National Weekend Rundown for November 14

NXN Midwest Regional (IN)

Davis Over Veatch, Sandburg Defends Title As Illinois Proves Dominant

No. 7 Jon Davis Outlasts No. 4 Ben Veatch; Sandburg Boys Defend Title

The No. 2 ranked Sandburg boys defended their title in perhaps the toughest NXN regional on Sunday afternoon, scoring their highest point total this season (120) to finish just 20 points ahead of No. 24 ranked Neuqua Valley and 30 points ahead of bubble team Lyons Township.

No. 5 Lafayette of Missouri placed fourth (210 points), which may still be enough to garner an at-large bid. But the overall takeaway from regional results proved Illinois' depth as out-of-state ranked teams finished out of national contention in No. 9 St. Ignatius of Ohio (seventh, 239 points) and No. 20 Carmel of Indiana (sixth, 239 points).

At the front of the pack, No. 4 ranked Ben Veatch of Carmel set the pace with a 4:40 opening mile and 9:39 split for two miles. The senior held control until the final mile, when Illinois state champion Jon Davis took the lead and never looked back. He would finish in 14:59.9 and Veatch in 15:01.3.

Judy Pendergast Dominates As Controversy Stirs In Team Battle

Judy Pendergast followed last weekend's Detweiller Park course record with another all-time-best performance at LaVern Gibson, where she clocked a dominating 30-second win and new course record in 17:00.6 for 5K. The battle for runner-up honors was more heated, as Anna West of Lafayette edged edge No. 24 ranked Sarah Leinheiser, 17:28.2 to 17:28.6.

The team standings were not so clear. While the No. 10 ranked Centerville girls of Ohio won the team title, there is controversy about whether Pendergast's Naperville North (ranked No. 6) or the unranked Northville (MI) girls took second for the final auto bid to NXN. Read more about the girls team scoring controversy here.

More results and coverage here.