Nike Southwest meet coming up this weekend, it is worth remembering what happened in 2015. In what might have been the craziest finish in NXR history, Mountain Vista CO won by one point over Timpanogos UT and Lone Peak UT with American Fork UT only eight points back.  American Fork actually had the fastest team average in that race and made it to NXN with an at-large selection and then finished second at nationals. The region finished with all four teams placing in the top 12, demonstrating the the depth of the Southwest. 

American Fork is the clear favorite in the region and possibly the country. The rest of the spots all appear up for grabs with Mountain Vista CO, Palmer Ridge CO, Monarch CO,  Olympus UT, Timpanogos UT, Springville UT, Ogden UT, Lone Peak UT, Davis UT and Desert Vista AZ all stepping to the line knowing a trip to Portland is possible.

1. American Fork UT

2. Olympus UT  

3. Palmer Ridge CO

4. Timpanogos UT

5. Lone Peak UT  

Northwest

Bozeman MT punched the first boys ticket to Portland and the Hawks' solid lineup could put the team into podium contention at NXN. The surprise finish of the day at NXR Northwewst was Summit grabbing the second auto qualifying spot a week after losing the Oregon Class 5A meet to Crater. The Storm overcame the odds and won a free trip across the state to run at nationals for the third straight year. 

After its string of NXN appearances was snapped at eight straight in 2015, North Central WA has a chance to start another streak with its third place finish at regionals.  NC finished 50 points behind Summit but ran well on a tough course and should be considered. The Idaho state champions from Skyline capped off a terrific season with a fourth place Northwest finish.            

1. Bozeman MT

2. Summit OR

3. North Central WA

4. Skyline ID

5. Crater OR

California (by Erik Boal)

Great Oak rested three varsity athletes in the Southern Section prelims and finished second in its heat behind Burroughs, but the Wolfpack will be at full strength in pursuit of repeating as section and state champion, with Dana Hills and Roosevelt both looking to pull off the upset. Loyola and Claremont will square off in the Southern Section Division 2 final in a rematch of the Mt. SAC Invitational. Claremont handed the Cubs their lone loss of the season, but Loyola is motivated to secure a section title and repeat as state champion.

1. Great Oak (Southern Section Division 1)

2. Dana Hills (Southern Section Division 1)

3. Loyola (Southern Section Division 2)

4. Claremont (Southern Section Division 2)

5. Roosevelt (Southern Section Division 1)