macdaddy wrote:
runn wrote:XC is a team sport.
Not really..
Exactly Daddy.
While they may keep score for the team and it's all exciting to be on a team in contention, all the talk, hype, and glory still shines on the individual. At a championship level, FL format rules for High School if really deciding who the best is. Just look at track and field. Do we really care which "group" (team) can compile a conglomeration of points at a meet? Sure, to crown a team, but we really care more about individual events and who individually wins them. Cross country team format does not truly jive with deciphering the best runner because thesr are 100+ other runners who would never get there on their own credentials and they in turn displace much better runners.
Were you guys really watching Carson Clinger come in 4th runner for AF @ 100somethingth place among a hundred other runners. Doubt it. Fireworks happen at the front and it is individuals who we glorify. Championship level races are supposed to be for the best runners period and some of these schools have 3rd 4th and 5th runners who can"t break 17:00! Meanwhile, pretty much everybody at FL can easily hit 15:20 or better for PR. NXN is great and the only showcase for high school teams nationally but it does clutter who is truly best. Simple answer: Compile the top 40 runners in the nation, period and have a meet to decide......Oh wait.
(Since AF didn't win team title, I guarantee Clinger is have thoughts of FL now. Winning back to back at nxn is special but I bet he would rather be on the list of FL winners along side of Hunter, Fisher, Ches, Rupp, LV, Ritz., Solinsky, Kennedy, Goucher, etc..)