Not that close though. Rocky’s #1 was 11 seconds back from the guy in front of him but only 5 up on CDA’s #3. Rocky’s 2 and 3 were 9 seconds back from the guy in 7th. Their 3 could have picked up one spot as he was barely back from the 8th place runner. Their #4 was 9 seconds back from the next points he could have picked up. Their #5 was the only boy that could have picked up points by running only several seconds faster but even then it would have only narrowed the gap a small amount. The points are tighter than what it actually was.
I never thought my team would go but they have a few times now. They’re on the right trajectory. Not sure why so many people are obsessed with this team. Seems to be a thread or two every year
Jeff knows what he’s doing - look at the how this team has grown
I never thought my team would go but they have a few times now. They’re on the right trajectory. Not sure why so many people are obsessed with this team. Seems to be a thread or two every year
Jeff knows what he’s doing - look at the how this team has grown
This.
In addition, let's take a gander at Strava.
The Rocky top boys did 45-55 MPW during the summer, and are doing 35-45 MPW during the season.
Coeur D'Alene's top boys did 80+ MPW during the summer, and 50-60 in season.
Jesuit OR, based off of what coach Rothenburger has said, does between 65-75 in the off season, then 50-60 in season.
Crater OR, while their Strava's are private, are certainly doing the same thing. Immediately concluding Nike Twilight (the track meet), I saw Tyrone Gorze doing 6x800, 4x200. The slower kids, (Tostenson, Kitchen, Garnica) were doing 6x600, 4x200. This was within an hour of racing. You don't hit workouts like that without being on a 60+ MPW plan, and this was during the season.
Franklin also had boys pushing 90 mile weeks this summer (although rumor has it that the coaches DID NOT prescribe it).
Bishop Blanchet, a historically solid team in the Northwest, has their top guys running 60-70 mile weeks consistently. This was painfully obvious in 2021, when much of their team got injured.
With this context in mind, isn't it incredible that they've even been in the conversation to qualify to NXN???
This is a team who's boys are putting in 15-30% less miles than some of the key players in the region, yet have been very competitive for 3-4 years now. That's pretty impressive.
This isn't to say that these other teams are being stupid by running too much in high school. There are multiple ways to train. Multiple philosophies one can adopt. But pound for pound, Rocky might be among the most impressive schools in the Northwest by that singular metric.
Also I'm not sure what @Kinda is yapping about by saying that they weren't really that close to CDA. Those times they put up are really good for the Firman/NXR course.
Don't get me wrong, CDA is better, but CDA is also a team that I personally think could place 5th or 6th at NXN if things go to plan. Being even in the ballpark with a team like that tells me that once again, Rocky will be a top 20 team, regardless of whether they make NXN or not.
Also the Rocky girls might actually make NXN before the guys. They dominated the Idaho state meet over teams that were previously ranked 1, 3, 5 in the region. Only Jesuit and Lincoln could potentially stop the Rocky girls from making NXN, but I have a hard time thinking both teams will upset Rocky on their home course.
I never thought my team would go but they have a few times now. They’re on the right trajectory. Not sure why so many people are obsessed with this team. Seems to be a thread or two every year
Jeff knows what he’s doing - look at the how this team has grown
This.
In addition, let's take a gander at Strava.
The Rocky top boys did 45-55 MPW during the summer, and are doing 35-45 MPW during the season.
Coeur D'Alene's top boys did 80+ MPW during the summer, and 50-60 in season.
Jesuit OR, based off of what coach Rothenburger has said, does between 65-75 in the off season, then 50-60 in season.
Crater OR, while their Strava's are private, are certainly doing the same thing. Immediately concluding Nike Twilight (the track meet), I saw Tyrone Gorze doing 6x800, 4x200. The slower kids, (Tostenson, Kitchen, Garnica) were doing 6x600, 4x200. This was within an hour of racing. You don't hit workouts like that without being on a 60+ MPW plan, and this was during the season.
Franklin also had boys pushing 90 mile weeks this summer (although rumor has it that the coaches DID NOT prescribe it).
Bishop Blanchet, a historically solid team in the Northwest, has their top guys running 60-70 mile weeks consistently. This was painfully obvious in 2021, when much of their team got injured.
With this context in mind, isn't it incredible that they've even been in the conversation to qualify to NXN???
This is a team who's boys are putting in 15-30% less miles than some of the key players in the region, yet have been very competitive for 3-4 years now. That's pretty impressive.
