• 1. Are there any good matchups between teams or individuals of the different Texas classes – typically 4A and 5A – that may not have met (or met often) this year and could have a real showdown?

• 2. Are there any really good teams or individuals from the small surrounding states (AR, MS, LA, OK), or the non-public Texas schools (either T.A.P.P.S. or SPC), that will make an impact and break up the hold of the big TX public schools?

• 3. Are there any scenarios of teams or individuals that really underperformed in the TX state meet that could shake things up with their quest for redemption?

• 1. Absolutely yes – The best of these is the Boys Championship showdown between TX 4A champ Boerne Champion and the TX 5A powers – led by state champ (and 4-time NXN qualifier) The Woodlands, but also including previous US#1 Cedar Park (3rd at state), and 5A runner-up Klein Oak.  Boerne Champion has beaten everyone they’ve faced this year and had the best overall team title at state … AND they beat the 5A powers at Nike South, though Cedar Park only raced a partial team.  The Girls Championship should also has a 4A vs. 5A flavor to it with respective champs Kingwood Park and Kingwood set up for a very close battle – along with former SO#1 College Park and others also in the hunt.

• 2. Some, but not what could have been – The big story here, of course, would have been Greenhill TX (private school) standout, defending NXN South and NXN Finals champ, and US#2 harrier Chelsey Sveinsson finally racing many of the public-school stars – including The Woodlands sr and repeat 5A champ Sarah Andrews.  But it was announced mid-week that Sveinsson had withdrawn, leaving Andrews as the favorite, followed mostly by other TX 5A stars.  St. Thomas Aquinas LA star Malia Cali is the most intriguing non-Texas contender.  The team battles, on both the boys and girls sides, should be dominated by TX 4A and 5A schools.  Same with the boys individual fight.

• 3. Nothing huge, but definitely some here and there – For the boys, some have thought previous Cedar Park has been overrated all year; others point to the illnesses and injuries the team has suffered.  After their 3rd at 5A state last week, they would certainly like to move up, while their #1 Parker Stinson might hope to work his way closer to 5A runaway winner and US#2 Craig Lutz of Marcus TX.  Flower Mound TX sr Connor Adams (defeated Lutz early in the season en route to a US#7 ranking, but was 7th in 5A state) and Klein Oak sr Ryan Dohner (2nd at Nike South, but just 11th at 5A state) may also be looking for redemption.

For the girls, College Park TX was ranked SO#1 last month after winning their own loaded invite, but was 2nd by 30 points to Kingwood at 5A state.  Vista Ridge TX sr Ashley Isham, an NXN and Foot Locker Finalist last year, was just 14th at 5A state.

• Heritage TX jr Aly Nielson – An eye-opening 3rd here last year (17:31.10) behind Sveinsson and Andrews, Nielson went on to place an impressive 10th at NXN Finals.  She has since been a little off the radar in TX this fall, with the aforementioned talents and Johnson having eaten up most of the headlines, but she was 4th in the 5A state race behind Andrews, Johnson, and Amanda Russell.

• Vista Ridge TX seniors Amanda Russell and Ashley Isham – The previously mentioned Russell and Isham have been a powerful 1-2 punch for the last few years, taking 4-5 here in ’08, then going on to make Foot Locker Finals as well and competed in both national meets.  While Russell ran well last week, Isham was a disappointing 14th, but never count out these two.

• Belton TX sr Regan Tindell – When Tindell crossed the line in Portland last fall in 12th place, it gave Texas an amazing four girls in the top dozen – and that after grabbing the final qualifying spot in 8th overall from NXN South.  That tabbed her as one to really watch this fall, but like Nielson, she hasn’t really built on that yet.  Still, she has continued to be competitive in a very competitive state, and was 6th in the 5A state.  Also 2nd at Nike South and Chile Pepper.

• Klein TX jr Hillary Montgomery – Didn’t compete in this meet last year, but like Johnson, has been in the improvement fast track.  After taking 4th in the tough Region 2-5A meet, she impressed even further with 5th at 5A state. 

• Ft. Worth Boswell TX sr Maggie Escobar – 10th at NXN South last year and this fall’s 4A state champ, she was the best at UIL outside of the 5A girls and 5th fastest overall.

• Elkins AR sr Grace Heymsfield, Elkins – The sole NXN qualifier from this region last year that was not from Texas was Heymsfield, who was 7th, is the #6 returnee, and was also 44th at NXN Finals.  She claimed the 3A title in Arkansas a few weeks ago.

