NXR Southwest
Saturday, 18 November 2023
Embedded Files
2023 Results
2023 Results
We enjoyed the rare experience of running in the rain in the desert! It poured quite hard during the girls Medium school race for Darby, Lila and Cora. Gradually, with several thousand pairs of feet traversing the course, parts of the course turned to slippery mud, with a few puddles of water. The course was also rerouted from last year, replacing a couple of long straight stretches with a much curvier and somewhat hillier course. All in all, it made for a slower, more difficult course, somewhat offset, especially for the early races, with nice cool temperatures.
Summit took advantage for great individual and team performances at by far the most competitive meet of the year for us - and likely in the nation other than the upcoming national championships. 18 Summit Distance Project runners competed - by far the most we have ever sent to NXR - and we represented well! It was so exciting to have two complete teams, including 9 in the Championship race and a girls team in the Championship race for the first time ever.
While the results were encouraging, they also show we will have to work hard to make the next step up to becoming contenders to place high at NXR and qualify for NXN.
Full results - for splits, click Live Results, then for each race click Compiled.
Press
Press
Niwot And Air Academy Girls Book Tickets To Portland For NXN
A Big-Budget Preview Of NXR South, Southwest and Southeast
Boys Results
Boys Results
Boys Championship with Club Names
Boys Championship with High School Names
Boys Medium School with Club Names
Boys Medium School with High School Names
Josh and Jay ran in the Championship race, while we had a full team in the Medium school race. Jay placed 77th and Josh 79th, in 15:47 and 15:48. They ran near each other and pushed each other the whole way. It was great to see the bright yellow and green go by.
Jay was the second 9th grader. Both ran faster than their times at State and close to their PR times. Although Josh wasn't at full health last year, his time this year was an incredible 2:29 faster!
In the Medium school race, our 6 boys placed 12th. Carter placed highest at 46th in 17:14, just two seconds slower than his PR time at Liberty Bell and 4 seconds faster than his time at State. Carter was 9 seconds faster than last year.
Owen had a fantastic race finishing in 17:47, 14 seconds faster than his previous PR. Owen was the only boy to run faster than his time at the fast Regional course.
Cain was third in a strong 18:06, very close to his excellent time at State and a full 32 seconds faster than last year.
John was fourth in 18:21, 16 seconds faster than at State. Gavin had a strong race for fifth in 18:37. Max edged Owen for the largest PR with his 19:32 knocking 15 seconds off his previous best.
Boys Merge - The team scores if all the races were combined into one.
Summit Boys were 54th out of 165 complete teams - and about 40 teams without 5 runners - with 1765 points in the merge. That is without Will Bentley. We likely would have scored several hundred fewer points with Will.
For comparison other Colorado teams are underlined in the screenshots below. Pikes Peak = The Classical Academy, Colorado Cougars = Coronado, Vail Valley = Battle Mountain, Great Strides = Northfield. REAL Training = Niwot (isn't pictured but finished fourth in the merge with 272 points).
Our main 4A competitors next year are Cheyenne Mountain, Coronado, Thompson Valley, Longmont and Eagle Valley.
Niwot, Durango and Northfield move to 5A. Eagle Valley and Lewis Palmer didn't race at NXR.
Cheyenne Mountain and Coronado graduate two, Longmont one, Thompson Valley and us none. Battle Mountain graduates 5, including their top 3. Cheyenne Mountain and Coronado appear to be out of reach next year. We should place ahead of Longmont. Beating Thompson Valley will be a stretch. Our top 3 beat theirs, but their 4 and 5 are very strong. We will have to improve a lot at 4 and 5 to beat them next year - a similar story to the girls (see below).
Girls Results
Girls Results
Girls Championship with Club Names
Girls Championship with High School Names
Girls Medium School with Club Names
Girls Medium School with High School Names
Summit was chosen for the first time ever to run as a team in the Championship race, and we showed we deserved the high honor. The girls placed 18th out of the 27 teams in the Championship. Niwot (REAL Training) and Air Academy showed they deserve their number 1 and 2 rankings in the nation, and we showed we are competitive with the other strong Colorado teams. We placed ahead of 5A Boulder and Valor Christian, 3A State Champions The Classical Academy and 4A Northfield (Great Strides), who beat us at State.
