CBA is literally known for their ability to develop guys. They aren't Niwot or Crater with one of the best feeder programs in the country. 1 freshman under 17 and 4 under 18 is not exactly crazy. And this is a faster freshmen class than they usually get. And in any case most of their top guys come from Christian middle schools in the area(at least that's how it was a couple years ago and I don't have much reason to think it's changed).
So it's not the case that all of the talented NJ running boys are recruited there while the girls recruit to UC? Or only half of this is true?
Only one of CBA's top 7 was a sub 5 runner before freshmen year.
You don't care how hard the course is? What kind of statement is that? You are aware that some courses are much, much harder than others and that leads to slower times?
The ongoing effort to turn XC into track is boring. Let's see what happens at the national meet, and it would be a hell of a lot more interesting if the big meets had varied terrain and big hills.
Dude… when the top NY team won with a performance that got worked by the 4th place NE team on the same course… and that team (Union Catholic) would be an overwhelming pick to finish last in this year’s NXN absent of NY teams… it doesn’t matter how hard the course was.
Except they could beat the Nebraska team that made it from the Heartland (Lincoln Pius). There were 4 teams within striking distance of them at NXR. Last year they took 24th at the NXR championship race.
At least we saw a first team ever from Nebraska make NXN (Millard West would have made it in 2021 if it wasn’t for Covid taking NXN away that year)
CBA is literally known for their ability to develop guys. They aren't Niwot or Crater with one of the best feeder programs in the country. 1 freshman under 17 and 4 under 18 is not exactly crazy. And this is a faster freshmen class than they usually get. And in any case most of their top guys come from Christian middle schools in the area(at least that's how it was a couple years ago and I don't have much reason to think it's changed).
So it's not the case that all of the talented NJ running boys are recruited there while the girls recruit to UC? Or only half of this is true?
No. I can't comment on UC recruiting but CBA does not(at least to any great extent).
This argument needs to end. 59 million people live the states represented by NY and the NE regions of NXN. That is 20 million more than California. The southwest region has 18 million. Let it go. Things will ebb and flow.
Don't forget that NE/NY athletes, until last year, had to choose FL or NXR. Look at FL and track results in recent years. The NE is tremendous. CBA is very good. Haddonfield is very good.
LASTLY - State College deserves an at large. They were 8th last year and ran faster this year.
To start... The biggest region in the USA is the southeast. If you want NXR to be based on population then the southeast is the one that deserves a re-work. I don't think the southeast should split however the southeast is the fastest growing region in the USA and the southeast is getting faster and faster and more competitive every year in XC. State college did not deserve an at-large bid at all. Their top 5 had a speed rating average of 174.6 which is far off other at large candidates. Kudos to them for improving this season however in my opinion they weren't in the conversation for the at-large bid. Now the southwest only has a population of 20 million however even the 8th place team at NXR southwest would've beat North Rockland the NXR NY winners. That says a lot about how competitive and how ahead XC wise the southwest is. New York is taking up spots from other teams that deserved it being the teams that didn't get an at large bid. How to fix this. Combine NY and northeast. southwest Colorado 5.9 million Utah 3.4 million New Mexico 2.1 million Arizona 7.4 million Nevada 3.2 million Total: 22.0 million Delaware: 1.02M Maryland: 6.2M Virginia: 8.8M North Carolina: 10.8M South Carolina: 5.4M Georgia: 11.0M Florida: 22.6M Alabama: 5.1M Tennessee: 7.1M Kentucky: 4.5M West Virginia: 1.8M Washington, DC: 0.67M Total: 84 million New York 19.5 million New Jersey 9.3 million Pennsylvania 12.9 million Connecticut 3.6 million Massachusetts 7.0 million Maine 1.4 million Vermont 0.65 million Rhode Island 1.1 million New Hampshire 1.4 million Total: 56.9 million
So it's not the case that all of the talented NJ running boys are recruited there while the girls recruit to UC? Or only half of this is true?
No. I can't comment on UC recruiting but CBA does not(at least to any great extent).
It's not true the best talent goes to CBA. I agree with the other posters that CBA does an incredible job of developing their athletes. The biggest difference between the two I've seen is that UC takes transfers at any part of their high school, while CBA rarely gets any transfers. Almost every year there's new names on UC's team. At least two of UC's boys top 5 started at a different high school, including their #1.
Good talent does go to CBA, but there are other teams in the Shore Conference that are also good. You can't look past the fact that some teams get talent and kids don't develop, while CBA does a great job. Saying they "just get good kids" takes away from what is going on there.
I have routinely come on here and defended NY against the “contraction” arguments, for a few years. I can’t do that anymore.
It has been so long since we had a good boys team in the state, we have collectively forgotten what one looks like. We just qualified two teams with a combined total of four guys bettering a 165 SR. I’m sorry, but that is pathetic. Our best 31 boys teams combined for a total of 6 guys who could have scored for CBA yesterday. Our girls are better… but are looking up at a team from freakin’ Vermont. Jeezus.
