My CA rankings with some notes on their known basic roster changes (although there's lots of unknowns about incoming Freshmen and transfers):
Top 3 CA teams should go to NXN.
1. Buchanan lost their #3, 6, 7. Who cares? They'll dominate. Their super freshmen from last year should improve, of course... and I'm sure they've got a crop of new Freshmen this year, as always. They'll win State, and could win NXN.
2. J Serra lost their #2 from State (Polay was usually their #1), and has 2 super Freshman coming in. Elbaz is better at shorter distances, so her being #1 might not be good enough for them, but they're so deep, they'll cash in on their annual trip to NXN.
3. Del Norte lost their #2. With a few seniors, they will podium in D1. Might even find their way to NXN. Hong was the #2 soph in the State.
4. Santiago lost their #1 (Blade) and #3 and they supposedly have a super Freshman coming in. They're well coached and are always in the mix, but Braelyn Combe can't do it alone, so all those other Seniors on that State Champ 4x800 team need to step up this year without Blade.
5. Oak Ridge - Only lost their #1. Young team, and they can do some damage this year.
6. El Toro lost their #4 and 5, but the rest of team is very young. They could end up #2 on this list if the youngsters improve faster than everyone else's upperclassmen.
7. Saint Francis lost #3 and 5. Young and hungry, and could challenge El Toro for D2 State title.
8. Trabuco lost their #1, 4, 5. Enjoy 2024, your run is probably over.
Before the season started, I don’t think anyone would have predicted the Mira Costa girls team to make NXN. They took 32nd in the overall merge last year.
Braelyn Combe wasn’t just snubbed. She was ROBBED. Rodriguez getting in over her is insane. Nike doubled down on the NIL money they already gave Rodriguez and kicked Combe to the curb.
What’s nuts is that Melanie True was ahead of Aelo Curtis a year ago.
And we never saw her compete in XC again. Had she competed at full fitness, Ventura would have been a high podium contender. (Anyone know what happened?)
Injured last season if I remember correctly. Ventura wouldn’t have made NXN even with her this year. Also, not sure if she’s running anymore, but long distance running is tough and not for everyone (a small percentage of people actually enjoy it), so there’s always someone really good at it that decides to quit early on and find something else that they truly enjoy.
What’s nuts is that Melanie True was ahead of Aelo Curtis a year ago.
And we never saw her compete in XC again. Had she competed at full fitness, Ventura would have been a high podium contender. (Anyone know what happened?)
What happened is Aelo started working with Summer’s coach a year ago. He’s an amazing coach who has probably the best track record out there. He’s taken a bunch of 5:40-6:00 min milers and gotten them sub 5. Look at the progression of the Lieberman sisters. Both sub 4:45 from 5:30s.
What happened is Aelo started working with Summer’s coach a year ago. He’s an amazing coach who has probably the best track record out there. He’s taken a bunch of 5:40-6:00 min milers and gotten them sub 5. Look at the progression of the Lieberman sisters. Both sub 4:45 from 5:30s.
Braelyn Combe wasn’t just snubbed. She was ROBBED. Rodriguez getting in over her is insane. Nike doubled down on the NIL money they already gave Rodriguez and kicked Combe to the curb.
Tough way to end senior year like this. Great HS XC career though!
Rodriguez was 3 individual spots away from autoqualifying.
Braelyn Combe wasn’t just snubbed. She was ROBBED. Rodriguez getting in over her is insane. Nike doubled down on the NIL money they already gave Rodriguez and kicked Combe to the curb.
Tough way to end senior year like this. Great HS XC career though!
Rodriguez was 3 individual spots away from autoqualifying.
At least Combe went to NXN in 2023 and 2024.
This was an unusual year for California because usually 17:20's gets you in to NxN. Usually the top teams have the fastest individual times runners, thus opening up spots for slower individual runners. Not this year. Every sub 17:00 came from individuals. Bayles 17:00 was the first team individual time.
They need to go back to at-large individual. Jason Parra was one in 2023 and he finished 8th.
Combe can run Brooks West and hopefully run well there.
Tough way to end senior year like this. Great HS XC career though!
Rodriguez was 3 individual spots away from autoqualifying.
At least Combe went to NXN in 2023 and 2024.
This was an unusual year for California because usually 17:20's gets you in to NxN. Usually the top teams have the fastest individual times runners, thus opening up spots for slower individual runners. Not this year. Every sub 17:00 came from individuals. Bayles 17:00 was the first team individual time.
