By Michael Newman

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Each week, we will be published an updated list of who we see are in the top 25 for both the Boys and the Girls. Regional lists have been increased to 10 schools and will be published every week up to the Nike Cross Nationals in December. Because teams are so close in the national rankings, the lists have been increased from 25 to 35 teams.

You can find updated lists each week on ILXCTF.com.

UPDATE – We hope to have the final Top 35 Lists up on November 25, 2017 by 8 PM CST.

11/20/17 – Top 35 Boys National Lists

11/20/17 – Top 35 Girls National Lists

11/20/17 – Top 10 Boys Regional Lists

11/20/17 – Top 10 Girls Regional Lists

Notes

The two Nike Cross Regionals that took place this past weekend qualified four more teams to Portland for the Nike Cross Nationals on December 2. The two meets also will make it a challenge for the four at-large bids that will need to be decided on this Saturday. We will go deeper into that on Tuesday.

The South Regional Championship races supplied two improbable team winners. Southlake Carroll TX repeated as the Girls team champions scoring 68 points placing their top five runners in the first 40 places. Cate Tracht (12^th-place), Sarah McCabe (15^th-place), and Sofia Santamaria (17^th-place) finished in the top 20 leading the Dragons. Keller TX, who won the Texas 6A State Championship race two weeks ago, qualified for their second straight trip to Portland repeated last year’s second place finish scoring 82 points. Isabel Van Camp (7^th-place) and Abbey Santoro (10^th-place) led Keller that had an 80 second spread on their top five runners. Hebron TX scored 98 points to finish third ahead of Marcus TX who scored 114 points in fourth. Both Hebron and Marcus are eligible to be chosen as at-large teams.

Unseasonable warm temperatures effected the team finishes in the Texas Stare Championships two weeks ago. It was warm again on Saturday dramatically effecting the outcome of the Boys Championship race. Flower Mound finished eighth in the Texas 6A race on November 4 when their lead runner Alex Maier was forced out of the race due to breathing problems. Maier was fine on Saturday and so were his teammates. Top ten finishes from Maier (second-place) and Jarrett Kirk (sixth-place) helped Flower Mound win the team championship and a trip to Portland scoring 77 points. The Jaguars placed all their scorers in the first 61 places. Southlake Carroll TX, who was the regional champions last year, finished second with 88 points led by Juan Arcila’s ninth-place finish and a 40 second spread on their top five. The Woodlands TX was the surprise finishing fourth after winning the Texas 6A championships. They scored 122 points behind the third-place finish from Eastwood TX who scored 100 points.

Colorado teams swept both championship races at the Southwest Regional Championships on Saturday. Colorado 4A State Champion Battle Mountain won the Girls Championship scoring 96 points. The Huskies placed five runners in the top 60. It was their three runners in the top 21 led by 10^th-place finish from Elizabeth Constien that was the difference. Colorado 5A State Champion Mountain Vista finished second putting three runners in the top 15. Mountain Vista makes back to back appearances at Portland led by the sixth-place finish from Jenna Fitzsimmons. Broomfield CO was nine points back in third (195 points). They have a good chance of getting an at-large bid and another trip to the Nike Cross Nationals. Broomfield was led by Madison Mooney and her 19^th-place finish.

Mountain Vista CO showed that they could contend for the national title after a convincing win in the Boys Race. Shayan Zarrin and his ninth-place finish led three Vista runners in the top 15 as they scored only 80 points. With five runners in the top 43, their five-runner split was only 32 seconds. Utah 5A State Champion Springville finished second with 149 points led by Brandon Garnica and his fourth-place finish. The Red Devils had their first four runners in the top 36 was 38 seconds. The gap between their fourth and fifth runners was at 47 seconds. Timpanagos UT was another 54 points back in third and will have to wait for a call Saturday night to get an at-large bid.

California Section Meets

There were some great performances in California’s Section Meets led by Great Oak’s sweep of both the Boys and Girls Division 1 Races in the Southern Sectional. Chris Carvajal finished fourth to lead Great Oak to the Boys win with 86 points. The spread on their top five was only 31 seconds. Eleanor Roosevelt (145 points), Dana Hills (150 points), and Loyola (175 points) were the next three teams to finish. Fatima Cortes ran 16:27.1 for 3-miles to win the Girls race and Tori Gaitan finished fourth to lead Great Oak to win in the Girls race with a commanding 56 points. Vista Murrieta (138 points) and Arcadia (164 points) finished second and third.

At the Central Section Finals at Woodward Park (the state-meet course) in Fresno, Buchanan should be Great Oak’s chief competition this Saturday at state. The Bears placed all five of their scorers in the top ten scoring only 26 points to win the Division I race. Meagen Lowe led Buchanan winning the individual race (17.18.3) by nine seconds ahead of teammate Corie Smith. Buchanan also won the D1 Boys Championship (52 points) finishing 18 points ahead of second-place Clovis North (70 points).

St. Francis (Mountain View CA) is a team that will challenge for the state’s D2 title on Saturday. The Lancers placed all seven runners in the top 11 to easily win the D2 team title at the Central Coast Section Finals with only 16 points. Shyam Kumar finished second overall to lead his team to a 46 second spread on their top five runners.

St. Francis will challenge Dublin for the D2 title. The Gaels won the North Coast Section Finals with 41 points finishing ahead of second-place Granada (64 points). Dublin placed five runners in the top 15 (45 second spread) led by the second-place finish from Loic Scomparin. Granada won the Girls D2 title (28 points) behind Colleen McCandless’s individual win and four runners in the top five.

New Jersey Meet of Champions

Christian Brothers Academy had a 39 second spread on their top five to win the Boys race with 80 points. Kingsway (96 points) finished second ahead of Hopewell Valley (111 points) and Princeton (118 points). Brian Hill led the Colts with a seventh-place finish.

The fifth-place finish from Chloe Gonzalez led Northeast top ranked North Hunterdon to the Girls Championship with 100 points. Kingsway (126 points) and Colts Neck (135 points) finished second and third.

New York Federation Championships

It was the Girls Individual race that stole the show in this meet. Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland set a new course record at Bowdoin Park running 16:52.4 to win by 40 seconds ahead of Saratoga Springs’ Kelsey Chmiel. Led by her finish, Saratoga Springs took home the team championship with 99 points. Shenendehowa Central finished second with 109 points. While Fayetteville-Manlius should be the big favorite at the Nike Cross New York Regional on Saturday, these two teams along with Liverpool should challenge for the other auto-qualifying spot.

New York Class 2 Champion Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake was in control in the Boys race. Aidan Gillooley and Tyler Berg finished third and fourth to lead their team to the Boys title with 80 points. Xavier scored 105 points to finish second. Burnt Hills will be challenged by Corning and Fayetteville-Manlius for the regional title on Saturday.