Sophia Grant did not transfer after all. Can't blame her for considering running with the GOAT, but changing schools is often just too tough for a young lady, so she went back to Newbury Park.
She was the only person from NP who made state but she DNFed there.
Looking at what happened to the team at the state meet, even if she stuck with Ventura’s #2, Ventura still wouldn’t have gotten top 4 in the merge if Grant transferred to Ventura
Melanie True's injury was the difference maker. With True and Grant, Ventura definitely qualifies for NXN and probably finishes top 7.
She was the only person from NP who made state but she DNFed there.
Looking at what happened to the team at the state meet, even if she stuck with Ventura’s #2, Ventura still wouldn’t have gotten top 4 in the merge if Grant transferred to Ventura
Melanie True's injury was the difference maker. With True and Grant, Ventura definitely qualifies for NXN and probably finishes top 7.
And Sax didn’t race between Clovis and CIF sections. Must have had an injury
At state she was a minute behind their #2&3.
This team did very well at Woodbridge but got imploded after that
Melanie True's injury was the difference maker. With True and Grant, Ventura definitely qualifies for NXN and probably finishes top 7.
And Sax didn’t race between Clovis and CIF sections. Must have had an injury
At state she was a minute behind their #2&3.
This team did very well at Woodbridge but got imploded after that
Hard to do well as a team with 3 of your initial top 5 either leaving or being injured.
Tough luck for Ventura to have their boy's team miss out last year and their girl's team miss out this year after both being clear #1's in CA entering the season.
And Sax didn’t race between Clovis and CIF sections. Must have had an injury
At state she was a minute behind their #2&3.
This team did very well at Woodbridge but got imploded after that
Hard to do well as a team with 3 of your initial top 5 either leaving or being injured.
Tough luck for Ventura to have their boy's team miss out last year and their girl's team miss out this year after both being clear #1's in CA entering the season.
Good thing the boys made it in 2014 and placed 7th at NXN. Probably the only time Ventura will have ever made NXN
Hard to do well as a team with 3 of your initial top 5 either leaving or being injured.
Tough luck for Ventura to have their boy's team miss out last year and their girl's team miss out this year after both being clear #1's in CA entering the season.
Good thing the boys made it in 2014 and placed 7th at NXN. Probably the only time Ventura will have ever made NXN
100%! That is a program that has defined "average" for decades.
And Sax didn’t race between Clovis and CIF sections. Must have had an injury
At state she was a minute behind their #2&3.
This team did very well at Woodbridge but got imploded after that
Hard to do well as a team with 3 of your initial top 5 either leaving or being injured.
Tough luck for Ventura to have their boy's team miss out last year and their girl's team miss out this year after both being clear #1's in CA entering the season.
Ventura girls wasn’t #1 in CA in the preseason rankings. Buchanan was #1 in CA both in the preseason rankings and at NXN.
Not counting out Lone Peak for a podium finish. They will be very good this fall with a lot of depth, and they had an extremely impressive showing on the girls side at the Utah State Meet in May.
I am here once again to hype up Lone Peak...despite losing Aagard and Meldrum, I think they will be very, very good. They ran a local 5k this past Saturday and the results were quite impressive. As I said, the depth is remarkable. I don't think they will beat AA or Vista, but a podium finish is certainly possible in 2024.
P.S. might want to check out the boys' results as well... 4 under 16 mins
Three of their top five competed for their high school as middle schoolers at some point. The aforementioned 8th grader, a senior in their 5th year of high school competition, and a sophomore in their 4th year of high school competition (already has been in 4 years of NXR/NXN events). In 2023 they had 2 8th graders. In 2022 they had 1 and in 2021 they had a 7th grader. Not such a weakness after all.
They would not have been able to field a team of 7 runners without using the 7th and 8th graders.
I agree if a coach gets to work with a kid for 5 or 6 yrs instead of 4, the kid has advantage of more training and experience. I'm not sure that advantage is as big as being able to pool the best runners from one city/region on one team via school choice.
