Teams - Jesuit (11th), Menlo (15th), Glendora (17th)
This goes without saying but if any team wants to go to nxn next year, out of region travel is a must. Don't expect to put up a solid time at state, and be allowed to go to nxn anymore. If the results had 3 teams in the top 10 at nxn, then travel wouldn't be necessary. But that is not the case. If you don't want to travel out of region to compete, you wont get a bid. Simple as that.
The most important races for California teams to go to are as follows:
Desert Twillight AZ - A must travel location to compete against the strongest region, the southwest. The southwest region went 1-2-3-10 at NXN for boys. 1-2-4-8 for girls. SW regional course.
Manhattan Invitational NY - A great travel location to prepare for NXN. The course is brutal and you will be going up against all the best NE and NY teams. NE teams were really good at nxn this year going 5th - 8th. They are the better region, so we would have to travel to them to take their bids next year.
Nike Town Twilight IN - One of the top travel locations. All the best Midwest teams should be in this! Midwest teams went 6th and 13th at nxn so they were much better than the California region. Traveling here is a must to get a bid next year. Midwest regional course
Great American NC - A must travel location to compete with SE teams. Belen Jesuit finished 12th at NXN last year. Southeast regional course
Bob Firman ID - A great travel spot to compete against the NW region. It will prepare you for difficult courses. Probably go up against rocky mountain.
Nike Hole in the Wall WA - A great competitive meet in the NW. Northwest was 9th and 16th at nxn. Their teams preformed better than the California teams so we would have to travel to them to get a bid.
Are you in charge of NXN selections? I'm not sure where you got this list from but correct me if I am wrong, none of the CA teams at NXN went to any of those meets.
This goes without saying but if any team wants to go to nxn next year, out of region travel is a must. Don't expect to put up a solid time at state, and be allowed to go to nxn anymore. If the results had 3 teams in the top 10 at nxn, then travel wouldn't be necessary. But that is not the case. If you don't want to travel out of region to compete, you wont get a bid. Simple as that.
The most important races for California teams to go to are as follows:
Desert Twillight AZ - A must travel location to compete against the strongest region, the southwest. The southwest region went 1-2-3-10 at NXN for boys. 1-2-4-8 for girls. SW regional course.
Manhattan Invitational NY - A great travel location to prepare for NXN. The course is brutal and you will be going up against all the best NE and NY teams. NE teams were really good at nxn this year going 5th - 8th. They are the better region, so we would have to travel to them to take their bids next year.
Nike Town Twilight IN - One of the top travel locations. All the best Midwest teams should be in this! Midwest teams went 6th and 13th at nxn so they were much better than the California region. Traveling here is a must to get a bid next year. Midwest regional course
Great American NC - A must travel location to compete with SE teams. Belen Jesuit finished 12th at NXN last year. Southeast regional course
Bob Firman ID - A great travel spot to compete against the NW region. It will prepare you for difficult courses. Probably go up against rocky mountain.
Nike Hole in the Wall WA - A great competitive meet in the NW. Northwest was 9th and 16th at nxn. Their teams preformed better than the California teams so we would have to travel to them to get a bid.
Are you in charge of NXN selections? I'm not sure where you got this list from but correct me if I am wrong, none of the CA teams at NXN went to any of those meets.
In nxn at-lage discussion thread, the discussion on travel was very important if teams wanted to be considered for a bid. Midwest and Northeast were thrown out of the discussion because they didn't travel, despite having the better teams. (which was shown at nxn - midwest 6th-13th and northeast 5th-8th). This was because in 2023, Midwest was 7th-15th at nxn, Northeast was 6th-19th at nxn.
Top CA teams got 1st and 6th in 2022 and 8th and 10th in 2023. So there wasn't much to prove back then. California has a lot to prove this next year if they want to be in discussion for a bid. That's just my thoughts. I can be wrong, because like you said, I am not in the committee or have any relations with them.
OK you made it up, got it. I'm sure they will once again take the top teams from the CA State meet merge.
