How to win NXN two years in a row? Joan and Marc Hunter Q & A

I would love to be on a team where the coach actually cared. Instead, I have to attempt to "coach" myself by reading, learning from mistakes, and coming on here for advice. Not fun.

I wish wrote:

I would love to be on a team where the coach actually cared. Instead, I have to attempt to "coach" myself by reading, learning from mistakes, and coming on here for advice. Not fun.

Ever think of transferring to Loudoun Valley? Just don't call. Show up.

Their school is small relative to schools in Loudoun County, most of the schools are over 1500 kids (some approaching 2000) and they build a new school every 2 years or so to avoid overcrowding. Loudoun County I believe now has 13 high schools.

A good start is being located in the county with the highest household income (among counties with over 65k population) in the entire USA.

SizeisRelative wrote:

Their school is small relative to schools in Loudoun County, most of the schools are over 1500 kids (some approaching 2000) and they build a new school every 2 years or so to avoid overcrowding. Loudoun County I believe now has 13 high schools.

Yeah. Relative to other high schools in the county, it's fairly small at 1,300 students. The next smallest schools have around 1,400, while schools like Briar Woods and Rock Ridge in the newer developed areas have student populations around 1,800 to as high as 2,100.

And Loudoun has 15 high schools and an intermediate school (which houses eighth and ninth graders). More schools coming too, with Independence High School opening in Brambleton opening next school year and Lightridge High School slated to open in fall 2020 (and yes, I think the names are terrible).

Rich get richer again wrote:

And this is off topic, but did anyone else notice that 4 of Saratoga's 7 girls were 7th and 8th graders?

Yep, and they also have a solid freshman who was their #2 runner. And collectively, their top 5 returners performed better than North Rockand’s top 5 at NXR.

So next year, although all of NR’s girls varsity will be back, it’s going to be another hard year for them to autoqualify to NXN.

But on the bright side, Katelyn Touhy will get a chance to be the first ever runner (boy or girl) to 3-repeat as the NXN champ.

Input wrote:

Rich get richer again wrote:

And this is off topic, but did anyone else notice that 4 of Saratoga's 7 girls were 7th and 8th graders?

Yep, and they also have a solid freshman who was their #2 runner. And collectively, their top 5 returners performed better than North Rockand’s top 5 at NXR.

So next year, although all of NR’s girls varsity will be back, it’s going to be another hard year for them to autoqualify to NXN.

But on the bright side, Katelyn Touhy will get a chance to be the first ever runner (boy or girl) to 3-repeat as the NXN champ.

THREE-PEAT. Who the hell says "3 repeat?"

Internet + NXN = Age of the Superteam.

No recruiting required.

Why not an interview with the girls champs from Central. All under class and all home grown, no transfers. better story.

vn';.,m n wrote:

Why not an interview with the girls champs from Central. All under class and all home grown, no transfers. better story.

You mean Summit?

Rich get richer again wrote:

but at some point there also has to be some pride in trying to elevate your own program instead of just jumping ship.

Tell that to Riley Masters, Eric Jenkins, etc.

Rich get richer again wrote:

And this is off topic, but did anyone else notice that 4 of Saratoga's 7 girls were 7th and 8th graders?

NO but my god that's scary. Why in the hell does Nike allow them to even compete?

Men's lead pack includes:

Kiptum, amd Stanley Biwott

Lead women including Burka hit 20k in 66:42.

YMMV wrote:

Internet + NXN = Age of the Superteam.

No recruiting required.

I'm not convinced the world wasn't better without the internet. I guess I'd have no job but other than that what would I be missing out on?

basket wrote:

vn';.,m n wrote:

Why not an interview with the girls champs from Central. All under class and all home grown, no transfers. better story.

You mean Summit?

Summit does in fact have a transfer who ran for Jesuit last year.

LV is loaded up in a few events this weekend, it will be interesting to see what a top cross country team can do on the track right after nationals!

They had 2 non-NXN guys run 4:25 this past weekend along with 2 more at 4:35 and then 3 of those all went sub 10 in 3200 at 9:35-:49 and 52.

So it will be interesting to see what the NXN group does.

rojo wrote:

I'm not convinced the world wasn't better without the internet. I guess I'd have no job but other than that what would I be missing out on?

It actually kind of sucked back in the 80s when I was in high school and reading everything I could find about training, and that meant Runner's World. I had no idea what guys on other teams were doing for training, or that I could possibly run farther than 8 miles for a long run or more than 35 mpw. I could have trained a lot smarter than I did if I had had the same kind of access to information that I do now. There's still a lot of things that suck about the Internet, though.

Rural America wrote:

I was reading part II, and they mentioned that they are a "small school"

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA........they said they have around 120 runners, or 10% of the school, so they have roughly 1200 students. That is NOT a small country school. My K-12 school has less than 200 students total!

Rural America just wanted to boast about HIS small school. Ain't he or she a smartypants, that Rural America! Naturally, the size of a school is relative to other schools in the area, and Marc Hunter OBVIOUSLY wasn't referring to Loudoun Valley being small like so many schools throughout America. So RA's itty bitty K-12 school isn't gonna win NXN, but sometimes a relatively "small" high school can win, as has been proven.

It was a dumb comment. It makes them seem sort of out of touch or disingenuous. People are always looking to take shots at someone who is on top and that is where the Hunters are so they may want to be extra careful of their comments if they care about their national reputation. Their school is probably in the upper 5% in the country in terms of enrollment. Its kind of like turning on the TV and hearing some CEO say that he doesn't make that much at $800k.