Let's talk Ohio HS XC

Any thoughts on Miamisburg? Seems like they got a nice 1-5 and were very close to St Xavier. Looks like they only got 6th at region last year

Such a shame that Mass Perry could not find a fifth. Could have been really good this year

Miamisburg ran lights out at Troy. Just kept getting better these last 3 weeks. Good for them. If they run like that, they are a top 10 team at the State meet.

I was stunned to see their results at first. 3 ahead of Mas. Jackson’s #1, and 4 ahead of their #3. Their 5th needed to be about 20 seconds faster for them to win it looks like.

I was stunned as well when I saw that. Massillon becoming a HS running town? Probably not.

But maybe next year though. Mas Jackson returns everybody. Looking to be contending for a state title although Mason, who is losing a bulk of their team, is still returning a lot of depth

Noticed that one of the top fastest top 7 Mason nonseniors based of times is Jason Xu. Is he related to Jerry Xu? Having an older brother who is successful seems helpful to get even better. I’m sure the younger one will be motivated to secure a top 7 spot next year so the 2 brothers can race at state together. Next year is the only time it will happen

My final rankings are as follows:

1. Mason

2. Lancaster

3. No idea. TSF? Mas. Jackson? St. X? Miamisburg? HD? Coffman? I guess that's my predicted order.

Is this a down year for XC in Ohio or is Mason just that deep (or a bit of both)? Even without Neuberger all year and with Xu finishing 7th at regionals they still won by 60 at Troy.

I think it has to be between Davidson and St. X, Davidson has consistently beat Coffman all three times this season. Mass Jackson could also potentially be third, but I think their 5 could get buried in a faster field.

Did Xu get injured at Troy or did he just have a bad race?

I could also agree that it could be between HD and St. X for 3rd and 4th (also agree with Mason and Lancaster going 1 and 2).

I don't think Toledo St. Francis gets better than 5th--Ethan Cope didn't place well for them at Tiffin Regionals (was their 5th man), but the sophomore Jameson Heck really stepped it up for them and was their 2nd man. Their 6th and 7th are way too far behind to do any real damage to displace other teams' runners though.

The fact that Davidson is almost an all-senior team, with one of them being one of the best runners in the nation (Ackley), it will motivate them to try to finish very high because they know that there will be no next year for them. In this meet they just needed to get to state. I like Lancaster a lot. They have one set of triplets and another pair of twins in the top 7. Having all those guys in the top 7 at the same time doesn’t happen much. Even at Newbury Park

I agree that Mason is the clear favorite. If they run their best, they will win big. And I think they proved at Troy they have the depth to cover somebody having a bad day.

I will say though that Lancaster ran very well last week. If Mason runs poorly, and Lancaster runs great again, it could be very close.

After that, I like Hil. Davidson for 3rd. I really liked how they looked last week. They are putting everything together at the right time.

Very fuzzy for me after those 3, but here are my predictions for the top 10 D1 boys teams:
1.) Mason
2.) Lancaster
3.) Hil. Davidson
4.) St. Xavier
5.) Dub. Coffman
6.) Mas. Jackson
7.) Miamisburg
8.) Tol. St. Francis
9.) Mass. Perry
10.) Olen. Orange

In the individual race, I think Ackley finally gets his crown, Rice 2nd, and Ricchiuti 3rd.

Heartbreaker for Dublin Jerome at their regional meet. Top 5 go. They tied on points with 164 to 5th-place Pickerington North, but PN's 6th man got 75th place, Jerome's 6th man got 77th. Ouch!

I can agree with that Ackley, Rice, Ricchiutti prognosis.

So painful to see that. Dub. Jerome is a much better team than several teams that will be racing this weekend. The Columbus Region seemed to be very strong this year. Alas, someone always gets the short end of the stick.

Congrats to Dub. Jerome on a great season, and good luck to their individuals Saturday.

I agree that the Pickerington regional is solid. I am curious to see how Gabelman, Rudraraju, Shaughnessy (5th last year) and the Lanoy triplets fare. Any or all of them could place in the top ten.

Results were so tight. After Lancaster, Davidson (I was wrong about them), Coffman, and Orange, it went like this...

Pick North - 164 (Wins tiebreaker, gets last team spot, great freshman in Temple)

Jerome - 164 (Heartbreaking. I think this is the best team of these four listed.)

Kilbourne - 167 (3rd man looked off. Watch out for this squad next year. Top guys all back.)

Scioto - 168 (Great postseason for them! They surprised many.)

By .36 seconds. Wow.

Maybe.....

If Cope returns to form then it gets interesting (He didn't look good throwing up pre and post race from my vantage point and looked content to lock down the 5th spot ) TSF haven't seemed to be a team that has been predicated on displacing anyone all-year and haven't been pushed in a race in weeks...either could be really fresh or really rusty on Saturday.