Flo50 Boys Indv. Rankings 2017

After being ranked 10th preseason in 2016, Brodey Hasty returns ranked No. 1. Hasty was the third-place finisher at last year's NXN championship. He was the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional champion and the TSSAA state cross country championships state champion. On the track he continued this success almost running sub-four (4:01.75) in the mile at the Music City Distance Carnival. He also threw down a time of 8:45.95 in the 2-mile at the Brooks PR Invitational to take home the win. Hasty should be the heavy favorite this cross country season.

Alex Maier, last year's sophomore sensation, finished fifth at both the national meets. He raced some of the best talents in the country week in and week out in Texas. The the only non-senior boy he lost to last year was Brodey Hasty. He will look to continue his path into the 2017 season.

Danny Kilrea was one of the nation's top distance runners last year as a junior. This year he's looking to keep up with the best. He capped off his season in a big way with a runner-up finish at the IHSA cross country state championship 3A state meet, a victory at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional, and a 13th-place finish at Nike Cross Nationals.

Rising senior Gabe Fendel will be the top dog in Indiana this year. He's coming in as the fastest returner from the state meet and the second-fastest returner in the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. Fendel was also the fifth-place finisher in the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional. Both of those finishes earned him chances to compete in the national meet where he finished 28th at NXN and 12th at Foot Locker.

You may remember Dylan Jacobs as one of the guys who took out the early lead at Foot Locker Nationals last fall along with Seth Herish. He's a guy who doesn't mess around when he gets into a big race. Ultimately that move at Foot Locker Nationals earned him an 11th-place finish. Jacobs was also the IHSA cross country state championship third-place finisher only behind Lyons Township High runner Danny Kilrea and 2017 Minooka High School graduate Soren Knudsen.

James Mwaura was undefeated for all of the 2016 regular season except for a loss at the Nike Portland XC Invite where he finished fourth to seniors. Mwaura had big postseason wins at the Border Clash and at the Nike Cross Nationals Northwest Regional. His win at the Nike Cross Nationals Northwest Regional earned him a spot in Portland at NXN where he finished 18th.

Jacob McLeod is the best returning distance runner in the state of Georgia. He only has two regular-season losses and was pretty much unchallenged for the entire regular season the past two years. At the Foot Locker South Regional he finished eighth, proving his almost-blemishless season wasn't a fluke. He then ran another very strong race to place 15th at Foot Locker nationals. He should be poised to not only take home his third GISA state championships in a row, but also to make a run at a top-five finish at a national meet.

Dalton Hengst is one of the top returning guys from the Foot Locker Northeast Regional. He finished fifth and will be the top returner at the regional meet with Sam Affolder moving to the southeast region. During the regular season he won the Maryland/DC private schools championships and MIAA cross country championships.

Liam Anderson came on very strong during last year's postseason. During the regular season at some of the bigger races like the Asics Clovis Invitational and the Stanford Invitational he finished in the teens. As the season progressed he started to work his way up the results board. At Mt SAC he finished eighth and then finished second at the CIF state cross country championships. That second-place finish earned him a spot on the line at NXN where he placed 22nd. With a year of national experience under his belt, watch for Anderson to pick up where he left off last season.

Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau had a great season from start to finish in 2016. He had big finishes in almost all of his major races including a third-place finish at the CIF state cross country championships, a ninth-place finish at the Foot Locker West Regional, and 19th-place finish at Foot Locker Nationals.

Dustin Horter was undefeated practically all season except one early race in which he finished third. He won the D1 boys OHSAA Ohio state cross country championship running 15:02.80. His most impressive race was at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional where he finished fourth behind guys like Danny Kilrea, Dylan Jacobs, and Jack Aho.

Schumacher was ranked 24th in last year's Flo50 preseason rankings. This year, after an impressive 2016 season, he makes the jump up to 12th. The Jesuit, Oregon, senior finished eighth in the Foot Locker West Regional earning a spot on the line in San Diego. At Foot Locker Nationals Schumacher finished 27th. One of his most impressive regular season finishes was at the Border Clash Invitational at Nike Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, where he finished fifth. He was second at the OSAA Oregon state championships 6A boys race by only five seconds to 2017 West Salem graduate Ahmed Muhumed. On the track this past spring Schumacher ran new PR's of 4:11.36 for the mile at the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays and 8:53.62 for 3200m to take fifth in the Brooks PR Invitational 3200m.

Khalid Hussein looks to lead the team from Wayzata High School again this year. Last year he helped them win a MSHSL state cross country championships class AA boys state championship, the Nike Cross Nationals Heartland Regional and place tenth at NXN. In those races he was second, ninth, and 29th respectively. He also had a strong track season where he posted new PR's of 4:12.57 in the 1600m and 1:58.38 in the 800m. His time of 9:10.97 from the 2015 MSHSL Section 6AA Championship still stands as his best 3200m mark.

Nathan Lawler is one of the top returning New York runners. He won the NYSPHSAA - New York state championships class B division running 15:30.30. He then went on to finish second at the Nike Cross Nationals New York Regional. At NXN he finished 40th. During the regular season he had some very strong performances as well, finishing second at the 52nd Annual McQuaid Invitational and third in the Eastern States Boys race at the Manhattan HS Invitational. Watch for him to make it back to NXN this year.

