It's been almost a month since our last MileSplit 50 Individual Update, and much has happened in that time. All but one of the Nike Cross Regionals have taken place, providing all the matchups we've been looking forward to all year. Only the California State Meet remains, as well as three of the four Foot Locker Regionals set to provide some stellar rematches this weekend. Given the ability to do both Regional meets for every state outside California, the Nike Regionals were well attended; only a handful opted to sit out. So it only makes sense for our rankings to reflect the outcomes of those events, true head-to-heads.
There is the caveat that these meets are only qualifiers. There are those who treat it as such, and others on the bubble, who race it at full effort. In essence, these rankings are the start of a compilation of sorts, which will eventually merge with the Foot Locker Regional results this weekend, and form a basis for our previews for both end-of-year National Championships. In that vein, these are only the start, but how we see the national landscape after the weekend that was.
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A Look At The Top
What did become clear, was who our top national contenders are. Our top seven ranked athletes comprise all regional champions, minus one. It was that battle in Nike Cross Regional Southwest that caught our eye most. Jane Hedengren, healthy and fit, blew away the field on Saturday, including the reigning National Champion, Addison Ritzenhein. While it would typically take a lot for us to drop a rank for a reigning champion after only a qualifier, Hedengren did quite a lot. She broke 16 minutes for the 5K distance, something never done before on that course. She won the event by 40 seconds, in a convincing effort.
It's hard to handicap the effort in a way that creates parity, but there is still an argument for Ritzenheim as the top runner. Firstly, the Nike Southwest course was run under perfect conditions, on a flat-as-a-board course. Glendoveer is anything but, and the course in 2023 was cold and wet. Ritzenheim was able to overcome that obstacle, including the rolling hills of a more difficult golf course, and was able to win by nearly 30 seconds over the next top returner. It's a good sign she is ready to repeat.
The missing piece to this battle at the top is California's Sadie Engelhardt. If we are looking at past NXN performances, Glendoveer has not been kind. But like Hedengren, 2024 is a new year, and Englehardt has been running better than ever. On the track, she is nearly unmatched, and if she were in the race at NXR Southwest, it could very well be argued she would be able to put pressure on the lead. But again, the NXN course is very different, and the conditions will bring her closer to the reigning champion.
Marissa Ferebee is the dark horse in the field. She's been undefeated all year and keeps on improving. She won Nike Heartland by ten seconds over a very talented field and will get to play chaser for the first time in Oregon.