What’s the softest state in xc

Population-wise Kentucky has about 4.5 million people which ranks it somewhere around 26 to 27 of all states in population. The bulk of those people live around Louisville, in the Cincinnati suburbs of Northern Kentucky, and around Lexington. Bowling Green is probably 75,000 but that is it. Eastern Kentucky is desolate and poor with populations all spread out.

For XC this year the talent is down but I would not describe it as "plain awful." Kentucky is not nearly as strong as its XC powerhouse neighbors to the north, Ohio & Indiana, or even Tennessee to the south, but there is better talent than what you would expect.

BJ Penn. nuff said

Obviously you have never run in the U.P. in late October. ;-)

and the flattest things in the U.P. are there bridges.

Hawaii, Mississippi, Louisiana(outside of Jesuit this year), Idaho, Maine, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nevada

It's Gulf Coast states by a mile. Cross-reference the worst educational states, and you'll also find the worst cross country and track states. NOT the worst football states though. Go figure.

Brother Martin LA is good too and did well at the FSU invite. And only 1 senior scoring.

Ruston is good too and young.

Idaho - no way Jose! Rocky Mountain and Boise Senior boys and girls are good and will be again next year. Coeur D’Alene has everyone back and more good freshmen coming in next year so they will get deeper.

New Mexico….they did have teams that qualified for NXN before. But the last few years this state hasn’t been any good

it's a hilly course, but last year it POURED rain and was pure mud.

don't think it's a mistake, conditions seemed quite horrible last year

Softies slippn and slidn.

That’s hilarious

I think NXN was really bad maybe 5-10 years ago. I can’t remember exactly when. It wasn’t that bad but there was a ton of water on the course and guys were running 17, 18, & 19 minutes.

Isn't that part of, you know, Michigan?

They just hold separate championships because of geography, much like New York and their multiple "state meets".

The answer is North Dakota, Hawaii, or Delaware. Nevada isn't exactly churning out sub 9 guys either.

You think those Southern states are the worst track states? Look at their sprints and jumps and get back to us.

Yep, that was NXN 2012. The winning time for the guys was 17:06. For the girls it was 19:17. Mary Cain was 2nd in 19:21.

nxn.runnerspace.com

NikeCrossNationals.com - Nike Cross Nationals Official Site - NXN - Results - 2012 Results

Nike Cross Nationals - 12.03.22

Link:nxn.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event...

Socal by far. Not because of what they do in HS, but because of what they don’t do at the next level.

west virginia??? morgantown and university hs will have decent teams with like 1-2 stars between them, and the rest of the state is terrible

Larry Josh Edwards is a beast himself. His team is still good this year, just won’t make NXN

wow 1 star? and a decent team? and the rest of the state is terrible?

Don't forget that Santiago Prosser is currently running on NAU's varsity and was sub-9 in HS during 2020 with no HS season. Also note that Alaska's courses, including state meet, are usually run on XC ski trails that are significantly hillier than most states. I would say in the range of 20-30 for 5K so don't look at times as only indicator of strength. Newbury runners couldn't break 14:30 on Alaska's state meet course.

What about Wyoming? Or has there been any other stars besides Thorvaldson?