Pre-Season WA 4A Boys Rankings

Here's the first in the posts most of you readers are probably looking for (XC Season Previews), here's a look at my Washington 4A Boys Rankings! I'll include the Top 22 for each of the 3 major classifications, as well as a look at the top 22 overall in the state, and include the top 25 individuals in each of those classifications as well.

 

First up is the 4A Boys!

 

Top 22 Teams:

 1. Tahoma (D3 #1/6)

 2. Issaquah (NW #1/4)

 3. Bellarmine Prep (D3 #2/6)

 4. Eastlake (NW #2/4)

 5. Skyview (D4 #1/1)

 6. University (ER #1/3)

DNQ Camas (D4 #2/1)

 7. Inglemoor (NW #3/4)

 8. Lewis & Clark (ER #2/3)

 9. Bothell (NW #4/4)

DNQ Lake Stevens (NW #5/4)

10. Mead (ER #3/3)

11. Eisenhower (D6 #1/2)

DNQ Central Valley (ER #4/3)

12. Gig Harbor (D3 #3/6)

DNQ Henry Jackson (NW #6/4)

13. West Valley-Yakima (D6 #2/2)

DNQ Gonzaga Prep (ER #5/3)

DNQ Walla Walla (ER #6/3)

DNQ Snohomish (NW #7/4)

DNQ Redmond (NW #8/4)

DNQ Mount Si (NW #9/4)

 

Others projected to qualify:

14. Emerald Ridge (D3 #4/6)

15. Mount Rainier (D3 #5/6)

16. Thomas Jefferson (D3 #6/6)

 

 

Top 25 Individuals:

 1. Jack Yearian, Bellarmine Prep (D3 #1/30)

 2. Nick Laccinole, Inglemoor (NW #1/20)

 3. Adamson Bryant, Eastlake (NW #2/20)

 4. Graeme Schroeder, Tahoma (D3 #2/30)

 5. Chanse Gilbert, Skyview (D4 #1/5)

 6. Keenan Schrag, Issaquah (NW #3/20)

 7. Nathan Pixler, Eastlake (NW #4/20)

 8. Yacine Guermali, Camas (D4 #2/5)

 9. Keegan Fitzpatrick, Tahoma (D3 #3/30)

10. Gavin Parpart, Inglemoor (NW #5/20)

11. Isaac Barville, University (ER #1/15)

12. Hunter Simpson, University (ER #2/15)

13. Cullen McEachern, Kamiak (NW #6/20)

14. Matthew Watkins, Henry Jackson (NW #7/20)

15. Mason Scheidel, Skyview (D4 #3/5)

16. Will Medellin, Mead (ER #3/15)

17. Ryan Gregory, Gig Harbor (D3 #4/30)

18. Tristan Houser, Tahoma (D3 #5/30)

19. Cameron Wyman, Bellarmine Prep (D3 #6/30)

20. Lance Slichko, Emerald Ridge (D3 #7/30)

21. Zak Kindl, Lewis & Clark (ER #4/15)

22. Miguel Vargas, Eisenhower (D6 #1/10)

23. Zeke Oien, Skyview (D4 #4/5)

24. Matt Olson, Eastmont (D6 #2/10)

25. Luke George, Issaquah (NW #8/20)

 

NXN Regional Top-10 finishes by state

Today's topic I was looking at was how many teams each state has had finish in the top 10 at their regional meets (both boys and girls). To be honest, I didn't look up how many Texas teams finished in the Top 10 at the NXN South meets - with 16 races, I'm guessing it was in the 140s for boys and girls combined.

The purpose of this research was to put a number to how states have been in producing potential US Top-50/75 type teams, in general, over the past 8 years for both boys and girls combined. This is the rough Top-10 State rankings I came up with as a result (let's just assume that the missing Top-10 state is Texas, which should be somewhere from #1 to #5 after factoring in regional depth), although a quick note that I only looked at regions with multiple states in it (Obviously, California and New York have swept their "regions").

Tier 1:
1. Illinois (67 teams in the always-tough Midwest)
2. Washington (72 teams in the Northwest)
3. Utah (65 teams in the always-tough Southwest)
4. Minnesota (79 teams in the Heartland)
... plus Texas somewhere in this group.

Tier 1.5:
6. New Jersey (60 teams in the Northeast)

Tier 2:
7. Indiana (49 teams in the always-tough Midwest)
8. Colorado (49 teams in the always-tough Southwest)
9. Oregon (54 teams in the Northwest)
10. Virginia (43 teams in the Southeast)

Again, a note: this is looking at both boys and girls, and gauging regional depth isn't about how strong the top 2-3 teams are but rather how strong the #10 team has usually been.

Other states averaging at least one Top-10 finish in each race include

29 teams: Pennsylvania
28 teams: Ohio, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Iowa
21 teams: Rhode Island
20 teams: Idaho
19 teams: North Carolina, Florida, North Dakota
16 teams: Arizona, Maryland


Also, to break it down by gender, here are the Top 10 state averages, not adjusted for regional depth but also not including Texas/NXN-South or the single-state regions

Boys:
1. Washington 6.00
2. Minnesota 5.25
3. Illinois 4.75
3. Utah 4.75
5. New Jersey 4.38
6. Oregon 3.13
7. Indiana 2.75
8. Virginia 2.50
9. New Mexico 2.25
10. Pennsylvania 2.00

Girls:
1. Minnesota 4.63
2. Colorado 4.25
3. Illinois 3.63
3. Oregon 3.63
5. Utah 3.38
5. Indiana 3.38
7. New Jersey 3.13
8. Washington 3.00
9. Virginia 2.88
10. Massachusetts 2.38