With Season Previews on the way and races not that far off, NHCC is getting excited for this upcoming season! It is always fun to assess the accuracy of our predictions, given all the variables which contribute to a high school cross country season! So, just how good are we here at NHCC with predicting Divisional Championships and MOC outcomes? Let’s find out! Below are the summaries of what we predicted in contrast with the real results of the 2022 XC season. Anyone can make predictions but we here at NHCC demand accountability from…ourselves!
Disclaimer: Many different people contribute to these predictions over the course of a given season, so is this a perfectly scientific breakdown of accuracy? Nope, it’s just for fun and we are happy to expose our inaccuracies (and brag about our successes too). Accurately predicting team success (especially before we’ve had any meets!) is incredibly difficult.
The number of teams in each category reflect the number of teams eligible to advance to the next level of competition.
DIVISION 3 GIRLS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | Divisional Championship Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Hopkinton | 1) Hopkinton | 1) Hopkinton |
| 2) Monadnock | 2) Conant | 2) Mascenic |
| 3) Conant | 3) Monadnock | 3) Conant |
| 4) Mascenic | 4) Mascenic | 4) Monadnock |
| 5) Newmarket | 5) Gilford | 5) Kearsarge |
A decent start here with four out of five (80%) correct in the always tricky Seasonal Preview, and another four out of five (80%) selection hits in the Divisional Preview. Winner Hopkinton was correctly placed in both previews, but the real hit to our reputation here is that Kearsarge placed 5th at D3s and did not get one mention as a top 5 team in either preview. Our bad!
Overall Grade: B
DIVISION 3 BOYS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | Divisional Championship Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Mascenic | 1) Trinity | 1) Trinity |
| 2) Monadnock | 2) Mascenic | 2) Gilford |
| 3) Newfound | 3) Fall Mountain | 3) St. Thomas Aquinas |
| 4) Fall Mountain | 4) Newfound | 4) Fall Mountain |
| 5) Trinity | 5) Gilford | 5) Mascenic |
Some regression here with our predictions in this category with three out of five (60%) correct in the Seasonal Preview and four out of five (80%) in the Divisional Preview. Trinity as the winning team was the correct pick in the Divisional Preview but leaving out eventual 3rd place St. Thomas in both Previews was a bit of an oversight… Gilford showing up big for 2nd place was a surprise to us as well.
Grade: B-
DIVISION 2 GIRLS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | Divisional Championship Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Oyster River | 1) Hanover | 1) Hanover |
| 2) Souhegan | 2) Oyster River | 2) Oyster River |
| 3) Coe-Brown | 3) Souhegan | 3) Bow |
| 4) Kennett | 4) Bow | 4) Souhegan |
| 5) Bow | 5) Kennett | 5) Plymouth |
| 6) Lebanon | 6) Coe-Brown | 6) Kennett |
Decent one here; we had just four out of six teams (68%) predicted correctly in the Seasonal Preview. Even though we showed some improvement with five out of six (83%) correct in the Divisional Preview we failed to rank eventual #5 Plymouth in either preview. Well done, Bobcats; anyone who can prove us wrong is always appreciated! Some partial credit awarded for the Divisional Preview getting 1-2 spot on and merely transposing places 3-4.
Grade: B+
DIVISION 2 BOYS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | Divisional Championship Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Coe-Brown | 1) Coe-Brown | 1) Coe-Brown |
| 2) Hanover | 2) Souhegan | 2) Souhegan |
| 3) Oyster River | 3) Hanover | 3) Lebanon |
| 4) Souhegan | 4) Oyster River | 4) Hanover |
| 5) Lebanon | 5) Lebanon | 5) Oyster River |
| 6) Hollis-Brookline | 6) Goffstown | 6) Milford |
This one might be some of our best work so far. Five out of six (83%) correct in the Seasonal Preview with again the winning team predicted correctly. The Divisional Preview scored five out of six (83%) as well, and #1 and #2 right on the nose coupled with two one-spot transpositions means we are taking a victory lap here! Except of course for the fact, we yet again left a top six team off of both previews; The Milford Spartans grabbed that #6 spot and we didn’t see it coming!
