That’s crazy. Not an uncommon last name at all. It would be even crazier if they were related to Scott Christensen (former coach of Stillwater MN who retired last year)
That’s crazy. Not an uncommon last name at all. It would be even crazier if they were related to Scott Christensen (former coach of Stillwater MN who retired last year)
Their top 7 changed throughout the season last year. I think only 4 or 5 of the kids on that team ran varsity in every race. Their depth is one of their biggest strengths, because if someone is sick or injured, they can sit them out. A lot of them made big jumps last year, it will be interesting to see if they can do that again this year, especially since it's still a pretty young team.
So at the state meet and NXR, Niwot’s top 7 was the exact same as at NXN 2023, but it seems like for NXN 2024, Mazurana was replaced with Engtrakul who ran a faster time at NXR, because I saw that Mazurana is entered in RunningLane with 6 other Niwot JV seniors.
This year's classification changes will have more impact than any other I can recall over the last few decades.
Tier 1 - NXN potential
Tier 2 - NXR top 10 potential (only 3 or 4 most years)
Tier 3 - NXR championship race potential (about 10 or 12 most years)
5A boys
Tier 1 - Niwot
Tier 2 - Vista, Rock Canyon, Valor
Tier 3 - Fort Collins, Northfield, Fossil Ridge, Air Academy, Castle View, Pine Creek, Arapahoe, Cherry Creek
After Niwot, 5A just looks crowded. Someone here said Niwot's JV would be top 10 at state - I actually think they could be top 4 or 5. Vista, Valor, and Rock Canyon all at this point don't look to be as good as they were last year. Castle View is getting a few stud freshmen to go with a strong sophomore class. Air Academy is young. Northfield will be just fine in 5A as they are deep.
4A boys
Tier 1 - Coronado
Tier 1.5 - Thompson Valley
Tier 2 - Cheyenne Mountain
Tier 3 - Holy Family, Summit, Eagle Valley
With a top 4 that should theoretically be able to hold their own against anyone in the country, Coronado is the only other team that has a chance to be near Niwot. Thompson Valley has been getting better rapidly and if they stay the course should be the clear #3 team in the state. Holy Family was poised to challenge for 3A this fall but will probably have to contend for a top 5 spot in 4A instead.
3A Boys
Tier 3 - TCA, Jefferson Academy
TCA gets a gift on a down year by not having to defend against Holy Family and Berthoud. There are only about 30 boys that have even broken 5:00 in 3A, and a dozen of them are either TCA or JA.
This is a good list. The sad reality is that AF, Herriman, and Niwot are all NXN top 5 caliber teams. That leaves the rest of a very deep region fighting for one at large spot, if that.
And sadly, next fall it will be exactly like this for the third year in a row. It’s a joke at this point that we’re not getting more Southwest teams to NXN.
Either:
1) NY should be added to Northeast, and let either Utah or Colorado have its own region
or
2) one (instead of two) boys AQ team from NY, and three boys AQ teams from SW (two SW at larges would get 5 SW teams to NXN).
This way, every region would still be represented in some way.
Just an idea, because right now, we’re not really getting all of the best teams to NXN