NIKE CROSS NATIONALS PREDICTIONS

No. They outfit them with their team name on the uniform.

Individuals have the name of their region on the jersey, and teams wear the name of their city.

When my high school qualified they had to wear the name of our city which happens to be the name of our cross-town rival high school

Well, American Fork beat Herriman at State and NXR. They tied at Timpaganos XC but that was 9/1 (Herriman won on tiebreaker). I think they have decent reason to be pretty confident. The NXR win was not really all that close.

Herriman has a decent shot, but it likely involves one of AF's top 5 having a bad day, because Herriman has better depth than AF.

"When my high school qualified they had to wear the name of our city which happens to be the name of our cross-town rival high school"

This makes sense looking at the list of entries. They are all city names.

Still - the "Don't wear your Club Merch" declaration is puzzling.

Did your team qualify? If so which one and congrats! Nike will provide the runners with all the items and merch they need to compete and warm up in. Trust me, the merch is top notch. It was when I competed and it’s only gotten better since then. Also to put it in perspective, it’s kinda insulting to the sponsor aka Nike that they will supply all the items you need and instead you end up wearing other merch and brands at their event.

Since Shively is scratched from NXN, I will move Emmanuel Perez to 9th and Juan Gonzalez to 10th

I think these are good predictions. I do think Noonan might surprise and be 2nd (or win). I think Newbury Park has desensitized us to Woodward Park times a bit. His 14:35 is, as far as I can tell, the 7th fastest time ever on the Woodward course.

1 GERMAN FERNANDEZ 14:24.00
2 LEO YOUNG 14:25.90
3 COLIN SAHLMAN 14:26.50 (2021 NATIONAL CHAMPION)
4 LEX YOUNG 14:27.87
5 NICO YOUNG 14:28.50 (2019 NATIONAL CHAMPION)
6 ANTHONY FAST HORSE 14:32.50
7 EVAN NOONAN 14:35
8 MARC DAVIS 14:38 (1986 NATIONAL CHAMPION)
9 ERIC REYNOLDS 14:39 (1982 NATIONAL CHAMPION)

10 BRYAN DAMEWORTH 14:39 (1989 NATIONAL CHAMPION)

11 JAY MARDEN 14:40 (1980 NATIONAL CHAMPION)

12 AARON SAHLMAN 14:41 (2022 NATIONAL CHAMPION)

Pretty decent company -- while not national champions, we all know what Fernandez, Lex and Leo were capable of if not derailed by injuries (Fernandez) or illness (twins) their senior year.

Not much love for the Midwest's Aden Bandukwala- he is 2x state xc champ, as well as state champ in the 1600, where he ran an incredible come-from-behind win. He was part of the record-setting 4x800 team that ran 7.29 last year, second fastest ever and IL record. He is off to Duke next year. Do not rule him out.

What are we thinking about Jojo Jourdon? He beat Noonan at Bob Furman

This is Nike's party and they are bankrolling the travel, hotel, entertainment, etc. They are also going to do a lot of social media marketing with images and videos over the weekend. They don't want a bunch of kids and coaches wearing other brands like adidas and Under Armour. Your athletes will get plenty of swag. If your club sweats and casual gear are branded something other than Nike, they don't want that around.

Also, the prohibition on wearing your school's gear is because some state federations and local school districts do not allow high school athletes or coaches to do post-season events. By calling yourselves CdA XC Club or whatever, you are not an official school team competing in an unsanctioned event in violation of those rules.

Don't stress it! The event is a lot of fun and Nike treats the kids like pros.

So I was talking about the fans/parents/supporters. Of course the team is going to draped in Nike gear. This will be EPIC for them.

Not sure why the Parents et all can't wear what they want.

Good catch, he should absolutely be up there. Simmons beat him by 10s at NXR but I don't read too much into regional results, and while it's hard to judge who was pressing harder, Simmons definitely ran the final mile really hard and you could see the effort. Jourdan sat in about 4th or 3rd most of the way and didn't appear to try to cover any moves. He seemed relaxed in the straight and content with 2nd.

I also don't read too much into September results like Firman. Noonan has clearly progressed a bit. I think Jourdan is a good bet for Top 5. My revised prediction might be

1. Simmons

2. Noonan

3. Jourdan

4. Grevious

5. Neil

Race day at Glendoveer is fine - wear what you like. That communication is aimed at the athletes, coaches, and official chaperones that will be in the hotel and at the ancillary events at Nike WHQ. Parents, siblings, and other fans are not permitted anywhere but the hotel's lobby. You must have Nike issued credentials to get past security or to board event busses.

Thanks for your reply. Lot's of great information that I was genuinely curious about.

But again, I was not talking about the coaches or runners. I am in complete agreement with your take on social media marketing ect... makes sense.

My only issue was this directive going out to parents and team supporters.

I am wearing my Blue Let's Run Long Sleeve anyhow.

Those Herriman guys are all still really fast. While they may not be up with Danny or the front runners, I think they could get their top 5, mayne even 7, In before most teams 3 and 4. If they can get ahead of those big packs, I think they have a serious shot at winning.

im just putting info out there im not on anybody's side.

Southlake Carroll put 5 guys under 15:22 (top 19) (180+ speed rating) at NXR south. Definitely a contender for a national title

Woodward is a new course year after year and was super fast and short this year. Woodward is a joke of a meet and needs to go away.

thats not true