The first ~600m and last ~1200m are inside the track.
The remaining ~3200m of the race has some modest roll and longer inclines/declines.
Footing is great as long as it doesn’t rain the week of the race. There’s not a ton of tree blockage, so the wind can greatly impact race strategy/times.
But please understand, it's not ON the track. It's down below on the grass for that last 1200.
It really hits home how big NASCAR tracks are when you watch them run 1200M to the finish and that's just ONE corner and half a straight away.
She looks like she has a great future but I am done hyping and expecting great futures of high school phenoms, particularly ones that are only sophomores. It just seems like all too often they don’t meet expectations. If someone like Jane Hedengren can continue developing and stays on the trajectory she is on now, she’ll be the exception, not the rule. Nevertheless, good luck to this Dudek. It would be great to see her do well.
After Dudek & Ritz, likely contenders for top-10 at NXN include soph Gianna Rahmer/NM (still to contest NXR SW Regional) and frosh Addy KegelNXR NW Regional champ.
Phenoms keep coming out of nowhere (great but unheralded middle school programs) . . . and keep getting faster than the phenoms before them.
16:18 at Laverne Gibson seems like a very fast time for "only" a 165 speed rating. 16:18/165 is what is normally seen on pretty fast courses. In 2020 Thorvaldson dominated a race there in bad weather (as I recall) and ran 16:38 for a 168. Boys at 14:41/195 also indicates fast course. Were conditions that ideal there this year?
16:18 at Laverne Gibson seems like a very fast time for "only" a 165 speed rating. 16:18/165 is what is normally seen on pretty fast courses. In 2020 Thorvaldson dominated a race there in bad weather (as I recall) and ran 16:38 for a 168. Boys at 14:41/195 also indicates fast course. Were conditions that ideal there this year?
The conditions yesterday were almost perfect. The course was dry and the temperature was in the low 50's.
Rachel Forsyth ran 16:31 on that course 2 years ago and she got a 161 speed rating. So Dudek's 165 speed rating for a 16:18 seems about right.
She looks like she has a great future but I am done hyping and expecting great futures of high school phenoms, particularly ones that are only sophomores. It just seems like all too often they don’t meet expectations. If someone like Jane Hedengren can continue developing and stays on the trajectory she is on now, she’ll be the exception, not the rule. Nevertheless, good luck to this Dudek. It would be great to see her do well.
She certainly runs with a high degree of joy I can tell you. Hopefully that never goes away. Her sisters were always super supportive of her years ago. Prob not a chance in heeeelllll she stays on the same corner in college (U of M), I fear Stanford must already be the front runner with sis there (and it's stanford).
16:18 at Laverne Gibson seems like a very fast time for "only" a 165 speed rating. 16:18/165 is what is normally seen on pretty fast courses. In 2020 Thorvaldson dominated a race there in bad weather (as I recall) and ran 16:38 for a 168. Boys at 14:41/195 also indicates fast course. Were conditions that ideal there this year?
Conditions were great. Probably the best NXR Midwest conditions I've ever experienced in 10+ years of bringing athletes.
After Dudek & Ritz, likely contenders for top-10 at NXN include soph Gianna Rahmer/NM (still to contest NXR SW Regional) and frosh Addy KegelNXR NW Regional champ.
Phenoms keep coming out of nowhere (great but unheralded middle school programs) . . . and keep getting faster than the phenoms before them.
Most of the phenoms have development spurts, and then flat periods. If lucky, they then get more later development.
Hedengren had big jump as a soph, then again as a Senior.
Although I think they are fine runners, I wouldn't say Ritz and Engelhardt continued developing. They both more or less arrived as sophs then plateaued as jr/srs. Neither gets seriously injured though, so they always show up and compete. They also have improved slightly with incremental new PRs.
I am eager to see Ritz at NXN. Will she step up and compete for the win, or follow the '25 form chart and finish 6-10?
I'm also not sure how much Hedengren and Engelhardt are improving in ncaa xc.
Fortunately, they are both healthy and certainly are not regressing.
Hedengren is spectacular, but a 9:17 14:57 ncaa runner is of course right up front. Engelhardt also solid, but right at level that a 4:27/9:52 ncaa runner would be. Their indoor track results will be illuminating.
16:18 at Laverne Gibson seems like a very fast time for "only" a 165 speed rating. 16:18/165 is what is normally seen on pretty fast courses. In 2020 Thorvaldson dominated a race there in bad weather (as I recall) and ran 16:38 for a 168. Boys at 14:41/195 also indicates fast course. Were conditions that ideal there this year?
Little known fact: Dudek broke Sophia Rodriguez’s 14yr AG WR 5000m, taking it from 16:22 to 16:18.
16:18 at Laverne Gibson seems like a very fast time for "only" a 165 speed rating. 16:18/165 is what is normally seen on pretty fast courses. In 2020 Thorvaldson dominated a race there in bad weather (as I recall) and ran 16:38 for a 168. Boys at 14:41/195 also indicates fast course. Were conditions that ideal there this year?
Little known fact: Dudek broke Sophia Rodriguez’s 14yr AG WR 5000m, taking it from 16:22 to 16:18.
Dudek is 14?
Why do they even have an xc record? Time irrelevant as courses are different.
Natasza Dudek's speed rating for yesterday's race is 165!
To put that in perspective, Addy Ritzenhein and Rachel Forsyth never had a speed rating that high. Even Natalie Cook only had a speed rating that high one time.
And Dudek is only a sophomore!
Ritzenhein is done. So many other faster runners out there for NXN. Addy barely managed to get third in her own regionals!!
WTF? When you said, "Michigan International Speedway" I thought this was a nickname for a really fast course in Michigan. Some people call McAlpine Greenway in NC the "McAlpine Speedway." I had no idea you actually meant an actual racetrack until I saw the video.
Do they just do loops around the infield or something?
Only about half of the xc course (the start and the finish) is inside the stadium.
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