Connor Reed (The Woodlands); North Spokane Win 2008 Nike Cross Nationals [Full Race]

Full event coverage from 2008 is available at NikeCrossNationals.com. All free of charge.
From 2008 DyeStat recap:
North Spokane XC 'brings one home for the Northwest'
Reed Connor TX continues torrid second half to the season with individual win
Boys Race Story by Dave Devine, senior editor DyeStat
When the Nike cross country meet was first conceived, part of the impetus for the creation of a national team competition was to end speculation about which storied programs around the country were actually the best. Indeed, at that very first NTN in 2004, York High of Illinois, competing as Kroy XC, took the inaugural title and confirmed on the Portland Meadows course what had been expressed for years in hypothetical polls: York was one of the greatest boys programs in the United States.
Four years later, here was that same school, now competing as Elmhurst XC, standing in the post-race paddock of yet another national championship meet, arms wrapped around one another, heads bowed, waiting along with a second team to hear the outcome of the final two places in the scoring.
Who would be runners-up? Who would be champions?
Four feet away and equally expectant stood an exhausted squad from another storied cross country Mecca. While Elmhurst IL may have earned the title “Cross Country Town USA,” Spokane, Washington, has long been considered an American Rift Valley among prep distance fans. North Spokane XC, ranked US#1 throughout the regular season as North Central WA, is the latest team to emerge from this traditional hotbed of high school talent, following in the footsteps of Mead and Ferris, among others. After three months atop the rankings, here they were-stunned after a rough race to still be lingering in the paddock while The Woodlands XC of Texas was announced as the fourth place team, and Naperville XC (Naperville North IL) stepped forward to claim third.
The Dukes of Elmhurst and the denizens of Spokane, awaiting word of a national championship.
Clubs from Spokane had fared well at past NTN’s, with top-4 showings in every year save 2007, but a Spokane squad had never walked home with the trophy. No team from west of the Mississippi ever had; the Northeast and Illinois had claimed all previous crowns. And with key contributor Jeff Howard laid low with flu the day before the meet, it appeared unlikely North Spokane XC-despite a #1 ranking-had done enough to reverse that trend.
Awards announcer Toni Reavis paused to gather the appropriate suspense.
Elmhurst XC hugged tighter. North Spokane XC clustered close and held their breath.
“In second place…” Reavis began, and then stopped. “Is this right? Are we-”
He appeared to doubt the information on the page front of him. After being assured the results were official, he continued.
“In second place, Elmhurst XC.”
The roar from the partisan Spokane loyalists was deafening.
“When they announced York was second,” North Spokane #2 man Leon Dean said later, “everybody just cheered and started crying. I shed a couple of tears, but a few of the guys were crying pretty good.”
Coach Jon Knight, who guided the North Central team during the regular season, then stepped aside per Washington state association rules for the post-season run, was among them.
“I was just bawling,” he said. “The kids were all bawling…it’s just so emotional.”
Read full recap: archive.dyestat.com//?pg=us-2...
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