You are correct. But you are looking at it in the wrong way. Picking the guys who finished very high in one meet gives them only one direction to go in the other. How about guys like Benne Anderson? If you take the average place of the guys from both meets, you will find that it is surprisingly close.
The problem with going from top 5 NXN guys is that only one top 5 guy actually participated at Champs Sports. He was 4th at NXN and won Champs Sports by 11 seconds (which makes sense).
4-6 at NXN were very close (all ran 14:55.5). Mathison, Heidesch, and Birnbaum at 4, 5, and 6. Noah Breker was close behind in 7th (14:55.9). Mathison had two other guys right with him at the line at NXN. Breker, who was 0.4 behind, got second at champs. Also, all these guys are from the midwest/heartland region which again speaks to the strength of the midwest this year.
Mathison ran the same Speed rating as Sahlman. And you can compare the entire set of guys who ran at both races to see their places in both meets. You will find that the 2 meets were essentiall equal.
It's still early but Midwest running away with team title
Midwest was dominant. They know xc in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota. There was also a South Dakota guy in there - a state not know for XC.
Nobody from the West showed up. Put the top guys from the west in this race and they completely destroy the field. Hands down. The top guy here got clobbered by 3 runners at NXN, and Lex/Leo had terrible days. This race has become a joke.
Do you think the speed ratings are wrong? Mathison ran faster than the Youngs' lifetime bests. Check the entire field of guys who ran at both meets. Theor finish places were esssentially the same.
Mathison ran the same Speed rating as Sahlman. And you can compare the entire set of guys who ran at both races to see their places in both meets. You will find that the 2 meets were essentiall equal.
footlocker is given inflated speed ratings because of its history, but the times they are a changing
Balboa Park is not a good course. Tons of roots, holes in the grass, cross the street multiple times, the downhill is rocky.
For a championship course can we get something solid. There's tons of golf courses in area.
Is it supposed to be a track race?
Alan
exactly. i ran the course before the meet, thinking to myself this is a real XC course! sure a water crossing or hay bales can be added for more fun. the golf courses are just as hilly and gopher filled anyways
Do you think the speed ratings are wrong? Mathison ran faster than the Youngs' lifetime bests. Check the entire field of guys who ran at both meets. Theor finish places were esssentially the same.
Do you think the speed ratings are wrong? Mathison ran faster than the Youngs' lifetime bests. Check the entire field of guys who ran at both meets. Theor finish places were esssentially the same.
I think this is a bad way to look at it. Clearly, Kole ran better today than he did at NXN. The margins between him and the other runners that doubled were much bigger today than they were there. Either everyone else ran poorly (statistically unlikely) or he ran well. However, there is no doubt of two things: one, the vast majority of high speed ratings come from the national championships, because it's the highest level of competition and people are pushed to a new level there. Runners who run their best in-season will simply not reach the same speed ratings as runners who run their best at championships. Lex and Leo having bests of 202 does not necessarily mean Kole (or Aaron for that matter) is definitively better than them. Meylan himself says any two given ratings within 2-3 points of each other are essentially equal, because he considers that an acceptable margin of error. The second important thing to remember is that when comparing NXN and Foot Locker, while clearly at the top level they were similar races, there was significantly better depth at NXN. It's unfortunate because I have been a long-time believer that FL should serve as the individual championship, and NXN should serve as the team championship. However, at this point, it's clear that FL has fallen off (has been ever since 2017, the first time FL had a lower rated winner than NXN). Still, this year was actually a pretty strong, competitive year, and it was very cool to see Kole run so well. Excited to see how things shake out in the track season!
No hate for him, I admire his courage, but I think he’s one of the most overrated runners in recent HS history.
Yeah of course he’s insanely good, but remember, not so long ago, he was ranked first in the country. A lot of people thought he was in a class of his own and was going to destroy all the NP kids. Some people were even saying he could break GF’s record at the california state meet course, when in reality, he would probably struggle a lot to break 14:50 (Aaron’s PB is only 14:41 after multiple tentatives).
Again, no hate towards him, he’s really good and improved a lot since last season. I just don’t think he is what we thought he was.
Hunter's program has a strong tradition in the D3 ranks in Michigan (300-500 kids). So I doubt it's the coaching. Probably more that he's the lone star in his area and division, winning any race just means turning on the jets and turning off the brain. Compared to Riley Hough from last year (or Fisher), who ran in a higher division and in a populated area, having to understand tactics to attain victory.
There's other factors too, let's just say moving far away for college will be a good thing.
It’d be nice if Champs/Footlocker gave 5 at large invitations. I’d put in a requirement that to be eligible they have to be in a race within a few days of the Champs regional race. If nothing else, it could create a path to get the top West kids.
It’d be nice if Champs/Footlocker gave 5 at large invitations. I’d put in a requirement that to be eligible they have to be in a race within a few days of the Champs regional race. If nothing else, it could create a path to get the top West kids.
3 of the 4 regions, northeast, south and west have the same conflict, only the Midwest region can qualify for both races. It's not just the West.
It’d be nice if Champs/Footlocker gave 5 at large invitations. I’d put in a requirement that to be eligible they have to be in a race within a few days of the Champs regional race. If nothing else, it could create a path to get the top West kids.
3 of the 4 regions, northeast, south and west have the same conflict, only the Midwest region can qualify for both races. It's not just the West.
The conflict is mostly defined by NXR regional dates. At least South can send some to both too.
NXR NY, NE, and SE overlap with their Champs regionals.
Midwest was dominant. They know xc in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota. There was also a South Dakota guy in there - a state not know for XC.
Nobody from the West showed up. Put the top guys from the west in this race and they completely destroy the field. Hands down. The top guy here got clobbered by 3 runners at NXN, and Lex/Leo had terrible days. This race has become a joke.
This is a stupid take. The NXN race actually happened and the Youngs weren't even in the top ten. What makes you think they'd beat a midwest team who scored 19 points? The midwest has always been king and they pretty much always run footlocker.
Nobody from the West showed up. Put the top guys from the west in this race and they completely destroy the field. Hands down. The top guy here got clobbered by 3 runners at NXN, and Lex/Leo had terrible days. This race has become a joke.
This is a stupid take. The NXN race actually happened and the Youngs weren't even in the top ten. What makes you think they'd beat a midwest team who scored 19 points? The midwest has always been king and they pretty much always run footlocker.
Even without the Youngs, you're missing Sahlman, Simmons and Gorze, all from the West, all of whom beat Mathison and everyone else at NXN. And frankly I'd expect a lot more from the Youngs in a race in SoCal than Portland. The Midwest always runs FL because they don't have a conflict. They wouldn't be the "kings" if they did.
I know you might be joking but there was a girl from the Northeast that qualified for Champs Nationals but instead ran AAU with her club team. That's got to be the first time that has happened.
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