Has NXN squashed FLN?

It's taken longer than projected to complete, but it does look as if NXN is squeezing the last life out of FL, both regionally and nationally. Though 40 guys who ran FL 20 years ago are about to jump on the thread and tell you how FL is still the one, the only, and the greatest.

Oh cripes, the Nike cult showing their lack of class with attempts at smear campaigning.

You had your time last week. Shut it, go run in the mud (or not), watch FL (or not) then maybe you'll have something to yap about.

It's time for just one. If NXN is more successful and more recognized, then fine. We should have one true champion male and female, and having championship teams is nice too. Otherwise it's a watered-down champion unless the same people run both, which doesn't normally happen.

+10000000000Footlocker is dead.

Pick one wrote:

It's time for just one. If NXN is more successful and more recognized, then fine. We should have one true champion male and female, and having championship teams is nice too. Otherwise it's a watered-down champion unless the same people run both, which doesn't normally happen.

I dunno, the footlocker fields look pretty deep with Affolder coming off of running an 8:47 3200/4:07 mile this past spring. Clinger is really fast too obviously but I don't know how he'd square up against Affolder.

TimetoWonder wrote:

Has NXN officially destroyed FLN? FLN feels like a non-event this year...

Hopefully NXN sees the light and shuts down next year. They've tried for 10+ years, but they are still an inferior product to NXN.

The best runner has pretty much been at footlocker every year, this year maybe not, but Sam was 2nd at nxn if anyone beats him at FL and by a good bit (more than 10 seconds) I'll say the best runner was at footlocker for whatever many years in a row now still

The best wrote:

The best runner has pretty much been at footlocker every year, this year maybe not, but Sam was 2nd at nxn if anyone beats him at FL and by a good bit (more than 10 seconds) I'll say the best runner was at footlocker for whatever many years in a row now still

Sure, the boys field is decent. But a bunch of them ran at NXN too, making NXN much deeper. And look at the girls race, there's literally two people. NXN was so much deeper on both sides this year it's crazy.

At least FL is still 40 deep with talent.

NXN definitely had the top two with Oakley and Clinger though.

....Beyond those two however, FL is still a better showcase of elite hs talent, free of the burden of mediocre runners clogging the course as was on display at NXN this year. The team aspect at NXN this year became a joke, reflected in the ridiculously poor placings among even the top #1,#2, & #3 runners on each team. Some of the 4,5,6,&7's both boys and girls at NXN were simply embarrassingly slow for being such an "elite" event. Most of these NXN runners would never be able to qualify to either race on their own. All of the FL runners finish within a minute of the winner barring injury. At NXN you can see runners finishing 4 minutes after Clinger and Brie. No knock on those two, they are clearly the top xc runners in nation, but NXN has not displaced FL yet in terms of presenting a truly elite hs xc race. Far from it.

I don't follow the girls enough to comment.

But for boys it is pretty clear: if a kid has a qualifying team he goes NXN, if not FL is the choice. If Midwest/South he runs NXN and has his cake too.

NXN has ~200 runners, from 15-19 minute runners going for their teams.

FL has 40 runners

Think about a great Male Pro/Collegiate: odds are really really high he did FL.

Ches, Rupp, Webb, ..., Fisher,....

Even Jenkins and Geoghegan tried for FL - but finished in 11-20 at Regionals.

NXN is not better now just because Casey Clinger is pretty darn good.