Annie Hill is back on top with a win at the NXN Northwest Regional, her first race since taking seventh at the Montana state meet.
NXN Northwest Regional
Full Results & Coverage
#15 Annie Hill, bubble Lexy Halladay over #10 Tiahna Vladic, #14 Ember Stratton; #25 Anna Gibson over #10 Tiahna Vladic
The first NXN regional was a great indicator for individual girls rankings, as seven athletes in the Top 25 and on the Saucony Flo50 bubble faced off in Idaho. Defending champion Annie Hill has struggled through an on-and-off year --she was just seventh at her state meet-- but had an 'on' day when it counted here to successfully defend her individual title. The junior from Glacier High School in Montana confirmed after the meet that she will attend NXN after opting for Foot Locker the past two years. Her biggest competition on Saturday came from Idaho state champion Lexy Halladay, who led for a significant portion of the race.
Halladay is undefeated and won the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota, which garnered her a mention in the bubble rankings. However, she convincingly beat out 2015 NXN All-Americans Ember Stratton and Tiahna Vladic, plus nearly defeated the accomplished Hill, which certainly improves her status and outlook heading into the national championship.
Wyoming state champion Anna Gibson qualified for her first national meet with a fourth place finish behind Hill, Halladay and Stratton, and six seconds ahead of Montana state champ Vladic.
Event 8 Girls 5k Run CC Championship
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Name Year School Finals Points
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1 Annie Hill 18 Una-Hill 17:22.2
2 Lexy Halladay 20 Griak XC 17:26.0 1
3 Ember Stratton 19 Apollos XC 17:29.8 2
4 Anna Gibson 17 Jackson Hole 17:34.9 3
5 Tiahna Vladic 19 Billings XC 17:40.8 4 Watch the girls championship race:
#19 Summit girls over #18 Sunset, #16 Jesuit
Three of five ranked girls teams competing at NXN Northwest hailed from the state of Oregon. Class 5A champions Summit proved superior over Jesuit and Sunset, the respective champions and team runners-up in Class 6A.
#15 ranked Bozeman from Montana took first with 103 points while Summit ("Central Oregon Track Club") took second with 142 points. Sunset ("Apollos XC") was third with 149 points while Class 6A state champs Jesuit were sixth overall with 185 points. The auto bid to NXN was perhaps even more sweet because they finished third last year and advanced two individuals to NXN.
Summit girls react to qualifying for NXN as a team:
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Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
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1 Bozeman XC 103 5 7 10 39 42 48 49
Total Time: 1:33:33.80
Average: 18:42.76
2 Central Oregon Track Club 142 6 24 27 40 45 63 109
Total Time: 1:35:12.40
Average: 19:02.48
3 Apollos XC 149 2 11 14 41 81 97 108
Total Time: 1:34:20.90
Average: 18:52.18
4 Jackson Hole Running Club 160 3 12 13 55 77 86 111
Total Time: 1:34:47.00
Average: 18:57.40
5 Griak XC 168 1 17 25 37 88 96
Total Time: 1:35:07.60
Average: 19:01.52
6 Crusader Harriers 185 15 19 34 52 65 70 119
Total Time: 1:36:25.30
Average: 19:17.06 Unranked Summit boys over #19 North Central
Washington state champions North Central, once a fixture at NXN, finished a disappointing third place for the second year in a row at regionals. Summit ("Central Oregon Track Club") overcame their own demons from the Oregon state meet, where they finished second behind Crater High School, to take the second NXN auto qualifier spot behind top-ranked Bozeman. Crater finished fifth with 217 points.
The Summit boys talk about getting redemption for taking second at the Oregon state meet:
Team Scores
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Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
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1 Bozeman XC 76 1 4 17 25 29 36 99
Total Time: 1:19:29.70
Average: 15:53.94
2 Central Oregon Track Club 98 7 11 13 18 49 78 117
Total Time: 1:20:27.30
Average: 16:05.46
3 North Spokane XC Club 148 8 19 35 40 46 67 73
Total Time: 1:21:18.30
Average: 16:15.66
4 The Hungry Krew 181 23 26 27 50 55 146 156
Total Time: 1:21:56.70
Average: 16:23.34
5 Cdp 217 2 22 42 68 83 106 148
Total Time: 1:22:01.70
Average: 16:24.34 Watch the boys championship race: