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The annual DyeStat Elite XC Individual Top 25 series (formerly Foot Locker Favorites and renamed given additional options available now) are national and regional rankings of cross-country runners based on distance-running accomplishments to date, with an emphasis on XC and 3200/2M track results, rather than a projection of how the Foot Locker Finals or NXN Finals will turn out (predictions run later in the season).

Just three new faces; Gedyon, Shrader power up list

Sept. 18 Boys Rankings

The Top 25

Adams, Fauble, Abushouk join ranks; meanwhile, top two look impressive

Story and rankings by SteveU

 
Wills topped Verzbicas in the NON 2M, but it stands to reason that the Illinois phenom might still have the edge over 5k.  Photo John Nepolitan
  • No Loss of Form – The nation’s #1 and #2 – Lukas Verzbicas and Zach Wills – gave no indication they’d lost anything during the summer.  The Illinois soph cracked a nation-leading 14:19.76 for 4800 meters at the Lyons Invite on Sept. 5, while a week later the Ohio junior blasted a 15:17.76 on a course with a big hill and hay bales.  Both won easily, but put out enough effort to let everyone know that they’re in shape.  Now their paths will diverge as Verzbicas prepares for a duathlon championship Sept. 26 and Wills gets ready for a big race the same date at the Culver Invite in Indiana.  There he is expected to face no less than US#5 Futsum Zeinasellassie, the top returnee from last year’s Foot Locker Finals.  It was thought at one point that Verzbicas and his Sandburg team would be at the Culver meet, too, but that meet is no longer on Sandburg’s schedule.
  • Close Calls – Speaking of Zeinasellassie, both he and formerly #3 Craig Lutz TX had close calls in early meets.  Zeinasellassie won the Artesian Classic IN by just a second over David Osborn, while Lutz was edging Jeff Arnier by three ticks at the Marcus I Invite TX.  Lutz would a week later lose to Connor Adams’ nation-leading 5k in the Southlake Carroll Invite.
  • Status Quo – Overall, though, the Top 25 list looks a lot like the preseason version.  Just three new faces enter the rankings this week, including Adams, a Flower Mound TX senior who was a 4:14/9:17 runner in track and 21st in the TX 5A meet last fall.  The other newcomers are Wheat Ridge CO sr Scott Fauble, who beat formerly ranked Walter Schafer in the Cherry Creek Invite CO, and Cary NC sr Mohamed Abushouk, who has followed his 5th in the NON 5k last spring with two big wins to start the XC season in North Carolina.  But beyond that, there has not been a lot of significant movement, due to solid opening races by most rankers or limited or no action for others.
  • Powerful Starts Out West – Arguably the two most significant movers in the rankings were Elias Gedyon CA and Brian Shrader AZ.  Gedyon, the defending CIF D1 champ from Loyola, smoked a course record 14:26 for 3M at the Great Cow Invite, the second best 3M time reported nationally.  Shrader started out the season with strong, decisive wins on very tough courses at the Peaks and Ray Wherley Invites.
  • Intrigue in Jersey, Cali – The always competitive NJ scene is still a mystery, but with Jim and Joe Rosa debuting at the Briarwood PA Invite this week, answers will star to come as far as who could be the best this year.  Tyler Udland got off to a solid start in his opener, while Jon Vitez impressed at the Cherokee Challenge.  In CA, it could take several weeks to start revealing a pecking order between the likes of Erik Olson, Heyden Wooff, Garrett Rowe, and Matt McElroy – all sub-9:00 3200 runners last spring within less than two seconds of each other.  Also impressing have been Domenic D’Aquisto, Phillip MacQuitty, and Heath Reedy, just to name a few.

