ANALYSIS: There are two athletes entered this Saturday who are head and shoulders above the rest of the other athletes in this field. That's not meant as a disrespect to any other of the athletes in this race, most of them are wonderful talents in their own right, but Jane Hedengren and Sadie Engelhardt simply reside in a different tier.
Hedengren hasn't lost a cross country race since November of 2022 and is the defending Woodbridge champion after running 15:35 (three miles) to triumph over the eventual Foot Locker national champion, Elizabeth Leachman.
At this point, nearly everyone knows the talent that Sadie Engelhardt possesses, running 4:08 for 1500 meters this past summer. The question, however, is how well can she translate her fitness to the grass? Luckily for her, the flat and fast Woodbridge course should play to her strengths.
If either of the projected top-two women falter in this race, look for an athlete such as Rylee Blade or Hanne Thomsen to capitalize. Blade was 4th at this meet last year and Thomsen has gone sub-10 for 3200 meters. Both distance stars are tremendously talented and boast great upside.
I wouldn’t pay for Stride Report either, how can they rank Jordan Banta, an 11:00 2 miler over the likes of Rodriguez, Fox, or Meineke? Rodriguez has run 15:30s for 3 miles, etc. oh well race in 24hrs.
Here is what I have for the head to head records of each team against other players in the Northwest (teams I could reasonably see placing top 10 at NXR)
I will update this as the season goes on.
Oregon:
Crater - Wins over CDA, Bozeman, and Mercer Island at Woodbridge.
Jesuit - Wins over Ida B Wells, Franklin, and Lincoln at The Mook.
Ida B Wells - Wins over Franklin and Lincoln at The Mook. Win over Lincoln at Ash Creek. Win over Lincoln at PIL Preview.
Franklin - Win over Lincoln at The Mook.
Lincoln - No notable wins.
Idaho:
CDA - Wins over Mercer Island, Bozeman at Woodbridge. Win over Mount Spokane at Timberlake Farragut.
Rocky Mountain - Wins over Mountain View (ID), Timberline, and Star Valley at Tiger Grizz. Wins over Mountain View, Boise, and Timberline at Vallivue Scramble.
Mountain View - Wins over Timberline, Star Valley at Tiger Grizz. Win over Boise and Timberline at Vallivue Scramble.
Boise - Win over Timberline at Vallivue Scramble.
Timberline - No notable wins.
Washington:
Sehome - Wins over Issaquah, Jesuit, Ida B Wells, Franklin, and Lincoln at The Mook.
Mercer Island - Win over Bozeman at Woodbridge.
Issaquah - Wins over Jesuit, Ida B Wells, Franklin, and Lincoln at The Mook.
Kamiakin - No notable wins
Wyoming:
Star Valley - No notable wins.
Montana:
Bozeman - No notable wins (solid showing at Woodbridge however)
Rankings - Each Tier is Alphabetical
Top 5 - CDA, Crater, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Rocky Mountain.
5th Through 10th - Bozeman, Ida B Wells, Issaquah, Jesuit, Mountain View
The Outsiders - Boise, Franklin, Kamiakin, Lincoln, Lincoln, Star Valley
You have to include Redmond, WA in here. They did a two mile race at the beginning of the season and they outperformed Mercer Island and Issaquah in that race.
Herriman (Nation #1) Rocky Mountain (NW top 5) Taylorsville (Utah top 5, SW top 10)
Great Oak (California top 5) Saugus (California top 10) Mountain View (NW top 10) Star Valley (NW Dark Horse) Boise (NW Dark Horse) Saugus (California top 10) JSerra (California top 10)