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Early Season Boys Top 40 XC Teams 2022Published by
Dominant Newbury Park Offers A Glimpse Of What's To Come With Controlled Effort At Marmonte League Meet By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor 2022 Boys Early Season National Rankings Newbury Park concluded the 2021 season as high school cross country rock stars. Led by an incredible quartet and two sets of brothers, the Salhmans and the Youngs, the Panthers rolled through California and the RunningLane Championships demonstrated unprecedented performance and depth. The 2022 edition is the same, of course. Colin Sahlman, last year's top runner in the U.S., has graduated. And coach Sean Brosnan left the program over the summer to take a college job at UCLA. Two major components, now missing. And yet, Newbury Park may not skip a beat this season. The return of twin brothers and Stanford commits Leo and Lex Young, and Aaron Sahlman, gives this team a top-three that rivals any team in history. The improvement of Dev Doshi and incoming transfer Braden Seymour from Florida could possibly make this team as good, or better, than last year. Last week in a small season-opening effort at the Peppertree Playfields in Newbury Park, the top five covered three miles between 14:48 and 15:20 in a relaxed setting. The first full effort will arrive for Newbury Park on Oct. 8 at the Clovis Invitational. The remainder of the top 40 involves a mixture of speculation and also some early season efforts that begun to reveal the personnel of teams that are aiming to contend for a berth at the first Nike Cross Nationals since 2019. The upcoming weekend will reveal more, as the 41st Woodbridge Cross Country Classic brings together No. 4 Southlake Carroll and No. 24 The Woodlands from Texas, No. 5 Crater from Oregon, No. 7 Herriman from Utah, and No. 12 Great Oak and No. 14 Granada from California. Top New Jersey schools, No. 6 Christian Brothers and No. 10 Union Catholic, will be part of the fields at the Bowdoin Park XC Classic in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Both teams will get a chance to race on the NXR course and one of New York's top teams, No. 28 Corning-Painted Post, will be there as well. The top teams are typically divided into two evenly weighted races. At No. 2, Niwot of Boulder has not stepped on the gas yet but has a talented roster that includes five members of last year's varsity back, including Carlos Kipkorir Cheruiyot, Jeremy Gillett, Frederick Ambrose, Stefan Haug, Gavin Engtrakul. The addition of freshman Rocco Culpepper only adds to the depth. Jesuit of Portland got its first race in last weekend under smoky skies at Western Oregon University, but standout senior Jacob Nenow and junior Eric Schumacher sat out with illness. With a full lineup, the Crusaders should be every bit as strong as last year's team, which was third at RunningLane. Southlake Carroll, always a relevant program in Texas and the South, returns nearly everyone this fall and has a deep pack led by senior Logan Cantu. Crater of Central Point, Ore. looks incredible on paper, with senior Tyrone Gorze, a U.S. U20 team member, leading the way and sophomore Josiah Tostenson an elite No. 2. With a bit more experience down the line, this group could move up from No. 5 and challenge Jesuit as the top team in Oregon. Somewhat like Southlake Carroll, the historic program at CBA in Lincroft, N.J. brings back all but one runner from last year's team and could be ready to do big things this fall. Coach Doug Soles, formerly of Great Oak, has wasted no time turning Herriman into one of Utah's elite programs. The team's recent victory at the Timpanogos Invitational erases any lingering doubts about whether this team is ready to contend for Utah and Southwest regional titles. Carmel of Indiana, led by senior Kole Mathison, is also out of the gate hot. The Greyhounds won last week's Eagle Classic and beat strong teams from Zionsville and Center Grove. Cherokee Trail of Aurora, Colo. won the Liberty Bell Invitational sweepstakes title last weekend with 88 points, led by senior Hunter Strand, and gives Colorado a second top-10 team. Colorado has four teams in this week's Top 25. The state may add even more as the season progresses. The Top 40 6. Christian Brothers Academy NJ
Top 40 Teams By Region Southwest: 9 Midwest: 6 California: 5 Northwest: 5 Northeast: 5 South: 3 Southeast: 3 Heartland: 2 New York: 2
Top 10 Teams By Region Southwest: 3 Northwest: 2 Northeast: 2 California: 1 Midwest: 1 South: 1
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