On Dec. 6 in Portland, Oregon, 22 teams will race for a national high school title. This is the 11th edition of NXN. Last year, the Gig Harbor boys and Wayzata girls won the team titles, while Alexa Efraimson and Kai Wilmot won the individual races.

Here’s what to watch for at this year’s race:

How to watch

If you don’t live in Portland, you can watch a stream of the races here. The girls’ championship race is at 1:05 p.m. ET and the boys go off at 2:35 p.m.

Will the Fayetteville-Manlius girls reclaim their crown?

The Fayetteville-Manlius girls have won seven of the 10 NXN races. Dominant is an understatement. If it weren’t for an upset at the hands of Wayzata in 2013, F-M would be going for their ninth straight NXN title. Instead, they appear ready to win their eighth NXN in nine years. The New York state champs looked great at NXN New York, finishing 4-5-6-7-12 to win with 34 points. Great Oak out of California has the talent to beat F-M, but it would take another upset to keep the New York school from taking back their title.

Will F-M sweep?

On the boys’ side, F-M is favored, too. The New York state champs are undefeated in 2014, and they’ve mostly dominated. They won the Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational with an astounding 12:32 average on the famed Van Cortlandt Park 2.5-mile course, breaking the course record by 10 seconds. Then they plowed through their New York sectional and state meet, scoring 34 points to win the New York state title. Their least dominating win came at the NXN New York race last weekend. They still won by 12 points over St. Anthony’s, but it wasn’t as easy as expected. American Fork (Utah), Wayzata (Minnesota) and La Salle (Rhode Island) are teams that could take F-M down.

Who’s the best combined program in the land?

A total of six schools are sending both a boys’ and girls’ team to NXN: American Fork, Wayzata, Carmel, Davis and La Salle join F-M as the top combined programs in the country. F-M is the favorite in both races, but the American Fork boys and girls are both capable of top-three finishes. The Wayzata girls surprised F-M to win the girls’ title last year. Could the Wayzata boys pull off the upset this year?

Who will win the individual races?

The girls’ individual race is wide open, with a slew of contenders for the top spot. Fiona O’Keeffe of Davis Senior (California) is the top returner after taking fourth in 2013. Bella Burda of Arlington (New York), who won NXN New York, is undefeated on the year. Allie Ostrander of Kenai Central (Alaska) has run 16:40 for 5K this year. Bethany and Megan Hasz of Alexandria Jefferson (Minnesota) finished first and third respectively at NXN Heartland and could challenge up front. Michigan homeschooler, Sarah Kettel, was a surprise winner at NXN Midwest, and could surprise in Portland as well.

Other names to look out for: Paige Hofstad of New Braunfels (Texas), Katie Rainsberger of Air Academy (Colorado), Lauren Gregory of Fort Collins (Colorado), Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury (Pennsylvania), Stephanie Jenks of Linn-Mar (Iowa) and Jessica Lawson of Corning (New York).

The boys’ race should be tight up front, but Tanner Anderson of North Central (Washington) is a favorite. He was third at NXN in 2013 and is coming off a convincing win at NXN Northwest, where he won by 27 seconds. Olin Hacker of Madison West, son of former NCAA champ Tim Hacker, is the Wisconsin state champ and won the NXN Heartland region race. Bryce Millar of Fayetteville-Manlius won NXN New York and will be looking for a low stick to help his team’s chances. Casey Clinger of American Fork is in a similar situation; his team is in the hunt for a team title. Adam Barnard of Daniel Boone (Tennessee) won NXN Southeast by 12 seconds.

No star? No Problem.

Alexa Efraimson, the 2013 NXN individual champ, turned pro this summer, forgoing her senior year of high school cross country and track. Camas, her high school, is running fine without her. They won the Northwest region with five runners in the top 21.

