If Rocky is serious about making it or NXN as a prime goal, they should go on one or two travel trips to establish themselves against out of state competitors. Maybe target the top California teams at Woodbridge or Mt. Sac or Utah teams at a Utah meet where they will all have their A teams.
We may actually see a scenario where Rocky Mountain beats CDA and gets second at NXR in 2023 (with Crater winning), but CDA automatically qualifies for NXN in 2024 (because they will only have 2 seniors in 2023, and Rocky Mountain and Crater will have A LOT of seniors in 2023).
Am I missing something? Rocky graduates their #2, #4 and #5 guys. CDA returns their entire top 7. Two of the guys people point to being contributors to Rocky next year did run at the state meet.. Hyrum Tuft, who finished in 43rd place as a 9th grader in 16:25 and Pierce Richardson who finished in 16:28 for 48th. CDA's #5 this year was also a 9th grader who ran 16:28 in that same meet for 46th. Their #6 ran 16:29 for 49th. CDA has a far better returner profile than Rocky does at the moment. If you take just returners and slate Sam Jensen from Rocky finishing right behind the CDA #4 guy in 11th place, Rocky scores 75 points to CDA's 53. The overwhelming favorite for cross next year has to be CDA until proven otherwise.
Heck, Boise scores 44 through 4 runners vs Rocky's 43 (with Jensen in 11th, 61 with their returners from just the state meet). Rocky is going to be dangerous next year, but so is Boise and CDA.
We may actually see a scenario where Rocky Mountain beats CDA and gets second at NXR in 2023 (with Crater winning), but CDA automatically qualifies for NXN in 2024 (because they will only have 2 seniors in 2023, and Rocky Mountain and Crater will have A LOT of seniors in 2023).
Am I missing something?
I think that Rocky is starting to prove itself as a team that shouldn't be counted out. The last couple years, they've been consistently getting better and better, and while they never seem to be phenomenal on paper, they've consistently beaten the expectations these last couple years.
That being said, personally, I'm somewhat skeptical about Rocky. I've heard stories and from other threads that they apparently just sit around and talk for well over an hour almost every day at practice. They don't seem to be training all that hard based off of their Strava stats, except for their long run days, when they consistently touch the 180-190 bpm range in the middle of a long run (I don't even know why or how that's possible, they aren't running particularly fast.)
But like I said, you cannot count Rocky out, because for better or for worse, whatever weird training they are doing seems to have done them well.
This is such a funny post to read. Rocky just sitting around talking at practice and not training very hard. Beats per minute super high mid long run while not running fast.
Those are hilarious and weird things to point out when you have no context or knowledge of what their program is about.
The talking at practice is culture building, something all great programs should be doing. The long run looks to be on a hard hilly run, pace doesn’t matter at that point. Their training must be good enough to sustain the level of excellence they’ve had the past few years. Not every high school program is going to have kids run 70 plus miles a week.
Idaho should be fun to watch with CDA, Boise, Rocky, Idaho Falls, and maybe a few others.
We may actually see a scenario where Rocky Mountain beats CDA and gets second at NXR in 2023 (with Crater winning), but CDA automatically qualifies for NXN in 2024 (because they will only have 2 seniors in 2023, and Rocky Mountain and Crater will have A LOT of seniors in 2023).
Am I missing something? Rocky graduates their #2, #4 and #5 guys. CDA returns their entire top 7. Two of the guys people point to being contributors to Rocky next year did run at the state meet.. Hyrum Tuft, who finished in 43rd place as a 9th grader in 16:25 and Pierce Richardson who finished in 16:28 for 48th. CDA's #5 this year was also a 9th grader who ran 16:28 in that same meet for 46th. Their #6 ran 16:29 for 49th. CDA has a far better returner profile than Rocky does at the moment. If you take just returners and slate Sam Jensen from Rocky finishing right behind the CDA #4 guy in 11th place, Rocky scores 75 points to CDA's 53. The overwhelming favorite for cross next year has to be CDA until proven otherwise.
Heck, Boise scores 44 through 4 runners vs Rocky's 43 (with Jensen in 11th, 61 with their returners from just the state meet). Rocky is going to be dangerous next year, but so is Boise and CDA.
But look at who Rocky Mountain is returning. Here are the 1600 results from the previous race.
