One week from now, 44 teams will be in Portland, and each with the dream of contending for the national championship of high school cross country. Photo by Alan Versaw.
I gave the team the day off from practice today. It's a day to be with family, cultivating some thankfulness for all the blessings they enjoy--including the blessing of being part of a return trip to NXN. They do have full clearance to go out and take in a recovery run if they feel they need to shake off the food-induced lethargy, however.
Despite the day off from practice and a morning Turkey Trot to dull my senses a little, I find that my thoughts keep drifting back to next weekend's big event. Televised football has zero appeal for me. It hasn't all season. Why spend mental and emotional energy on overcompensated, and often petulant, behemoths when staring us in the face is a field full of teams laying it on the line for the love of their teammates and the love of the sport? The drama and the human interest factors are tilted heavily in NXN's favor.
It's nice that our own NXN Southwest regional is in the books and we're neither resigned to staying home for this year's NXN nor sitting on the at-large bubble. It's a tough time to be holding down in either position.
That said, this weekend's slate of regional races holds a lot of interest.
Along with everyone else, I'm expecting the Saugus girls to qualify out of California. If, for some reason, the wheels fall off of that wagon, they're almost certain to get an at-large bid. Nobody wants to run NXN without Saugus there. Dana Hills is looking very good on the boys' side of things, but not quite like the kind of prohibitive favorite that Saugus is. Behind Saugus and Dana Hills, it's anybody's guess who is qualifying out of California.
Out of New York, Fayetteville-Manlius should be bringing two teams to NXN. The intrigue in New York, though, centers around what other girls teams will advance to NXN. The possibility certainly exists that New York will bring four girls teams to the dance. If there are four teams that prove their worthiness this weekend, then, by all means, send four teams to Portland. Next in line behind F-M appears to be Saratoga. It looks as if they went hard last weekend at the Feds meet, though, and one can scarcely help but wonder how that will play out this weekend and, perhaps, again next weekend. Shenendehowa and Queensbury both look strong at this point, but both also have a little bit of reason to be glancing back over their shoulders. Lots of people will be busy tabulating places at the finish line on Saturday. This one will be interesting.
The Northeast regional will be at the same site as the New York regional. Among the girls, Lincoln-Sudbury looks like the team to beat. Behind them is a logjam of teams vying for an NXN berth. Look for the contenders to have it open at full throttle. And look for a different set of folks tabulating places at the finish line for that one! For the boys teams, early suggestions are that it's showtime for the New Jersey contingent. Don Bosco and Christian Brothers could make it very difficult for other programs to find a place in the top two, but it's worth repeating that there's a reason why these things are decided on the course and not on paper. And, there is a passel of teams with the potential to make this interesting. The fact that important races for many NE teams went right up through last weekend suggests that some of these teams could be close to running on empty. Advantage to the teams who've planned the pacing of their seasons well.
And then there is the Southeast regional. Can Tatnall's girls make a return trip to Portland? What appeared doubtful earlier this year is looking more likely now. Schools like Chiles, Blacksburg, and Hidden Valley figure to make this one of the tightest regional contests across the entire nation. Brookwood appears to have a serious leg up on the rest of the competition on the boys side.
By this time on Saturday, we should know who the auto qualifers are. The rest of the field should be public knowledge by Monday, at the absolute latest. I don't care to speculate who might get the at-large berths. So much of that will hinge on what happens this weekend. My best wishes, however, go out to the teams who have been extending their practices for one or two weeks in hopes of snagging an at-large berth.
Teams already qualified:
Boys - North Central (WA), Ferris (WA), Eden Prairie (MN), Wayzata (MN), York (IL), Neuqua Valley (IL), Boerne Champion (TX), The Woodlands (TX), American Fork (UT), Albuquerque Academy (NM)
Girls - Jesuit (OR), Bishop Kelly (ID), Dowling Catholic (IA), Elk River (MN), Magnificat (OH), Palatine (IL), Southlake Carroll (TX), Kingwood (TX), Fort Colllins (CO), The Classical Academy (CO)