Ohio year in and year out has some of the best XC athletes in the nation. We will see just how good the best boys and girls teams in the State are when they toe the line tomorrow in Terre Haute, IN at the NXN Midwest Regional. The US #9 St. Ignatius boys and the US #10 Centerville girls (Nov.3 Saucony Flo 50 National Team Rankings) both have very realistic chances of moving on and qualifying for NXN. The Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course just outside of Terre Haute hosts the qualifying race. The top two teams and the top five individuals not on teams qualify for the NXN.
The St. Ignatius boys led by Sr. Luke Wagner are coming off of their D1 Championship last weekend. They had a 46.8 second spread as they won with 66 points. Wagner was 5th at State and will need to step up again and lead the team. If he can get into the top 15 and the team can maintain or improve on their 46 second split, they may be the #2 team. If the Ignatius boys are going to run fast, this is the race that it can happen in and certainly a race that will challenge them.
The Boys race features US #2 in the Saucony Flo 50 Rankings, Sandburg, IL. They are the team favorite in the meet coming off of a convincing Illinois 3A State championship last Saturday.
In the Girls Championship Race, Centerville is ranked US #10. They won convincingly last weekend at the Ohio State Championship. The team is led by Sr. Lainey Studebaker who repeated as the D1 State Champion. For the Centerville girls to qualify, Studebaker will need to have a good performance and their #2 - 5 runners will need to collectively get closer to Studebaker. They ran a ten second spread, but were 64 seconds back of Studebaker at State. If they do, they just may get the #2 spot.
They will have to contend with two other Saucony Flo Top 10 teams however. The #6 ranked team is Naperville North, IL and the #7 ranked team is Carmel, IN. The Centerville girls defeated Carmel earlier in the year at the Spartan Invitational catching national attention.
See all of the Championship Boys and Girls Teams and Open Entrants.