The Top 25
Athlete

 1. (1) Lukas Verzbicas, 2012, Sandburg HS, IL
 2. (2) Zach Wills, 2011, Mason HS, OH
 3. (5) Parker Stinson, 2010, Cedar Park HS, TX
 4. (7) Elias Gedyon, 2011, Loyola HS, CA
 5. (4) Futsum Zeinasellassie, 2012, North Central HS, IN
 6. (9) Brian Shrader, 2010, Sinagua HS, AZ
 7. (6) Joe Rosa, 2011, West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS, NJ
 8. (NR) Connor Adams, 2010, Flower Mound HS, TX
 9. (11) Tyler Udland, 2010, Millburn HS, NJ
 10. (3) Craig Lutz, 2011, Flower Mound HS, TX
 11. (8) Jim Rosa, 2011, West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS, NJ
 12. (12) Shane Moskowitz, 2010, Central Kitsap HS, WA
 13. (14) Erik Olson, 2010, Novato HS, CA
 14. (10) Garrett Rowe, 2010, Mountain View HS, CA
 15. (17) Cody Helbling, 2010, Lake City HS, ID
 16. (13) Heyden Wooff, 2011, Camarillo HS, CA
 17. (22) Matt McElroy, 2010, Edison HS, CA
 18. (15) Max Straneva, 2010, Chenango Valley HS, NY
 19. (16) Steve Magnuson, 2010, Ironwood Ridge HS, AZ
 20. (19) Ryan Dohner, 2010, Klein Oak HS, TX
 21. (18) Clint McKelvey, 2010, Maryville HS, TN
 22. (NR) Scott Fauble, 2010, Wheat Ridge HS, CO
 23. (20) Brian Atkinson, 2010, Melbourne HS, FL
 24. (21) Wade Meddles, 2010, Sierra Lutheran HS, NV
 25. (NR) Mohamed Abushouk, 2010, Cary HS, NC
Special Mention
Alex Hatz, 2010, Fayetteville-Manlius HS, NY
 
Honorable mention
Dylan Anthony AK
Jeff Arnier TX
Michael Atchoo MI
Reece Ayers PA
Luke Baker GA
Colin Barker FL
Aaron Bartnik MN
Aaron Beattie IL
Sean Bone MI
Michael Brajdic OH
Christian Brown Otter ND
Kevin Byrne NJ
Tyler Byrne IN
Nick Composto IL
Domenic D'Aquisto CA
Armando Del Valle FL
Alex Dier NY
Hugh Dowdy CA
Ryan Eaton KY
Travis Edwards CA
Jeremy Elkaim NJ
Kirubel Erassa GA
Phil Fairleigh IL
Brendan Farrell NY
Dustin Fay CA
Erik Fitzpatrick ID
Dave Forward NJ
Brandon Freyer NY
Lukas Gemar MN
Curtis Hanle OH
Sherod Hardt AZ
Dan Harris NY
Francis Hernandez NH
Max Holman MS
Ben Johnston WA
Reed Kamyszek MI
Will Kellar PA
Brett Kelly ND
Anthony Kostelac VA
Philip MacQuitty CA
James McIllece TX
Anthony Manfrin IL
Connor Martin IN
James Martin IN
Mike Mazzaccaro NJ
Colin Mearns VA
Brad Miles PA
Matt Mizereck FL
Erick Montoya FL
Mitch Moriarity CA
Ammar Moussa CA
Jose Luis Munoz AZ
Danny Nicolls CO
Drew O'Donahue-McDonald WA
Hale O'Herren IN
Billy Orman AZ
David Osborn IN
Andrew Palmer MD
Conner Peloquin WA
Drew Perilli NY
Vince Perozzi PA
Kyle Pittman NM
Sam Pons CA
Jacob Rainey TN
John Raneri CT
Heath Reedy CA
Daniel Rosales CA
Nick Ross RI
Alex Saavedra NY
Will Sanford FL
Walter Schafer CO
Michael Scolarici IL
Neal Smith TX
Bryan Spreitzer NC
Blake Theroux VA
Adam Thorne WA
Donovan Torres TX
Otis Ubriaco NY
Justin Vilhauer CA
Michael Wallace FL
Aaron Watanabe NH
Blake Williams NC
Nathan Williams NV
Mack Young WA
Pat Zacharias NM




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