Utah HS XC Predictions

Predictions for how I would rank the boys teams-

1. Mountain View
2. Riverton
3. Herriman
4. American Fork
5. Skyridge
6. Corner Canyon

Teams 1-4 are even

It certainly seems like there are many boy programs in Utah with enough talent and momentum to reasonably believe they can achieve great things this year.

I have no idea how it will play out and which teams will find they have the best depth at 4-5.

In terms of individuals….

Jaron Hartshorn is looking to be the best.

Tayson Echohawk is looking to be number 2

Based on what? They are both great runners with bright futures, but Echohawk had a stronger XC season by speed ratings and is preseason #9 in the country on Tullyrunners. Danny Simmons is the no. 2 Utah runner there at #23.

In track, it looks like Echohawk had faster times in the 800 and 1600 and was undefeated in the 3200.

Herriman has a great top 2 but I don’t think they will be in contention for top 3

Herriman actually returns the 4th fastest 3200 top 5 average according to Milesplit.
Corner Canyon returns the fastest, but Cutting is still included in that group and he transferred out.
This team didn’t graduate anyone last year.
And with Soles coaching, this team is gonna do better than people think.
And even when Simmons is included in the American Fork group, this still puts them at #5 according to Milesplit

Herriman is running its first race on Aug 13

Also, don’t be surprised if some good teams got transfers like Skyridge and Mountain View got last year.

The interesting thing is that Mountain View is the only team on this list that’s not returning many talented guys for 2023.

Corner Canyon loses 4 varsity guys after this year but they return 3 scorers and always seem to find a 4 and 5.

Herriman will have a lot of varsity seniors based on the time trial results but they seem to have a really solid nonsenior group that’s looking to step up next year. Soles is a great coach

Actually Corner Canyon returns 2 varsity guys for next year, not 3. Good program but they will have lots of rebuilding to do

Herriman’s speed rating from the first race:

179

177

167

165

165

Those speed ratings are similar to the ones that Farmington ran last year in August.

175

172

169

168

162

Their top guy was missing from that meet though

Some boys teams looking good for XC 2023:
American Fork
Returns 9:05,9:21,9:35,9:59,17:07 5k

Skyridge
9:46/9:56/10:02/4:48/4:48

Riverton
9:42/9:51/15:10 at RunningLane/10:11
Lots of time to find a number 5.

Herriman
9:51/10:05/10:20/4:44/16:49 at State 2021
Doug should be able to help this team reload

Orem
9:28/9:53/16:08/16:16
Lots of time to find a number 5.

Lone peak - 16:42 average
Timpanogos - 16:48 average

AF’s #8… in the state…that’s odd

ut.milesplit.com

State MileSplit50 Boys Team #8: American Fork

Joshua Ornelas

Coming in at #8 on our Utah Boys Cross Country Team Countdown is American Fork

Link:ut.milesplit.com/articles/318485/state...

Skyridge’s first 2 meets:

Time Trial on Aug 20

Digger Homecoming Invitational on Aug 27

Kudos to Milesplit for putting out content, but they often don’t try very hard to pretend like they know what is actually going on.

In another article series, their rankings completely forgot one of the top teams in the state because they are moving classifications, included at least one graduated kid who was a state champion last year, and included another kid who is possibly the top returner in the state and everyone knows moved out of state.

Yeah I saw that they put Carter cutting at #10 but that link is unavailable. Guess they finally made it unavailable when they found out he transferred.

American Fork at #8 is a disrespect. They didn’t see that in addition to their returners/transfer Simmons, Jaster, Bradshaw, and Smith, they also had a guy who ran a 9:59 in the 3200. I wonder if they looked at the summer results from the Af website.

but they only have 1 senior this year, so there will be no reason of disrespecting them next year

Park City is looking really good this year. And Chris Henry beat some of the ranked guys.

ut.milesplit.com

Park City Twilight XC 2022 - Varsity Boys

MileSplits official Varsity Boys formatted results for the 2022 Park City Twilight XC, hosted by Park City in Park City UT.

Link:ut.milesplit.com/meets/488696-park-cit...

they must have put a lot of work in during the summer

ut.milesplit.com

Varsity Boys Champion: Chris Henry | Park City Twilight XC

Joshua Ornelas

Park City Twilight XC

Link:ut.milesplit.com/videos/577923/varsity...

Park city had only 20 guys on the roster last year. In this race they only had 15