The race started slow up front, with a large pack still together at the mile, reached in a relatively slow 5:32. By the two mile mark, a lead group of 5 established a small gap. Ella was in that group, taking turns at the front with three other girls that qualified for Nationals last year and a 8th grade newcomer from New Mexico.
Ella ran a fantastic race, placing fifth and grabbing an auto-qualifying spot for Nationals. She ran 22 seconds faster than at State, the only Summit girl to run faster at NXR than State. She was also 22 seconds faster than last year, despite the slower course.
Lindsey ran up front and steady the entire race, right around the 45th spot that she finished in. That was a huge 60 seconds faster than last year!
Avery ran an even bigger 90 seconds faster than last year! Before the race, I told/warned the girls that this Championship race would be unlike anything they have raced before, and that a mile into the race there might be 100 or 150 girls in front of them. Don't be discouraged - they might be having a fantastic race! And this was the case. Avery improved from 161st at the mile to 142nd at the finish.
Freshmen Lily and Ashley completed our scoring with strong finishes of 20:37 and 21:09, with Cece close at 21:45. Claire's troublesome calf flared up again unfortunately during the race.
Darby, Cora and Lila raced in the Medium School race earlier in the day during a hard downpour. They seemed to enjoy it. (See the photo below.) Darby had probably her best race of the season, with a PR nearly 30 seconds faster than her previous best of the season and improving upon last year's time by 16 seconds. Lila nearly PR'd and Cora continued her remarkable improvement, knocking an immense 1:33 off her previous best!
Girls Merge - The team scores if all the races were combined into one.
Summit Girls were 23rd out of 108 complete teams - and about 60 teams without 5 runners - with 910 points in the merge.
For comparison other Colorado teams are underlined in the screenshots below. REAL Training = Niwot, Academy = Air Academy, Vista Nation = Mountain Vista, Fossil = Fossil Ridge, Chap = Chaparral, Angels = Denver East, Pikes Peak = The Classical Academy, Peak Racing = Peak to Peak School, RCXC = Rock Canyon, Great Strides = Northfield.
Our main 4A competitors next year are Cheyenne Mountain, Conifer, Holy Family and Timnath. Niwot, Durango and Northfield move to 5A. Conifer didn't race at NXR. Vail Valley (Battle Mountain), who edged us at Regionals but we beat at State, was 50th in the merge with 1381 points. Battle graduates their top 3 and 5th. Holy Family (Amateur Track Club) was 54th in the merge. Timnath 74th.
Cheyenne Mountain will be very strong competition for us next year. They graduate their top finisher Lauren Raley, while we graduate Lindsey. Cheyenne Mountain's top two runners were in the Championship, but their whole team wasn't accepted for the Championship. They probably deserved to be in the Championship, as shown by their beating us by 5 places (18th place) and 202 points in the merge. We had the edge through our first two runners and the third runners were close. They pulled well ahead of us in the 4th and 5th positions, something we need to fix next season to have a shot at beating them at State.
Photos
Photos
There are far too many to place in the carousels below. See the rest of them here. Thanks to Myrth and Dillon for taking and uploading so many great photos. You can upload your photos on Google Drive as well.
2023 NXR Southwest
2023 NXR Southwest
WHEN: Saturday, 18 November 2023
WHERE: Coyote Run Golf Course, 1548 Leisure World Blvd, Mesa, AZ 85206
MEET WEBSITE: Click here
TEAM ACTIVITIES AND SCHEDULE: (a rough schedule that will be modified as needed)
Thursday, 16 November
Arrive in Phoenix at various time.
A short and easy ~30-minute run with a few strides is recommended after arrival to loosen up from the travel.
Friday, 17 November
Breakfast on own
8:00 am - Easy 25-minute run at Riparian Preserve at Water Park.
Lunch on own
1:00 pm - Top Golf
3:45 pm - Arrive at Coyote Run and find/set up team camp area. (Arrive earlier - much earlier - if you want to buy any NXR clothes. The lines are very long and they sell out. Probably best to have parents stand in line and purchase the gear while we are on the course recon.)
