Nike Cross Regional Southwest: By The Numbers

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Saturday, Nov. 18 at Coyote Run Golf Course, Arizona 

States in the Heartland Region:  Five

Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada

Top two teams and five individuals not on qualifying teams automatically advance to NXN. Four at-large team berths and five at-large individual berths (new this year) will be named later. 

BOYS

States represented at NXN/NTN:

Utah 28 times

Colorado 8 times

New Mexico 7 times 

Arizona 1 time

*Wyoming 1 time - Wyoming was moved to the Nike Northwest in 2007 

Nevada has never qualified a team for Nike.

States with the longest streaks, current and all-time:

Utah for 13 years. 2008-22.       

 

At-large bids:  10

2010 Davis UT

2014 Timpanogos UT

2015 Lone Peak UT and American Fork UT

2016 Springville UT  

2017 Timpanogos UT and Desert Vista AZ

2018 Mountain Vista CO

2019 Dakota Ridge CO

2022 Mountain View UT

 

Current nationally ranked teams (as of 11/16/23):  4

No. 1 American Fork UT 

No. 3 Herriman UT

No. 14 Niwot CO

No. 24 Lone Peak UT

 

Number of different teams to qualify for NTN/NXN: 15

Teams with the most NTN/NXN appearances:

American Fork 10 times

Davis UT 6 times

Albuquerque Academy NM 5 times

Mountain Vista CO 4 times

Mountain View UT 4 times

Timpanogos UT 3 times

Fort Collins CO 2 times

Los Alamos NM 2 times 

Springville UT 2 times 

Dakota Ridge CO 2 times

Herriman UT, Corner Canyon UT, Desert Vista AZ, Lone Peak UT and Alta UT have qualified once.   

 

Longest team streak appearances: 

American Fork UT 8, 2009-16.   

Longest current team streak of appearances:

American Fork UT, Herriman UT and Mountain View UT, 1, 2022

 

Highest national finish:

2007 Los Alamos NM 2nd 

2012 American Fork UT 2nd 

2015 American Fork UT 2nd

2016 American Fork UT 2nd

 

DyeStat preseason picks to qualify for NXN:

Herriman UT

American Fork UT

Current Prediction:

American Fork UT

Herriman UT

* Niwot CO (at-large)

Notes: It's been another big year in Utah, where the spotlight has been on American Fork and Herriman as the co-favorites for the national championship all year long. Christian Brothers Academy of New Jersey may have closed the gap on the Utah schools, but only time will tell. In the meantime, AF and Herriman will go head to head again. American Fork won the last round at the state meet, 33-39. The nation's No. 1 individual, Daniel Simmons, leads the way for American Fork, which also has talent up front with Kaden Evans and Chase Pack. Herriman counters with an interchangeable top seven that will aim to all cross the finish line ahead of Fork's fifth man. It's the best route for Herriman to try and squeeze past its Utah rival, whether that happens on Saturday in Mesa or on Dec. 2 in Portland. Niwot of Colorado has a young team that could be a year or two away from contending for the national title, but the 4A state champions with no seniors, led by sophomore Rocco Culpepper, are brimming with talent and feeling impatient. Lone Peak and Riverton are both strong teams coming down from Utah and The Classical Academy of Colorado Springs, and Valor Christian, are additional teams to watch from Colorado. Rio Rancho won the New Mexico Class 5A title last weekend and Charlie Vause, a transfer from Ohio, leads a team that has nothing to lose and a bright future ahead. The team's top three are all juniors. Individually, JoJo Jourdon of Olympus UT, Brennan Draper of Chaparral CO, Benjamin Anderson from Mountain Vista CO, Will Brunner of Battle Mountain CO and Matthew Edwards of The Classical Academy could all factor into the individual qualifying top-five. 

 

GIRLS

States represented at NXN/NTN:

Colorado 26 times

Utah 11 times

Arizona 5 times

New Mexico 2 times

Nevada has never qualified a team for Nike.

States with the longest streak, current:

Colorado 5 years. 2016-19, 2022

Longest consecutive state streak all time:

7 - Colorado 2007-13

 

At-large bids: 9

2012 Pine Creek CO

2013 Monarch CO

2014 Davis UT

2015 Davis UT

2016 Broomfield CO

2017 Broomfield CO

2018 Niwot CO

2019 Niwot CO

2022 Air Academy CO

The Southwest Region received three bids to NTN in 2004 and 2005.

