| . . . Results for the NXN Girls Virtual Meet | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As expected, the race came down to a battle between the Saratoga 2004 squad with Nicole Blood, Lindsey Ferguson, Hannah Davidson, Caitlin Lane, and Karen Delay against the Fayetteville-Manlius team of 2010 featuring Kristy Rutledge, Katie Sischo, Jillian Fanning, Heather Martin, and Courtney Chapman. Rutledge was not rated among the top 5 runners in the race, and in fact she was not even projected tops on her team, but she smashed all expectations in the virtual meet (and in 2010) by winning by more than 5 seconds over Miranda Walker of Southlake Carroll 2005. Rutledge's rampage actually pushed her team's 1-5 split up to the same level as the Saratoga 2004 team, though it was a gap that her team was happy to have as Sischo and Fanning came in 13th and 14th. Despite the super effort by Rutledge and kind of a sub par performance for the Blue Streak legends of 2004, there was still no stopping the Toga party. Blood finished 3rd a few steps behind Walker, Davidson came in 8th in a dead heat with FM 2015's Kaitlyn Neal for a share of the spot, Ferguson was 10th and Lane 23rd to give Saratoga 2004 enough of a cushion before Delay clinched the win in a 125-133 squeaker over FM 2010. Rounding out the top 5 were a swarm of Hornets as FM 2009 edged FM 2015 by 178-179 for 3rd, and FM 2008 was 5th at 189. Lest anyone think it was mainly just Hornets, though they also occupied the 6th through 9th spots, the initial NXN FM team of 2006 was all the way at the back in 22nd. Note that where runners shared the same speed rating, they split points for places, and three runners finishing with a TR at the 53rd spot all earned 54th. There were a few reversals in the Virtual meet from the results of the actual contests. In 2005 champ Hilton had the third best speed rating in the muddy slog at Portland Meadows, and this time the Cadets finished a point behind a Southlake Carroll 2005 team led by Miranda Walker in 2nd place and Brooke Upshaw in 4th. Hilton did though still finish almost the same amount of points ahead of 2005's 2nd place team Saratoga. Another team pulling a reversal was the lone non-champion Fayetteville-Manlius team 2013 which this time finished two places and 9 points ahead of 2013 champion Wayzata. Two individual feats merit special attention. Saratoga's Lindsey Ferguson was the only one of the team competitors to earn two places in the top ten with a 7th for her senior year in 2005 and a 10th in 2004 for her champ NXN Girls Virtual Meet team. And Southlake Carroll 2005's Miranda Walker had an amazing performance by running more than 9 points over her projected speed rating to finish 2nd behind FM 2010's Rutledge, who had a 6.9 point gain over projections. Walker's teammate Brooke Upshaw in 4th was 7.1 points above her projection. A lot of top runners were left out of the virtual all-star meet either because they were at-large runners or ran for squads that did not qualify for the team showdown. The next time an NXN Girls Virtual Meet is run, it will include 45 more at-large runners for 9 regional squads, a format that was first incorporated for the fifth meet in 2008. Among the runners will be champions such as the first ever Nike national champion Ramsey Kavan of Yankton, SD, who laid down a 161 rating in 2004, a score matched by 2005 winner Betsy Bies, also of Yankton.
| ||||
| Results for Girls NXN Virtual Meet | |||||
| Place | Team | Score | Speed Rating | 1-5 Split | Positions |
| 1 | Saratoga 2004 | 125 | 146.50 | 25 | 3-8.5-10-23-80 |
| 2 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2010 | 133 | 145.54 | 25 | 1-13-14-38-67 |
| 3 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2009 | 178 | 140.92 | 5 | 24-27.5-35-41-50 |
| 4 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2015 | 179 | 141.93 | 16 | 8.5-17-40-54-59 |
| 5 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2008 | 189 | 141.02 | 19 | 12-27.5-30.5-36-82 |
| 6 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2011 | 227 | 138.98 | 16 | 11-46-52-57.5-60.5 |
| 7 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2016 | 260 | 137.34 | 16 | 18-34-48-76-84 |
| 8 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2012 | 273 | 136.68 | 12 | 37-39-49-57.5-90 |
| 9 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2007 | 276 | 136.46 | 17 | 30.5-32.5-42-60.5-110 |
| 10 | Smoky Hill 2004 | 283 | 138.06 | 40 | 5-6-16-124-132 |
| 11 | Saratoga 2011 | 315 | 134.52 | 11 | 43-47-54-78-92.5 |
| 12 | Southlake Carroll 2005 | 320 | 136.26 | 44 | 1-4-83-95.5-135 |
| 13 | Hilton 2005 | 321 | 134.36 | 17 | 29-51-54-80-106.5 |
| 14 | Saratoga 2005 | 344 | 134.38 | 30 | 7-21-97-104-115 |
| 15 | Saugus 2008 | 346 | 133.38 | 16 | 12-27.5-30.5-36-82 |
| 16 | Davis (CA) 2015 | 358 | 132.41 | 11 | 44-56-65.5-94-98 |
| 17 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2013 | 359 | 132.32 | 18 | 24-45-74-105-111 |
| 18 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2014 | 361 | 131.93 | 3 | 64-69.5-69.5-71-87 |
| 19 | Wayzata 2013 | 368 | 132.61 | 22 | 15-72.5-89-91-100 |
| 20 | Great Oak 2015 | 379 | 131.48 | 19 | 25-72.5-77-92.5-112 |
| 21 | Saratoga 2009 | 390 | 131.42 | 17 | 32.5-62.5-88-95.5-108 |
| 22 | Fayetteville-Manlius 2006 | 391 | 131.00 | 27 | 19-22-106.5-121-122.5 |
Top Ten Runners in NXN Girls Virtual Meet
| 1 | Christie Rutledge | FM 2010 | 157.90 |
| 2 | Miranda Walker | Southlake Carroll 2005 | 156.20 |
| 3 | Nicole Blood | Saratoga 2004 | 156.10 |
| 4 | Brooke Upshaw | Southlake Carroll 2005 | 155.30 |
| 5 | Katelyn Kaltenbach | Smoky Hill 2004 | 154.90 |
| 6 | Keara Sammons | Smoky Hill 2004 | 154.80 |
| 7 | Lindsey Ferguson | Saratoga 2005 | 152.00 |
| 8.5 | Kaitlyn Neal | FM 2015 | 151.40 |
| 8.5 | Hannah Davidson | Saratoga 2004 | 151.40 |
| 10 | Lindsey Ferguson | Saratoga 2004 | 150.90 |