NXN 2023 Way too early preview: Dawn of a new Era

Louisiana state meet

Jesuit - 27

Brother Martin - 32

Jesuit La 2022 - 14:46, 14:59, 15:03, 15:10, 15:11, 15:29, 15:35
Jesuit La 2023 - 14:50, 15:01, 15:13, 15:14, 15:25,

Jesuit LA looks like they could be just as good as they were last year.
This was their peak race last year. One of their top two runners, Leland
Crawford, seemed to be holding back, as he didn't score. If he was up
there around 15:00, I think this team looks identical to their 2022
team. Mid-season, Jesuit LA was pretty solid last year, though they did
fall apart at the end. I wonder how they will stack up with the texas teams.

Since these are 3 mile times, I'd think you'd need most of your runners to be 14:50-15:00 to stand up to the Texas powerhouses. If you add ~30 seconds to these times for a 3 mile to 5K conversion, the Texas 6A top 2 beat them out by like 10-15 seconds average on the team time.

It's not perfect considering time of day, weather and course differences, but I think the top 2 Texas are just more solid overall.

I think if you slotted Jesuit LA into the Texas 6A meet they would have gotten 3rd. A while back from 2nd place team, but also a few seconds faster than 4th place.

Last year, Jesuit La had an average team time of 15:21 at Lavern Gibson,
that time would have beaten this year's top Midwest team, which averaged 15:33. If they're
in the same shape as last year, it looks like they can compete with some
West teams. Southlake Carroll and Austin Vandegrift proved they're
among the best at Woodbridge. I bet they're eager for redemption after
their performance at RunningLane last year. They are going to run with a lot of hate and let's see how they match up

Which team was better last year? Jesuit LA or Grapevine TX?

Mid-season, Jesuit La was the standout team, and late in the season, it
likely remained the top choice, especially since Grapevine finished 20th
at NXN. Their 15:21 time at Lavern Gibson is impressive. Last year, the
top team that wasn't from OR, CA, UT, was Hinsdale #8 at NXN, posted a time of 15:22.

Jesuit LA had 2 freshmen and 2 sophomores who are not on varsity that broke 10 minutes in the recent 3200 time trial. The future is bright for this team.

Brother Martin is getting really good too. Jesuit’s success is now motivating the other teams in the state of Louisiana to do better because everyone wants to win state.

That’s good to hear. Looks like South region is getting better and better. Would be cool to see Brother Martin/Jesuit La representing south region at Woodbridge next year. Curious to see they will stack up early season against some of the teams in the west. I wonder how Brother Marin will do at nxr this upcoming week.

I feel like Texas teams have gotten complacent and the other states are stepping up.

Not true at all. They aren’t getting complacent. Many TX teams are trying to win the state title even though Southlake Carroll is the best on paper.

Out of state teams are just saying “Why not us?” and are now setting goals of making NXN

How do you guys think Plainfield North Will do at NXN?

I don't think they will be higher than 15th

Probably somewhere between 15-20. They have a very young team though - 4 sophomores in the top 7, including as their #1 runner and 5th place overall at the state meet, plus a junior and a good frosh/soph class beyond their top 4. They will benefit greatly from the experience, they will be back next year and the year after and will continue to improve. And who knows, they may surprise this year. The team seems to be getting better and better every week.

Am I seeing this correctly? If you look through the Instagram account... The jesuit la Instagram account has their runners doing backflips when cliff jumping. That is extremely dangerous, if they jump high enough and land incorrectly, it's "called a death dive." Talk about liability

Midwest teams are really good but they have no low sticks so they will continue to be in the 8-15 place range. Just the simple truth!!

I live around 15 miles from Southlake Carroll. Year after year they do really well in TX and then do not perform nearly as well at nationals. Maybe this is their year.

Jesuit La has rounded into form and filled some holes since the Nike Town meet on 9/30 at Lavern Gibson. Their spread was 1:20 on that day and only 34 seconds at their state meet. I think they would have won NXR MW with a similar performance as they have the low stick that Downers grove and Plainfield North lack. However, I don’t expect them to auto Q out of the south region - Southlake and Vandergrift are both top 10 teams and better than any team in the Midwest

They did take second behind CBA in 2011