Grade: A-
DIVISION 1 GIRLS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | Divisional Championship Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Dover | 1) Bedford | 1) Pinkerton |
| 2) Concord | 2) Keene | 2) Bedford |
| 3) Bedford | 3) Pinkerton | 3) Winnacunnet |
| 4) Winnacunnet | 4) Dover | 4) Keene |
| 5) Keene | 5) Winnacunnet | 5) Dover |
| 6) Windham | 6) Concord | 6) Concord |
| 7) Pinkerton | 7) Alvirne | 7) Bishop Guertin |
Nice work here in the Seasonal Preview with six out of seven (86%) accurately predicted. In the Divisional Preview we were again six out of seven (86%) but only one team total was placed correctly in both previews combined! And we once again missed a team outright with Bishop Guertin owning the #7 spot for a MOC berth.
Grade: B+
DIVISION 1 BOYS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | Divisional Championship Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Bishop Guertin | 1) Pinkerton | 1) Pinkerton |
| 2) Exeter | 2) Nashua South | 2) Windham |
| 3) Pinkerton | 3) Exeter | 3) Nashua South |
| 4) Nashua South | 4) Windham | 4) Bishop Guertin |
| 5) Windham | 5) Keene | 5) Exeter |
| 6) Londonderry | 6) Concord | 6) Concord |
| 7) Winnacunnet | 7) Bishop Guertin | 7) Winnacunnet |
A very solid six out of seven (86%) correctly predicted in the Seasonal Preview, and an equally nice six out of seven (86%) correctly predicted in the Divisional Preview with #1 and #6 perfectly predicted as well as a another one-spot transposition. No serious disrespect here as all seven MOC bound teams were mentioned as some point.
Grade: A-
MOC GIRLS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | MOC Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Oyster River | 1) Pinkerton | 1) Hanover |
| 2) Dover | 2) Bedford | 2) Bedford |
| 3) Concord | 3) Hanover | 3) Pinkerton |
| 4) Bedford | 4) Oyster River | 4) Winnacunnet |
| 5) Souhegan | 5) Winnacunnet | 5) Oyster River |
| 6) Keene | 6) Keene | 6) Dover |
Very tough to predict category here with only 3 out of six predicted correctly (50%) in the Seasonal Preview. Tremendous work in the MOC preview article however, with a strong five out of six (83%) teams accurately predicted and a perfect call on placement in the #2 spot. Great work by Dover to grab that #6 slot after not being ranked in the Divisional Preview
Grade: B-
MOC BOYS
| Seasonal Preview Predictions | MOC Predictions | Actual Results |
| 1) Coe-Brown | 1) Coe-Brown | 1) Coe-Brown |
| 2) Bishop Guertin | 2) Pinkerton | 2) Souhegan |
| 3) Exeter | 3) Souhegan | 3) Pinkerton |
| 4) Hanover | 4) Windham | 4) Lebanon |
| 5) Pinkerton | 5) Nashua South | 5) Nashua South |
| 6) Londonderry | 6) Concord | 6) Windham |
Sometimes you try really hard and life just doesn’t go your way. Only three out of six (50%) correctly predicted teams from the Seasonal Preview qualifies as such for sure. In the MOC Prediction article however, we bounce back with five out of six (83%) correctly predicted teams again and perfect placements with the #1, and #5 teams which qualifies as a pretty good outing. Well done Lebanon for appearing on exactly zero predictive MOC lists yet performing big when it counted the most by surging for a #4 placement.
Grade: B-
Thanks for reading, and please understand that our grading system may have been inflated to soothe our delicate egos.
Good luck and good health this season; as always please try your best to prove as many of our predictions wrong as possible!
-NHCC
