Boys Regional Rankings - 10/17/19

By Paul Schmitz of DyeStat

The back and forth involving Great Oak CA and Newbury Park CA took another turn Saturday at the ASICS Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park. Great Oak knocked off Newbury Park 57-65 with an incredible performance that included a 15-second 1-5 split.

The Wolfpack placed six runners in the top 20 in the championship race. Newbury Park placed Nico Young (14:28) and Jace Aschbrenner (15:03) in front of the Great Oak pack (15:13 to 15:28) and Newbury actually had a faster 1-5 team average at 15:13 to 15:21. However, the runner distribution was in favor of Great Oak. The distance between these two teams is down to a matter of seconds per runner. Great Oak returns to the California regional No. 1 and will return to its preseason perch as national No. 1 when the rankings are updated next week. 

Because of the oddity that is the California merge of all five divisions at the state meet that determines the region’s bids to NXN, Great Oak and Newbury Park will not actually run head-to-head again unless both quality for the national championship. The teams run in different divisions Nov. 30 at the CIF Finals and don’t have each other on the schedule again.

Jesuit OR continued its impressive 2019 with another win, this time at the 52-team Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational in Lakewood, Wash. The Crusaders were led by Declan O’Scannlain and Ryan Schumacher and had a 15-second 1-5 split. That tight pack is enough to put Jesuit in a dead-heat with current Northwest Regional No. 1 Kamiakin WA, which dominated in-state competition at the Sunfair Invite. These two teams should be considered 1A and 1B in the Northwest. Bishop Blanchet of Seattle knocked of former No. 3 and No. 5 ranked Tahoma WA and Camas WA to take second place and move into the regional rankings at No. 3.

Corner Canyon UT returns to the No. 1 spot in the Southwest with the return of Easton Allred, who raced for the first time this season at the Region 4 Championships. Corner Canyon took home a nice win over ranked teams American Fork and Skyridge. Mountain Vista CO slides to No. 2 despite maintaining its undefeated season at the Continental League Championships. Mountain Vista has been steady in 2019 with three different lead runners and a solid top five but may not have the top-end speed to compete if Corner Canyon is at full strength. Mountain Vista will need a great day and a sub-30 second 1-5 split to advance to NXN in the deepest region in the country.     

The biggest story coming out of the Manhattan Invitational in 2019 is the domination of the teams from the Northeast Region over those from New York. Not much in the regional rankings will change, with Northeast No. 1 La Salle Academy RI winning the Eastern States Championship in commanding fashion. The next six teams -- La Salle College PA, Christian Brothers Academy NJ, Downingtown West PA, West Windsor-Plainsboro North NJ, Fayetteville-Manlius NY and Bishop Hendricken RI -- were all within a few seconds of each other in their 1-5 average time and no clear distinction can be made from the 2.5-mile course.

Northeast Regional No. 3 La Salle College bumps up to No. 2, dropping CBA down one. Bishop Hendricken ran the race without one of its top runners and took 79 points at number five, more than 40 points higher than a conservative projection. Bishop Hendricken gets a pass for now and stays in the top five with the ability to move all the way up to No. 2 running at full strength. Also in the mix in the region are West Windsor-Plainsboro and Coe-Brown NH, both teams close to the top group and with resumes that could place them spots in the national top 30 next week. It is going to be fantastic to watch the multiple state champions converge for a shot at NXN in the suddenly deep Northeast.        

In New York, Fayetteville-Manlius has not been able to fill the back end of its lineup with the transfer of Yakob Kelley. Fayetteville-Manlius will maintain the No. 1 New York position for now, but Burnt-Hills Ballston Lake has looked better every race and upstart Guiderland has also closed the gap. The New York rankings don’t change for now and Fayetteville-Manlius continues to be the clear favorite. However, for the first time this year, the three-time defending New York regional champions appear to be vulnerable.     

There is the slight shake-up in the Southeast at No. 3 and No. 4, but there is a clear separation between No. 1 Loudoun Valley, No. 2 Severna Park MD and the rest of the field. Former No. 3 Huntsville AL has the biggest slide, falling to the No. 5 spot. Huntsville finished a disappointing 14th at Great American, behind several teams from the Southeast. However, with an off race by one of Huntsville’s top runners, the team scored 162 points. This is 120 or so points off the projected finish by that runner putting Huntsville in the mix with No. 3 and No. 4 Western Albemarle VA and Satellite FL. Western Albemarle and Satellite also have flawed resumes. Western Albemarle had a solid sixth-place finish at Great American, only to lose to local rival Albemarle the following week. Satellite finished seventh at Great American but has split results against in-state rival Belen Jesuit Prep. The Southeast lacks depth in 2019 and expect only the top two at NXR to qualify for a trip to nationals.  

SOUTH 

1. Flower Mound TX

2. The Woodlands TX

3. Southlake Carroll TX

4. College Park TX

5. Fayetteville AR 

SOUTHEAST

1. Loudoun Valley VA

2. Severna Park MD

3. Western Albemarle VA

4. Satellite FL

5. Huntsville AL

NORTHEAST

1. La Salle Academy RI

2. La Salle College PA

3. Christian Brothers Academy NJ

4. Downingtown West PA

(tie) 5. Bishop Hendricken RI and Coe-Brown NH 

NEW YORK

1. Fayetteville-Manlius NY

2. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake NY

3. Guilderland NY

4. Shenendehowa NY

5. Xavier NY

MIDWEST

1. St. Charles East IL

2. Sandburg IL

3. York IL

4. Brighton MI

5. Wheaton Warrenville South IL

HEARTLAND

1. Mounds View MN

2. Eden Prairie MN

3. Dubuque Hempstead IA

4. Stevens Point WI

5. White Bear Lake MN

NORTHWEST

1. Kamiakin WA

2. Jesuit OR

3. Bishop Blanchet

4. Tahoma WA

5. Franklin OR

SOUTHWEST

1. Corner Canyon UT

2. Mountain Vista CO

3. Dakota Ridge CO

4. American Fork UT

5. Davis UT

CALIFORNIA

1. Great Oak CA

2. Newbury Park CA

3. Dublin CA

4. Clovis North CA

(tie) 5. Bellarmine College Prep CA and Claremont