4:00 pm - Begin course walk/recon. A light jog and a few strides.
5:00 pm - Race talk and special interview at awards stand.
5:20 pm - T-shirt exchange (if you wish to participate)
5:45 pm - Depart for Buca di Peppo
6:00 pm - Team Dinner at Buca di Peppo
9:00 pm - or before, go to bed.
Saturday, 18 November
6:00 am - or earlier, girls in Medium school race should wake up and do a 8-10 minute shakeout run, have a light breakfast.
7:00 am - or earlier, boys in Medium school race and Championship race runners should wake up and do a 8-10 minute shakeout run. Boys in Medium school race should have a light breakfast, Championship race runners a hearty breakfast.
7:15 am - Girls in Medium school race should arrive at team camp area. It is forecast to be about 60 degrees. Wear warm ups.
7:25 am - Warm ups begin for girls in Medium school race.
7:45 am - Citizen's race. (Are any parents interested?)
8:15 am - Boys in Medium school race and Championship race runners should arrive at team camp area. Cheer the girls in the Medium school race!
8:24 am - Girls Medium school race 2 - Darby, Lila, Cora
8:30 am - Warm ups begin for boys in Medium school race.
9:36 am - Boys Medium school race 2 - Gavin, Owen, John, Carter, Cain, Max
9:40 am - Start warm ups for Boys Championship race
10:20 am - Start warm ups for Girls Championship race
10:30 am - Line Up for Boys Championship race
10:47 am - Boys Championship race - Jay, Josh
11:15 am - Line Up for Girls Championship race
11:27 am - Girls Championship race - Ashley, Lily, Avery, Ella, Claire, Lindsey, Cece
12:10 pm - Awards
2:00 pm - Team Pool Party at the Staybridge Suites/Holiday Inn Express pool, 5275 E. Baseline Road, Gilbert.
Departures
Saturday evening - Cece and Patty
Sunday morning - Jacksons, Carter, Benbows, Hagens, Lila, Steinwegs
Sunday afternoon - Eytels, Lefflers, Shrivers?
Sunday evening - Fallons
Monday - McDonalds, Max
Driving - Kiehls, Adkins?
Benedicts?
Participation at NXR Southwest is open to everyone. We would love to have a lot of SHS runners compete – ideally at least five girls and five boys so we can race as a Summit Distance Project team. (All the runners on a team have to be from the same high school, but you can't run as an official high school team. It's due to rules in some states.)
The costs of this trip are born by the individual runner/family. Most runners will probably have a parent or two that will travel with them. We are glad to chaperone any runners who don't have parents traveling with them. For everyone, but especially for those athletes traveling without parents, it would be beneficial and more fun if we travel and lodge together as much as possible. To arrange that, below are the travel arrangements we have made. We looked for the cheapest flights last year and found it was cheaper to fly there on Thursday and fly back Sunday than to go Friday to Saturday. We don't have school the week after NXR, so some families may wish to spend more time in Arizona and return later.
Please provide your travel info here. Scroll down for the spreadsheet with the group travel plans.
Participant waiver here. Must be signed by a parent and sent (photo or scan) to NXR.Waivers@nike.com.
TRANSPORTATION:
We reserved seats on these flights:
Frontier flight 695 Denver to Phoenix
Depart Thursday, 16 November at 9:59 AM, Arrive 12:02 PM
Frontier flight 4812 Phoenix to Denver
Depart Sunday, 19 November at 8:55 AM, Arrive 10:50 AM
HOTEL OPTIONS:
Mention Nike Cross Southwest to get the discounted rates. All Hotels are within 8 miles of the course with Free Breakfast.
