Photos taken by Brandon Miles of the open and championship races at the 2007 Nike Team Nationals held at Portland Meadows in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, December 1st.
Photos taken by Brandon Miles at the course preview on Friday, November 30th at Nike Team Nationals held at Portland Meadows in Portland, Oregon
Photos taken by Brandon Miles of the Thomas Jefferson boys at the 2007 Nike Team Nationals held at Portland Meadows in Portland, Oregon.
Photos taken by Tyrone Hoskins at the 2007 Nike Team Nationals held at Portland Meadows in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, December 1st Available for purchase at RecCentral.net
It has been an interesting past four months for the high school cross country community! Since its start three years ago Nike Team Nationals (NTN) has been a boon to the sport, putting the top teams from around the country on a national stage, but for better or worse it has been the source of great controversy as well. Perhaps as is the nature of things when a selection committee chooses who gets invitations, some felt the criteria for qualifying was unclear or that some teams who deserved bids were left home.
It has been an interesting past four months for the high school cross country community! Since its start three years ago Nike Team Nationals (NTN) has been a boon to the sport, putting the top teams from around the country on a national stage, but for better or worse it has been the source of great controversy as well. Perhaps as is the nature of things when a selection committee chooses who gets invitations, some felt the criteria for qualifying was unclear or that some teams who deserved bids were left home.
Nike has released more detailed information over the past week in regards to the new regional meet format and qualifying procedures for the 2007 Nike Team Nationals to be held December 1st in Portland, Oregon. The NTN Southeast Region Meet will be held Saturday, November 24th in Hoover, Alabama on the home course for the Great American Cross Country Festival. Automatic berths will be given to the top two teams at each regional championship, while the third and fourth place finishing teams will be eligible for the four at-large berths among the nine regions. The at-large teams will be selected based off a points system, which encourages head to head competition during the season and scoring victories over eventual NTN selected teams during the season (meets on or after September 20th). Read on for more details.
The cross country pre-season hype starts to begin, with the release of the Nike Team Nationals Pre-Season Rankings.
OK, we'll only remind everyone of the Coatesville boys' Nike Team Nationals 2006 championship once (this week). It was quite a run, and one worth remembering. The immediate impact of that win was the respect it garndered for Pennsylvania cross country. The Radnor girls helped our rep as well when they traveled to New York and nearly knocked off the #1 team in the nation at the time. They were left home in a selection process that required more reading tea leaves than anything else. But Coatesville's win was big for everyone. MORE>>>
2006 state cross country Class AAAA state champion Mauldin Mavericks girls are ranked no. 5 in the Nike Team Nationals southeast region preseason poll, released last week. Senior Alyssa Kulik captured the individual state cross country title in 2006.
One of the top teams in the country, Neuqua Valley High School boys cross country team, is ready to roll as the season kicks off in Illinois this coming week. Coach Paul Vandersteen gives us the inside scoop on his team.
All the top teams in the country have had a chance to prove themselves this season. While a few of the teams only compete once up until this weekend at an invitational, many show their skills on a weekly basis. Many great matchups occur this weekend, which will undoubtably change the rankings, but here are our top ten boys and girls teams in the nation.
While most of the top teams in the country won their weekend meets outright, or didn't compete, a few changes are made to this week's top ten rankings. Three boys teams move out, while Loyola (CA), Naperville North (IL) and Brookline (MA) move in. On the girls side, Saugus (CA) moves up a spot after an impressive Clovis Invitational performance.
Five new teams enter the MileSplit National Team Power Rankings this week. Saratoga Springs (NY), Fort Collins (CO) and Greenwich (NY) enter the girls rankings, while Los Alamos (NM) and North Penn (PA) enter the boys rankings. With conference and state series meets ahead, a lot more movement may occur over the coming week.
With eight out of the top ten boys teams competing this past weekend, and eight of the top ten girls teams, a lot of great team performances occurred throughout the country. The top performance of the weekend came from the US #10 Yankton girls team, winning their state meet in convincing fashion. See how the top teams fared.
Very little movement took place in this week's MileSplit National Team Power Rankings. With most teams either not competing, or going against lesser competition, few squads moved very far from where they were ranked in the prior set of rankings.
With many top teams competing at conference or state-series meets, 17 of the 20 ranked teams showed results. Boys US #1 Albuquerque Academy won a clash of New Mexico titans, as they beat US #9 Los Alamos at the Los Alamos Invitational, while Girls US #1 Fayetteville-Manlius had the weekend off. See how everyone else competed.
With most of the top teams winning this weekend, little movement occurred on the Oct. 30 installement of the MileSplit National Team Power Rankings. However, US #10 Wheaton North boys and US #8 Fort Collins girls both lost, with Murrieta Valley (CA) and Dakota Ridge (CO) taking their spots in this week's rankings.
With Nike Team National Regional registration ending over the next few weeks for most regions, questions are being raised about the registration process, with emphasis on the elite races. Here are some answers.
