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2008 NXN Finals
Dec. 6 - Portland Meadows, Portland OR

REGIONS:  Northeast - New York - Southeast - South - Midwest -
Heartland - Southwest - Northwest - California

44 teams and 90 individuals compete for national titles:
2 teams and five individuals per gender from the regions and 4 at large teams.


Watchout's NXN Finals Predictions

by Rob "Watchout" Monroe

ROB "WATCHOUT" MONROE'S TOP 10 PICKS
BOYS TEAMS
GIRLS TEAMS

1. North Central WA
2. York IL
3. Dana Hills CA
4. The Woodlands TX
5. Naperville North IL
6. Buchanan CA
7. West Windsor-Plainsboro NJ
8. Shenendehowa NY
9. Bismarck ND
10. Don Bosco NJ


1. Fayetteville-Manlius NY
2. Saugus CA
3. Tatnall DE
4. Saratoga NY
5. Fort Collins CO
6. Jesuit OR
7. Burnt Hills NY
8. Eden Prairie MN
9. Geneva IL
10. Collins Hill GA

Boys: Traditional area powers Illinois, California, Spokane Washington and The Woodlands TX look to dominate once more in an incredible showdown of national talent

2004 marked the first year of the Nike Team Nationals series, and it’s inaugural champion was none other than the dynasty known as York by Illinois folk, and Kroy by the rest of the nation. Since their championship in 2004, Kroy has finished 2nd (2005), 10th (2006), and 9th (2007) and are the only squad in the nation, boys or girls, to qualify for all 5 NTN/NXN meets. Once again, the Long Green Line of Kroy XC look to make a very strong challenge for the national title, led by the top returner from last year’s incredible NTN race (Steve Sulkin) and another standout in Jordan Herbert, both of whom should challenge for a top-10, if not top-5, finish.

Standing in there way are a few teams, including the Naperville North team that narrowly won the Illinois State championship title over York 84-85. While Naperville North can’t match that 1-2 punch of York’s that is one of the very best in the nation, Naperville North does have the tradition to uphold: out of 4 NTN races already in the books, the Illinois State champion has only finished outside the top 2 once (2006), while winning the title twice (2004 and 2007). On top of that, last year’s champ is from the same city, as Neuqua Valley is on the other side of the Chicago suburb of Naperville (and only 20 miles from Elmhurst, the home of York). Maybe it’s just something in the water down in the Chicago suburbs, but these Illinois teams sure know how to race and will be very much in the mix for the national title once again this year.

But before you hand out a championship trophy to one of the two Illinois squads, you might want to take a look at what has been happening down south. The Woodlands TX has one of the proudest cross country histories in the nation. This year looks to be yet another incredible year for the Hilander’s, and a farewell tour to legendary coach Dan Greene, who is retiring after a remarkable 32 years and has led the Woodlands/McCullough program to an outstanding 31 district titles, 26 regional titles, and 15 state titles.

Leading the way for Woodlands is another of the nation’s most feared duos in Reed Connor and Drew Butler. Connor blazed a 14:48 at the Texas meet, shortly after a 8:54 time trial on the track. Butler was not far behind, with a 9:01 time trial effort preceding his 6th place finish at State (15:18). One should never underestimate a deep and talented squad, especially when the top two runners have the potential to beat any other duo in the meet, and most definitely when a team is running with such intensity for their coach’s last stand.

Out on the West coast, there are stories of two teams that rank as the best ever in the Golden State of California, or at least the fastest two California team times on the state meet course of Woodward Park. Dana Hills won the Division 1 race with 70 points, while Buchanan was right on their heels with 85. The team times of 77:36 and 77:46 rank as the best California times ever, topping the 2006 Trabuco Hills squad (77:55) as the only other team under 78:00. With such a record-breaking performance by these two teams, one would usually think that they would be a shoe-in for the national title, but this is not like any other year.

Beyond the pair of Illinois duo and the Texas juggernaut, there is the team who is favored above all others to win. A team that received The Harrier’s US#1 Pre-Season ranking by Marc Bloom’s Magazine. This team hails from a region that has been dubbed the Rift Valley of the United States. A region that is made up of one city that has provided more top-13 finishes in the first 4 years of NTN than any state outside of California, including a top-4 finish every year but last year, and a fifth place finish to boot. Spokane WA’s North Central squad was the representative of the Greater Spokane League last year at NTN, where they finished sixth. This year, they hope to represent America’s Rift Valley even better, with hopes to win it all.