Doubletree By Hilton
1800 S San Tan Village Pkwy
Gilbert, 480-809-4061
TRU By Hilton
1950 S San Tan Village Pkwy
Gilbert, 602-567-9800
Hampton Inn & Suites By Hilton
1825 N Higley Rd
Gilbert, AZ 85234 480-654-4000
Residence Inn By Marriott Phoenix-Gilbert
3021 E Banner Gateway Dr
Gilbert, AZ 85234 480-699-4450
La Quinta Inn & Suites Mesa Superstition Springs
6530 E Superstition Springs Blvd
Mesa AZ 85206 480-654-1970
Mention NXRSW for rate
Country Inn & Suites By Radisson Mesa
6650 E Superstition Springs Blvd
Mesa, AZ 480-641-8000
Staybridge Suites Phoenix-East Gilbert
5275 E Baseline Rd
Gilbert, AZ 85234 623-632-0585
Mention NXRSW for rate
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Gilbert-East Mesa
5285 E Baseline Rd
Gilbert, AZ 85234 480-213-8000
Mention NXRSW for rate
REGISTRATION:
I will register our athletes when you have confirmed participation with me. Please do that as soon as possible. At least by 7 November so we don't have to pay late fees. I'll ask for payment once you are registered.
Please provide your travel info here. Scroll down for the spreadsheet with the group travel plans.
2023 SCHEDULE:
Friday November 17th
3:00 - 6:00 p.m. NXR Apparel Sale
3:30 - 6:00 p.m. Packet Pick Up
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Course Walk Thru (Only at this time)
5:00 - 5:15 p.m. Pre Meet Review, Special Interview
5:20 - 6:00 p.m. T-Shirt Exchange. (Bring T-Shirts from your schools). Nike Elite Athlete Appearance.
Saturday November 18th
6:30 - 7:30 a.m. Walk Thru, Late Registration
6:30 - 7:30 a.m. Final Registration Citizens Race
7:45 a.m. Citizens 5K Race
8:00 AM Girls Small School Open Race PINK
8:12 AM Girls Medium School Open Race I YELLOW
8:24 AM Girls Medium School Open Race II TEAL
8:36 AM Girls Large School Open Race I RED
8:48 AM Girls Large School Open Race II SILVER
9:00 AM Girls Large School Open Race III VIOLET
9:12 AM Boys Small School Open Race ORANGE
9:24 AM Boys Medium School Open Race I WHITE
9:36 AM Boys Medium School Open Race II MAROON
9:48 AM Boys Large School Open Race I RUBY
10:00 AM Boys Large School Open Race II BROWN
10:12 AM Boys Large School Open Race III PURPLE
10:30 AM Line Up Boys Championships Race
10:35 AM National Anthem
10:40 AM Introduction
10:47 AM Boys Championship Race BLACK
11:15 AM Line Up Girls Championship Race
11:20 AM Introduction
11:27 AM Girls Championship Race GREEN
12:10 PM Awards
12:45 PM Championship Teams & Individuals Processing for Nationals
Note: I will ask that we be entered in the Championship races.
NXR SW Record Boys – Cole Sprout Valor Christian, CO 2018 14:39.10
NXR SW Record Girls – Katie Rainsberger Air Academy, CO 2015 16:23.40
Note: There are other post-season XC competition opportunities, including Eastbay Midwest Regionals in Wisconsin on Saturday, 25 November and Running Lane Nationals in Alabama on Saturday, 2 December. Contact me if you are interested.
NXR Travel Arrangements
NXR Travel Arrangements
Course Map
Course Map
2022 Course
2022 Course
2022 Race Review
2022 Race Review
Cody Jone's article in the Summit Daily - link below - is very comprehensive.
Press
Press
11/18/22: Team Regionals: Girls South & Southwest Predictions/Preview
11/19/22: Colorado Girls Dominate As Niwot And Co. Head To Nationals
Photos
Photos
See the carousel below and a bunch more here
2023 season Outlook
2023 season Outlook
A hint of things to come:
From Colorado High School Sports on 11/2/22 - The 2022 4A State Story:
Girls: Summit, another western slope school, showed well enough to finish sixth (at State). Depending a little on whose projections you read, that finish appears to beat the projections by a little. The Tigers are a rising program. We would all do well the pay attention to what happens with this team the next couple of years.
Boys: Eagle Valley? Jake Drever graduates, but brace yourself for what's coming up behind him. Battle Mountain has Brunner and Middaugh back next year. That's a scary thought. Scarier still is the idea of how much the rest of the team can close up ranks behind them given another year of training in the Rob Parrish system. (My comment: I agree that Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain look to be strong next year. We graduate three seniors. Returning to another runner up, or better, finish at Regionals will be difficult, but not out of reach. EV and BM are picked as top 6 teams at State next year. We need to give them a run.)
