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National High School Boys Team Rankings - 12/9 FinalPublished by
Newbury Park Lives Up To All The Hype In 2021, Captures National Championship In Record-Setting Fashion By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor Newbury Park of California dominated like no boys high school cross country team ever has. Sixteen points at the California state meet. Twenty-nine points in a national championship field at the RunningLane Cross Country Championships in Alabama left absolutely no doubt. Every argument to be made about the greatest high school team of all-time resides with the Panthers, whose two-family top four of Colin Sahlman and Aaron Sahlman and Leo Young and Lex Young were sensational every time they ran this fall. Newbury Park won the 2019 national championship in Portland has been the best program in the country every day since. The 2021 team, even without 2020 graduate and Gatorade National Cross Country Runner of the Year Nico Young, is far better now and held the No. 1 ranking throughout the season. Even more daunting, three of the top four are eligible to retun again in 2022. Only Colin Sahlman is a senior. The clear No. 2 was Cheyenne Mountain, which demonstrated depth 1-5 that would put it squarely in the mix to win a national championships more years than not. Knox Exton, Kaden Levings and Erik LeRoux all finished in the top 33 at RunningLane – and all ran under 14:43 for the 5,000 meters – and the team was still 92 points behind Newbury Park. It was clearly one of the best teams ever from Colorado. Jesuit of Oregon cemented its No. 3 ranking with a third-place finish with 187 points. The Crusaders proved that they are perhaps the best team from Oregon since the South Eugene teams of the 1970s, and possibly ever. The five scorers averaged 14:59 at RunningLane, led by Jacob Nenow's 19th-place effort of 14:35.9. Beyond those three there was a second tier that included New Jersey's breakout team, Union Catholic, Texas champion Grapevine and Utah champion Farmington. Although they did not attend the championship race in Alabama, Sandburg (Orland Park) belongs with this group after comparing its performance while winning NXR Midwest. California's second-best team, Great Oak, follows that group along with three Colorado schools that finished in the 8-10 spots at RunningLane – Niwot, Mountain Vista and Valor Christian. Top 30
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