MileSplit50 Boys Team Rankings Countdown

8. Corner Canyon (UT)

Analysis: There are several strong teams in Utah this year but on paper Corner Canyon (UT) appears to be the strongest. The team returns all of their top five runners from their 2018 Class 5A Utah State XC Championship title. At last year's state championships the team scored 47 points and had a 1-5 spread of :40-seconds with a 15:58 3-mile average. Corner Canyon should be the heavy favorites to repeat as the Utah State class 5A champions, the question is what will they do after the state meet? Last year the team ran at the Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Region meet but placed fifth. Granted, the Southwest region has been one of the strongest regions over the years. The team will have to remain focused after their state meet on October 23rd all the way through to the region meet a month later on November 23rd if they look to make it to NXN in 2019. They have all the firepower to do so with the top five returning led by rising senior Mark Boyle who was second at the state meet in 2018 and 12th at NXR Southwest. All of the returning top-fives will be seniors this season. The team already has one win under their belt from the Highland Invitational. They beat No. 25 Farmington 57 to 108. They were also runner ups to American Fork (UT) at the Pre Region 4 Meet, running without Boyle.

One of the biggest dark horse factors affecting the team this season will be if Easton Allred is healthy or not. The rising senior transferd to Corner Canyon this summer from Mountain Vista High School in Colorado. He was second in at NXR Southwest in 2018 and fifth at nationals which makes him the third-best returner. After the Nike Elite camp, Allred announced that he had a stress fracture in his foot and that he will miss most of the fall season. If he's able to get back to even half of the shape he was in in 2018 he could be a huge factor in helping this team reach nationals and potentially earn a podium finish in 2019. 

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