Commentating on blog posts

I know this is a decision that some folks aren't going to like, so I'll apologize in advance, but the comment spam is just not being filtered out hardly at all by the folks at Google, so I'm going to be reverting the commenting process back to how it originally was when I started the blog (if you aren't signed in with a google or blogger account, you'll have to type in the randomized word or pair of words shown in an image).

I know, the process is a hassle, but that's probably better than dozens of bots spamming the comment section every day with sometimes not child-friendly content and links included (and it's a hassle for me to log in just to delete spam now and then that Google/Blogger should have taken care of in the first place).

Copy of the XC Standards posted so far

Here are the standards I have posted so far. A reminder, I'm looking for teams that have 4 returning/incoming runners at or close to this level (I'll still look at a boys teams with runners at, say, 3 under 10:00 for 3200m and another under 4:30)

Boys standards on the left, girls on the right

Track Standards -

5000m = 16:05.48 / 19:20.09
2 Mile = 9:58.32 / 11:58.92
3200m = 9:54.78 / 11:54.66
3000m = 9:14.00 / 11:05.67
1 Mile = 4:29.25 / 5:23.52
1600m = 4:27.65 / 5:21.60
1500m = 4:09.30 / 4:59.55


XC Standards -

NXN Nationals = 19:58.83 / 23:23.39

California State = 17:00.80 / 20:01.38

CIF-CCS Finals = 16:48.03 / 19:46.34
CIF-CS Finals = 17:00.15 / 20:00.61
CIF-LAS Finals = 16:46.89 / 19:45.01
CIF-NCS Finals = 17:11.43 / 20:13.89
CIF-NS Finals = 16:33.32 / 19:29.03
CIF-SDS Finals = 17:30.28 / 17:49.05
CIF-SJS Finals = 17:03.16 / 20:04.16
CIF-SS Finals = 15:41.27 / 18:27.78

NXN-Northwest = 17:44.68 / 20:53.02

Alaska State = 17:39.42 / 20:46.83
Idaho State = 17:13.15 / 20:15.91
Montana State = 17:37.36 / 20:44.40
Oregon State = 17:27.62 / 20:32.95
Washington State = 17:17.97 / 20:21.59
Wyoming State = 18:17.28 / 21:31.39



For quicker updates, check out the Dyestat message board (just type in Dyestat.com and click on "Track Talk").

Direct link to the boys thread: http://www.runnerspace.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=669083

Direct link to the girls thread: http://www.runnerspace.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=669084

Washington Indoor State Records

Six new indoor state records were set this year

Girls 60m: Hannah Cunliffe (homeschooled) 7.38 @ Brooks PR (2/24)
Girls 800m: Amy-Eloise Neale (Glacier Peak) 2:09.15 @ UW open (2/10)
Girls 3000m: Alexa Efraimson (Camas) 9:31.18 @ UW Invitational (1/25)
Girls 2 Mile: Alexa Efraimson (Camas) 10:15.82 @ Brooks PR (2/24)

Boys Triple Jump: Lane Russell (Tumwater) 49-01.00 @ Simplot (2/16)
Boys 60m: Tatum Taylor (O'Dea) 6.63 @ Brooks PR (2/24)

I believe there were some class records set this year as well, but I'll wait until I've finished including some more meets just to be sure.

Previous records were -

Girls 60m: 2011 Hannah Cunliffe (homeschooled) 7.47
Girls 800m: 2012 Amy-Eloise Neale (Glacier Peak) 2:09.29
Girls 3000m: ?? The fastest I could find was Chandler Olson (Woodinville) running 10:02.63 in 2011... three broke that mark this year, with Katie Knight also shattering it to hold the record for a couple weeks at 9:36.23.
Girls 2 Mile: 2012 Katie Knight (North Central) 10:28.50

Boys Triple Jump: 2005 Rashad Toussaint (West Valley-Spokane) 48-08.75
Boys 60m: 2012 Tatum Taylor (O'Dea) 6.71



Other notes:

Kennadi Bouyer (Curtis), for the second year in a row, improved her mark but still remained #2 on Washington's All-Time list. The previous record before these two came along was Princess Joy Griffey (Decatur) who ran 7.63 in 2005.

Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Wenatchee) also moves up to #2 All-Time in the 60m with his 6.64 @ Brooks. The #3 mark still belongs to Anthony Buchanan (University) @ 6.78 back in 2000.

