Naperville North, Summit, Great Oak Are The Teams To Beat

By Adam Kopet of DyeStat

Parity at the top continues to be a feature this fall among the top girls teams in the country.

Current DyeStat projections have three points between Naperville North IL and Summit OR. Naperville North finished second a year ago and will be looking to move up a spot this year. Summit, however, has a deep lineup and could easily come out on top, especially if the Oregon crowd gets behind the team.

Great Oak CA is coming off a slightly off California state meet, but could be formidable in Portland. The Wolfpack are within striking distance of the top two.

Yorkville IL cannot be overlooked either. The team beat Naperville North at the Roy Griak Invitational at the end of September and have the potential to do it again.

The race among the top four teams will be impressive, but in most years one of the pre-meet favorites seems to have an off day. That leaves the potential for one of the next 12 teams to take advantage and possibly get on the podium. Only 99 points separate the next 12 teams, which means the final order among those teams will depend on who can have the best day at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland.

And with Fayetteville-Manlius NY in the field, anything can happen. The team has won 11 NXN titles in the past 12 years, and won last year's title with an almost magical ability to overcome obstacles. This year's squad has come on late, although it lost the New York state meet by one point and regional meet by two points to Saratoga Springs. Both teams will toe the line and have the power up front to keep their scores low.

2018 NXN predicted order of finish

1. Naperville North IL (North Naperville) 163

2. Summit OR (Central Oregon) 166

3. Great Oak CA (Temecula) 172

4. Yorkville IL (Yorkville) 191

5. Mountain Vista CO (Denver) 237

6. Claremont CA (Claremont) 240

7. Wayzata MN (Wayzata) 251

8. Boise ID (Boise) 254

9. Fayetteville-Manlius NY (Manlius) 281

10. Saratoga Springs NY (Kinetic) 282

11. Vista Murrieta CA (Murrieta) 287

12. Jesuit OR (Portland) 288

13. Edina MN (Edina) 296

14. Liverpool NY (Liverpool) 302

15. Niwot CO (Niwot) 303

16. Battle Mountain CO (Vail Valley) 336

17. Lewisville Flower Mound TX (Flower Mound) 353

18. North Hunterdon NJ (Hunterdon) 375

19. Prosper TX (Prosper) 394

20. Lawton Chiles FL (Tallahassee) 398

21. Champlain Valley Union VT (Hinesburg) 512

22. Blacksburg VA (Blacksburg) 531