Fayetteville-Manlius Girls win 10th NXN title in 11 years
The Fayetteville-Manlius girls won their 10th national title in the past 11 years, and their third in a row. Bill Aris' No. 1 ranked Hornets dominated the field as expected while scoring just 41 points. Freshman Claire Walters placed 20th overall (2 team points) and led all five scorers into the top 52 overall runners: Sophie Ryan (29th/3 pts), Phoebe White (37th/7 pts), Reilly Madsen (51st/14 pts) and Rebecca Walters (52nd/15 pts), with a 49-second compression.
Don't expect the Fayetteville-Manlius dynasty to falter anytime soon. Ryan and Rebecca Walters are juniors, while Claire Walters, White and Madsen are all freshmen.
The No. 2 and No. 3 spots went to California squads Davis and Great Oak, respectively, in a repeat performance from last year. No. 3 ranked Davis, the CIF D1 runners-up to No. 2 Great Oak, were 12th in team scoring at the first mile. By the second mile, they were in fifth. Meanwhile, FM and Great Oak occupied the top two spots through two miles.
FM would hold on for a dominant win, while Davis would execute impressively over the final mile to take runner-up honors with 181 points to the Wolfpack's 185 points. At the awards ceremony, the Hornets posed with a photo of a male teammate who fell critically ill just days before the NXN New York regional. He is still in the hospital but expected to make a full recovery.