• St. Thomas Aquinas LA sr Malia Cali – It might seem that with all those returnees, that there’s no room for any newcomers, but no one should sleep on the possibility of Cali qualifying in style.  Running her first NXN race, the 2008 NSIC 2M champ will try and earn her first national meet appearance in XC after missing FL Finals from FL South the past two seasons.  Cali is unbeaten this year with her one major out-of-state outing being a fast win at the Mobile Challenge of Champs.

• Conway AR sr Erika Setzler – The Arkansas 7A champ was fastest overall in the state and took a strong 4th at Chile Pepper, six seconds behind Tindell and ahead of Escobar and Heymsfield.

• Becca Blubaugh (Airline, LA - 5A)
• Kayla Stricker (Oak Grove, MS - 6A)
• Jessica Hembree (Tahlequah, OK - 5A)
• Laurie Byrd (Round Top-Carmine, TX - 1A)
• Shannon Klenke (Duchesne, TX/T.A.P.P.S. - 5A)

• 1st Nike South, 15:35.7 in mud, beating Ryan Dohner, Parker Stinson
• 1st District 6-5A, ridiculous 14:50.49 in mud, beating Connor Adams by 42 seconds, Neal Smith by a minute
• 1st Region I-5A, 14:37 3M, beating Adams by 39 seconds, and several other state contenders by far more
• 1st TX 5A State, 14:45.24 5k, winning by 23 seconds over Mark Pinales

• Cedar Park TX senior Parker Stinson – With the illnesses he and his Cedar Park teammates have suffered, it’s likely this was not the season Stinson envisioned after he won the 5A track 3200 in 8:54.70, the best time of the year in TX.  After several early season wins, he’s been 3rd at Nike South, 2nd at District, 1st at Region, and 3rd at 5A state.  He has basically traded wins and losses with Mark Pinales and Ryan Dohner.  Still, the talent is there and Stinson should be in strong form this week, with a great chance for the top three or possibly to lead a qualifying team if his mates can rise to the occasion.  He was 7th here last year and is the #2 returnee.

• Round Rock TX junior Mark Pinales – With his runner-up finish in 5A state last week, Pinales is definitely the revelation of the year in Texas for boys.  Who would have thought at season’s start that he’d beat Stinson, Adams, Dohner, Arnier, Smith and all the rest?  Pinales did not run here last year.  He ran 9:15 for 3200 last spring and did not make state in track.  But his improvement became apparent in an early-season runner-up showing against Stinson.  At Nike South, he was 4th, but then beat Stinson at District.  Stinson and Dohner got him back at region, but Pinales had everyone’s number but Lutz’s at state.

• Klein Oak TX senior Ryan Dohner – Despite his disappointing 11th last week at 5A state, don’t sleep on Dohner.  A better indication of his talents came with his runner-up finish at Nike South, and close 2nd behind Stinson (and ahead of Pinales) at region.  He is also the #3 returnee from last year’s NXN South after placing 9th overall.  Dohner also had the #3 3200 time of all TX non-seniors last spring at 9:04.17 – which is also 3rd best among all of Saturday’s entrants.  Also, given the way Klein Oak is coming on as a team, it’s not impossible at all that they could claim a team qualifier – they were just 12 points behind The Woodlands in 2nd last week.

• Arlington Lamar sr Jeff Arnier – Arnier first really  made waves in a narrow 3-second defeat to Lutz early in the season.  He was just 9th at Nike South and 6th in Region 1-5A, but came on for an impressive 4th at 5A state.

• Flower Mound sr Connor Adams – With an early-season win over Lutz and a series of victories and fast times, Adams was the hot new face on the Texas and national scene.  It turned out, however, that Lutz was only a shadow of what he would become and Adams wound up at the effect of (and well beaten by) his blazing performances at district and region.  At 5A state, Adams was 7th, but don’t count him out just yet on Saturday.

• Lubbock Coronado jr Donovan Torres – Torres gained significant notice with a narrow defeat to Adams at the McNeill Invite – which came after Adams had beaten Lutz and gained a high ranking.  The rest of his season was solid; he was a well-beaten 5th at Region I-5A, but a stronger 5th at 5A state.

• Two other 5A standouts who should be fighting for at least the top 10 if not the top 5 are Northside Stevens’ Jacob Benn and Southlake Carroll’s Neal Smith.

• Chris Marchman, Sheridan, AR 6A (1st AR-OK All-star)
• Andrew Evans, Shiloh Christian, AR 4A
• Christian Heymsfield, Elkins, AR 3A
• Mitch Landry, Haughton, LA 4A
• Max Holman, Tupelo, MS 6A
• Nathan Christianson, Boerne Champion, TX 4A
• Nick Guerra, East Bernard, TX 2A
• Travis Roberts, Sanderson, TX 1A
• Dennis Hodapp, St Michael, TX TAPPS 5A