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National High School Boys Team Rankings - 11/25Published by
Newbury Park's Ultimate Statement Still Around The Corner, NXR Meets Reshape Top 30 By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor The next two Saturdays provide big stages for Newbury Park of California, which aims to 15-point the state meet Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno before traveling to Alabama to see how many of the country's top runners, if any, can puncture its top five. At last weekend's CIF Southern Section meet, Newbury Park went 1-6 in the Division 1 final and blitzed the 2.93-mile course at Mt. SAC like it was merely a tempo run, producing the first perfect score in the 96-year history of the meet. Six runners split by seven and a half seconds. Nike Cross regional meets have provided opportunities for some of the country's top teams to measure up and execute against interstate competition. Orland Park (Sandburg) IL leaned into the challenging winds at NXR Midwest and didn't bat an eye, taking the regional title and defeating the Indiana state champions (Brebeuf Jesuit) handily. Union Catholic is a big riser over the past two weeks, beating Christian Brothers Academy for the first time in school history at the New Jersey Non-Public A Group meet and then beating the Colts again at the Meet of Champions. UC cinched its fifth man closer to the top four and suddenly this track and field power has become nationally relevant in cross country. The NXR Southwest, if nothing else, confirmed the strength and depth of Cheyenne Mountain, which produced another standout performance and has now met and surpassed every challenge outside of a shared starting line with Newbury Park. Oregon's 6A champion, Jesuit, showed that it has remained focused and motivated and dominated the Pacific Northwest Regional XC Showcase, an alternative to the NXR Northwest regional. The Crusaders remain a solid No. 3. Central Catholic placed third but ran without its No. 3 man. Both Portland-area schools are set to go to Alabama next week. Grapevine of Texas, competing as Mustang Army at NXR South, fended off challenges from 6A Texas powers Southlake Carroll and The Woodlands with a big contrbution from Brian Guevara, who ran closer to his top four than he had the Texas state meet. NXR regional meets on Saturday, particulary the Southeast, could move the needle slightly ahead of the RunningLane Championships on Dec. 4. Top 30
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