I actually don't like that individual qualifiers are decided solely on time at the state meet. I think that any divisional winner should be bumped up ahead of someone who did not win their division, provided the winner is deemed to be of national caliber. Ways of determining "national caliber" are the athlete's performance at invitationals, national/state rankings, and how much slower they ran in the state meet compared to the non-winner of the more competitive race. I don't think there was anyone that screams out as an example of this for this year, but in general I think this should be considered.
Everyone would be more comfortable with a level playing field, but the system that's in place is the one we're stuck with.
Depending on what state you live in, you either have a hard choice or an easy choice.
In Texas, which essentially has its own NXN regional (along with a few states that do not attend well), you have a great opportunity to qualify. And then, you can also go to Foot Locker South.
In Maryland, which is part of the NE for Foot Locker qualifying, you see almost everyone choose NXN Southeast (while most top kids in the SE still consider Foot Locker the more favorable national meet). And Maryland killed it at NXN SE on Saturday.
In California, based on your state meet result you could be invited to NXN and then be faced with the dilemma of turning down a sure thing in order to risk an attempt to go to Foot Locker that doesn't always pan out. In fact, Makena Morley of Montana and Lucy Biles and Sarah Feeny of Utah have turned down trips to NXN in order to run at Foot Locker West. And they have very good reasons.
In the Heartland and Midwest, like Texas, you can push your chips into two regionals meets and hope to qualify for at least one of the national meets.
In New York, which again has its own NXN regional, qualifying for a national meet might be easier than anywhere. New York is sending 5 teams to NXN and 14 individuals to NXN or FL. That's almost 50 kids.
In Wisconsin, which is part of a tough region, zero made it through.
Clearly he passed on the opportunity, which means it opens up to the next fastest person. He's from the San Diego area and likely would prefer to have the chance to run in front of his home crowd.
Well you made me look stupid :)But still adds to my point that nike and FL need to find a way to get one competitive meet. I know there's a 99% chance it won't happen, but still...
Cerutty Fan is correct - there's no subjectivity to the individual selections. They offer it to the first 5 individuals not on a qualifying team. As some individuals pass, they go down the list to the next fastest performer.
Here's the problem with a group of people determining who makes the nxn team for california instead there being an actual regional (yes I understand CIF is late in the season). Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that Tal Braude who won the d1 CIF race for boys should qualify because of him having the fastest time in the state, and the fact he won the most competitive state meet. I mean why wouldn't he be selected? He beat Haney and De La Rosa, plus having the best time. I don't care if he hasn't had the same previous success as the other elites. On another note, This proves that nike and foot locker need to work together and have one competitive race. Therefore you wouldn't run into these kind of problems. How do you think Tal Braude is feeling after winning with the fastest time among the 5 divisions, winning the most competitive state-meet, and still not qualifying for nxn? What else could he have done? CORRUPTION
Clearly he passed on the opportunity, which means it opens up to the next fastest person. He's from the San Diego area and likely would prefer to have the chance to run in front of his home crowd.
Here's the problem with a group of people determining who makes the nxn team for california instead there being an actual regional (yes I understand CIF is late in the season). Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that Tal Braude who won the d1 CIF race for boys should qualify because of him having the fastest time in the state, and the fact he won the most competitive state meet. I mean why wouldn't he be selected? He beat Haney and De La Rosa, plus having the best time. I don't care if he hasn't had the same previous success as the other elites. On another note, This proves that nike and foot locker need to work together and have one competitive race. Therefore you wouldn't run into these kind of problems. How do you think Tal Braude is feeling after winning with the fastest time among the 5 divisions, winning the most competitive state-meet, and still not qualifying for nxn? What else could he have done? CORRUPTION
