Saratoga Springs Ripped off by NTN

I'm not a sage but didn't Hilton beat Saratoga at both the State meet and Federation meet? So, sage, how does that make Hilton not quite as good?

Hilton beat Saratoga each of their last two meetings, so how are they not as good as Saratoga???? No one was ripped off as you suggest. Nike does the best job it can (without having regional qualifiers) of selecting the best teams from each region. Of course, regions like the NE, have much greater depth than most/all of the country, but one goal of this event is to have representation from throughout the country. I imagine the selection committee awarded the at-large berths to the four teams that they felt deserved them the most and it looks they decided that Saratoga was not one of the next best four. The only sham is all of the whining that occurs when someone feels as though they've been "robbed" from an invitation to NTN. It's not a perfect system, but it's a lot better than the alternative of not having NTN.

Me thinks this Sage is an instigator and a troll. No one in their right mind would pick Toga over Hilton, off of their head to heads when it counted.

Saratoga was just plain beaten this year. I know we are not used to seeing that happen so frequently as it did this year, but even the Yankees have down years. You can't blame the Kranick's or Mr. Lane (who's not even at Saratoga anymore) for the lack of wins this year, they just didn't have the best 5 scorers in the state as they have had in the past. I think you should get used to seeing more parity in NY as other teams have some very good runners and great coaches that are motivating these kids to run well and train hard. It may be time to stop using Saratoga as the measuring stick for how good a team is and move on. I'm sure they will be motivated this summer to get back to national prominence, as they should be. I think it's been great to watch races and not really know who is winning until the score is tallied at the end. It used to be you could see nothing but 'Toga girls and know the outcome. I doubt that they will shy away from the new competition, but embrace it and challange it for what it is, competition. We should all keep working hard to be the best that we can be, and if that means beating Saratoga, then kudos to all.

PAST SUCCESS SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED. 2006 is a new season, who cares about the past.

RADNOR GOT RIPPED OFF, NOT TOGA.

I MEAN SERIOUSLY, Carondelet?????

A deal was struck here. NTN is a joke.

What team in Delaware qualified? Tottenham? Do you mean Tatnall which got an at large bid?

the debate isnt necessarily over the actual teams that were invited, honestly, its over NTN's inability to use the criteria they established for themselves. teams like radnor did absolutely nothing wrong this entire year, unless you consider a 9 point loss to hilton horrific. they won their league, county, district, and state titles by significant margins, yet failed to receive a bid. is it their fault that they had their state meet a month ago and have to wait for other teams to push them out? now i find something fishy with the fact that two separate regions had their #5 teams vault over the #3 and #4 ranked teams in the region to capture the at-larges. based on the new harrier rankings, NTN will be leaving at least two (sorry i dont have the rankings infront of me) in saratoga and radnor from the top 20 out of the meet in oregon this upcoming weekend. now if ntn can fail to recognize the top teams, then can this race be considered a championship?

The NTN selection process is a joke. Radnor was penalized for having their state meet nearly a month ago. Now you are telling me that by some back room deal some unknown California team and a New Jersey team (clearly not as good) get bids? Let's just say Nike really lost a lot of credibility with this one. I say get rid of NTN -- it's a joke and a travesty and just an excuse for Nike to advertise itself, and long live Footlocker.

Radnor DESERVES to be there. This is clearly a backroom deal.

I am a Sage wrote:

The Hilton team which I think isn't quite as good as Saratoga got the last at-large bid today.

I think the politics surrounding Lane and Art and Linda hurt the team's chance. At least Hannah got into Footlocker, but a great program and a team that would have placed in the top 6 is sitting at home. Bah Humbug! National Championship, National Shampionship!

First of all - Boo hoo hoo, need a hug? Good luck with that! Hilton deserves to go.

Second of all - what R U babbling about...politics surrounding lane and the kranicks hurt the team's chance? Which team and how? Please explain. It sounds so absurd.

Sawyer and Schultz, Hilton's 1-2, decimated Toga's 1-2 yesterday at Van Cortland Park so yes, they're better. I don't even know where Toga's #2 finished.

And suddenly XC becomes an "individual" sport for the blue streaks.

agree wrote:

Sawyer and Schultz, Hilton's 1-2, decimated Toga's 1-2 yesterday at Van Cortland Park so yes, they're better. I don't even know where Toga's #2 finished.

They didn't even bring their team this year. Probably the first time EVER. Quite unusual for a coaching staff that portrays to be 100% team oriented.

i hope FM girls made it, does anyone know?

The problem with NTN is the same as with Footlocker. The regions are simply divided poorly.

For Footlocker, they need to shift Maryland and Delaware to the South to ease the pressure on the very deep Northeast field.

For NTN, the Southeast is simply pathetic - Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. They need to eliminate a region and go with the top-2 in each of seven regions with 6 at-large bids. Shift Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and Texas to the Southeast, move Oklahoma to the Heartland, and completely eliminate the current South Region.

By adding more at-large bids, more legitimate teams would qualify instead of a team from the South/Southeast that couldn't crack the top-5 in the New York state meet.

My personal solution to the problem would be to eliminate the entire meet - it is completely unneccessary.

EAST COAST BIAS......get over it. You ain't all that East coasters.

So far this year the south is doing much better at FL than NE, both girls and boys.

'Toga lost all claim at Feds.

Colts Neck was a ludicrous decision.

Radnor earned a spot.

The poster referring to NTN inability to follow their own guidelines was spot on.

NTN has no credibility. Just lots of money so they can do whatever they want.

Screw Nike and their Chinese Child and Gulag Slave Labor factories. Get Adidas to sponsor an east coast XC festival.