Speed ratings this year are lower than last year. At Feds 2024, 15:54 was a 189. At Feds 2025, 15:54 was 185.
I have routinely come on here and defended NY against the “contraction” arguments, for a few years. I can’t do that anymore.
It has been so long since we had a good boys team in the state, we have collectively forgotten what one looks like. We just qualified two teams with a combined total of four guys bettering a 165 SR. I’m sorry, but that is pathetic. Our best 31 boys teams combined for a total of 6 guys who could have scored for CBA yesterday. Our girls are better… but are looking up at a team from freakin’ Vermont. Jeezus.
Speed ratings this year are lower than last year. At Feds 2024, 15:54 was a 189. At Feds 2025, 15:54 was 185.
So go ahead and re-rate the NY and NE races using last year’s scale. Do you think CBA is going to stomp the whole country this coming weekend? That’s what those ratings would project.
Speed ratings this year are lower than last year. At Feds 2024, 15:54 was a 189. At Feds 2025, 15:54 was 185.
So go ahead and re-rate the NY and NE races using last year’s scale. Do you think CBA is going to stomp the whole country this coming weekend? That’s what those ratings would project.
Idk why this needs to be said constantly, but, according to the Tully speed ratings, they're not meant to be compared to region to region, the only real comparisons are within a region. So stop saying one team in "x" region is better than another in "y" region because of speed ratings.
So go ahead and re-rate the NY and NE races using last year’s scale. Do you think CBA is going to stomp the whole country this coming weekend? That’s what those ratings would project.
Idk why this needs to be said constantly, but, according to the Tully speed ratings, they're not meant to be compared to region to region, the only real comparisons are within a region. So stop saying one team in "x" region is better than another in "y" region because of speed ratings.
He may say a lot of things like this but he posts a NATIONAL best list and posts a preview of nationals using speed ratings from different regions.
Idk why this needs to be said constantly, but, according to the Tully speed ratings, they're not meant to be compared to region to region, the only real comparisons are within a region. So stop saying one team in "x" region is better than another in "y" region because of speed ratings.
He may say a lot of things like this but he posts a NATIONAL best list and posts a preview of nationals using speed ratings from different regions.
If only someone organized a national meet to settle all that
Idk why this needs to be said constantly, but, according to the Tully speed ratings, they're not meant to be compared to region to region, the only real comparisons are within a region. So stop saying one team in "x" region is better than another in "y" region because of speed ratings.
He may say a lot of things like this but he posts a NATIONAL best list and posts a preview of nationals using speed ratings from different regions.
Speed ratings are exactly supposed to compare across the country and years. That's precisely the purpose and it's how Mr Meylan puts together his race predictions.
They obviously are not perfect, and unlike 99% of posters believe, x time on some well known course does not always compute to the same rating. (They also are much better within a single year, and in Northeast, where database is much larger)
The humor in all of this is Mr Meylan does the speed ratings for free and as a hobby for his personal fandom.
Still the entire sport puts great weight on his calculations, and folks are always upset about some speed rating conspiracy.
Just please remember. Done for free by a volunteer fan!
Look at the times from the Ny region in particular. You have a 17:30 boy making a fully paid trip to NXN. I don’t care how hard the course is, those times are pathetic!
What an absolute Joke! nike needs to realign the regions ASAP!
That course is brutal. After the initial start you're snaking your way up hill to the mile then the real hills start in the woods. The downhills are on rough trails and then that long, grinding finish.
They could move to an easier course to impress people who don't understand that cross-country courses differ in difficulty.
Look at the times from the Ny region in particular. You have a 17:30 boy making a fully paid trip to NXN. I don’t care how hard the course is, those times are pathetic!
What an absolute Joke! nike needs to realign the regions ASAP!
Well Haddonfield has 2 guys that ran in the 17:40s at NXR too
I have routinely come on here and defended NY against the “contraction” arguments, for a few years. I can’t do that anymore.
It has been so long since we had a good boys team in the state, we have collectively forgotten what one looks like. We just qualified two teams with a combined total of four guys bettering a 165 SR. I’m sorry, but that is pathetic. Our best 31 boys teams combined for a total of 6 guys who could have scored for CBA yesterday. Our girls are better… but are looking up at a team from freakin’ Vermont. Jeezus.
Speed ratings this year are lower than last year. At Feds 2024, 15:54 was a 189. At Feds 2025, 15:54 was 185.
So you think CBA's performance at NXR this year is worth a 199, 198, 189, 188, and 186 for a 192 average SR?
I have routinely come on here and defended NY against the “contraction” arguments, for a few years. I can’t do that anymore.
It has been so long since we had a good boys team in the state, we have collectively forgotten what one looks like. We just qualified two teams with a combined total of four guys bettering a 165 SR. I’m sorry, but that is pathetic. Our best 31 boys teams combined for a total of 6 guys who could have scored for CBA yesterday. Our girls are better… but are looking up at a team from freakin’ Vermont. Jeezus.
At NXN, this Vermont team was led by someone who hasn’t done long distance running until this fall. They did get beat by Shen though