Colorado has a tradition of strong performances at Nike Southwest, though those performances have been heavily tilted toward the girls to date.
The regional qualifying system for Nike Cross Nationals (formerly Nike Team Nationals) began in 2007. Colorado was lumped into the Southwest region with Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming that first year, though Wyoming would be later removed to the Northwest region.
The first NXR-SW regional meets were considerably smaller affairs than the current event has become, though it was never a small event, even in the first years.
From 2007 - 2009, the meet was held at Kiwanis Park in Tempe. In 2010, the meet moved from Kiwanis Park to its current, and much more spacious, location at Toka Sticks Golf Course in Mesa. The Toka Sticks course has, from the beginning, run faster than either version of the Kiwanis Park course. There was water, and therefore mud, in the ditch on the Toka Sticks course in 2010 that probably slowed the races slightly. The ditch has been dry the last two years. Spikes were allowed on the Toka Sticks course for the first time in 2012, but the telltale scritching of metal on hard surface would suggest several runners were using spikes prior to 2012.
Listed below are all of Colorado's top ten performances from NXR-SW, teams first and individuals second (NXN participants in bold):
2007
Battle Mountain boys - 5th
Wheat Ridge boys - 6th
Fort Collins girls - 1st
Dakota Ridge girls - 3rd
Greeley West girls - 4th
Thompson Valley girls - 6th
The Classical Academy girls - 9th
2008
Falcon boys - 9th
Wheat Ridge boys - 10th
Fort Collins girls - 1st
The Classical Academy girls - 2nd
Thompson Valley girls - 4th
Highlands Ranch girls - 8th
2009
Dakota Ridge boys - 9th
Fort Collins girls - 1st
The Classical Academy girls - 2nd
Highlands Ranch girls - 9th
2010
Fort Collins boys - 2nd
Dakota Ridge boys - 7th
Fort Collins girls - 1st
Monarch girls - 2nd
The Classical Academy girls - 5th
Liberty girls - 6th
Cheyenne Mountain girls - 8th
Highlands Ranch girls - 10th
2011
Fort Collins boys - 3rd
Mountain Vista boys - 4th
Fairview boys - 7th
Fort Collins girls - 1st
Monarch girls - 3rd
The Classical Academy girls - 4th
Mountain Vista girls - 7th
Thompson Valley girls - 10th
2012
Mountain Vista boys - 6th
Fairview boys - 8th
Fort Collins girls - 2nd
Pine Creek girls - 3rd
Monarch girls - 7th
The Classical Academy girls - 8th
Individuals
2007
John O'Neill, Battle Mountain, 15:45 - 10th
Lisa Reyna, Fort Collins, 17:56 - 3rd
Kaitlin Hanenburg, The Classical Academy, 17:57 - 4th
Miranda Benzel, Fort Collins, 18:21 - 9th
2008
Dart Schwaderer, Wheat Ridge, 15:15 - 1st
Kevin Johnson, Falcon, 15:26 - 5th
Laura Tremblay, Thompson Valley, 17:40 - 1st
Miranda Benzel, Fort Collins, 17:50 - 3rd
Kaitlin Hanenburg, The Classical Academy, 17:50 - 5th
Eleanor Fulton, Highlands Ranch, 17:58 - 7th
Shelby Stableford, The Classical Academy, 18:12 - 9th
Kristen Kientz, Highlands Ranch, 18:13 - 10th
2009
Eleanor Fulton, Highlands Ranch, 17:45 - 1st
Kaitlin Hanenburg, The Classical Academy, 17:51 - 2nd
Rachel Viger, Fort Collins, 18:18 - 5th
Kailie Hartman, Loveland, 18:24 - 6th
Heather Bates, Pine Creek, 18:25 - 7th
Emily LaValley, The Classical Academy, 18:26 - 8th
Becky Schmitt, Thompson Valley, 18:39 - 10th
2010
Spencer Wenck, Palmer Ridge, 15:20 - 2nd
Danny Carney, Dakota Ridge, 15:25 - 3rd
David Garcia, Fort Collins, 15:35 - 8th
Griffin Hay, Fort Collins, 15:36 - 9th
Erin Hooker, Fort Collins, 17:45 - 2nd
Hannah Everson, Liberty, 17:53 - 5th
Kailie Hartman, Loveland, 17:59 - 6th
Kristen Kientz, Highlands Ranch, 18:09 - 7th
Sydney Scott, Denver South, 18:10 - 8th
Shelby Stableford, The Classical Academy, 18:13 - 10th
2011
Danny Carney, Dakota Ridge, 15:12 - 2nd
Gus Waneka, Thompson Valley, 15:21 - 5th
Erin Hooker, Fort Collins, 17:36 - 1st
Elise Cranny, Niwot, 17:45 - 4th
Birdie Hutton, Shining Mountain Waldorf, 17:57 - 7th
Regan Mullen, The Classical Academy, 18:01 - 8th
Karina Ernst, Thompson Valley, 18:14 - 10th
2012
Clayson Shumway, Liberty, 15:09 - 8th
Elise Cranny, Niwot, 16:59 - 1st
Katie Rainsberger, Air Academy, 17:11 - 2nd
Heather Bates, Pine Creek, 17:18 - 3rd
Emma Gee, Legacy, 17:37 - 8th
Rachael Chacko, Smoky Hill, 17:38 - 10th