Boys XC Preseason Rankings: #4

<p> <span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">NCRunners is counting down the top 25 boys teams heading into the fall season. &nbsp;The full rankings will be released on the first day of official practice: Friday, August 1st. &nbsp;These are subjective rankings (not computer generated); they take into account returning team rankings, returning team averages, team rankings in the 1600 and 3200 from indoor and outdoor track, and a school&#39;s &quot;Improvement Rating.&quot; &nbsp;Improvement Rating is a custom metric developed by researching the improvement in a team&#39;s 5-person average from year to year, in comparison to that same team&#39;s ranking. &nbsp;Improvement Rating numbers and methodology will be released on the weekend of August 2nd.</span></p>

Four Crusaders, all together; now imagine these four all under 16 minutes, and you have an idea how good this team can be.

 

	Cardinal Gibbons (NC)
	1) David Edwards		16:06.00	33
	2) Jt Klimek		16:15.00	47
	3) Connor Peeples		16:21.41	66
	4) Connor Lane		16:24.84	72
	5) Will Harris		16:30.06	92
	Average Time: 16:19.46 Total Time: 1:21:37.31 1-5 Split: 24.06
	6) Sam Grelck		16:38.09	110
	7) Christopher Cortina		17:05.87	193

It's not often that a team can finish second in the state and legitimately say it wasn't the result they wanted.  After coming so close to winning in 2013, this team should be highly motivated to not just get back on the podium, but bring the championship trophy back to Crusader Nation.  The signs all point to a great season: the team returns their top 6 from last year, they had 5-man returning averages of 4:34 and 10:04 in the spring, and they've been one of the best-improving squads in the state over the last 5 years.  It's hard to find a weakness in the Cardinal Gibbons line-up; there's a bit of a gap between 6 and 7, but otherwise they project to have at least 2 guys under 16, with the potential (if everything goes very well) to put 6 in the 15's - after all, returning #4 Connor Lane ran 15:47 on the track at the end of the spring season.

Important Data:

• 2013 XC Returning Ranking: 4th

• 2014 Outdoor Returning Team 1600 Ranking: 2nd

• 2014 Outdoor Returning Team 3200 Ranking: 3rd

• 5-Year Improvement Plan: 10.436 (4th)

• 3-Year Improvement Plan: 8.477 (9th)