NXR Southwest predictions

NXR boys predictions
1- Mountain View
2- Herriman
3- American Fork

I think that these 3 will be very close

As someone who was fortunate to have a couple of teams qualify for NXN AND experience the disappointment with a team that missed out on an at-large bid, no one is getting screwed. We certainly felt that we "deserved" an at-large selection that year, but we also understood the difficulty in picking the most deserving teams from across the country. It is a difficult proposition to say the least. If you don't want to get "screwed," finish in the top 2 in your region.

And before anyone brings up RunningLane and no qualification required, please remember that NXN started without regional meets and there was a lot of bitching about who got selected and who didn't. If RL were the only post-season meet, it wouldn't take long before teams were complaining about not getting selected for the championship race.

Do none of these guys realize that Herriman had a bad race at state? And not a single one predicted them to finish top 2? Is this a concidence?

milesplit.com

Team Regionals: Boys South & Southwest Predictions/Preview

Ashley Tysiac

Regionals action continues this weekend with competition in the South and Southwest. Here are the top teams and individuals that could qualify nationals.

Link:www.milesplit.com/articles/324287/team...

Herriman had an open race guy go 16:07

he ran at state and closed the 4-5 gap in the first meet

Championship boys race is ON!!!!!!

Riverton and Mountain View are dominating so far

Herriman and AF are so far back

Soles always has his guys start slow

Simmons moved to the front pack

Top 5 teams are so close

Niwot in the outside looking in

Simmons 14:44 ftw

Fork dominated

Herriman second

Mountain View and Mountain Vista ways back but close between each other

The biggest overperformance would be Mountain Vista. they lost so many of their guys but got 4th

Riverton actually has a nice core group back next year
15:24
16:09
16:11
16:15
today this team went from 5-deep to 6-deep. They found a sixth. So it went from 3 studs back to 4 studs back next year (because there were only 2 seniors on varsity)
But they will need to find a fifth next year, when it will be very senior-heavy

Niwot returns their 1,4,5 and a very deep sophomore class

American Fork will dominate the region next year

Way too early 2023 boys predictions
1- American Fork UT. Dominated the region already. Returns their 1-5.
2- Niwot CO. Will come in with a chip on their shoulder after losing at state. They knew this was their year to win it. Cheyenne Mountain just had an awesome day. Niwot returns their number 1,4,5, a guy that ran a 16:11 at the league meet but did not do NXR, and also a 16:35 guy. I’m sure they will close the 3-5 gap. Maybe they will find a 6th and 7th too. They have a deep sophomore class in general that could set this team up to win NXN in 2024. They also have a great coach. Having never qualified for NXN before, this will be their first time.
3- Riverton UT. Another team looking to make their first ever NXN appearance. One spot away from being under consideration for an at-large this year. This should fuel them. Loses only 2 seniors and returns 4 under 16:15 from NXR. Needs a 5th to step up though. But last year they showed that they needed a 5th for this year but they found a 5th and 6th so they should be able to find at least a 5th for next year
4- Lone Peak UT. Losing Hartshorn and 2 other varsity guys, but will still be very good and deep based on some JV results. They reloaded very nicely this year after returning only 2 varsity guys.
5- Herriman UT. No team coached by Doug Soles should ever be counted out. They are very deep. But they lose their 1-4 which is always hard to deal with. Deep junior class though, and has a few sophomore studs in Ogomo and the Tangs that may contribute as well.
I honestly think that any of these teams between 2-5 could take the second spot.

Watchlist:
-Valor Christian. I didn’t put them in the top 5 because they only got 13th. And they are looking to go from 4-deep to 3-deep after losing Costelow. And I do think Niwot has a brighter future anyways and a better chance to win NXN in 2024.
-Mountain Vista. They lose a huge bulk of their varsity. But they should never be counted out. They always seem to be in the contention to qualify as long as they return “something”. Their team is looking to be filled mostly with juniors next year, so they will be young which bodes well for 2024
-Coronado. Has 3 sophs and 2 freshmen on varsity. All of which had better 8th/9th grade credentials than the Class of 2022 Cheyenne Mountain guys + Leavings had
-Skyridge UT. They return their 1 & 2 from the championship race. Only losing their 3-5. Seems like a bright future for them. Also will have a very good #3 in Kjar. Also has a solid freshman in Greene who lead the team in the open race, and some more great sophs, many of which are even new to the sport
-Orem UT. Losing Echohawk but returns most of their varsity team. They will need to close the 1-5 gap. Or at least close the 2-5 gap and find a new front runner to replace Echohawk
-Centaurus CO. Like Orem, they return 4 varsity guys but lose their front runner. Needs a 5th and preferably a new low stick
-Classical Academy CO. Returns 5 varsity guys

Anyone notice that American fork and Herriman were 10th and 12th at the first mile?

Riverton was first at the first mile. And ended in 5th

I did notice that, its because Riverton had a better box than them. The first turn is brutal, so many people turning and bunching up and slowing down. At desert twilight, there was a massive fall, disheartening to be in for sure.

Anyone notice that on the girls side the top 3 teams are returning so much?
Niwot returns their 1-4 and 7.
Lone Peak and Air Academy return everyone
Mountain Vista loses their 2-4 so that can hurt a team a lot especially on the girls side
American Fork (#5 team) only loses their #4 and #7. Some people might have thought they were gonna be #1 in UT this year
Valor Christian finished 6th but loses their 1 and 3.

What happened to Riverton? They were ranked 8th nationally in the preseason. They returned 4 of their top 5 and had 2 guys step up from last year’s JV.

But they only got 5th in the region.