NXN 2023 Way too early preview: Dawn of a new Era

I think the real question is why doesn’t the southwest have a Bob firman/Woodbridge/Roy growl equivalent that draws teams from multiple regions consistently.

The impressive thing about Franklin is that they finished 10 spots higher than last year and also they had 5 seniors in their top 7 last year

You're falling into the 'Jesuit LA' trap by overestimating the strength of the Northeast, mainly because they boast high speed ratings and are regarded highly by Dyestat and MileSplit. However, a mid-16s average isn't sufficient for an at-large bid. Let's examine the hard, cold facts from the NXR/Northeast-New York race in 2022:
Corning: 16:46 average at NXR, 10th at NXN (16:12 average)
South Huntington: 16:49 average at NXR, 22nd at NXN (16:42 average)
Christian Brothers: 16:30 average at NXR, 18th at NXN (16:25 average)
Episcopal Academy: 16:42 average at NXR, 21st at NXN (16:30 average)
It's essential to note that the course conditions in 2022 were windy with gusts. Assuming NXR Northwest, California, and Southwest are stronger this year than last year, I firmly believe that no at-large bids should be considered unless the third team achieves a sub-16:25 average. These are my thoughts on the matter.

because of the altitude!

do you think other teams would travel to the SW region to race at higher altitude?

Jesuit La traveled extensively in 2022 and defeated 4 NXN auto qualifiers from two different NXR regions.

I don’t think he intended to say Jesuit La was a bad team. They were clearly top 10 team. He was just overhyped. Same thing is happening to northeast this year. They aren’t bad. But Westfield and Brookline are not getting anywhere close to beating Niwot or Dana Hills.

Have any of the northeast teams traveled and raced (beaten) ranked teams from outside of their region this year?

Nope apparently northeast feel like they don’t need to travel. 0 bids for being lazy and avoiding competition.

Looked like Owen fell hard coming down the hill on lap 1 and may have hit his head. Then it seemed like his buddy Recupero decided to finish the rest of the race alongside him.

Here is a list of California teams that beat today’s NXN auto-qualifier at Woodbridge head-to-head:

Great Oak
Ventura
San Clemente
Arnold Beckman
Dana Hills

your being silly, woodbridge is for fun. nxn committee won't dock a region because a team performed bad a this race. However, if you place high like Southlake Carroll and Vandegrift. That will be a bid assuming you get 3rd at nxr.

It is pretty well known that this race is only taken seriously if you do well, bad results here don't matter.

Woodbridge is one weekend too early for head to head wins. The committee starts looking at those the weekend after Woodbridge. That's why so many teams travel to Woodbridge, nothing to lose and everything to gain on a fast "3 mile" course. Plus, if it's slightly long you can trust that the race directors will shorten it so kids and coaches can feel "happy" with their performances.

NXR South BOYS prediction

Individual
1) Ethan Gonzalez
2) Adam Burlison
3) Caden Leonard
4) Hudson Haley
5) Brady Mullen
Honorable Mentions - Marcelo Parra, Benjamin Montgomery, Aleksandr Acuna, Tyler Westrom, Jude Alvarez, Andruw Villa

Team
1) Southlake
2) Bentonville
Honorable Mentions - Austin Vandegrift, Lovejoy, Jesuit LA, Canyon

Deer Creek would also be a honorable mention team spot

Revised.

I am just messing around by the way. I am not from jesuit la or bentonville.

I’m all for keeping NXR NW at Eagle Island, but the start and finish desperately need to be moved off the gopher hole fields. Saw a kid wreck his knee stepping in a hole today. His running is probably over for a very long time. I’ve seen other kids go down at the start or the finish because of that terrible terrain.

There’s just no good reason to put that consistently dangerous area in a XC course. I don’t know how they’d fix the course, but they need to do something.

1 Coeur d'Alene High School -15:45 Avg
2 Crater - 15:43 Avg
3 Franklin - 15:50 Avg
4 Rocky Mountain High School - 15:49 Avg
5 Seattle Preparatory School - 15:54 Avg
6 Jesuit - 16:00 Avg
7 Bozeman High School - 15:58 Avg
8 Star Valley High School - 16:05 Avg
9 Boise Senior High School - 16:08 Avg
10 Summit - 16:05 Avg

There looks to be 10 solid teams in the northwest this year. Big drop off after 10th.