Talking with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, I got curious as to how the high school XC scene might be looking these days. I did some quick homework, and this is a simple estimation of how the NXR Regionals so far compare to last year's NXN results. Top 30 individuals and Top 10 teams from the regions so far (HL, NW and MW). I also took a quick look at the Utah State meet and New Jersey MOC, and to what should be no surprise to anyone that follows XC it looks like the usual suspects are still among the top in the nation these days (CBA NJ looks every bit as good as the Coeur d'Alene boys, while Herriman/American Fork look even better and Utah potentially having an At-Large worthy team or two; on the girls side Lone Peak looks outstanding once again).

For the team rankings here, I just did a simple substitution method of placing each runner's NXN projection between actual NXN results from last year so e.g. Philip Cupial from Downers Grove North IL ran an equivalent of 15:47.1 which would have placed him between the #12 and #13 scorers from last year, San Clemente CA's Brett Ephraim and CBA NJ's Conor Clifford, so he would have scored 12.5 points.

Top 10 Boys Teams (AQ in bold; average times are 2023 NXN equivalents):

185.5 - NW#1 Coeur d'Alene ID (16:04.6) -- finished #11 last year

262.5 - MW#1 Downers Grove North IL (16:15.9) -- finished #7 last year

305.5 - MW#2 Rockhurst MO (16:26.4)

314.5 - NW#2 Jesuit OR (16:24.7)

335.5 - NW#4 Crater OR (16:24.2) -- finished #12 last year

340.5 - HL#1 Spring Hill KS (16:30.5)

355.5 - NW#3 Rocky Mountain ID (16:31.0)

370.5 - MW#3 Plainsfield North IL (16:33.4) -- finished #15 last year

385.5 - NW#5 Helena MT (16:34.5)

408.5 - HL#2 Sioux Falls Lincoln SD (16:37.5)

Top 10 Girls Teams (AQ in bold; average times are 2023 NXN equivalents):

316.5 - HL#1 Wayzata MN (19:19.5) -- finished #21 last year

366.5 - NW#1 Rocky Mountain ID (19:28.0)

382.5 - MW#4 Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran IN (19:31.1)

410.5 - MW#1 Downers Grove North IL (19:37.0) -- finished #16 last year

418.5 - MW#2 Romeo MI (19:37.9)

423.5 - MW#5 Prospect IL (19:40.6) -- finished #14 last year

426.5 - NW#2 Lincoln OR (19:44.6) -- finished #20 last year

430.5 - MW#3 Carmel IN (19:38.8)

430.5 - HL#2 Johnston IA (19:41.3)

463.5 - MW#6 Barrington IL (19:43.8)

Top 30 Boys Individuals (AQ in bold; times are 2023 NXN equivalents):

15:26.0 - Tayvon KITCHEN, 12, Oregon Distance (NW #1) -- ran 15:58.5 last year

15:26.7 - Ben Crane, 12, Winnetka Athletic Club IL (MW #1)

15:28.1 - Sam Quagliaroli, 12, Fishers Distance IN (MW #2)

15:28.1 - Jase BURTON, 12, Ohana XC (NW #2)

15:29.9 - Owen POWELL, 12, Midlake Herons (NW #3)

15:30.0 - Kade BROWNELL, 12, Mt. Spokane Yetis (NW #4)

15:31.0 - Nate STADTLANDER, 12, Warrior XC (NW #5)

15:31.2 - Hayden BOAZ, 12, Storm Over Bend (NW #6)

15:32.2 - Cooper BOYLE, 12, Tahoma XCRC (NW #7)

15:33.4 - Noah Bontrager, 11, Unattached Indiana (MW #3)

15:33.9 - Landon Kimmel, 11, Tipp XC OH (MW #4)

15:34.1 - Vincent RECUPERO, 12, Green Lake Harriers (NW #8)

15:34.3 - Juan GONZALEZ, 12, Fremont Track Club (HL #1) -- ran 15:50.1 last year

15:35.2 - Manny PUTZ, 12, Team Sty-U (HL #2) -- ran 15:23.1 last year

15:35.8 - Max CERVI-SKINNER, 12, CDA Distance (NW #9) -- ran 16:02.2 last year

15:36.1 - Robert MECHURA, 12, Roseville Running Club (HL #3) -- ran 15:36.1 last year

