The rankings are holding up to form at the top, but there is plenty of shuffling in the middle.
The major player held steady over the past three weeks, either prepping in local invitationals for the start of their championship season or by continuing in their winning ways. The top ten athletes remain virtually unchanged.
Below that?
Several high-profile head-to-heads played out, with many coming down too close to call. Two seconds separated three ranked athletes at Asics Clovis XC Invitational, three seconds separated three ranked athletes at Nike Town Twilight (Indiana), and it was a tenth of a second to separate two athletes at Nike Hole in the Wall. Those efforts could have gone either way, and it proves how anything can happen on race day.
California is starting its emergence, as it now has five athletes on the list. Early-season stars from the Southwest and South regions have calmed down as they head into their local league meets. The East Coast was handling interruptions from extreme weather events, and the Midwest was as busy as ever.
Only Mt. SAC remains on the calendar as a major invitational for out-of-state athletes to go head-to-head, and then it is on to the State Championships across the country.
The action is only heating up.
