FM girls continue to roll - win 10th straight state title as 8th grader Claire Walters (FM) wins individual title

In other HS news of note, Drew Hunter won his 3rd state meet, this time by a ridiculous 56 seconds.

TEAM 1M 2M FINISH

PLACE SCORE FINISHER TIME TIME TIME PACE TEAM

1 1 Andrew Hunter, Sr 4:40 9:31 15:03 4:51 Loudoun Valley

2 2 Konrad Steck, Jr 4:54 10:04 15:59 5:09 Lafayette

Why is Claire listed as a freshman?

Clerical mistake in preseason, fixed by manhattan, check results there. Must have not picked it up at ny states and ran with original mistake. Fixed again by nx regionals.

Can an 8th grader run for her team at NXN?

How can an eight grader run in a high school championship?

She was an absolute stallion in that race, destroying Chimel on the last hill and holding off a furious sprint by Lawson. She s the new queen of High School XC!

hounddogharrier wrote:

She was an absolute stallion in that race...

Well, shucks, no wonder she won a girls' race.

Kinda like Alana Hadley right?

In NY I think 7th and 8th graders can run for their HS.

broken arrow wrote:

In NY I think 7th and 8th graders can run for their HS.

Can they compete in NXN tho?

They take a "fitness equivalency" test in order to be deemed fit for varsity athletics. They are allowed to do it for every sport and I'm pretty sure that she's allowed to run at regionals and nats. It is actually very common for 7th and 8th graders to be listed as freshmen because that becomes their technical qualification.

Louisiana's Gabrielle Jennings (Slidell first Baptist Christian) won her eighth State Cross Country yesterday.

She won her first title as a 5th grader.

Winning time 18:27 for three miles.

Seems like a 60 second spread from 1st to 5th is a lot for them.

How is an 8th grader allowed to race for a HS team in NY?

In California, if a HS coach even makes contact with an 8th grade runner, they get suspended!

NXN has always allowed 8th graders to compete in the championship races. Willmar MN had three 8th graders run in NXN Oregon last year.

NXN rules allow any runner to compete for their team at NXN if they are eligible to run for their varsity XC team in their home State. Several states allow 7th and 8th graders to run varsity, like NY and Minnesota.

Whether 8th graders can compete for their High School Varsity teams varies by state. Some states allow it, other's don't. Not that uncommon for 8th grade girls to be top runners in their state. Of course never happens for boys since they mature later.