Landon Heemeyer 11 Rocky Mountain High School 4:27.11 Cody Lucas 10 Rocky Mountain High School 4:28.61 Cole Reed 11 Rocky Mountain High School 4:36.54 Hyrum Tuft 9 Rocky Mountain High School 4:41.97
Cole Reed was the guy that has never been talked about. He ran a 4:36 while Tuft ran a 4:41. Reed ran only 1 XC meet in 2021 but none in 2022 (probably injured or something). This just means Reed can keep up with Tuft and maybe get close to Cody Lucas.
And they return 4:26, 4:27, 4:36 and 4:41 1600 times for next year. Lots of time to find a fast fifth runner
Jesuit OR just ran a race very recently Solid times by the nonseniors! Lots of step ups! They are gonna be very deep next year! Could possibly make another run for an NXN berth, although it will be tough against CDA and Crater OR
1500 Swanson - 11 - 4:01 (was varsity XC last year) Williams - 9 - 4:16 (was varsity XC last year) Wroblewski - 9 - 4:16 (was varsity XC last year) Schumacher - 11 - 4:19 (he is finally back after missing the entire XC season) Bostic - 11 - 4:22 Fleming - 10 - 4:24 Fletcher - 9 - 4:27 Strong - 11 - 4:36 (was varsity last year)
800 Swanson - 11 - 2:00 (was varsity last year) Strub - 10 - 2:01 (was varsity last year)
So Jesuit has 3 very solid freshmen (Fletcher, Wroblewski, and Williams). also 2 sophomores (Strub and Fleming) that will help the team stay very good in 2024.
And CDA has an 8th grader coming in that has run 4:37 in the mile and 9:15 in the 3k this last indoor season. My point is that for every reason that people are hyping up Rocky for next year, CDA has as good or better of a reason to be the team to beat. The likely scenario is that CDA puts 5 in front of Rocky's #3.
To the other poster, Rocky does a ton of culture building and encourages kids to enjoy running. They do have a good number of kids that run a lot of mileage in the offseason, but that's a feature of the program that the coaches have built. They work hard on their hard days and do a ton of climbing. Who cares if the HR hits 190 if they are climbing 300+ vertical feet over a mile in a long run? It's clearly working for them.
CDA hasn't opened up yet but their returners for next year have PRs of 4:23/9:27 (9th grader last year), 1:59/4:23/9:39 (10th grade), 4:30/9:49 (9th grade), 2:00/4:30/10:00 (10th grade), 4:47 (freshman last year), a kid that ran 4:54 in 8th grade, and then are adding a kid that's run 4:35 in the 1600 and ~9:52 in 3200 converted. CDA is 1,000% stacked for next year and they look like they very well could be the team to beat in Idaho for the next couple of years
It’s not even a given that Rocky Mountain ID will beat Jesuit OR next year. Jesuit beat Rocky Mountain in 2022 and both teams are losing the exact same number of scorers
And CDA has an 8th grader coming in that has run 4:37 in the mile and 9:15 in the 3k this last indoor season. My point is that for every reason that people are hyping up Rocky for next year, CDA has as good or better of a reason to be the team to beat. The likely scenario is that CDA puts 5 in front of Rocky's #3.
To the other poster, Rocky does a ton of culture building and encourages kids to enjoy running. They do have a good number of kids that run a lot of mileage in the offseason, but that's a feature of the program that the coaches have built. They work hard on their hard days and do a ton of climbing. Who cares if the HR hits 190 if they are climbing 300+ vertical feet over a mile in a long run? It's clearly working for them.
CDA hasn't opened up yet but their returners for next year have PRs of 4:23/9:27 (9th grader last year), 1:59/4:23/9:39 (10th grade), 4:30/9:49 (9th grade), 2:00/4:30/10:00 (10th grade), 4:47 (freshman last year), a kid that ran 4:54 in 8th grade, and then are adding a kid that's run 4:35 in the 1600 and ~9:52 in 3200 converted. CDA is 1,000% stacked for next year and they look like they very well could be the team to beat in Idaho for the next couple of years
It will be even more helpful if CDA finds a 6th and 7th, not just a 5th.