I note that Niwot, Mountain Vista etc have great JV teams. At schools like Bethlehem and fabled Fayetteville-Manlius there is no JV team. They are lucky to get 10 kids out for the whole program...hence the 8th graders.
2 years ago F-M boys had 5 guys on the whole team.
If you have to start an 8th grader on your high school basketball team due low team turnout, you will usually be in for a long season.
That smells like an excuse. Seems like they are discouraging slower kids from coming out (or burning them out). They’ve got close to 1,400 students, you only need 1% of the kids to come out to field 7 girls and 7 boys. They should at least have 20 girls out at a school that size.
I am here once again to hype up Lone Peak...despite losing Aagard and Meldrum, I think they will be very, very good. They ran a local 5k this past Saturday and the results were quite impressive. As I said, the depth is remarkable. I don't think they will beat AA or Vista, but a podium finish is certainly possible in 2024.
P.S. might want to check out the boys' results as well... 4 under 16 mins
Wouldn’t be surprised if Lone Peak wins NXN next year. They return 5 of their top 6, and they were closer to Mountain Vista than expected
Lone Peak will be very good, but losing Their #2 and #4 is tough to overcome - even for a team as deep and young as them. Not doubting that they'll podium again, though.
Yeah Niwot can challenge for the title too. They return their entire squad. If they win, it will be the first boys/girls team sweep at NXN since 2014, the only time it ever happened
They would not have been able to field a team of 7 runners without using the 7th and 8th graders.
I agree if a coach gets to work with a kid for 5 or 6 yrs instead of 4, the kid has advantage of more training and experience. I'm not sure that advantage is as big as being able to pool the best runners from one city/region on one team via school choice.
I note that Niwot, Mountain Vista etc have great JV teams. At schools like Bethlehem and fabled Fayetteville-Manlius there is no JV team. They are lucky to get 10 kids out for the whole program...hence the 8th graders.
2 years ago F-M boys had 5 guys on the whole team.
If you have to start an 8th grader on your high school basketball team due low team turnout, you will usually be in for a long season.
That smells like an excuse. Seems like they are discouraging slower kids from coming out (or burning them out). They’ve got close to 1,400 students, you only need 1% of the kids to come out to field 7 girls and 7 boys. They should at least have 20 girls out at a school that size.
Maybe in CO, maybe coach lousy hallway recruiter?
With only 5 good runners, meaning they lose if one is off, coach and girls would welcome more team members.
Bethlehem also not a regularly great team, just happens to have this strong group now.
Three of their top five competed for their high school as middle schoolers at some point. The aforementioned 8th grader, a senior in their 5th year of high school competition, and a sophomore in their 4th year of high school competition (already has been in 4 years of NXR/NXN events). In 2023 they had 2 8th graders. In 2022 they had 1 and in 2021 they had a 7th grader. Not such a weakness after all.
They would not have been able to field a team of 7 runners without using the 7th and 8th graders.
I agree if a coach gets to work with a kid for 5 or 6 yrs instead of 4, the kid has advantage of more training and experience. I'm not sure that advantage is as big as being able to pool the best runners from one city/region on one team via school choice.
I note that Niwot, Mountain Vista etc have great JV teams. At schools like Bethlehem and fabled Fayetteville-Manlius there is no JV team. They are lucky to get 10 kids out for the whole program...hence the 8th graders.
2 years ago F-M boys had 5 guys on the whole team.
If you have to start an 8th grader on your high school basketball team due low team turnout, you will usually be in for a long season.
No, the FM boys team actually had 10 guys in 2022. 6 of them ran at sections because everyone else was sick or injured at that time or something.
And Bethlehem Central boys and girls have way more than enough people to have a JV team. 30 people per gender.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Lone Peak wins NXN next year. They return 5 of their top 6, and they were closer to Mountain Vista than expected
Lone Peak will be very good, but losing Their #2 and #4 is tough to overcome - even for a team as deep and young as them. Not doubting that they'll podium again, though.