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High School Regional Rankings Boys XC 2023 - 10/5Published by
Boys Regional Rankings - 10/5/2023 By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor Strong pack running Wednesday by Midwest No. 1 Downers Grove North at the Naperville North Twilight XC Invitational carried the Trojans to another decisive victory in Illinois. DGN's seven runners all fit into a 30-second window at the finish line, between 15:14 and 15:44 on the 3-mile course and the team finished with 81 points. Plainfield (North) sophomore Thomas Czerwinski and senior teammate Owen Stahl finished fifth and sixth, overall, to help the Tigers claw into second place with 104 points, three points ahead of Oak Park (O.P.-River Forest) IL. That result elbowed the Huskies out of the top five, at least for the moment. And it means that Plainfield, Ill. (population 44,000) has two teams in the regional rankings this week. Stevens Point of Wisconsin won the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota on Sept. 22 to solidify its No. 1 ranking in the Heartland region. Low stick Aloysius Franzen led the team with a fourth-place finish. But the meet revealed that the top teams in the region are still a work in progress. Teams like Dowling Catholic IA and Wayzata MN showed depth through four but also revealed vulnerability at the No. 5 spot. Cedar Falls has beaten Dowling Catholic head to head in Iowa and Creighton Prep of Nebraska moved into the top five this week by virtue of a strong performance at the RimRock Farm High School Classic. The Northwest rankings have been shaken a bit after big meets such as Bob Firman and Nike Portland XC and a few others. Coeur d'Alene of northern Idaho is holding steady at No. 2 behind Crater of Oregon. The Comets' hold on the No. 1 ranking in the Northwest could be slipping with multiple teams from Idaho, and Bozeman MT, performing well enough to be NXR Northwest contenders. Crater's Twilight Invitational, with 5,000-meter sections on the track, is coming Oct. 12 and will give an updated gauge on the team's overall fitness. This weekend's Hole in the Wall Invitational is the biggest event in the Northwest and will bring together No. 2 Coeur d'Alene, No. 4 Jesuit OR and No. 5 Bozeman, along with Issaquah WA. The meet also features a compelling matchup between Nathan Neil of Bozeman and Owen Powell of Mercer Island WA. In New York, Fairport affirmed its top ranking with a strong outing at the East Aurora Invitational, putting six together with a 23-second spread to score 25 points. Auburn, Saratoga Springs and Ithaca seem to fall in line after Fairport, but there are a handful of teams that were considered for No. 5. Those groups tend to fall off after their top four, but Stissing Mountain makes a regional rankings debut this week following a good result at the Bowdoin Park XC Classic. The Great American XC Festival this weekend in North Carolina will be an important mid-season contest for some of the top teams in the Southeast. Top-ranked Belen Jesuit Prep FL will face No. 2 McCallie of Tennessee and No. 4 Calvert Hall College MD. Joshua Ruiz of Belen Jesuit, Tommy Latham of Marist GA and Jake Liebert of Wando SC are the top entries. Herriman and American Fork of Utah still lead the Southwest, and are Nos. 1 and 2 nationally, but Niwot of Boulder, Colo. has closed the gap some and moves up to No. 3 with a great result at the Desert Twilight XC Festival in Arizona with a commanding 47-point performance that was led by sophomore Rocco Culpepper. CALIFORNIA HEARTLAND MIDWEST NEW YORK NORTHEAST 1. Christian Brothers Academy NJ NORTHWEST SOUTH SOUTHEAST SOUTHWEST More news |
