Repaired wrote:
Footlocker is the Olympics of American High School Cross Country racing and NXN doens't matter to anyone but high school coaches who are stuck and can't get a college gig.
Take another look at the results from NXN and tell me that's the case.
NXN was better on both sides than FLN was last year (though very close on the girls side), and FLN was only marginally better in previous years...
not bad for what's essentially a three year old national individual championship that is challenging (and overtaking) the previous standard.
Both are most definitely quality fields and deserving of "national championship" status. Those that claim Footlocker is the only one that matters either has their heads buried in the sand, or is so biased their opinion doesn't really even matter. If a kid beats Lukas at either FLN or NXN last year, they'd get all the scholarships they could dream about. And likely, if a kid were to do so by the same margin at both races, the NXN race would be viewed as better: it's in a situation more similar to what would be seen on the collegiate level (NXN comes first, so there would be less excuses of LZ being tired or jet-lag, not an individuals-only meet; neither course is quite like Terre Haute). Likewise, if you considered the caliber of athletes in the top 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25... NXN was just as good if not better last year, and very similar the two years before.