With talk of how this North Central team might be the greatest team in Washington’s storied history, there is certainly reason to believe this group can bring Spokane it’s first national title since the inception of the Nike Team Nationals series. The case for Washington’s best carries so much weight because, for among other reasons, the fastest team ever on California’s state course actually was a team from Spokane: Mead’s 1993 Footlocker West team time of 77:22 trumps even that of the California’s incredible duo. With the advantage a year’s experience from running at NTN last year, North Central’s hopes to improve upon their last performance looks like a distinct possibility.


Girls: In a record setting year around the nation, the New York powers look to secure more national glory while best of the rest from around the nation hope to provide all the challenge Empire staters can handle

With 4 national championships, 2 runner-up finishes, a third place finish as well as a fifth place finish, the Empire state girls has owned the first 4 years of NTN. 2008 looks like it should be another year for the New Yorkers at the top, as defending champion Fayetteville-Manlius girls returned all of their top 6. Epitomized by their 3-4-5-6-7 sweep at NXN-NY, the Stotans have not disappointed in the least as they have steamrolled the best teams all year long. Led by the outstanding junior Courtney Chapman, who is a serious threat for the individual crown, FM has no weakness in their lineup.

Behind Fayetteville-Manlius are 3 extremely good squads who should all compete for top 10, maybe even top 5 honors. Saratoga, the 2004 champion and 2007 3rd place finishers, took second at the Regional meet to earn their trip but it has been neck and neck between them and NXN-NY third place Burnt Hills all year long. Queensbury was the fourth place team not far behind, and have beaten both squads in front of them earlier in the year. It should be noted that the total team times from Saratoga and Burnt Hills’ races at NXN-NY were within 3 seconds of last year's national champion Fayetteville-Manlius squad's NXN-NY total, while Queensbury was also within 15 seconds.

Perhaps the best preview for elite teams is the Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational. This year’s race featured the best in New York against the top team in the Southeast (Tatnall DE), and one of the twin Massachusetts teams that went 1-2 in the Northeast race. While Fayetteville-Manlius won with a low score of 55, it was Tatnall DE who took the runner-up honors over home state New York programs, their 112 points being 43 points ahead of third place Queensbury. Tatnall’s success led the squad to a 15 point sweep of the Delaware state meet before a showdown with US Top 5 ranked Collins Hill GA at the NXN-SE meet. Tatnall won that showdown of Southeast powers 45-72, and look primed to challenge the New York powers once again.

Fort Collins CO finished seventh last year, the fourth highest placing for returning clubs in this year’s event, and returned five of their top seven for another chance at a trophy finish. Despite an up and down season, Fort Collins only suffered one early loss at the John Martin invitational to in-state Thompson Valley while missing their #2 runner Rachel Viger. At the Colorado State meet, Fort Collins scored almost half of the 5A runner-up squad as they beat Highlands Ranch and Cherry Creek 110-203-208. However, the best team at the Colorado State championships appeared to be 3A’s Classical Academy, who had faster runners at every spot down the lineup. All doubt was put to rest, though, when the two teams went head to head at the NXN-SW regional, and Fort Collins came out on top with a very impressive 61-105 win while nationally ranked Davis UT finished third in 146. If Fort Collins puts together a great race, this squad has the potential to break into the top 5, and if Classical Academy can match their state meet performance, they just might finish very high up as well.

The story all season long has been the eventual showdown between last year’s champion, Fayetteville-Manlius NY, and 2007 runner-up Saugus CA. Just like Fayetteville-Manlius has done in the Empire state, Saugus has dominated the scene in the Golden state with all-time team records falling beneath their quick-moving feet seemingly every week. Most notable have been the marks at the Mt. SAC course, the Manhattan Invite of the West, where they knocked down their own record to a 17:40 team average en route to their complete domination of the Sweepstakes race as they outscored the rest of the field, which includes the very best of California, 24-31.

After being 2 seconds away from duplicating their Mt. SAC record performance during the CIF-SS Finals, Saugus set yet another course record on a venerable venue at the California State Championships run on the famed Woodward Park, previous home of the Footlocker West meet. The final team time for Saugus was 90:05, which is 44 seconds faster than the record they set at last year’s state meet.

Saugus wasn’t the only girls team running all-time performances in California this year, though, as Dana Hills looked extremely impressive in winning their Division 1 race. With a tight pack spread of less than 30 seconds, the Dolphins ran the fastest non-Saugus time in Woodward history, good for #3 ever, in 91:07. With such a tightly packed group, Dana Hills is another threat to potentially finish at the very top of the race. This year’s edition of the Nike Cross Nationals Girls Championships is sure to be one for the ages, as many of the best teams to ever come out of many of the top states in the land are scheduled to square off at Portland Meadows. This year is already one for the record books!

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