Washington State HS XC 2025 Season

Love it!

I'd add Redmond in 4A to the - in contention.

3A definitely, Mt Spokane (possible top 4 with the depth and great coaching), Liberty Issaquah and Seattle Prep (top heavy but their coach is excellent and will surely come up with a 4-5).

2A: Bellingham, Bainbridge and then Sehome

1A: Cedar Park

Here's my recent post on another thread:
Agreed. In Washington, after comparing track times, MI is the clear favorite with Mead and Stadium as the best possible teams to upset MI. Although track times don't always correlate to XC, it's fun to speculate for now. The next tier is impossible to predict with Kamiakin, Bellingham, Cheney, Mt Spokane, Redmond, Shorewood, Curtis, Central Kitsap, Battle Ground, Hermiston(lol) , Seattle Prep, Liberty-Issaquah, Bainbridge, Sehome, Cedar Park Christian and Blanchet as all solid teams with the chance to break into the top 3 with a great summer and younger runners stepping up. Let me know if I missed some other contenders. Good luck to all for big, injury-free summer.

I am so ashamed, I didnt even think about looking at Mnt Spokane. I am a big Daratha fan.

They will be in the mix for sure.

Redmond also went right under my radar. Both of those teams are podium threats. Better to fly under the radar anyways, right?

I'll rerun some of my numbers when looking at them. Especially with Redmond having a guy returning in the top 5 at XC state and 3 other guys under 16:40

Redmond's top guy, who finished third overall, is a senior and has graduated. Their #2 runner finished in 14th place overall. They do have some depth though and could be a contender.

Right, he was 14th last year but he is the 4th best returner on the state course. So there were about ten seniors ahead of him that will not be returning. A really good low stick! Returns with a 4:17 (16) and 9:22 (32) so definitely a strong runner.

16:40? Didn't the top girl in Washington on that Course run 16:40?

I think the point they were trying to make is they have depth to their team. They’ll probably be in the top 30-40 finishers which will help with the team standings.
Rodriguez is incredible and I bet she’d be top 5 or 7 for about 99% of boys teams across the nation.

I do not think mead has was it takes i have heard one of there top runners has a stress fracture.

has what it takes you mean

Redmond has an 8th grade boy soon to be freshman coming in with outstanding potential.

Hopefully that is a false rumor! Even with one runner out they have potential to win state if everyone steps up. They have great depth.

Redmond is for sure a great team this year as well, I cant believe I forgot to include them and Mnt Spo.

With NXR moving away from Eagle Island - is there a Washington course it could move to? Spokane's course will not be done in time (apparently)

I don't think it will go to Sun Willows, though that would be a good central location for the entire region, and it is just down the street from the Pasco airport.

It may just be relocated to a new Boise course, but I would be interested to hear if anyone has any insight on the matter

As long as it's not Eagle Island!!! The start is atrocious.. I liked the hill, but that starting footing and narrow paths just not great for XC and I had two individuals make NXN over the years from that course! Glad it's moving on.. what about Chambers Bay outside Seattle?

I can't see it going to Chambers Bay. Maybe temporarily while they wait for the Spokane course. There isn't great parking for the amount of teams that typically go to NXR and it isn't centrally located for the teams that typically come to NXR.

Might make NXR a shorter day though, so there are some pros

Been a while since I checked in on here, and about half a decade since I paid any real attention to the sport.

I'm surprised there were so many westside schools listed in the OP. Seems like things might have changed a bit.

I spent a few hours this morning coming up with these, but they are very rough (mainly just used State XC and State Qualifier XC meets to compare returning Top 4s, plus 3200m times for the most notable teams that didn't quite have 4 returners from those meets). Take them with a large grain of salt. Most of these were already mentioned but I did go a bit deeper for the 'honorable mention' teams. One thing to note: Mercer Island and Mead look like the clear top 2 teams based on this quick analysis, though Redmond and Central Kitsap aren't too bad either. Bishop Blanchet is a team that hasn't been mentioned that is also looking competitive (I'd have them behind CK as WA#5). 3A looks to be the deepest classification. Has that been the case since the WIAA went to unbalanced state fields (not 16 teams for each classification)?

4A Boys:
1. Mead
2. Redmond
3. Stadium
4. Tahoma
5. Camas

Honorable Mention: Curtis, Battle Ground, Glacier Peak, Gonzaga Prep, Skyline, Lewis & Clark, Kamiakin, Eisenhower, South Kitsap, Eastlake

3A Boys:
1. Mercer Island
2. Central Kitsap
3. Bishop Blanchet
4. Hermiston
5. Shorewood

Honorable Mention: Gig Harbor, Cheney, North Central, Seattle Prep, Bellarmine Prep, Mt. Spokane, Central Valley, Stanwood, University, Liberty (Issaquah)

1A/2A Boys:
1. Bellingham
2. Bainbridge
3. Sehome
4. Cedar Park Christian (Bothell)
5. Ellensburg

Honorable Mention: Squalicum, King's

for potential NXR Northwest courses, since Eagle Island won't be hosting...

