Official Idaho HS XC 2023 Thread

The Top 10 Senior Boys To Watch In Cross Country

2. Landon Heemeyer
Rocky Mountain (ID)
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One of the top returners from last year's Champs Sports Nationals, Heemeyer will have a chance to rise up the cross country ranks from the get-go.
As a junior last year, Heemeyer won an Idaho Class 5A state championship in a 5K personal best of 14:38.79, which ranked him at U.S. No. 11 last season. He had his biggest breakout out performance of the season, though, in his very last race with a ninth-place run at Champs.
Outdoors, Heemeyer earned sixth at Nike Outdoor Nationals in the 2-mile with a PR of 9:01.80 and also clocked 8:59.57 for 3,200m at the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays.
But where Heemeyer's true dominance seems to lie is on the cross country course. As an experience senior, he has a chance to make an impact early on in both Idaho and on the national scene.

milesplit.com

The Top 10 Senior Boys To Watch In Cross Country

Ashley Tysiac

We rank the top senior boys competitors heading into the 2023 cross country season.

Link:www.milesplit.com/articles/337003/the-...

Although I’m not sure if Landon should be #2 it’s absolutely insane to think that between him and Simmons (can we call him a half Idahoan prospect?) that maybe the top 2 most talented xc runners in the class of 2024 are from Idaho. And then if you throw in Athay… Are the 3 most talented xc prospects in this class from Idaho? Absolutely unreal

Forgot to add in that athay consistently beat both of them their sophomore year

I 100% believe that CDA will qualify for multiple NXNs before any other boys team from Idaho does. Their #6 last fall was a freshman who ran 10:00.77 in the 3200. He'll likely be their #6 this fall again once Wyatt Carr comes in.

NIDP also had an 8th grader run 4:54, another run 4:56, and another 5:02. The kid that ran 4:54 was their #7 runner at the JO Region meet. One of the boys ahead of him was a CDA freshman, but if even half of those boys end up at CDA, they are going to be a problem for a long time. That NIDP team did win JO nationals.

Considering that they left off the guy that finished 2nd at NON in the 2 mile and beat Landon by 7.6 seconds in the last lap, beat him head to head at NXR, and didn't even give him an honorable mention despite him running 8:50, I'm going to say that this list is busted.

Pretty crazy that the middle school heat at 2018 NXR had Simmons, Athay, and Heemeyer go 2, 7, and 8 as 7th graders. There are some other big Boise area names in those middle school NXR-NW and Bob Firman races.

They will lose one or two of those kids to soccer.

Some great talent going into 8th grade though.

Don’t disagree there, that’s why I said I don’t know if Landon was #2

Apparently CDA had only 16 boys on the team last year?
7th at NXR NW is really good for that

He’s running low mileage and cross training, just not posting on Strava right now.

Wasn’t Danny Simmons born in Utah?
In 2015, his brother Joe Simmons competed for American Fork UT.

Not necessarily disagreeing, but Landon Heemeyer did get a head to head win over Nathan Neil at Bob Firman, beating him by ~19 seconds there.

The fact that Heemeyer broke 15 on that course is a bigger deal than I think most people realize.

Here's what's happened to all the athletes who've gone sub 15:05 on this course in the last 6 years.

Tyrone Gorze (14:51) - 3rd at NXN

Landon Heemeyer (14:58) - 9th at Footlocker

Thomas Boyden (14:59) - 12th at Footlocker

Evan Holland (15:02) - 6th at NXN

Weston Brown (15:03) - 8th at NXN

Nathan Neil (15:05) - 25th at NXN

Nathan Neil is legit and so is Landon Heemeyer. Exciting guys to have in the NW! Landon was probably sick at NXR (similar to how Great Oak was sick at Bob Firman) but he doesn’t get a pass like they do. Landon seemed to have a super consistent XC season racing at a high level and capping it off with that 9th at Champs. His interviews seem like he is a super humble and down to earth kid as well. I’m a fan of him and the Bozeman kid. Loved watching him and his teammate run great all year!

What’s with CDA wanting to go to NXN but not running Bob Firman to practice the course and packed conditions? Run the first mile at Eagle Island with 20 or more teams is very different than running it at state with far fewer teams.

Most people here point out that Rocky beat Great Oak when complaining about Rocky not qualifying but don't acknowledge that Great Oak had illness going through their team. Crazy that we're just now hearing how Landon was sick at NXR.

It's worth pointing out that last cross season was Nathan's first season. He was a soccer kid before. Firman was his 4th high school race ever. They were clearly not on the same level from NXR on.

Correct. Danny is from Utah. He only lived here for a few years.

The poster said Landon was probably sick at NXR, not that he was for sure. If he was, props to him and the Rocky team to not publicize that as an excuse. Landon was able to bounce back finishing 9th at Champs Nationals, although I know he would've loved to race with his teammates at NXN.