The Niwot girls and Dakota Ridge boys may have had to wait a week before booking their tickets to Portland for Nike Cross Nationals, but that didn't stop them from juicing that At-Large berth for all that it was worth.
And they weren't the only ones.
St. Charles (IL) finished third at NXR-Midwest before going on to finish fourth at NXN in the boy's team race. Their finish was the second-best by an At-Large team, only behind Niwot.
A year ago Niwot took the same route by finishing third at NXR-Southwest, waiting a week before getting the call, then shocking the field with a fifth-place finish at NXN.
This year the storyline was similar, but slightly more dramatic.
Their third-place, podium finish was perhaps the biggest shocker in the girl's team race, as Niwot headed to Portland ranked No. 17 nationally.
That's third at NXR-Southwest, to third nationally - and the top Southwest team.
The Niwot girls did admit that perhaps the not-knowing lifted pressure off their shoulders at NXN. They came into Portland a little off the radar, which worked out quite well for them in the end.
Uncertainty can be beneficial.
Likewise, the Dakota Ridge boys endured the week-long wait before getting the call up, and they did the most with it by finishing seventh - and second among NXR-Southwest teams.
Of the eight squads that received At-Large berths to NXN, four went on to finish in the top-10, and one - Portland-Jesuit - was just outside, finishing 11th.
So, what does this all mean?
Well, I'd say the NXN selection committee did right in sending these golden tickets to Niwot and Dakota Ridge (and St. Charles, and Dana Hills).
Their finish Saturday proved they deserved to be on the starting line.
While the selection committee did right with four squads (or we could say five), it's hard not to fathom how well Cherry Creek would've run given the chance.
In taking another glance at the girl's team results, it's clear that the Southwest region was the deepest among the teams. Niwot and Lone Peak finished third and fourth, and Valor Christian finished eighth.
If we're going all FBS here, the toughest "strength of schedule" goes to the Southwest region.