Boys LTXC take third at NXN Midwest Regionals

With finish, team has chance at Nike Nationals

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Abby King, Pulse Editor

After the LT boys cross country team placed third at state last year, it finished on a high note with a 10th place finish at the Nike Cross Midwest Regionals. This year, it shattered all previous records by coming in second at state, and, with a third-place finish at the Nike Cross Midwest Regionals this year, it has a chance of placing in the top 10 nationally, better than any other cross country team in LT history.

However, the third-place finish does not guarantee a coveted spot at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN). From the nine national regions NXN draws from, the top two scoring teams from each region automatically advance to NXN, and then there are four wild cards, which can be either the third or fourth place team from any region based on their performance during the past season.

“We are fairly certain we will go,” varsity runner Vincent Zona ‘17 said. “We beat Neuqua Valley at state and earlier in the season which shows we can compete with them, even though we lost to them [at Nike Regionals]. We came the closest out of any team to beating Sandburg High School this year when we only lost to them by one point in the LT invite, and they are ranked third nationally.”

The boys will not know whether or not they are running at NXN until approximately a week before the meet, which will take place on Dec. 5, in Portland, Ore. This means that they have had to increase their mileage per week in preparation for the possibility of running. It should not impact training for the track season, varsity runner Connor Madell ‘16 said.

“[The top seven] is on the same page and we all want to run well,” Zona said. “I’m pretty excited, and even though it’s tough to be training this long it’s going to be fun and we have a chance to do something no other team in LT history has done. I think we have a chance to build even more on our great season and the opportunity to improve even more.”