MileSplit50 Boys Team Rankings Countdown

Analysis: The Kamiakin squad will return three of its top five and four of its top seven from last year's Nike Cross Nationals Northwest championship squad. They wrapped up the 2018 season with a 15th-place team finish at Nike Cross Nationals. 

The key for the members of this team will be how they rebound after losing their top-two guys from the Northwest Regional, Ryan Child and Porter Grigg. Stepping into the role of the team's No. 1 guy should be rising senior Stanford Smith. Smith was 27th last year at NXN Northwest and 124th at Nike Cross Nationals. Smith was the team's second runner at the WIAA State Championship when he finished sixth overall, helping the team score 37 points for the win. The state meet may have been one of Kamiakin's best performances of 2018 outside of NXN Northwest. At the state meet, the team had a 46-second 1-5 split and a 15:57 average. Another young runner from this squad to keep an eye on is rising sophomore Issac Teeples, who was 100th at NXN last year and clocked a 4:21.24 1600m and a 9:21.97 3200m during the spring track season. 

Biggest question: Who will step up for key seniors who graduated in 2018? 

Like many boys teams each year Kamiakin will face the question of who will step up and take the place of seniors who graduated the year before. With several of the team's top guys having graduated, Kamiakin will have to pull from some of its young talents to get to the national meet once again.