Photo courtesy Kirby Lee/Image of Sport
One of my favorite things in journalism is checking back on pundits' predictions, and this week, we had a very specific and large amount of predictions: several publications, including our own, predicted the exact order of all 22 teams at Nike Cross Nationals. How did we/they do? Check out the chart below.
A few quick takeaways:
-Everyone correctly predicted that the Great Oak boys and FM girls would win.
-No one predicted that the American Fork boys would be on the podium; Bill Meylan was closest, projecting them to finish sixth.
-In the boys race, no one outperformed their perception more than Bozeman boys. The five publications (Running Times only ranked the top ten) had the Montana squad finishing an average of 19th, with no one putting them higher than 18th. They took 8th.
-In the girls race, Blacksburg and Sunset paid the least heed to predictions. Blacksburg's average place in the pre-race picks was 19th, with no one putting them higher than 17th. They finished 12th. Sunset's average in the projections was 14th, with a high of 12th; they took 7th in the actual meet.
| BOYS | ACTUAL | AVERAGE | DENNIS PREVIEW | SAUCONY FLO50 | MILESPLIT SPEED MERGE | BILL MEYLAN | DYESTAT | RUNNING TIMES |
|---|
|
Great Oak
|
1
|
1.0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
American Fork
|
2
|
10.2
|
13
|
13
|
8
|
6
|
11
|
|
|
Dana Hills
|
3
|
3.5
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
|
Sandburg
|
4
|
3.2
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
|
Timpanogos
|
5
|
10.2
|
11
|
11
|
13
|
9
|
7
|
10
|
|
Woodlands
|
6
|
7.0
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
5
|
9
|
7
|
|
Hopkins
|
7
|
2.5
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
|
Bozeman
|
8
|
19.2
|
19
|
19
|
18
|
20
|
20
|
|
|
Lyons
|
9
|
14.2
|
16
|
16
|
12
|
10
|
17
|
|
|
Liverpool
|
10
|
5.8
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
8
|
4
|
6
|
|
Lone Peak
|
11
|
14.8
|
12
|
12
|
14
|
17
|
19
|
|
|
Mountain Vista
|
12
|
11.7
|
10
|
9
|
15
|
14
|
13
|
9
|
|
Edina
|
13
|
9.7
|
8
|
8
|
11
|
13
|
10
|
8
|
|
Wayzata
|
14
|
12.4
|
14
|
15
|
10
|
15
|
8
|
|
|
Marietta
|
15
|
20.0
|
21
|
21
|
21
|
21
|
16
|
|
|
Southlake Carroll
|
16
|
19.4
|
20
|
20
|
17
|
18
|
22
|
|
|
Downingtown West
|
17
|
5.7
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
6
|
5
|
|
Summit
|
18
|
18.6
|
18
|
18
|
20
|
19
|
18
|
|
|
Neuqua Valley
|
19
|
11.6
|
9
|
10
|
9
|
16
|
14
|
|
|
CBA
|
20
|
16.0
|
17
|
17
|
19
|
12
|
15
|
|
|
Fayetteville-Manlius
|
21
|
13.6
|
15
|
14
|
16
|
11
|
12
|
|
|
Trinity Prep
|
22
|
21.8
|
22
|
22
|
22
|
22
|
21
|
|
| GIRLS | ACTUAL | AVERAGE | DENNIS PREVIEW | SAUCONY FLO50 | MILESPLIT SPEED MERGE | BILL MEYLAN | DYESTAT | RUNNING TIMES |
|---|
|
FM
|
1
|
1.0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
Davis
|
2
|
4.2
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
11
|
3
|
3
|
|
Great Oak
|
3
|
2.2
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
|
Saratoga
|
4
|
4.2
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
Pennsbury
|
5
|
6.0
|
7
|
9
|
4
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
|
American Fork
|
6
|
5.0
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
|
Sunset
|
7
|
14.8
|
16
|
16
|
14
|
12
|
16
|
|
|
Carmel
|
8
|
10.6
|
15
|
18
|
7
|
6
|
7
|
|
|
Willmar
|
9
|
8.3
|
8
|
6
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
7
|
|
North Rockland
|
10
|
16.6
|
19
|
19
|
16
|
15
|
14
|
|
|
Centerville
|
11
|
10.0
|
9
|
8
|
13
|
8
|
12
|
10
|
|
Blacksburg
|
12
|
19.0
|
20
|
20
|
17
|
20
|
18
|
|
|
Lake Braddock
|
13
|
11.0
|
10
|
10
|
11
|
13
|
11
|
|
|
Naperville North
|
14
|
9.6
|
11
|
12
|
10
|
7
|
8
|
|
|
Southlake Carroll
|
15
|
21.4
|
21
|
21
|
22
|
22
|
21
|
|
|
Edina
|
16
|
8.7
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
14
|
9
|
8
|
|
Northville
|
17
|
11.8
|
14
|
11
|
12
|
9
|
13
|
|
|
La Salle
|
18
|
17.6
|
17
|
15
|
20
|
17
|
19
|
|
|
Bozeman
|
19
|
13.5
|
12
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
15
|
9
|
|
Davis
|
20
|
17.6
|
18
|
17
|
18
|
18
|
17
|
|
|
Xavier Prep
|
21
|
16.8
|
13
|
13
|
19
|
19
|
20
|
|
|
Kingwood
|
22
|
21.6
|
22
|
22
|
21
|
21
|
22
|
|
Full NXN results and coverage here
Photo courtesy Kirby Lee/Image of Sport
One of my favorite things in journalism is checking back on pundits' predictions, and this week, we had a very specific and large amount of predictions: several publications, including our own, predicted the exact order of all 22 teams at Nike Cross Nationals. How did we/they do? Check out the chart below.
A few quick takeaways:
-Everyone correctly predicted that the Great Oak boys and FM girls would win.
