It is possible to claim back-to-back national championships if they are three years apart? 

After a two-year hiatus, Nike Cross Nationals reasserted itself as the high school championship of championships this past weekend in Portland, OR.  The energy and excitement of crowning the top teams and individuals in the sport of cross country seemed higher than ever after the pandemic-induced pause.  And Saratoga Springs (Kinetic) once again placed itself on the top of the XC mountain.

Art and Linda Kranick of Saratoga Springs will always hold a big place in my heart, as will Danny Green (formerly) of The Woodlands, Bill Aris of Fayetteville Manlius, the late Joe Newton of York HS and Pat Tyson (formerly) of Mead HS.  This Mt. Rushmore of high school coaches were a big part of the crew that developed NXN--NTN at the time--and were instrumental in bringing the event to life.

Saratoga Springs won that inaugural NTN back in 2004.  They didn't win again until 2019 and in the most bizarre fashion are back-to-back champions, taking the crown again in 2022. Congratulations, team.  You continue to inspire us after all these years.

Josh

Triumphant Return for Nike Cross Nationals!  A plethora of epic team and individual performances highlighted the 17th NXN Finals last weekend, as the event returned to Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland after a 2-year, COVID-induced hiatus. The meet not only returned to form, but was more spectacular than ever as the nation's best high school runners contested the first of Nike's "trilogy" of high school national championships in 2022-23. Next up: Nike Indoor Nationals!

• Kinetic RC (Saratoga HS, N.Y.) won its 3rd NXN Girls Championship, going back-to-back with its 2019 crown and extending to 18 years the span since they won the inaugural Nike Team Nationals at Portland Meadows in 2004. They finished with 81 pts, prevailing over Niwot (CO) at 109 and Clovis (Buchanan HS, CA) at 116.
• Morgantown, W.V. senior and favorite Irene Riggs upheld her #1 ranking, taking the Girls Individual race lead early and increasing it to 14 seconds in a 16:40.9 triumph -- just three ticks off Katelyn Tuohy's meet and course record. Joining Riggs on the podium were two Colorado standouts, Brooke Wilson (Valor Christian sr.) in 2nd (16:54.6) and Bethany Michalek (Air Academy jr.) in 3rd (16:55.4).
• The upset of the meet came in the Boys Individual battle as Newbury Park senior Aaron Sahlman ascended from his usual #3 spot for the nation's best team and sprinted in for the meet/course record 14:44.5 victory. American Fork (UT) junior Daniel Simmons was a stunning 2nd at 14:51.7, while Crater (OR) senior Tyrone Gorze took a strong 3rd at 14:53.8.
• And, despite usual #1-2 runners Lex and Leo Young not finishing as strongly as usual, favored Newbury Park (CA) decisively captured its 2nd straight Boys Championship behind Sahlman and a deep team across the board with a meet record 66 points (and 86-pt. record margin). Portland (Jesuit HS, OR) edged Herriman (UT) for 2nd, 152-155.
• Our partners at RunnerSpace.com and DyeStat.com provided spectacular coverage, from the 3-hour-plus Live Webcast to 100s of outstanding photos, stories and interviews.
• LINKS: NXN Home Page | Results | Archived Webcast | Photo Gallery | Video Interviews and much more!

The 2023 Nike Indoor Nationals is back at The Armory!  Save the weekend of March 10-12, 2023, so you can come join us at The Armory for our Nike Indoor Nationals. We are back at the blazing facility where so many of the greatest performances in the NSAF's indoor nationals history took place from 2011-19 for what will be the most outstanding HS meet of the season.

• Check out the recent announcement HERE.
• Register now for the meet and take advantage of the early bird entry fees HERE.
• Get pumped up for the meet with our HYPE video HERE.

2022-23 is sure to be an epic indoor track & field season and it will all come to a thrilling conclusion in New York the 2nd weekend in March. See you there!

Irene Riggs completed a fantastic unbeaten XC campaign by crushing the NXR Southeast course record at WakeMed, then dominating the NXN Finals last weekend with a near-record 16:40.9. The Morgantown, W.V. senior and Stanford recruit, ranked #2 in the U.S. by DyeStat to start 2022, accomplished all of that despite a very unusual foot injury early in the season! Read all about Irene in our full Track Files story HERE.

Irene's This or That

AF1 or Air Max?   AF1

Chipotle or Sweet Greens?   Sweet greens

Pool or Beach?   Beach

Friday Night: In and Chill ... or Party Time!!   In and chill 

Date: Dinner & Movie or Great Outdoors?   Great outdoors, but also with dinner.

Sports car or Pick-up truck?   Sports car 

NBA or NFL?   NBA

Gold medal or World record?   Gold medal 

Reed Connor authored a stunning senior year with The Woodlands HS from Texas in 2008-09, highlighted in December by sprinting to a then-record 15:13 triumph at Nike Cross Nationals, then concluded in style with legs on two winning relays at Nike Outdoor Nationals: A then-meet record 17:17.21 4x1 Mile and a blazing 9:55.17 Distance Medley. 

Even more importantly, Connor learned lessons that fall about himself, the sport and balance in life that elevated him to an outstanding running career and School of Business degree at U. of Wisconsin and his life now 13 years beyond his HS days. Check out his memories and perspectives in in this month's Remember When feature.