The boys of Lincroft NJ won the 2011 NXN title by a hair, this year CBA has been laying waste to anyone who has stood in their way. Can they pull off the elusive NXN double? We caught up with Christian Brother Academy's assistant coach Chris Bennett for his thoughts on this weekend's final showdown. 

Q. As a coach whats been more difficult, convincing the guys they could win it all last year or instilling the confidence that they could repeat this year?

The hardest part has been and I assume will always be convincing these teenagers that they are capable of achieving greatness. That starts with convincing them that they can train great. That is the easy part. Translating elite training into elite racing takes an incredible amount of confidence but once they can do that than the limits they once placed upon themselves are gone and we can have conversations about winning nationals. And then we can have conversations about being in a position to win it again!

This team is very different than last years. The 2011 team would go on to help win the Outdoor National 4x800 in 7:34. This is a more strength dominated team. By no means am I saying they lack speed. In fact, at the end of an XC race this team is faster than the 2011 CBA team. No season, no team, no athlete is ever repeated but there are certain rhymes you see. History helps us coach those rhymes as best as we can but a coach must adapt the training to the current team and not vice versa. Each program has it's basic principles but it will be the minor adjustments that are made daily, week after week, month after month that will play the largest role in a training system's success. 

It speaks volumes about the character of the kids that stepped on the line that day with the CBA jersey on their backs. We ran 3 sophs, 2 frosh, 1 junior and 1 senior. They had every excuse to buckle, stumble, fall, you name it. People would have understood. Instead they decided not to wait for next year or the year after to shoulder the burden of expectations that CBA teams carry when they line up. The decided to be the Varsity now. As coaches we really become very inconsequential once the gun goes off. They race for their teammates between the starting line and the finish line. And the way they carried the team for those 5000m tells you how much they care about this program.

We don't race them but once a year. But, I can tell you that we have great respect for Southlake Carroll. They consistently race at such a high level and the records they have set in such a tradition rich state like Texas is amazing. They are so well coached. Coach Leonard and his staff do a remarkable job. A great thing about HS XC is the long list of terrific programs that you can count on to battle for a spot at NXN year after year. Along with SLC there are programs like York, North Central, American Fork, Arcadia, Davis, Fayetteville-Manlius that year after year seem to be battling for a spot on the stage at NXN. This year is especially strong with some great NE schools like Cardinal O'Hara and Henderson that are racing really well too.

We need to race to our fitness. If we do then we will be tough to beat. I imagine that a dozen other schools would say the exact same thing though. And that is why they have the race.