Two boys teams will also be without the services of their top runner. Summit of Oregon qualified for NXN without Matthew Maton, who elected to race Foot Locker instead. Brea Olinda (California) qualified with Austin Tamango, but the California state champ will head to the Foot Locker west regional while his team races in Portland.

How will the story end?

All fall, RT has been following the boys of Christian Brothers Academy for a series on the new jersey high school powerhouse who won NXN in 2011 and was second in 2013. The 10-part series will come to a close after NXN. You can catch up on their entire season, and the first nine parts of the story, here.

No. More. Mud.

NXN has moved away from the Portland Meadows horse track for the first time in the 10-year history of the event, moving to nearby Glendoveer Golf Course. (See course details here.) Early weather reports show a rainy Thursday and Friday, which could make the course soggy, but Saturday is expected to be 55 and sunny.

Predictions

Check out our boys rankings and girls rankings for top 10, but here’s who we’re picking for the podium:

Girls Team

1. Fayetteville-Manlius

2. Great Oak

3. American Fork

Girls Individual

1. Fiona O’Keeffe, Davis Senior HS

2. Lauren Gregory, Fort Collins HS

3. Sarah Kettel, Michigan homeschool

Boys Team

1. Fayetteville-Manlius

2. Wayzata

3. American Fork

Boys Individual

1. Tanner Anderson, North Central HS

2. Olin Hacker, Madison West HS

3. Casey Clinger, American Fork HS

NXN Glossary

Each state’s high school athletics governing body has odd rules when it comes to postseason competition, so teams often have to run not with the name of their school on their jersey, but the name of the town (sometimes the town and high school match up). To make things easy, we’ve matched up each school to the team name that will show up in NXN results.

Girls:

Ahwatukee XC = Desert Vista (Arizona)

American Fork XC = American Fork (Utah)

Blacksburg = Blacksburg (Virginia)

Camas XC Club = Camas (Washington)

Carmel = Carmel (Indiana)

Clifton Park = Shenendehowa (New York)

Coeur d’Alene XC Club = Coeur d’Alene (Idaho)

Davis XC Club = Davis (Utah)

Hebron CC Club = Lewisville Hebron (Texas)

Highland Village XC Club = Marcus (Texas)

Chadds-Ford = Unionville (Pennsylvania)

Kinetic = Saratoga Springs (New York)

Manlius = Fayetteville-Manlius (New York)

New Hampshire XC Club = Coe-Brown Academy (New Hampshire)

North Naperville = Naperville (Illinois)

Palatine XC Club = Palatine (Illinois)

Rhode Island = La Salle Academy (Rhode Island)

Santa Clarita XC Club = Saugus (California)

Temecula XC Club = Great Oak (California)

Wayzata XC Club = Wayzata (Minnesota)

Western Cary XC Club = Green Hope (North Carolina)

Willmar XC = Willmar (Minnesota)

Boys:

American Fork XC = American Fork (Utah)

Brea XC Club = Brea Olinda (California)

Carmel = Carmel (Indiana)

Carroll XC Club = Southlake Carroll (Texas)

Central Oregon XC Club = Summit (Oregon)

Davis XC = Davis (Utah)

Edina XC Club = Edina (Minnesota)

Gray XC = Daniel Boone (Tennessee)

Fontana = Jurupa Hills (California)

Lincroft = Christian Brothers Academy (New Jersey)

Liverpool = Liverpool (New York)

Manlius = Fayetteville-Manlius (New York)

North Spokane XC Club = North Central (Washington)

Orland Park XC Club = Sandburg (Illinois)

Rhode Island XC = La Salle Academy (Rhode Island)

Severna Park XC Club = Severna Park (Maryland)

Sioux Falls XC Club = Sioux Falls Lincoln (South Dakota)

South Huntington = St. Anthony’s (New York)

The Woodlands XC Club = The Woodlands (Texas)

Timpanogos = Timpanogos (Utah)

Ventura XC Club = Ventura (California)

Wayzata XC Club = Wayzata (Minnesota)

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