Runnerspace's DyeStat to re-launch on Thursday

It was mentioned on the tracktalk message board that DyeStat will be re-launching on Thursday, February 28. I'll be working with them on TFX for the Northwest states, so any updates you guys might have feel free to email me and let me know! I've been working hard trying to repair any damage that happened after the closure of ESPN Rise (some data didn't get transferred at all, others got messed up in the transfer with kids getting placed on different schools) as well as making the lists deeper than ever! Hopefully within the next week or so, I'll have finishing compiling all the indoor results available online and we can have a complete look at how this year's athletes stand compared to all athletes in the state/region during the Dyestat era (1999+).

Other than that, I'm continuing to work on finalizing some of the XC standards for my national rankings, as well as considering putting together a spring preview for Washington.

Stay tuned!

Spokane well represented on US World XC team

USATF posted the roster for the US World XC team, competing in Poland in March. Unfortunately, no Ritz once again, but several big names are choosing to represent America including national champion Chris Derrick.

There are three high schoolers that made the junior squads (Erin Finn of Michigan, as well as Katie Knight and Andrew Gardner of Spokane). There is also another Spokanite on the roster, coach Patty Ley (former Gig Harbor HS coach from 1999-2009, current assistant at Gonzaga) is the head Senior Womens coach.

See the full article at the USATF website

Quick update

Just a quick update, but I'm about ready to start posting standards for the 2013 XC rankings... track standards I already feel good about, but still need to finish reviewing most of the nation's championship cross country meets, so I'll probably be releasing those gradually (region-by-region).

In Northwest track news, great race by North Central's Tanner Anderson a few weeks ago to put himself at US#1 for 3k and possibly a Washington sophomore record and probably top 10-15 All-Time for Washington (indoors). I'll see about posting some more regarding Washington athletes after the Brooks PR meet this weekend. Lots of Washingtonians in that elite event!!

Cain breaks another record, Efraimson debuts

New York junior Mary Cain broke another record, this time it was the mile record as she ran 4:32.78 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, though I haven't found a link to full results from the meet. It is posted on letsrun that she finished third behind Sarah Bowman (4:31.61) and Nicole Sifuentes (4:31.65).

Back in Washington, two standouts competed in the UW Invitational.

Amy-Eloise Neale (Glacier Peak WA senior) debuted her season in the mile, finishing fifth in her heat at 4:53.28.

Section  1                                                     
  1 picchetti, nattaile          Adidas                 4:48.13
  2 Martin, Bianca               Unattached             4:49.45
  3 Rohde, Kristen               Bowerman AC            4:50.12
  4 Amaro, Emilie                Stanford               4:50.63
  5 Neale, Amy-Eloise            Unattached             4:53.28

Alexa Efraimson (Camas WA sophomore), meanwhile, finished second in her first ever indoor race - which happened to be the fastest indoor 3k by a Washington prep, as far as I know. (Remember that two weeks ago, Katie Knight opened up with a 9:36.23 in the same race that Mary Cain set the new overall 3k record).

Section  1                                                     
  1 Conlon, Katie                Oregon                 9:27.27
  2 Efraimson, Alexa             Unattached             9:31.18
  3 Meyers, Maddie               Washington             9:33.49
  4 Mattox, Kimber               Bowerman Ath           9:33.81
  5 Dubose, Damajeria            UC Riverside           9:35.06

EDIT: Efraimson's mark is actually second for WA All-Time to Debbie Quatier (Edmonds '74), who ran 9:29.0 as a sophomore and ended up as a 4:45 miler and 10:27 two miler (apparently a better runner indoors?). Quatier's mark was the sophomore record a few years ago, and still might be though I'm not sure if it has been surpassed in recent years (Dyestat would have had that information...) and if it still is, then Efraimson's mark might be #2 on the US All-Time sophomore list - not bad for an event she hasn't focused on in the past!

Cain breaks US HS 3k record

Mary Cain ran the fastest 3k race for a HS girl ever by winning the UW Indoor Preview race in 9:02.10.

Former best was a 9:08.6h outdoors by Lynn Bjorklund (Los Alamos NM) in 1975.

The mark won't be ratified as the indoor record, because Dempsey is an oversized track (307m), leaving the 1991 Melody Fairchild (Boulder CO) mark of 9:17.4h intact.

Katie Knight (North Central WA) was the only other prep I noticed in any of the distance results, as she finished eighth in the same race as Cain.