Speaking as someone who grew up on the west side, I really hope it doesn't end up on the west side, simply because of weather concerns. It would be wet and muddy and teams likely wouldn't get as much consideration for At-Large spots based on that alone. Plus it would a long drive for anyone outside WA/OR, and those are the teams that already have less options with regards to flying into the meet (SeaTac and PDX being the two biggest airports by far, with Boise and Spokane clearly second tier with Missoula a bit behind in terms of regional flights).

In terms of location, the site would have to be somewhere that is accessible to the whole region. That means somewhere near a regional airport (SeaTac, PDX, Boise, Spokane, and maybe Missoula) and then minimize drive time for those that don't fly. That would suggest the ideal locations would be either Boise or Spokane with a nod to Missoula. Boise and Missoula have better drive situations for teams coming from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming and still very reasonable drives for Eastern WA teams. Western WA/OR teams would be out of luck in terms of driving, but most of those teams are often flying anyways (at least that used to be the case a decade ago). Pasco would be an outside option in that it's airport doesn't really have many flights to most of the rest of the region (which would really screw over Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming teams) but in terms of driving it would be the most central and for much of the region the drive wouldn't be too bad.

Additionally, it would be great if the course is also interesting, has history, and ideally has a major invitational associated with it. Eagle Island was great in that aspect because it was also the site of Bob Firman and in the rotation for the Idaho State meet. U of Montana Golf Course is the next best option in that aspect because it's often (but not always) been the site of the Montana State meet and, importantly, has been the site of the Mountain West Classic. Spokane doesn't have a course that hits all 3 of those categories, but there was Hangman Golf Course which for a brief time in the 1980s hosted the WA State meet (though that was for a 3 mile course), and also Wandermere Golf Course which has often served as host to the Eastern Regional meets (including actually running 5k). Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco has obviously served as the WA State course (with adjustments every once in a while) for nearly 40 years now and running 5k there for about 30, though it doesn't have a large invite to pair with it.

Out of all those options, I think the U of Montana Golf Course in Missoula would actually be the most interesting. My second pick would probably be Sun Willows in Pasco, even though the airport would make travel worse. Wandermere would probably be my third pick.

The Watchout! Great to see you back. I used to always read your blog and has inspired me to write my own rankings.

Spokane is creating their own state of the art cross country course which may host NXR NW thought it will not be done until 2026 (according to rumors). Which is why I believe whatever course they chose this year, if it is outside of Boise, will just be a temporary course and will move to Spokane.

spokanesports.org

The Course Spokane Valley | Spokane Sports

Phase 1 is set to open for the ‘Preview Season’ in late fall of 2025 with basic course infrastructure and permanent finish line arch. Phase 2 will be added as additional funding is secured to include…

Link:www.spokanesports.org/venue/cross-coun...

Since COVID, for whatever reason, the west side of the state has been more dominant at the state meet than they have in years pass. It was only a matter of time things would eventually even out.

Though for 4A boys last year the east side could have had 3 teams on the podium if they were allowed to take 3 teams.

Though if Arlington had stayed healthy they would have been a top 2 threat

Thanks for the kind words, and glad to hear that someone has tried to keep up doing rankings after I stopped.

I did notice that about Arlington when doing this quick overview. My quick math would have put them around 116 points at state last year had their top 2 at Districts ran that well at state (one missed the meet, and the other was almost 2 minutes behind where he should have been), so they would have been a very solid third and comfortably ahead of Kamiakin.

Interesting about the Spokane course. I guess they are trying to emulate La Verne Gibson in Terre Haute (IN)? If that is to be the future NXR Northwest site, I hope they jumpstart a big invitational to allow teams to try out the course and start building some history on it. Do like what Firman did and help pay for teams travel when they are coming from far away to build interest, and have it the first week in October... that would put it in direct competition with the 'Battle for the 509' meet, but maybe that one can be moved to a different week or the hosts just move the venue to the new Spokane course? Although it looks like Cheney is actually the host for the 509 meet and they are on the opposite side of Spokane. But having it situated between the Mountain West Classic and Richland would seem to be ideal (I would assume those are still two of the biggest and most elite meets in the Inland Northwest - aside from Firman obviously).

Yep, unfortunately Arlington had a few guys who were incredibly sick the night before state. I think if they had a performance similar to what they had the week before they had a good shot at winning it. Really unfortunate!

Kamiakin also could have been up there as well but it appears they were missing a few guys from earlier in the year and their 4-5 were also further back from where they had been throughout the season.

That is why they run the race, and it is a long season.

Richland is a shell of what it used to be. The course has changed 2-3 times the last 5-10 years. The last few years it has not been a great course, with a hard 90 degree right turn coming down a very steep hill. Most teams have been traveling to Hole In the Wall, or going to any of the handful of Nike Twilight/golf course races throughout the year rather than race a difficult course like Mountain West or Sunfair. Less travel for most teams so it is slightly understandable.

I agree, they should have an invite for that course, it very well may host the state meet 3-4 years from now once Sun Willow's contract expires.

Eastern Washington teams would have 3-4 times to race it with 1. league meets 2. invite(s) 3. Regional/district championship 4. State, 5. NXR

Would give rift valley an advantage years after their grip on the region has expired.

I know someone on mead's team and they have a tumor so that person will most likely not be racing this season

Bro is just lying for the love of the game