Also, I don't think it's fair that some of the high schools in the SW recruit from other high schools - even out of state. It doesn't truly reflect the talent of their local high school (or coaching) if they just poach talent from other teams.
All 3 of those teams use recruited athletes. No secret or surprise. All 3 coaches would admit to it also. It’s really the only way to compete anymore unless you get very lucky. Great run by Academy, unREAL!
Also, I don't think it's fair that some of the high schools in the SW recruit from other high schools - even out of state. It doesn't truly reflect the talent of their local high school (or coaching) if they just poach talent from other teams.
Which schools?
Air Academy’s top 3 girls should all be at different high schools
On top of that, Lone Peaks boys team was just as good as Riverton this year but had a bad race at NXR-SW.
Utah should have 5 teams ranked in the top 20. And if Lone Peak would have ran their potential at SW, there would be 6 teams.
This sounds like a crazy thing to say, but (at least) the top 14 teams at NXR Southwest all would have been competitive at NXN. 14th at NXR Southwest was the Mountain Vista boys, whose girls got 3rd today. Last place average time at NXN today was 16:54. Mountain Vista averaged 15:58 in comparable slop a few weeks ago.
Colorado and Utah should each be their own regions. It is more defensible than California or NY having their own regions. 4th SW boys team ahead of all other regions 2nd. SW girls sweep the rest of the nation. Nobody paying attention should be surprised.
This is recency bias.
Google "nxn historical winners" to see how dominate NY has been on the girls side. Its actually quite absurd how insanely dominate NY is. No NE girls team would have a shot.
Additionally, FM was hit very hard by covid and has not been able to put a program together since, (they are a small school for reference). But aside from their girls program being 100x better than the rest of the country for 15 straight years, their BOYS program also has the most podiums ever for ntn/nxn. Not many people realize how great their boys are bc they are overshadowed by the girls.
Admittedly not bothering to research this, but have NY girls been a dominant region, or has there just been a couple dominant schools that happen in be in NY? Not quite the same thing.
Air Academy’s top 3 girls should all be at different high schools
Pretty sure Colorado school choice laws were not drafted with NXN fairness in mind. But I agree that it does tilt that the balance in favor of a few winner-take-all schools for XC. Not sure if there is anything to be done it, though.
Google "nxn historical winners" to see how dominate NY has been on the girls side. Its actually quite absurd how insanely dominate NY is. No NE girls team would have a shot.
Additionally, FM was hit very hard by covid and has not been able to put a program together since, (they are a small school for reference). But aside from their girls program being 100x better than the rest of the country for 15 straight years, their BOYS program also has the most podiums ever for ntn/nxn. Not many people realize how great their boys are bc they are overshadowed by the girls.
Admittedly not bothering to research this, but have NY girls been a dominant region, or has there just been a couple dominant schools that happen in be in NY? Not quite the same thing.
Three different NY schools have won the meet with a handful of schools qualifying over the years and a few years with at large qualifiers. There were a few years where NY was just as dominant as Utah was today.
No one 200 or above this year. Last year there were 11 people with speed rating 200 or above
The guys ran a conservative race today - compare the times to 2019 in similar conditions.
That's basically it. The 'Nico Young frontrunner' race was also 2019. He gets a ton of credit for just going after that win, but it was also very smart tactically, as he had the cleanest run over the messy course. Boyz were first that year also.
His then record time in the mud makes a little more sense when you realize he wasn't splashed even once. The times today further underscore what a great run it was.