Hill opens season ranked nationally

| August 18, 2017 1:12 AM

By JOSEPH TERRY

The Daily Inter Lake

Glacier senior Annie Hill is again one of the top-ranked cross country runners in the nation, but maybe not as highly ranked as we’re used to seeing.

MileSplit.com’s Flo50 rankings, which lists the top 50 individual runners in the nation, has Hill ranked 14th to start this season. The poll factored in her finishes in the major races last season, which weren’t as high as they’ve been in the past. Hill was seventh at the Class AA state championships at Rebecca Farm and 41st at Nike’s NXN national championships after winning the state title each of her first two seasons and winning the prestigious Brooks PR meet in 2016.

Those results have caused a dropoff from where the same list ranked Hill last season. She entered her junior season fifth in the nation and spent most of the year in the top 10, but fell after poor finishes at the Mountain West Classic, the state meet and NXN.