15:38.6 - TJ Hansen, 12, Unattached Michigan (MW #5) -- ran 15:27.8 last year

15:44.3 - Grady LENN, 11, Unattached (HL #4)

15:44.9 - Ethan OLDS, 12, Stevens Point Distance Crew (HL #5) -- ran 16:20.3 last year

15:44.9 - Henry Acorn, 12, Rock Running Club MO (MW #6)

15:45.3 - Sawyer MARQUIS, 12, Unat-Marquis-Sawyer (NW #10)

15:47.1 - Philip Cupial, 11, Downers North XC Club IL (MW #7) -- ran 16:10.9 last year

15:47.5 - Ezra TEEPLES, 12, Braves Soul (NW #11)

15:47.6 - Carson Driemeier, 11, Festus XC Club MO (MW #8)

15:48.7 - Zackery CERVI-SKINNER, 12, CDA Distance (NW #12) -- ran 16:51.9 last year

15:49.5 - Jackson Nolan, 12, West Side Panthers IN (MW #9)

15:51.6 - Grant Schroder, 12, Downers North XC Club IL (MW #10) -- ran 16:02.8 last year

15:52.2 - Kian COMPTON, 10, Yakima Harriers (NW #13)

15:52.8 - Jack SHEESLEY, 12, Boise XC (NW #14)

15:54.0 - Kamari Ronfeldt, 10, A2 Track Club MI (MW #11)

Top 30 Girls Individuals (AQ in bold; times are 2023 NXN equivalents):

17:44.4 - Marissa FEREBEE, 11, Pella XC Windmills (HL #1)

17:48.7 - Chloe HUYLER, 12, Pacer Project (NW #1) -- ran 18:25.1 last year

17:50.8 - Victoria Garces, 12, Unattached Michigan (MW #1)

17:53.8 - Sophia RODRIGUEZ, 10, Midlake Herons (NW #2)

17:54.3 - Ruby IHMELS, 10, BisPat Harriers (HL #2)

17:55.4 - Mia Sirois, 10, Dark Horse Distance Project I (MW #2)

18:02.8 - Helen Sachs, 12, SHORE Track Club MI (MW #3)

18:04.3 - Emily WISNIEWSKI, 12, Crescent Valley Running Club (NW #3) -- ran 17:37.4 last year

18:05.1 - Ryin MILLER, 11, NOTO Running (HL #3)

18:09.2 - Mallory Weller, 11, Cadet Distance Project IN (MW #4)

18:10.2 - Katelyn RUPE, 12, Unattached (HL #4) -- ran 18:17.8 last year

18:10.8 - Daniela Scheffler, 12, Lake OH (MW #5)

18:11.0 - Victoria RODRIGUEZ, 12, Midlake Herons (NW #4)

18:13.9 - Elektra HIGGINS, 12, Unat-Higgins-Elektra (NW #5)

18:17.8 - Libby CASTELLI, 12, Unattached (HL #5) -- ran 19:29.6 last year

18:18.2 - Brooke Chapman, 11, Olentangy Orange XC OH (MW #6)

18:19.1 - Libby Dowty, 11, Bradford IN (MW #7) -- ran 17:56.9 last year

18:22.3 - Nelida DALGAS, 11, Capital City (NW #6)

18:23.4 - Brianna REILLY, 7, Harrisburg Tiger Elite (HL #6)

18:26.4 - Natasza Dudek, 9, Purple TC MI (MW #8)

18:27.0 - Hannah GENRICH, 8, Harrisburg Tiger Elite (HL #7)

18:27.2 - Marisa Heil, 12, Storm OH (MW #9)

18:28.1 - Katherine Foltz, 11, Unattached Illinois (MW #10)

18:29.9 - Norah HUSHAGEN, 12, Forest Lake XC Club (HL #8) -- ran 18:03.7 last year

18:32.2 - Maggie MADSEN, 10, Thunderbirds (NW #7)

18:32.6 - Kylah MADARIAGA, 12, Wenatchee XC (NW #8)

18:33.3 - Karlin Janowski, 9, KROY IL (MW #11)

18:33.9 - Maddie GULLICKSON, 11, Wayzata XC Club (HL #9)

18:38.1 - Paisley TAYLOR, 12, Warrior XC (NW #9)

18:38.4 - Emma Hoffman, 11, Unattached Michigan (MW #12)