-Carmel boys are the team to beat like we thought they would be.
-Noblesville beats Fishers by only 3 points, but Click running the way he should probably makes this a 10 point victory. Regardless, I think Fishers is a genuine contender for that number two spot
-Sam Q is an individual title contender
-HSE girls might be the second best team in the state right now.
-HSE boys are the team of the future with 8/12 in the varsity race returning, and a dominating win in the JV race where the top 14 boys will return for next year.
-Carmel boys are the team to beat like we thought they would be.
-Noblesville beats Fishers by only 3 points, but Click running the way he should probably makes this a 10 point victory. Regardless, I think Fishers is a genuine contender for that number two spot
-Sam Q is an individual title contender
-HSE girls might be the second best team in the state right now.
-HSE boys are the team of the future with 8/12 in the varsity race returning, and a dominating win in the JV race where the top 14 boys will return for next year.
Yeah I think Carmel is hungry for NXN this year after not qualifying last year due to the absence of their #3 at NXR
Downers Grove (North) Has The Pieces To Win Illinois 3A Title And Return To NXNBy Doug Binder, DyeStat EditorBoys NXR Midwest PreviewIllinois sent three teams to Nike Cross Nationals last year and they finished eighth (Hinsda...
Elite Illinois 3A programs Prospect and York remain the top contenders to lead the Midwest to more success in Oregon, with quality challengers from Indiana and Ohio also present, along with a potential national presence in Mi...
MileSplits official Boys Varsity formatted results for the 2023 The Hometown Savings Bank State Preview, hosted by Terre Haute North Vigo High School in Terre Haute IN.
Well I just got into understanding the new post-season format. I like that we are reducing the length of post season because 4 rounds was a bit much. Hope this leads to less hijinks of teams resting their best runners throughout the season.
But I have a couple gripes. I see that central Indiana finally got their way and have gamed the system so more teams from the suburbs are advancing. Congrats to them, hope it works out to a more competitive state meet so we can have the 10th Indianapolis suburban mega school qualifier get 21st place (do I sound salty, because I am).
Also, if I understand it correctly, we have 15 individuals on non-qualifying teams that advance to the next round? So 75 individuals to each regional and to the state meet? Seems like a lot of individual qualifiers and creates 250-runner regionals. I suppose this is a compromise to allow more small school qualifiers to get through, but some of those qualifiers will not be very competitive. I feel like 10 individual qualifiers from each sectional/regional is a better compromise and actually captures the appropriate amount of talented individuals.
Speaking of small schools, this new format screws them over a bit. Under the old format, we all knew the central Indiana semi-state was brutally competitive due to the growth of the region, but usually most schools had a chance to advance to regionals or even semi-state unless they were in a particularly competitive regional. Advancement to regionals or semi-state was a HUGE achievement for many schools in the 1A and 2A sizes and gave extra incentive. Looking around at the quality of schools in the regionals, it's quite easy to identify 5-10 schools in each regional that will basically crowd out the smaller schools from ever advancing to state. Maybe a generationally talented small school comes out of the Fort Wayne or Evansville regional, but I'm basically seeing no chance for small schools in the other 3 regionals. Maybe this increases the competitiveness of the state meet overall, but I think the implications for small schools only accelerates the trend towards a multi-class tournament.
Anyways, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe I will be surprised and more small school runners and teams will squeak through.
The Brownsburg Invitational is on Saturday September 2, 2023. It includes the following events: Girls Varsity 5k, Boys Varsity 5k, Girls JV 5k, and Boys JV 5k.