(Couch to 5K Plan.)

1. Great Oak HS, Temecula, California (3)
Great Oak put on a clinic at the California state championships, finishing 3-5-7-11-17 to roll to an easy win against No. 4-ranked Dana Hills, 43-65. Senior Spencer Dodds and Spencer Cole led the way for Great Oak, who are the favorites to take the crown at NXN on December 5.

2. Hopkins, Hopkins, Minnesota (1)
The Hopkins boys are one of the best pack-running teams in the country. They haven’t raced since winning the NXN Heartland regional on November 15 with 71 points and a miniscule 18-second gap between their top five. Senior Jack Henschel led the way as Hopkins finished 7-9-10-20-25 on their way to a 64-point win over No. 8-ranked Edina.

3. Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Illinois (2)
The Sandburg boys have not raced since they won the NXN Midwest regional on November 15 with 120 points. After exhibiting textbook pack running most of the year, Sandburg had a 1:04 gap between their top five at the Midwest regional race, finishing 4-14-20-24-58 on their way to the win. Senior Sean Torpy finished fourth. If they can return to their pack running ways, Sandburg has a great chance of finishing on top at NXN.

4. Dana Hills HS, Dana Hills, California (NR)
The Dana Hills boys did their best to hang with No. 1-ranked Great Oak, finishing only 22 points behind the NXN favorites at the California state meet. Jake Ogden led Dana Hills to a 4-9-12-15-25 finish with a 41-second split between the top five.

5. Dana Hills HS, , Downingtown, Pennsylvania (9)
The Downingtown West boys won the NXN Northeast with 97 points, 43 points clear of Christian Brothers Academy in second. Sophomore Josh Hoey led the way in fifth, senior Henry Sappey was eighth and senior Jaxson Hoey (Josh’s brother) took 19th to lead the Pennsylvania state champs to victory.

6. Liverpool HS, Liverpool, NY (NR)
Senior Ben Petrella led the New York state champs to a win at NXN New York on November 28, winning the individual race by 18 seconds as Liverpool scored 78 points to beat second-place Fayetteville-Manlius by 31 points. Petrella should finish near the front at NXN, and that low stick should help Liverpool in the team score.

7. The Woodlands, The Woodlands, Texas (6)
The Woodlands boys put up a scant 24 points to win the Texas 6A state title on November 7 and went on to take NXN South with a dominant 49 points over Southlake Carooll (67 points). Senior Daniel Golden led the Woodlands, who finished 2-6-10-11-20 with a 51-second spread between the top five.

8. Edina HS, Edina, Minnesota (8)
For the second consecutive year, the Edina boys failed to advance to the Minnesota state meet, but for the second consecutive year they managed to qualify for NXN. They haven’t raced since taking second at the NXN Heartland regional with 135 points on November 14, as they nabbed an automatic qualifier by four points over Wayzata. Patrick Roos and Jack Manderscheid finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to lead Edina.

9. Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, Colorado (NR)
The Mountain Vista boys jumped into the national rankings, thanks to a win in the closest-finishing regional in the country. Parker MacKay led Mountain Vista in eighth place as they scored 108 points Couch to 5K Plan.

10. Timpanogos, Timpanogos, Utah (5)
The Utah state champs lost a close one to Mountain Vista of Colorado at NXN Southwest, missing out on the win by only one point. They barely earned the automatic qualifier over Lone Peak thanks to the sixth-runner tiebreak—Elijah Nimmer finished 65th for Timpanogos while Crak Evans finished 112th. It wasn’t all bad for Lone Peak, who earned an at-large invite to NXN—and so did fourth-place finisher American Fork. William Handley and Joseph Benson led Timpanogos at NXN Southwest, finishing third and fourth, respectively.

TOP 5 REGIONAL RANKINGS

New York
1. Liverpool
2. Fayetteville-Manlius
3. East Aurora
4. Saint Anthony’s
5. Xavier

Northeast
1. Downingtown West (PA)
2. Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)
3. Pinkerton Academy (NH)
4. Don Bosco Prep (NJ)
5. Old Bridge (NJ)

South
1. The Woodlands (TX)
2. Southlake Carroll (TX)
3. Flower Mount (TX)
4. The Woodlands College Park (TX)
5. Smithson Valley (TX)

Southeast
1. Marietta (GA)
2. Trinity Prep (FL)
3. Weddington High School (NC)
4. Broughton (NC)
5. Our Lady of Good Counsel (MD)

Midwest
1. Sandburg (IL)
2. Neuqua Valley (IL)
3. Lyons Township (IL)
4. Lafayette Wildwood (MO)
5. York (IL)

Heartland
1. Hopkins (MN)
2. Edina (MN)
3. Wayzata (MN)
4. Minneapolis Washburn (MN)
5. Dowling Catholic (IA)

Southwest
1. Mountain Vista (CO)
2. Timpanogos (UT)
3. Lone Peak (UT)
4. American Fork (UT)
5. Davis (UT)

Northwest
1. Summit (OR)
2. Bozeman (MT)
3. North Central (WA)
4. Crater (OR)
5. Mountain View (ID)

California
1. Great Oak
2. Dana Hills
3. Jesuit
4. Brea Olinda
5. Madera South

See the girls' rankings here.