They need to go back to at-large individual. Jason Parra was one in 2023 and he finished 8th.
Combe can run Brooks West and hopefully run well there.
Nike just changed the rules yesterday and went back to having at large individuals. But they only chose 2 individuals, not 5 as in the past.
If Combe does run Brooks West Regional then she can probably win, and then do well in San Diego the following week. And she won't have to run in the mud. And all her friends and family can drive down to San Diego to see her run.
Tough way to end senior year like this. Great HS XC career though!
Rodriguez was 3 individual spots away from autoqualifying.
At least Combe went to NXN in 2023 and 2024.
This was an unusual year for California because usually 17:20's gets you in to NxN. Usually the top teams have the fastest individual times runners, thus opening up spots for slower individual runners. Not this year. Every sub 17:00 came from individuals. Bayles 17:00 was the first team individual time.
They need to go back to at-large individual. Jason Parra was one in 2023 and he finished 8th.
Combe can run Brooks West and hopefully run well there.
Sorry in advance as I’m clueless about this.
NXN doesn’t allow at-large individuals? Only teams? Is this similar to when they debuted as NTN a couple decades ago, and it was based on teams?
Tough way to end senior year like this. Great HS XC career though!
Rodriguez was 3 individual spots away from autoqualifying.
At least Combe went to NXN in 2023 and 2024.
This was an unusual year for California because usually 17:20's gets you in to NxN. Usually the top teams have the fastest individual times runners, thus opening up spots for slower individual runners. Not this year. Every sub 17:00 came from individuals. Bayles 17:00 was the first team individual time.
They need to go back to at-large individual. Jason Parra was one in 2023 and he finished 8th.
Combe can run Brooks West and hopefully run well there.
I am in error. NxN does have at-large individuals. It's two boys/girls for the nation.
I believe my error came because NxN had an at-large team pool that they would choose from. I didn't see or there wasn't an at-large pool for individuals.
It's tough to run sub 17:00 at Woodward Park at the California State Meet and not get selected to NxN.
Yes, private coach Danny Guerrero (Big Bear Track Club). Since Aelo and Summer are the only athletes mentioned above, we can keep it to just them. Not sure when Aelo started training with Danny, but summer started two years ago before she left JSerra. Results are quite impressive, so it's hard to argue with training that improves the athlete.
NXN doesn’t allow at-large individuals? Only teams?
NXN rules say no at-large individuals. Until yesterday, when Nike all of a sudden changed the rules at the last minute.
Nike realized that 3 of their Nike Elite girls didn't qualify for NXN, so Nike decided to allow 2 of the girls to run NXN but not the third girl. Somehow Nike believes that makes sense.
Yes, private coach Danny Guerrero (Big Bear Track Club). Since Aelo and Summer are the only athletes mentioned above, we can keep it to just them. Not sure when Aelo started training with Danny, but summer started two years ago before she left JSerra. Results are quite impressive, so it's hard to argue with training that improves the athlete.
Danny the argument for you not coaching them would be that both teams completely suck now. One of those teams actually made State and the other didn't. It's bad for the teams and it's bad for the individual girls to not actually be running for their teams and doing the own thing. HS athletes are about more than just fast times.
NXN doesn’t allow at-large individuals? Only teams?
NXN rules say no at-large individuals. Until yesterday, when Nike all of a sudden changed the rules at the last minute.
Nike realized that 3 of their Nike Elite girls didn't qualify for NXN, so Nike decided to allow 2 of the girls to run NXN but not the third girl. Somehow Nike believes that makes sense.
"If someone doesn't like a rule, or doesn't like the situation in the Nike NXN race , don't bicker about it. Go change it. Get involved. Otherwise, shut up and coach your team."
NXN rules say no at-large individuals. Until yesterday, when Nike all of a sudden changed the rules at the last minute.
Nike realized that 3 of their Nike Elite girls didn't qualify for NXN, so Nike decided to allow 2 of the girls to run NXN but not the third girl. Somehow Nike believes that makes sense.
"If someone doesn't like a rule, or doesn't like the situation in the Nike NXN race , don't bicker about it. Go change it. Get involved. Otherwise, shut up and coach your team."
I get the joke you're making. But in this case I DID like the rule. Nike decided to ignore the rule, not me.
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