Boys Individual Race:

Last year's top 5 at NXN were all juniors. That is unprecedented, but many could argue this current senior class has the deepest top end talent we have seen in a long while, if not ever. Some have had the the talent (Class of '01, Class of '08), but the sheer number of elites in this grade is astounding (and they still have the rest of their senior year!) It starts with the defending NXN Champ, Craig Lutz of Flower Mound, TX. This year he skipped the Foot Locker South Regional, because his team qualified for NXN. Essentially, all his eggs are in this basket this fall and the course works well for him, as we saw last year. It was a super-close finish, however, and runner-up Elias Gedyon of Los Angeles, CA has probably been thinking about not being able to catch Lutz in the home stretch for the past 365 days. Gedyon has excellent closing speed and will be dangerous if he is in striking distance at the finish. Gedyon, however, has not even been the most impressive individual out of California so far this season. Arcadia's Ammar Moussa has been a few ticks faster than Gedyon in separate races at big west coast races all fall, including Mt SAC and the California State Meet. The question, however, is how hard Gedyon was pushing. Moussa has been running as the #1 of a top ranked team all season and will be trying to lead his team to an NXN title, as well as nab the individual crown Saturday. Moussa was 4th last year, and in between he and Gedyon was Joe Rosa of Plainsboro, NJ. Joe has been out with injury all season, but twin brother Jim Rosa is just as dangerous. Jim was just steps behing Joe last fall as they tore across the northeast cross country courses in historic fashion. It was at NXN, however, that Jim was the furthest back from his brother he had been all season, finishing in 18th. Disappointed to say the least, Jim looks for redemption as the lone Rosa at Portland Meadows for the first time in 3 appearances. Jim rolled through the track season, winning the indoor 2Mile national title, finishing 2nd to his brother in the outdoor national 2Mile (8:51) and 3rd in Dream Mile (4:07). Zach Wills of Mason, OH rounds out the top 5 from last year's junior sweep. He will be one of the few top runners attempting the Foot Locker/NXN double, as he is coming off the FL Midwest Regional this past weekend.

Another athlete going to the FL/NXN double is defending Foot Locker Champion Lukas Verzbicas. After setting a National High School 5k record indoors as a freshman (14:18), and winning Foot Locker as a sophomore, Verzbicas cemented himself as at worst "co-favorite" in every high school distance race he is in and this is no exception. He will be one of the only favorites without Portland Meadow experience, which may hurt him. Verzbicas is not one to run a tactical race, also. He has a race plan, sticks to it and dares others to go with him. Often it produces a sterling performance (Dream Mile, Foot Locker) but sometimes it yields less than favorable results (New Balance Nationals). With that being said, there are runners in this field capable of running with Lukas, and beating Lukas. Jim Rosa beat him in the NBN 2Mile last June. Beyond those clear favorites, California and New Jersey both send strong contingents. In addition to Gedyon and Moussa, the Golden State brings top 10 contenders Sam Pons and Lane Werley. The Garden State, beyond Jim Rosa, bring a strong trio of newcomer Edward Cheserek, Jeremy Elkaim, and Mike Mazzaccaro. Washing sends a strong duo of Kenji Bierig and Vince Hamilton who were 1-2 at the NXN Northwest Regional. Jack Driggs of Illinois has run well this season and is doing the NXN/FL double. Of course, there will be people not listed that will come up big Saturday and grab a top spot, which is what is great about championship races.

Girls Individual Race:

The girls race is not as stack as the boys. Again, the Foot Locker girls race has attracted almost every top tier distance girl in the country this year. Thankfully, a few of those girls are attempting the double. Leading the charge is Rachel Johnson of Plano, TX. The NXN South Regional Champ looks to be the favorite. She was 6th last year and followed that up by placing 11th at Foot Locker. She will look to follow in the footsteps of many runners who have attempted the difficult double and won NXN coming off a Foot Locker Regional and then run well in San Diego the following weekend. People who have done it successfully include Katie Flood, Craig Lutz, Chelsey Sveinsson, Chris Derrick, and Steve Murdock. Johnson won't be the only top tier runner attempting the double, she will be accompanied by Illinois State and NXN Midwest Regional Champ Kayla Beattie looking to cap off a stellar senior season. The girls focusing solely on NXN, however, will certainly be a force as this is their one championship this post season. They are led by a duo from Washington, Katie Knight and Amy-Eloiese Neale. Neale won the Washington State Meet over Knight, but the positions were swapped when they went 1-2 at the Northwest Regional. 

A few girls going for the team title will be in the mix up front, as well. Haley Pierce of Tatnall, Delaware is one of the top returners after her 7th place finish last year. At the Manhattan Invite in October she was sandwiched by the top runners from 4 time NXN champions Fayetteville Manlius. Jillian Fanning was just ahead of Pierce in the race and Christie Rutledge won the NY State Class AA Individual Title. New York also boasts some capable individuals in Brittany Winslow of Queensbury and Kelsey Margey of Harborsfield. Winslow was 15th at NXN last fall and will be running in the championship for her 3rd time. Margey is still a novice in competitive running. This is her first xc season and she began just last winter to stay in shape for lacrosse. She ended up winning the NYS 1000m title and blasted a 4:43 at the Jim Ryun Dream Mile Outdoors. 

All will be settled on Saturday, where all it take is one of these individuals to have a great day to steal the race from the rest of the field who has been dreaming of an NXN Crown all fall, or perhaps even longer.