With Nike Team National Regional registration ending over the next few weeks for most regions, questions are being raised about the registration process, with emphasis on the elite races. Here are some answers.MileSplit NTN Regional Registration Announcement
With Nike Team National Regional registration ending over the next few weeks for most regions, questions are being raised about the registration process, with emphasis on the elite races. Here are some answers.
No teams lost this past weekend, although a few had close calls. On the boys side, Neuqua Valley, North Central, Danbury, Crater and North Penn each won state championships, while Jesuit accomplished the feat on the girls side. As the season wraps up, the top teams emerge.
The first set of NTN Regionals takes place this weekend. In the Midwest, while five states represent the region, only three states are allowed to travel to Terre Haute, Indiana for the meet. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are the three states and each looks to qualify at least one team to Portland. The heavy girls favorite is Westfield, IN (above) while the boys is Neuqua Valley, IL.
Typically the Northwest cross country region is one of the most powerful regions in the land. This year's stable of top teams differs from years past in only that they may be stronger and deeper than ever before. Leading the charge on the boys side are US #3 North Central (WA) (led by Andrew Kimpel above) and three-time qualifier Mead (WA), while US #7 Jesuit (OR) and MT #1 Bozeman lead the girls teams.
While many teams across the land feature some of the top individual runners as well, the NTN Heartland Regional Championships are going to be a pack dominated meet. With few stellar front runners participating in the event, depth is the key to earning one of those two automatic qualifying positions.
The first round of Nike Team National qualifying meets happened this past weekend. US #2 Neuqua Valley and US #3 North Central each qualified on the boys side, while US #6 Westfield, US #7 Jesuit and US #9 Yankton qualified on the girls side. With a few top teams losing, expect some change in this week's power rankings (coming out Tuesday).
With a few teams losing, especially on the girls side, new teams spring into the MileSplit National Team Power Rankings this week. The biggest leap came from previously unranked Dowling Catholic girls. The team from Iowa impressed at the NTN Heartland Regional, beating a good field by a solid margin.
Where do journeys begin? How do they begin? The answer is different for everyone. But for the Road to San Diego we are not concerning ourselves with everyone. We are focusing on the top PA talent in cross country, as they continue their trek to qualify for the Footlocker National Championships in San Diego, CA. They have one shot to make it...
Two more Nike Team National regionals were run this past weekend. Texas teams swept the qualifying spots in the South Regional, while two New Mexico teams swept the boys race in the Southwest Regional. The girls Southwest Regional race was the kicker, as two top ten ranked team lost to un-ranked squads.
U.S. #4 Albuquerque Academy earns their trip to NTN(Photo by Gary Murray) Eight more teams qualified for Nike Team Nationals this past Saturday, while a few favorites faltered and didn't qualify. With only two weeks to go until Nike Team Nationals the fight for who's best continues. This week three teams enter the Power Rankings. York (IL) enters as #10 on the boys side, while St. Mary's (OR) and Fort Collins (CO) enter at #9-10 in the girls rankings.
This is the big weekend for athletes and teams from Pennsylvania hoping to advance to Foot Locker Nationals December 8th in San Diego, and to Nike Team Nationals on December 1st in Portland, Oregon. There are two returning Foot Locker finalists, and a few girls who have been close, and this year have a great chance of advancing. And in the first year of the regional race for Nike Team Nationals, the top two PA boys teams and top-ranked girls team are aiming for the 4th NTN. As always, our previews are merely a guide, and NOT predictions. Our sister site ArmoryTrack.com of the MileSplit Network will be providing complete coverage of the NTN regional at Wappinger Falls, NY, while the PennTrackXC.com team will cover the Foot Locker regional at Van Cortlandt Park in da Bronx.
FM moves on to NTNBy Christopher Hunt WAPPINGERS FALLS — They smiled and clapped. They did all the things they were supposed to. But Stotan, the track team representing Fayetteville-Manilus couldn’t help but give off an aura that they had been there before. The looks bordered stoic, not because this win didn’t matter but because a bigger one awaits. FULL ARTICLE HERE
U.S. Fayetteville-Manlius earns their trip to NTNThe last Nike Team National Regionals took place Saturday morning and afternoon, as the New York, Northeast and Southeast Regions were each run. Some teams surprisingly qualified for NTN, while a few top teams did not live up to expectations. Check in for summaries, articles, photos and videos of each region. New information will be posted throughout the next few days.QualifiersNTN New York Girls: Fayetteville-Manlius & Burnt-HillsNTN New York Boys: Shenendehowa & Warwick ValleyNTN Northeast Girls: Lincoln-Sudbury (MA) & Voorhees (NJ)NTN Northeast Boys: Brookline (MA) & Danbury (CT)NTN Southeast Girls: Collins Hill (GA) & Tatnall (DE)NTN Southeast Boys: Oak Ridge (TN) & Thomas Jefferson (VA)
Interview with the NTN Founders Josh Rowe and John Truax from Nike. Part 2 of 2.