Liam Anderson made a strong move in the final half-mile to hold off Cole Hocker and company
It seems as if the individual boys from the midwest got overlooked a bit this year after loses of the big three of Dylan Jacobs, Danny Kilrea, and Clayton Mendez to graduation. Interesting enough if you scored the individuals not on a team for each of the nine regions, the midwest boys would come out on top.
The Midwest boys were led by senior Cole Hocker of Indianapolis Cathedral (IN) who was the both the NXR Midwest Regional Champion and Foot Locker Midwest Regional Champion. Hocker finished second to senior Liam Anderson of Redwood (CA) 14:57-15:00 in an action-filled race. This was Hocker's first loss on the year but it was on the national scene at arguably the better national between itself and Foot Locker. Hocker ran great finding himself high into the front pack early into the race.
Hocker maintained a top ten position through two miles and moved up into the top five during the third mile. Coming up the first hill to the straightaway is when Anderson and junior Cole Sprout of Valor Christian (CO), made their move as Hocker seemed to sit back and wait for his moment. Going up the second hill Hocker realized he had to go now, passing up three guys to take second. That small error of not going with Anderson may have cost him a national title. The crazy thing to many is Hocker still does not have a college he has chosen to run at for the next four years, safe to say that colleges are knocking his door after this performance. Luckily for Hocker, he has one more opportunity to win a national title in San Diego next weekend.
Senior Corey Gorgas of Saugatuck (MI) was a huge surprise taking 9th in the nation with a time of 15:10.70. Gorgas had not that much momentum heading into the race after only finishing third at NXR Midwest and 17th at Foot Locker Midwest. Gorgas came out to Portland and gave it all he had. He ran a very interesting race coming through the first mile in 34th place. Not positioned well in a huge meet like this could have been detrimental. He slowly moved up during the second mile as he was in 27th through the two mile marker. The final 1.1 miles of the race, Gorgas may have had the best last 1.1 miles in the entire race as he moved up 18 spots to take ninth. This was Gorgas's final high school cross-country race and he left it giving it everything he had.
Senior Nick Foster of Ann Arbor Pioneer (MI) had been one of the top runners in the country all year long but had some issues at the Foot Locker Regional meet. He took 13th place at Foot Locker Midwest Regional and once he crossed the line, you could tell that he was not happy with his performance. The NXN committee decided to give him another chance at being an all-American with an individual at-large bid, which he accepted. From the gun, Foster looked to prove to the NXN committee that they were right to bring him to the meet, taking the lead early through the first mile coming through in fourth place. He may have regretted his decision throughout the second mile as he started to fade a bit from the top pack into 18th place, but regained himself in the final 1.1 miles to receive his first all-American honors in cross country with a 13th place finish. Foster had a great season on the track last year and look for his struggles from this post-season fuel him to an amazing track season before he heads off to the University of Michigan next fall.
Junior Josh Methner of Hersey (IL) had flown under the national scenes radar all year until the state meet. After a big state win, the people of Illinois knew that they may be watching the next Dylan Jacobs or Danny Kilrea, but yet the national scene still did not know his name. That changed at the NXR Midwest Regional, pushing Hocker for the win, but coming up a little short taking second. Methner really showed what he is all about here as he was not afraid to push the pace mid-race, even leading it for a portion. It was very reminiscent of Jacobs' Foot Locker National performance in 2016 when he was a junior. Methner held a great position and grabbed his first ever all-American honors. This has to boost his confidence greatly going into Foot Locker Nationals this weekend and into the upcoming track season.
Junior Evan Bishop of East Grand Rapids (MI) really has shown up the past two weekends. Coming off a surprising third-place finish at Foot Locker Midwest Regionals, Bishop was selected by the NXN committee to be an at-large runner which he accepted. He raced a lot like Gorgas as he constantly moved up throughout the race. He came through the first mile in 50th and then moved up big time into 23rd place at the two-mile marker and eventually moved up again to finish in 20th place. He was the third and final Michigan boy that was an all-American and proved that he will be another force in Michigan. Next up is the Foot Locker National meet for the rising star.
The Boys team battle was a tough one for the Midwest with Wheaton-Warrenville South being the highest place team taking 13th. Junior Jacob Kluckhohn summed up the race perfectly: "We got out in a really good spot, positioned really well around the mile. We were 4th. We faded a little bit to 7th at the second mile, and then we really struggled the last mile and ended up finishing 13th." The latter portion of the season was rough for the Tigers. Not performing at their best at both NXR Midwest and NXN. They still had a great year as they got to the national meet and won the 3A state title.
A real surprise was Hersey as for the first time this year didn't get out well in the first mile. Really the only member on the team that got out well was Methner. The team was in 14th at the first mile and started to drop from there. This was their first experience at the national meet and it will be intriguing to see what they do next year during track.