I agree with this. This year CA had very little travel and yet they still took an at large team from CA. This is almost certainly due to their performance being compared to historical times.
Glendora got in because they simply ran faster than California NXN teams did in the past at state.
The only time travel will come into play is if you run poorly at state (like 15:40+) but still somehow end up 3rd or 4th in the merge. But state meet team time will always matter more
Some anonymous poster says his guess as to why they think a team wouldn't chosen in a different region and you declare that a "must" for CA teams. You don't see that as a problem?
Some anonymous poster says his guess as to why they think a team wouldn't chosen in a different region and you declare that a "must" for CA teams. You don't see that as a problem?
perhaps i get tunnel vision in the way i convey information. It's not a must but it will definitely help a lot. Other regions won't be too happy if you get an at-large bid but didn't travel.
Some anonymous poster says his guess as to why they think a team wouldn't chosen in a different region and you declare that a "must" for CA teams. You don't see that as a problem?
perhaps i get tunnel vision in the way i convey information. It's not a must but it will definitely help a lot. Other regions won't be too happy if you get an at-large bid but didn't travel.
CA teams can just go to Woodbridge and say they took on the top competition. Be a top Woodbridge team and then a top team in the State merge should be plenty as usual.
D4: JSerra. Took second two years in a row but this time I think they can pull off the title after returning 5 guys and most of the team looking to be seniors.
D4 looks pretty desolate after this year aside from Jserra.
Palos Verdes could maybe challenge if they can bring up a good 5th runner. Harvard Westlake returns 6 guys but they are way back.
what about girls? Also beckman should be #2 or #3.
Right now, on paper, Mira Costa looks better because they return 5 of their top 6, and Beckman is losing 4 of their varsity guys. What could potentially hurt Mira Costa is the lack of a front runner. Beckman returns two scorers and front runner Nguyen who had an off day at state, but they need their #4 and 5 to step up.
Jesuit has probably the 2nd best returning groups in the country behind Niwot.
15:04/15:04/15:05/15:16/15:59/16:08/16:15
And they are also Jesuit and somehow pickup an elite transfer or have a guy come out of nowhere every year. Kyle Jakary from what I have heard was a sprinter his freshman year came out his sophomore year for cross country and was not amazing. (17:00 5k guy roughly)… and then proceeds to make the state meet in the 800 running 1:55 and now a 15:05 5k time at woodward. I coach in the section and I swear every year some kid pops out of nowhere for them. Walt knows what he is doing.
I wonder if and when the NXN qualifying steak for Buchanan and JSerra girls will ever end
Buchanan will never fail, they are inevitable.
JSerra is pretty shakey after last few years performance, although they still return a great scoring roster for the next year. If they still had Summer Wilson I think they would have been dominant this year.
An on point Corona or Ventura with True not injured could have maybe sniped that 3rd NXN spot this year.
I wonder if and when the NXN qualifying steak for Buchanan and JSerra girls will ever end
Buchanan will never fail, they are inevitable.
JSerra is pretty shakey after last few years performance, although they still return a great scoring roster for the next year. If they still had Summer Wilson I think they would have been dominant this year.
An on point Corona or Ventura with True not injured could have maybe sniped that 3rd NXN spot this year.
Ventura had other problems besides True. Sax wasn't close to her pervious performances, Nuckols looks to have faded at the end of the season and rest of the team either flatlined or was missing at the end. A healthy True would not have been enough for them.
JSerra is pretty shakey after last few years performance, although they still return a great scoring roster for the next year. If they still had Summer Wilson I think they would have been dominant this year.
An on point Corona or Ventura with True not injured could have maybe sniped that 3rd NXN spot this year.
Ventura had other problems besides True. Sax wasn't close to her pervious performances, Nuckols looks to have faded at the end of the season and rest of the team either flatlined or was missing at the end. A healthy True would not have been enough for them.
That’s because they don’t have great coaching at the school. In fact, the boys team didn’t even qualify for state