Which Teams Have The Best Shot At An NXN Wildcard Bid?


NXN Midwest Regional - results & coverage

Girls

Auto Qualifiers:

1. Carmel (IN), 108 points

2. Naperville North (IL), 120 points

Potential Wildcards:

3. Minooka (IL), 135 points

PROs: third at state meet; rated as top wildcard team so far in NXN At-Large Speed Ratings Merge

4. Yorkville (IL), 165 points

PROs: beat Minooka at state meet by 4 pts; also beat them at First to the Finish Invitational

CONs: Last year, the #3 and #4 girls teams got invited. This year, Minooka and Yorkville have consistently run very close to Naperville North but never recorded a W. The closeness of the final results to overall team champion Carmel are slightly misleading as Carmel's top runner Sarah Leinheiser dropped out of the race but is expected to return in good health for NXN, where they are projected to be a podium team.

-jojo

Boys

Auto Qualifiers:

1. Neuqua Valley (IL), 88 points

2. Downers Grove North (IL), 136 points

Potential Wildcards:

3. Mahomet-Seymour (IL), 168 points

4. Lyons Township (IL), 189 points

PROs: Both Lyons Township and Mahomet- Seymour are ranked in the top three of the NXN At-Large Speed Rating Merge, meaning they performed better at the Midwest NXR compared to #3/#4 teams in the other NXR meets according to the Speed Ratings.

CONs: Mahoment-Seymour has won a lot of meets but only against local teams. Lyons Township took fourth at the Illinois state meet behind Neuqua Valley, Downers Grove North and Lake Zurich and scored over 200 points.

- billy