By Brandon Miles
Coming off a freshmen year which he ran nearly 4:20 in the 1600 and posted a 3200 time of 9:30on the track, Clayton Adams of Kearney has only gotten faster as his sophomore season of cross country has moved along. Literally. His progression of race times have gone from a 16:29 runner-up opener at the Kearney Invite to 16:00 top 10 showing at the Forest Park Festival to 15:53 for fifth place at the Rim Rock Farm Classic to taking a big time drop in a 15:10 5K PR on the very fast Chile Pepper Invite course at the University of Arkansas earlier this month. His last race was a conference championship win to kick off championship season in his home state of Missouri.

Each month, MileSplit will be selecting 21 sophomore boys as part of the Future Stars of XC Team presented by Hoka One One building into the end of the year team to be finalized in early December. Check out the 21 top sophomore boys XC performers nationally from the second month of cross country below split into a first, second, and third team of Future Stars.

Future Stars of XC Sophomore Team of October presented by Hoka One 

Casey Clinger of American Fork may have not had the opportunities to run fast times at altitude often in Utah this fall but after a state runner-up finish in the 5A race this past Wednesday with a time 40 seconds faster than this freshmen year performance at 15:12 for 3 miles, Clinger is anxious to see what he can do in the post-season next month when races in Arizona with his American Fork teammates.

Future Stars of XC by Hoka One One - Sophomore Boys 1st Team

Clayton Adams (Kearney MO)

Casey Clinger (American Fork UT)

Nick Dahl (Germantown Friends PA)

Ahmed Muhumed (West Salem OR)

Matt Pereira (Lake Zurich IL)

David Principe (La Salle Academy RI)

Miguel Villar (Madera South CA)

The state of South Carolina has two super sophomores in Avery Dominick of Dutch Fork and Ben Gilman of Hilton Head. Gilman finished ahead of Dominick in their first major head to head in September at the Low Country Invite, but Dominick got the better of him last weekend at the Sandhills Invitational with a 15:42 win and one of a handful of sub 16 minute races posted by him this season. Last spring, Dominick ran 9:35 for 3200 meters as a freshmen and will be one of the top contenders for the South Carolina 4A state race coming up.

Future Stars of XC by Hoka One One - Sophomore Boys 2nd Team

Noah Affolder (Carthage IL)

Patrick Bose (Johnston IA)

Noah Carey (Guilderland NY)

Eric Coston (St. Paul's Catholic LA)

Avery Dominck (Dutch Fork SC)

Finn Gessner (Madison La Follette WI)

Isaac Green (Monarch CO)

A sophomore surge would be a good way to describe the cross country season that Christian Ricketts of Arroyo Grande High School in California has been experiencing over the last month. In two big-time invitationals at Pre-Nationals and Clovis Invitational, Ricketts put down two 5K performances well into the 15's to position himself for high finishes with a 9th place at Portland Meadows in 15:40 and a 3rd place in the Division 2 race at Woodward Park two weeks ago in a 15:34 PR.

Future Stars of XC by Hoka One One - Sophomore Boys 3rd Team

Kyle Beaudette (Amity CT)

Ben Ewert (Beavercreek OH)

Ben Gilman (Hilton Head SC)

Ian Meek (Montrose CO)

Flip Pajak (Prairie Ridge IL)

Christian Ricketts (Arroyo Grande CA)

Sam Worley (New Braunfels Canyon TX)