Because last year Rocky Mountain’s #5 was farther behind than their #4 at NXR than he should have been, and they did not have a 6th or 7th to back him up, which is part of why they couldn’t get top 2 at NXR
Leonard said that Southlake Carroll’s goals are to win NXN next season. It won’t be impossible for them to do. They had some guys sick at last year’s NXN, and they return 4 scorers + a couple of more studs who were not on varsity
Stevens Point is a team that returns everyone from a record breaking WI state meet team. They could make some noise if they continue to progress.
Definitely a team that could podium
They do lose their 6 and 7 but they do return all scorers. If they don’t find a 6 and 7, all 5 of those scorers need to be on their A game when it’s really important.
They do have current junior Cooper Gunderson who barely missed the top 7 on the team. We can expect him to join the top 5 if he keeps improving
Leonard said that Southlake Carroll’s goals are to win NXN next season. It won’t be impossible for them to do. They had some guys sick at last year’s NXN, and they return 4 scorers + a couple of more studs who were not on varsity
Leonard said that Southlake Carroll’s goals are to win NXN next season. It won’t be impossible for them to do. They had some guys sick at last year’s NXN, and they return 4 scorers + a couple of more studs who were not on varsity
That's a great goal for them, fastest team they've ever had.
Possible lineup with grades next year...
Caden Leonard 10 - 4:15/9:12/14:33
Jude Alvarez 12 - 4:14/9:17/14:52
Zach Troutman 12 - 4:23/9:24/15:07
Ryan Van de Berghe 12 - 4:26/15:17
Alex Severson 11 - 4:26/9:35/15:18
Brady Golomb 12 - 4:24
Blake Bullard 11 - 15:17
This is a very solid magnificent 7. All of those guys just need to be healthy come NXN. If they happen to not win NXN next year, they still return 3 guys in this above list for 2024.
That's a great goal for them, fastest team they've ever had.
Possible lineup with grades next year...
Caden Leonard 10 - 4:15/9:12/14:33
Jude Alvarez 12 - 4:14/9:17/14:52
Zach Troutman 12 - 4:23/9:24/15:07
Ryan Van de Berghe 12 - 4:26/15:17
Alex Severson 11 - 4:26/9:35/15:18
Brady Golomb 12 - 4:24
Blake Bullard 11 - 15:17
This is a very solid magnificent 7. All of those guys just need to be healthy come NXN. If they happen to not win NXN next year, they still return 3 guys in this above list for 2024.
Possible lineup for Jesuit LA with grades next year Michael Vocke - 12 - 15:22 5k in 2021 / 4:16 1600 / 9:06 3200 Brady Mullen - 11 - 15:04 5k / 9:10 3200 Brady Monahan - 10 - 9:34 / 16:11 5k (as a freshman!) Leland Crawford - 11 - 15:27 5k Lucas Sampedro - 12 - 15:26 5k in 2021 / 9:28 2-mile Josh Quintana - 12 - 16:34 5k / 9:48 3200 / 4:35 1600 7th spot will be up for grabs but 6 studs is good enough. It takes 5 to score
Don’t look past Jesuit out of the Northwest. Yes they loose there top 3. But there is a storyline in that they return 4 from NXN. Schumacher will be back in the mix and they have 4 on there JV squad under 16:30. Not predicting a podium finish yet for them but more or less saying they will not fall off the radar screen in the Pacific Northwest and could return to NXN. Especially when you look at the talent graduating this year out of the region. The coach has a history of developing talent and you can never rule out the potential for some transfers especially after this years performance.
Jesuit boys team is probably gonna struggle to make NXN this coming fall because of the senior class they lost and how good Crater, CDA, and Rocky Mountain will be. But they should have a good chance to return to NXN in 2024. For 2024 they return: Matt Wroblewski - 9 - 15:32 / 4:15 1500 Coen Strub - 10 - 15:59 / 2:00 800 Kellen Williams - 9 - 16:06 / 4:12 1500 Loland Fleming - 10 - 16:11 / 4:24 1500 / 9:27 3000 Brayden Fletcher - 9 - 16:12 / 4:27 1500 / 9:28 3000 People make big jumps from freshman to sophomore year and sophomore to junior year
Leonard said that Southlake Carroll’s goals are to win NXN next season. It won’t be impossible for them to do. They had some guys sick at last year’s NXN, and they return 4 scorers + a couple of more studs who were not on varsity