This isn't to say that these other teams are being stupid by running too much in high school. There are multiple ways to train. Multiple philosophies one can adopt. But pound for pound, Rocky might be among the most impressive schools in the Northwest by that singular metric.
Also I'm not sure what @Kinda is yapping about by saying that they weren't really that close to CDA. Those times they put up are really good for the Firman/NXR course.
Don't get me wrong, CDA is better, but CDA is also a team that I personally think could place 5th or 6th at NXN if things go to plan. Being even in the ballpark with a team like that tells me that once again, Rocky will be a top 20 team, regardless of whether they make NXN or not.
Also the Rocky girls might actually make NXN before the guys. They dominated the Idaho state meet over teams that were previously ranked 1, 3, 5 in the region. Only Jesuit and Lincoln could potentially stop the Rocky girls from making NXN, but I have a hard time thinking both teams will upset Rocky on their home course.
Goggins went over 50 multiple times in the season. Jaymon Clark hit a few 50’s. Other guys are private so harder to see what they did but if their #6 is running 50, stands to reason that their other guys are as well.
Otherwise, they were in the high 40’s. Jack Davis from Rocky is a soph and he was over 40 multiple times and up to 47 one week. Harrison Loscher is also a soph and ran 40 all season.
Seems to me that the 35-45 mpw is the sophomore boy volume and 45-55 is more accurate for their seniors. Cody Lucas is probably 50-60 then.
FWIW- Boys that ran for all 4 years at Rocky over the last 3 years and that were on their state teams.
Sainsbury: 16:41 as a freshman, 16:46 as a sophomore during COVID. Uitdwilligen: 17:17 as a freshman, 16:32 and 24th at state as a sophomore. Heemeyer: 16:30 as a freshman, 15:44 and 3rd at state as a sophomore. Jensen: 18:45 as a freshman during COVID, 17:24 as a sophomore. Lucas: 16:40 as a freshman, 15:26 and 7th at state as a sophomore. Thomas: 18:39 as a freshman, 17:30 as a sophomore. Clark: 18:45 as a freshman, 17:46 as a sophomore.
Over the last three years, only one guy that ran all 4 years ended up getting all state honors that didn't look like he had the potential to do that. That was Jacob Thomas.
Goggins and Richardson did not run all 4 years. Goggins started as a sophomore and Richardson missed his sophomore year.
Odds are that after Kurtz and Tuft graduate next year, Rocky Mountain will have a bunch of guys that are in the 15-25 range. Their true low sticks were all very good as freshmen.
It looks like they get 0 high quality 8th graders coming in for the guys. They have 4:52 and 4:57 freshmen, then it drops off to 5:17.
Their sophomore class has run 4:35, 4:42, 4:46, and 4:49, but those guys ran 4:36 last year, 4:50 last year, 4:48 as an 8th grader, and 4:53 last year, so it's not like they are getting a ton better.
It looks like they get 0 high quality 8th graders coming in for the guys. They have 4:52 and 4:57 freshmen, then it drops off to 5:17.
Their sophomore class has run 4:35, 4:42, 4:46, and 4:49, but those guys ran 4:36 last year, 4:50 last year, 4:48 as an 8th grader, and 4:53 last year, so it's not like they are getting a ton better.
And their only soph who was in their top 7 last fall hasn’t raced this year yet
It looks like they get 0 high quality 8th graders coming in for the guys. They have 4:52 and 4:57 freshmen, then it drops off to 5:17.
Their sophomore class has run 4:35, 4:42, 4:46, and 4:49, but those guys ran 4:36 last year, 4:50 last year, 4:48 as an 8th grader, and 4:53 last year, so it's not like they are getting a ton better.
And their only soph who was in their top 7 last fall hasn’t raced this year yet
Sure, but their 4:35 boy is a soccer kid that ran 17:26 last year despite being a 4:36 miler at the time. Plus, he did race. He ran at the Boise Relays and looked awful before dropping out.
And their only soph who was in their top 7 last fall hasn’t raced this year yet
Sure, but their 4:35 boy is a soccer kid that ran 17:26 last year despite being a 4:36 miler at the time. Plus, he did race. He ran at the Boise Relays and looked awful before dropping out.
The one who didn’t race this track season is Jack Davis. He was the only Rocky sophomore who raced at state and the NXN championship race last fall