Sam Affolder will be running at a new school for a third year in a row, as his family moves a lot due to his dad LTC Jason Affolder serving in the army. Have no worries, though, as Affolder will be stronger than ever. He joins the extremely competitive Loudoun Valley team who is already returning all of their top guys from the 2016 season. Affolder brings to the team PRs of 1:54.32 in the 800m, 4:08.67 in the 1600m, 9:02.95 in the 3200m, and a 15:17.00 XC 5K PR. He was the runner-up at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional and finished 40th at Foot Locker Nationals. The Loudoun Valley boys will be looking to make some noise not only in Virginia but also on the national stage.

Ryan Raff is one of the few guys to break into the Flo50 top 25 who did not make a national meet last year, but he's one of the guys with huge potential. He finished fourth at the Utah state XC championships behind 2017 powerhouse seniors Casey Clinger, Mckay Johns, and Talon Hull. In his impressive track season, he won the non-championship division of the Arcadia 3200m, running a PR of 8:58.76. He also beat Clinger at the BYU Invitational 3200m, running 9:04.51 at altitude.

Andy Monroe is one of the many strong runners coming out of Oregon this year. He placed fourth in last year's border clash invitational, running 15:32. The only 2017 returner to place higher than him was Lincoln Senior High School's James Mwaura who won running 15:25. Monroe had several other impressive finishes including winning the 2016 5A OSAA Oregon state championships. At the Bob Firman Invitational Monroe placed fifth in an absolutely loaded field which included names like Talon Hull, Garrett Barton, and Grant Gardner. One of his most impressive races was at the Nike Cross Nationals Northwest Regional where he placed third to earn a spot on the line in Portland at NXN. At NXN he finished 35th.

With Finn Gessner gone, it's time for Drew Bosley to step into the spotlight for Wisconsin on the national stage. As a sophomore he finished third or better in every one of his regular season races. He then went on and placed sixth at the Nike Cross Nationals Heartland Regional, earning a trip to nationals. He placed 24th at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional, just missing a bid to Foot Locker Nationals. At NXN he finished off his season with a 43rd-place finish.

Scott Thompson will look to have another strong year after a great track season this past spring. He crushed a 4:08.22 full mile to take second at the Festival of Miles, finishing only behind Brodey Hasty (4:06.81). He also threw down a 8:57.18 to win the Music City Distance Carnival 3200m. Last fall during the cross country season he finished ninth at the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional, and placed 49th at NXN helping his team clinch the victory.

Price Owens will be looking to make a return to the national scene this after finishing 10th at the Foot Locker South regional in 2016 and toeing the line in San Diego. At Foot Locker Nationals Owens placed 30th. Owens was also runner-up in the VHSL state cross country championships boys 4A race. Watch for him to make a big impact on the national scene this year.

Grant Gardner is one of the top returning guys from the state of Utah, a state which seems to be getting deeper and deeper in distance running each year. Gardner, who will only be a junior this season, will look to lead a strong returning Springville team to Nike Cross Nationals. In 2016 he finished no further back than fourth in his regular season meets. At the Utah state XC championship Gardner placed second behind 2017 Timpanogos graduate Joseph Benson. He then went on to run at the super deep Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regional where he finished 17th, earning a bid to NXN. At NXN he placed 47th.

Charlie Kern has already hopped into the cross country season this year running at the 2017 Detweiller at Dark preseason charity meet in Peoria, Illinois. Kern finished second only behind Hamilton Southeastern High School's Gabe Fendel. The two were separated by a second, 14:30 and 14:31. During the 2016 cross country season he finished fourth in a loaded 3A boys IHSA cross country state championship race. He finished his season with a bit of a rough race at the NXN Midwest Regional, finishing 55th. Look for him to be one of the top guys on the course this year.

Joaquin Martinez De Pinillos is one of the strongest returning California runners. Last year at the CIF state cross country championships D3 Boys race he finished third only behind 2017 Rubidoux High graduate Erik Gonzalez and Redwood High School's Liam Anderson. That finish was good enough to earn him a spot on the line at Nike Cross Nationals where he finished 75th. In the regular season he finished second in the Boys D3 Sweepstakes race at the Mt. SAC XC Invitational behind only Gonzalez. He also had a solid race at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in which he placed fifth in the loaded Sweepstakes boys race only behind guys from the class of 2017 such as Reed Brown, Cooper Teare, and Luis Grijalva.

Last year as a freshman Graydon Morris made it to the Foot Locker National meet. In fact, Morris was the first freshman at Foot Locker since 2017 NCAA fourth-place finisher Futsum Zienasellassie. Zienasellassie and Morris are the only two freshmen to make it to the national meet digging back the past 16 years. Morris ended up finishing 34th at Foot Locker. Although that was one of the highlights of his season, it was not his only big race. Morris also finished third in the 5A UIL state cross country championships. Not to mention a big fifth-place finish at the McNeil Invitational. During the track season, Morris was dealing with a little bit of an injury but still managed to run times of 4:16.50 for 1600m and 9:17.90 for 3200m as well as a runner-up finish in the UIL track and field championship 3200m (9:21.02).

Drew Thompson is the top returner in the state of Connecticut. His XC 5K PR is a 15:36.00. He ran that time at the Southern Connecticut Conference race. During the regular season, he finished either first or second in every race he ran. He made Foot Locker Nationals by placing 10th at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional. In his first trip to San Diego, Thompson finished 35th at the Foot Locker Nationals against some of the best in the nation. On the track this past spring Thompson ran a 15:23.85 5K at the Amity Midnight Invitational to take third. In the 3200m at the CIAC State Open Outdoor Championship, he finished second, running 9:17.46. He holds a 3200m track PR of 9:13.98.