Results:

  1 Cain, Mary                   Unattached             9:02.10
  2 Erdmann, Tara                Nike Oregon Project    9:02.96
  3 Moser, Treniere              Nike Oregon Project    9:03.54
  4 Stellingwerff, Hilary        New Balance/           9:05.79
  5 Rohde, Kristen               Bowerman AC            9:27.01
  6 Zeferjahn, Tanya             Cal Coast TC           9:30.41
  7 Gallagher, Kerri             Unattached             9:32.41
  8 Knight, Katie                Unattached             9:36.23
  9 Rozcicha, Amber              Portland State         9:36.83
 10 Coffey, Karlee               Unattached             9:42.63 

For those wondering, Cain's mark equates to a 9:41.9 for 3200m and Knight's a 10:18.7... not bad for an early January warmup.

NXN History update

Here is a little update on how programs and regions have fared at NXN since regional qualifiers began (2007) based on average points scored (adjusted for teams that haven’t qualified all six years). Note that these numbers are NOT weighted towards more recent years, this is just a simple average… a look including recent trends would also be a valuable tool, and I will probably reference it at some point over the next year.

 

Top Eight Boys Programs –

1.       197.33 North Central WA

2.       264.67 York IL

3.       294.33 Arcadia CA

4.       305.17 American Fork UT

5.       316.67 Fayetteville-Manlius NY

6.       325.33 Christian Brothers NJ

7.       327.33 The Woodlands TX

8.       343.67 Southlake Carroll TX

 

Top Eight Girls Programs –

1.       60.67 Fayetteville-Manlius NY

2.       156.67 Saratoga Springs NY

3.       218.33 Fort Collins CO

4.       221.17 Saugus CA

5.       258.33 Tatnall DE

6.       362.50 Jesuit OR

7.       363.17 Carmel IN

8.       368.33 Southlake Carroll TX

 

Average Region Score – Boys Auto-Qualifiers

1.       222.50 Southwest

2.       241.75 Midwest

3.       241.92 Northwest

4.       252.83 Northeast

5.       270.75 California

6.       274.50 South

7.       293.83 New York

8.       344.00 Heartland

9.       399.83 Southeast

 

Average Region Score – Girls Auto-Qualifiers

1.       109.92 New York

2.       252.75 Southwest

3.       279.42 California

4.       282.67 Southeast

5.       293.42 Midwest

6.       331.08 Northwest

7.       354.92 Heartland

8.       383.25 Northeast

9.       390.33 South

 

Average Region Score – Boys Top 2 Finishers (and # of At-Large bids received)

1.       222.50 Southwest (1 At-Large)

2.       227.33 Midwest (5 At-Large)

3.       241.92 Northwest (1 At-Large)

4.       251.33 California (9 At-Large)

5.       252.83 Northeast (5 At-Large)

6.       274.50 South (3 At-Large)

7.       293.83 New York (0 At-Large)

8.       344.00 Heartland (0 At-Large)

9.       399.83 Southeast (0 At-Large)

 

Average Region Score – Girls Top 2 Finishers (and # of At-Large bids received)

1.       108.17 New York (9 At-Large)

2.       252.75 Southwest (1 At-Large)

3.       263.25 California (6 At-Large)

4.       267.83 Southeast (3 At-Large)

5.       288.08 Midwest (2 At-Large)

6.       331.08 Northwest (0 At-Large)

7.       354.92 Heartland (0 At-Large)

8.       375.08 Northeast (1 At-Large)

9.       387.58 South (2 At-Large)

NXN Ratings finally posted

Finally posted my NXN Ratings (sorry for the delay, took a bit of a break after NXN...)

Check the previous NXN Update posts for more info. (Boys ratings are a bit variable due to the course conditions effect on the race, though the girls results were overall pretty consistent - meaning I feel very good about the girls ratings, but less so on the boys)

To save the data that I had posted earlier regarding regional scoring:



Scoring the top 5 boys from each region:

1. Southwest 75
2. Northwest 78
3. Midwest 108
4. South 121
5. California 137
6. Northeast 140
7. Heartland 157
8. Southeast 201
9. New York 202


Scoring the top 5 girls from each region:

1. New York 83
2. Northwest 84
3. Southwest 96
4. Midwest 102
5. South 103
6. Northeast 141
7. California 159
8. Heartland 161
9. Southeast 198


Which gives us the combined totals of...

1. Northwest 162 (78 Boys + 84 Girls)
2. Southwest 171 (75 Boys + 96 Girls)
3. Midwest 210 (108 Boys + 102 Girls)
4. South 224 (121 Boys + 103 Girls)
5. Northeast 281 (140 Boys + 141 Girls)
6. New York 285 (202 Boys + 83 Girls)
7. California 296 (137 Boys + 159 Girls)
8. Heartland 318 (157 Boys + 161 Girls)
9. Southeast 399 (201 Boys + 198 Girls)