 

Current nationally ranked teams (as of 11/16/23): 5

No. 1 Air Academy CO

No. 2 Niwot CO

No. 3 Lone Peak UT

No. 20 American Fork UT

No. 25 Mountain Vista CO

 

Number of different teams to qualify for NTN/NXN: 22

Teams with the most NTN/NXN appearances:

Fort Collins CO 7 times

Davis UT 5 times

Mountain Vista CO 3 times

Niwot CO 3 times

Fremont UT 2 times

Classical Academy CO 2 times

Monarch CO 2 times

Xavier College Prep AZ 2 times

Desert Vista AZ 2 times

American Fork UT 2 times

Broomfield CO 2 times

Battle Mountain CO 2 times

Lone Peak UT 2 times

Smokey Hill CO, Los Alamos NM, Rocky Mountain CO, Fairview CO, Eldorado NM, O'Connor AZ, Pine Creek CO, Valor Christian CO and Air Academy CO have qualified once.

 

Longest team streak appearances:

Fort Collins CO 7 2007-13.

Longest current team streak of appearances:

Niwot CO 3 2018-19, 2022

 

Highest national finish:

Smokey Hill CO 2nd 2004

Niwot CO 2nd 2022

 

DyeStat preseason picks to qualify for NXN:

Niwot CO

Lone Peak UT

Current Prediction:

Air Academy CO

Niwot CO

* Lone Peak UT (at-large)

Notes: Even without Utah standouts Jane Hedengren of Timpview and Andie Aagard from Lone Peak scheduled to compete, the girls championship race still has the potential to be the deepest and strongest in regional history. The top three girls programs in the country – Air Academy and Niwot from Colorado, along with Lone Peak of Utah – are finally set to square off for the first time this season at Coyote Run Golf Course at Leisure World, with NXR Southwest possessing the strongest chance of any region to earn at-large berth. The region has earned one of the four national at-large entries in nine consecutive seasons, and has the potential to possibly secure a pair of at-large berths, depending on the performances of Colorado programs Mountain Vista, Fossil Ridge and Chaparral, as well as American Fork from Utah. Air Academy was the at-large entry from the region last year following a third-place finish behind Niwot and Lone Peak. Kadet AC (Air Academy) has the potential to capture the NXR Southwest title this year, after REAL Training (Niwot) prevailed last season and Lone Peak XC triumphed in 2019. Bethany Michalak, Tessa Walter, Emily Beers, Jordan Banta and Lauren Myers return from a seventh-place lineup at Nike Cross Nationals for Kadet AC, with freshmen Chamorra Cooper and Mariah Hook adding valuable depth to the lineup this fall. Addy Ritzenhein, Olivia Alessandrini, Mia Prok and Anna Prok helped REAL Training place second last season at NXN, with Sarah Perkins, Avalon Beltran and Cayden Justice providing significant support for the program this season. Despite the absence of returning regional champion Aagard, Lone Peak still boasts one of the deepest lineups in the country, with Addie Meldrum, Boston Bybee, Anna Bybee, Brielle Nilsson and Zoey Nilsson all returning from a fourth-place roster at NXN last year, in addition to freshman Maya Bybee providing meaningful contributions for the top Utah program, which also finished fourth in Oregon in 2019. Colorado standouts Isabel Allori of Liberty Common and Ella Hagen from Summit return as NXN individual qualifiers last season, as well as Avalon Mecham from American Fork. They will be joined in their pursuit to return to Oregon by impressive Colorado challengers Rosie Mucharsky from Denver East, Emily Cohen of Cherry Creek, Elena Torres from Loveland, Allison Pippert of Stargate and Nadhia Campos from The Vanguard School. Utah is expected to showcase Lily Alder from Timpview, Cadence Kasprick of Grand County, Adria Favero from Olympus, Rozlyn Stowe of Carbon and Julie Moore from Mountain View. Nevada will have its top two competitors in Amaya Aramini of Bishop Manogue and Eleanor Raker from Galena in contention, Arizona is led by Landen LeBlond of Millennium, Kimi Cahoon from Phoenix Country Day and Taylor Drewry of Basha, with the most intriguing storyline coming from New Mexico, as eighth-grader Gianna Rahmer of Eldorado looks to continue her momentum after producing the fastest time of all classifications Nov. 11 with a 16:58.1 performance at the Class 5A state final.