10/24/22: Summit Middle School boys cross-country team wins state for the first time in school history
From MileSplit on 11/23/22: Top Returning 4A Girls Cross Country Teams For 2023
On paper it looks like Summit is about to make the jump. They return the third-fastest squad, led by defending state champ Ella Hagen. Summit owns a 1-5 average of 19:24, and a 1-5 split of 3:50 - compliments of Hagen's fiery front-running.
2022 NXR Southwest
2022 NXR Southwest
WHEN: Saturday, 19 November 2022
WHERE: Coyote Run Golf Course, 1548 Leisure World Blvd, Mesa, AZ 85206
MEET WEBSITE: Click here
TRANSPORTATION:
We reserved seats on these flights:
United UA2249: Thu, Nov 17
Depart 03:51 PM, Arrive 05:49 PM
Denver to Phoenix, AZ
United UA2491: Sat, Nov 19
Depart 05:32 PM, Arrive 07:22 PM
Phoenix to Denver
This was quite a bit cheaper than leaving Friday returning Sunday.
LODGING:
We reserved rooms here:
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS, PHOENIX EAST - GILBERT
5285 East Baseline Road
Gilbert, AZ United States 85234
Hotel Front Desk: 1480-218-8000
Email: phxgtfrontdesk@gmail.com
2021 NXR Southwest Review
2021 NXR Southwest Review
Adaline Avery and Cece Miner were the first to race in the medium sized school race. Adaline ran 20:27 and PR'd by almost 40 seconds! Adaline was the only one to PR. This was a great reward for her very consistent and hard training all season. We found out later the course was long. At least 3.18 miles, some GPSs showing up to 3.22. So Ella, Cece Miner and Josh Shriver probably would have also PR’d. Plus, it was getting quite warm, for mountain kids, in the later races (Ella, Josh and Landon).
Dominykas was second to race. His preparation was compromised by over a week of missed training due to the virus he caught just before state, plus two weeks of 3 hour long basketball tryouts. He went out fast and fought fatigue to finish 26th in his medium school heat.
Ella raced in the Championship Race. She started controlled and was in 28th place after 1 mile. She steadily moved up and finished 15th, in 17:53, for 3rd team Nike Regional recognition!
Josh and Landon went a few minutes later, in the hottest part of the day. Both went out fast, setting mile PRs in the first mile of the 5k! Landon actually led this medium school heat for the first mile, before the effort and heat built up. He held on gamely, finishing 51st. Josh was 13th at the first mile, moving up to finish 9th and narrowly missing a PR despite the long course and heat.
It was a good trip and great competition. The Southwest region is definitely the strongest region in the U.S. and Colorado one of the strongest states in the nation. (As an example, 3 girls from just our 4A region in Colorado finished in the top 15!) This was the first NXR competition for everyone except Dom. Racing in extremely competitive meets is a great way to raise the bar, expand horizons and realize that with consistent hard work we can mix it up with the best.
Next year we expect to take a larger group and compete as girls and boys teams. With another year of training, we can set very high goals!
11/24/2021: Tigers represent Summit County at Nike Cross Southwest Regional in Arizona
Heat sheets: https://nxrsw.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=302&do=news&news_id=629155
Saturday November 20
6:30 - 8:00 am Walk Thru, Late Registration at course
8:05 am Girls Small School Open Race PINK
8:25 am Girls Medium School Open Race I YELLOW
8:45 am Girls Medium School Open Race II TEAL - Adaline, Cece
9:05 am Girls Large School Open Race I RED
9:25 am Girls Large School Open Race II BLANK
9:45 am Boys Small School Open Race ORANGE
10:05 am Boys Medium School Open Race I WHITE - Dom
10:50 am Boys Championship Race BLACK
11:30 am Girls Championship Race GREEN - Ella
11:55 am Boys Medium School Open Race II BLANK - Landon, Josh
12:15 pm Boys Large School Open Race I BROWN
12:35 pm Boys Large School Open Race II PURPLE
12:50 pm Boys Large School Open III GREY
1:05 pm Girls Large School Open III TANGERINE
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