Y'all (not you Rob) are freaking out about FL vs NXN, but they are both just bonus races for the kids that don't matter unless you place super well.
The track doesn't lie, whereas XC kinda sorta can be deceptive when kids in different regions don't ever race each other or only do so once at the very end of a long season of racing after having traveled somewhere they aren't used to and put in a party environment.
Cream rises to the top eventually.
Sucks that NXN has 18:00 boys running.
clutch cargo wrote:
Funny thing is, if Nike really wanted to bury Footlocker, they'd just pull their account from Footlocker. Footlocker could not last a month if they could not sell Nikes.
I doubt that Nike would pull their account from Footlocker over a cross country meet... The majority of both industries couldn't care less about the two meets.
Foot Locker is by far the better race.
its not on the inside of a field and doesnt have stupid s*** like logs and dirt mounds to run over. its more of a tough mudder/colour run than an XC race.
A team competition that does count for shit. FL is an individuals race, why they even incorporate the Regional Team points into it I wonder to this day. NXN is the place where you figure out who the best team in the nation is.
Mike Dingleton-McN00b wrote:
clutch cargo wrote:Funny thing is, if Nike really wanted to bury Footlocker, they'd just pull their account from Footlocker. Footlocker could not last a month if they could not sell Nikes.
I want you to really think about want you just said, I know you probably thought, while sitting in a Econ class at the highly academically esteemed university of Oregon, that Nike can just 'bury' any part of its distribution chain, and flex it's big muscles without consequences, but let's think how much money they'd lose if they pulled their product from a national chain like FL, then let's think again about what Nikes competitors would do, let's even go further and think about how timid stores similar to FL would be about selling nike when they pull their products so whimsically... Face it you're a pawn of Nikes, and a true n00b to the sport
I work at Footlocker corporate in Wausau, WI buddy. Footlocker is a pawn in Nike's game. We blew a major Nike launch this year when our servers crashed and they forced us to purchase a multi-million dollar outside power source to make sure it never happened again. When Nike calls, we drop everything and listen. Without Nike, Footlocker would collapse in short time. If you think FL could survive selling adidas soccer cleats or UA compression gear without Nike, you are crazy. We are slaves to Nike's launch game but we do so because FL is afraid Nike will pull the account.
Keep in mind also that Footlocker is not only Footlocker. We are also Eastbay, Champs, Footaction, Kids Footlocker, Lady Footlocker, Final Score, CCS, and Six 02. Without Nike, that deck of cards would collapse very quickly. It would have a catastrophic effect company-wide. Company stock would bottom out. Zappos and Finish Line would crush FL if we lost the Nike account.
Does Footlocker have a program for the primary coach of each athlete to attend at Nationals? Is the coach invited or involved in any way?
What about at NXN? I heard that each athlete's coach is invited to participate in the whole experience.
Everyone goes to NXN in New York because it's much easier to make NXN than FL there. They have their own region, it's basically states again. There were only 2-3 New Yorkers that could have possibly made FL this year and only one of them went
As a fan of high school cross, and overall a pretty objective observer of both meets, having run both during my high school career, I would have to say the two most impressive races out of the 4 run were Kai Wilmot's at NXN and actually Tessa Barrett's at Footlocker. Wilmot put 9 seconds on second place on what was considered a few of the top xc guys this season, regardless of the race that is a fantastic run over good competition. Anyone who questions this kid's ability need only look at his sub 9 as a soph, if he stays healthy he will do big things on the track this year.
I know the Efraimson, Baxter, and Cranny had all of the hype, but I think the most impressive, and vastly underrated race of the championships was Barrett's. She essentially ran up front from the gun, and put multiple, decisive moves on some of the best runners in the country. The 1-2-3 crew may have ran great races, but Barrett would have been right there vying for a top 4 spot with those 3, and I think she may have even stolen an upset from how strong she looked. I just didnt see the same strength from the other 3.
My overall most impressive race goes to Caroline Alcorta from my home (racing) state of VA. She ran such a gutsy race and came away with an unreal finish of 3rd at Footlocker,and I wish her all the best in the future.
My only complaint is NXN's course.Sure it was dry this year, but this thing needs to be raced at a park or something with some hills instead of these bs "whoop-de-doos." Lets all face it, those are bs. The competition at NXN was great,as was Footlocker, and I think there is a place for both meets, but the NXN course has got to go.
Take what I posted with a grain of salt, but those were my observations from the last couple of weeks.
runnerfan34 wrote:
Take into account the regionals themselves. FootLocker regionals in the South and Midwest are on awesome courses and attract the top runners in the region. Why would you pick NXN when at FootLocker you can go to McAlpine, break 15, and/or challenge a very hallowed course record? Admittedly the Northeast and West, in my opinion, are not on good courses.
NXN is also highly watered down because there are something like 9 regions which accept team and individual runners. If you make FootLocker, except in the Northeast I suppose (as nearly all of NY's best choose Nike) you know you're legit. Not so with NXN.
McAlpine is fast and can be a fun place to run, but it's overcrowded, and the meet itself is less than organized. And here is that issue of the first 400m.
Compare that to WakeMed, where the NXN Regional is run: it's wide open, has ample room, is well organized, and is a terrific course. Hands down the better meet.
This is funny. I ran 16:07 and I knew I was nothing, making it to state or not. But going to a big race across the country in the late 80's with a time like that...ha, I would have had to have walked and they still would have rejected me when I got there:)
Gcol wrote:
Sucks that NXN has 18:00 boys running.
The Breakfast Club wrote:
This is funny.
I ran 16:07 and I knew I was nothing, making it to state or not. But going to a big race across the country in the late 80's with a time like that...ha, I would have had to have walked and they still would have rejected me when I got there:)
Gcol wrote:Sucks that NXN has 18:00 boys running.
Division I XC... ouch
236 Walter Schafer
SR - Notre Dame 33:04.1 6:50.4 ↑ 3 197
237 Sam Roberson
FR - N.C. State 33:05.8 7:06.0 ↓ 5 198
238 Carlos Miranda
FR - Florida 33:13.4 6:50.6 ↑ 3 199
239 Liam Hillery
JR - Providence 33:13.9 7:05.6 ↓ 2 200
240 Matthew Melancon
SO - Oregon 33:16.1 7:00.0 ↔ 201
241 Jefferson Abbey
FR - Colorado State 33:16.9 6:45.5 ↑ 4 202
242 Ben Golestan
SO - Columbia 33:19.9 6:52.3 ↑ 1 203
243 Sid Vaughn
SO - Georgia 33:21.6 6:52.2 ↑ 1 204
244 Matt Valeriani
JR - North Carolina 33:22.6 6:59.5 ↓ 2 205
245 Danny Thater
JR - Tulsa 33:25.8 7:55.0 ↓ 54 206
246 Mac Reynolds
FR - Florida 33:28.6 6:57.0 ↑ 1 207
247 Marco Bertolotti
JR - Stanford 33:29.8 6:54.1 ↑ 1 208
248 Daniel Winn
JR - Oregon 33:31.3 6:59.9 ↓ 2 209
249 Robert Mintz
SO - N.C. State 33:32.3 6:55.0 ↔ 210
250 Harsha Torke
SO - Florida 33:40.7 7:00.5 ↔ 211
251 Emmett Cookson
SR - Tulsa 33:43.8 6:58.4 ↔ 212
252 Brendan Hoban
JR - Georgia 33:47.7 7:00.0 ↔ 213
253 Adam Hartman
FR - Colorado State 33:54.0 7:00.2 ↔ 214
254 James Leakos
SR - Harvard 36:39.7 ↓ 254 215