Elite 50 Recap: NXN South Regional
Elite 50 Recap: NXN South Regional
There’s always a lull following a championship. The college cross country season is over and the excitement surrounding the NCAA has died down. Thankfully, the high school season is able to fill that void with thrills, anticipation, and not one, but two championship meets.
In order to make it to those meets, the team or individual will have to qualify via the daunting Foot Locker Qualifiers or NXN Regional Championships. It’s the survival of the fittest.
If provided the opportunity, teams will try and qualify for these championship meets in the easiest way possible. In the past few weeks, some college teams have shown examples of this strategy by packing it up at their Regional Championship to conserve energy for NCAA Nationals. On the other hand, other teams have had to run all-out just to make the cut.
If you’re Carroll High School from Southlake, TX, you’re fortunate enough to be able to do both.
This past weekend, both the boy’s and girl’s teams from Southlake Carroll took first at the Nike Cross Nationals South Regional. Both teams dominated their respective fields with the US#2 Southlake Carroll boys scoring 48 points while the US#5 Southlake Carroll girls finishing with 69 points.
The Boys Championships Race
Southlake Carroll looks incredible heading into NXN. Here are some quick statistics from their regional qualifier:
- 48 points
- 15:30.20 team average
- 4 in the top-8
Trevor Gilley, Eli Canal, and Alec Garner round out Carroll XC’s top six with Chase Wichman as their seventh man.
Carroll XC Club
Team Score (places): 48
Ave Time: 15:30.20
| Name | Place | Time |
| Joe Sansone | 2 | 15:12.8 |
| Nate Sullivan | 3 | 15:18.1 |
| Connor Hendrickson | 4 | 15:18.2 |
| Trevor Gilley | 8 | 15:31.7 |
| Eli Canal | 31 | 16:10.2 |
| Alec Garner | 34 | 16:11.8 |
| Chase Wichman | 92 | 16:40.1 |
It’s not like they didn’t have tough competition as US#7 The Woodlands was also in the race. They took second, qualified for yet another NXN meet, and scored 237 points.
187 points less than Southlake Carroll’s team score.
Texas is infamous for their duels. There’s been the Regulator-Moderators, the Early-Hasley, and the Lee-Peacock blood feuds just to name a few. In cross country, there’s been Carroll and Woodlands.
The Carroll boys have won the past two Texas state cross country titles. Prior to that, The Woodlands have won in 2010, 2009, and 2008, 2007, 2006 and so on. Carroll took second in 2006, 2007, and 2010.
There’s a small difference between the two Texas duels. NXN lets two teams from each region stay alive and move on to the national championship. The other duels usually leaves a trail of corpses.
A cross country slogan not to be taken literally.
On the topic of history, the Carroll teams have a storied tradition rooted in cross country. However, it’s been a bit of a renaissance for one of the two.
The past two years have been kind to the boys from Southlake. In 2011, they narrowly took 2nd to Christian Brothers Academy at the national championship and took home their first state title in cross country. This year, they’ve accomplished one of those two things (state title) and hope to not repeat the other.
Similar to the current sentiments in the NCAA, there’s been a small lull at Southlake. While the team qualified for NXN between 2004 and 2007, they went three years without making the Big Dance. They didn’t even qualify for their state meet in 2009, but are champions in 2012.
That goes to show you that redemption is a powerful motivator. If they were hungry to return to the state meet in 2010, then how do they feel to once again enter NXN as the number two ranked team in the nation against the returning champions?
The Girls Championship Race
While none of these non-appearances for the Carroll boys are total disappointments, the bar is set pretty high when your girls team is one of the most consistent teams in the nation.
The Southlake girl’s have qualified for eight out of nine NXN championships (they missed out in 2008). They’ve also qualified for sixteen consecutive Texas state meets and have won it six times in that period (2012, 2011, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2000).
Not sure what's cooler: Pinstripe shorts or striped tan lines?
Photo: Southlake Carroll XC
The current Carroll girl’s squad displays an interesting combination of front and pack running. Courtney Kriegshauser leads the squad, but then after her, things get interesting. The spread between their #2 and #5 runners at the Regional Championship was 24-seconds. If a team isn’t going to score many runners between Kriegshauser and Elana Arriaza (their #2 runner), you’re going to have some problems.
Carroll XC Club
Team Score (places): 69
Ave Time: 18:11.34
| Name | Place | Time |
| Courtney Kriegshauser | 6 | 17:45.8 |
| Elena Arriaza | 11 | 18:05.6 |
| Antigone Archer | 14 | 18:16.1 |
| Shelby Chapin | 18 | 18:19.6 |
| Katie Burnham | 20 | 18:29.7 |
| Maddie Keen | 36 | 19:06.2 |
| Taylor Ullmann | 60 | 19:33.3 |
Following the rivalry in the boys race, US#17 The Woodlands girl’s took second to also qualify for NXN. They scored 135 points and averaged 18:43.56.
It's rare for two teams to win back-to-back state titles, let alone both win their NXN Regional Championship. This is just a testament to a team that does workouts on their own.
All four teams look to continue their success at NXN. The big story is whether Southlake Carroll will be the team celebrating in 2012 or will they have to settle for second once again?