It was good enough for a third-place finish in 15 minutes, 18.6 seconds Saturday on a wet and winding Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon. Neil nearly out-leaned Cameron Todd (Indiana) at the line for second — a difference of just 0.1 seconds — and finished just two seconds behind champion Jojo Jourdon (Utah).

“It’s a little bittersweet because I was so close to second and first,” Neil told the Chronicle. “But I’m really happy. I told myself before the race that I just wanted to be happy with how I ran and know that I left it all out there, and I can say that I did that.”

Neil’s finish is the highest ever for a Montanan in the Boys Championship 5K at NXN, besting former teammate Weston Brown’s eighth-place finish last year. Neil, now an All-American, previously won individual titles at the Class AA meet and Nike Cross Regionals (NXR) earlier this season.

“It was pretty awesome,” Bozeman head coach Casey Jermyn said. “You kind of knew all year he was going to be one of the top runners in the entire country and it was pretty awesome to see him kind of step on that big of a stage and perform well.”

The experience from last season at NXN — where Neil finished 25th overall in 15:26.3 — was pivotal this year, Neil said, whether it be navigating the course or the “huge distractions” from all the fanfare of the weekend. It was important to not let the energy levels get too high from being on Nike’s campus or the weight of the competition.

“I was able to just focus on what I was there for,” Neil said, “as well as have some fun and hang out with a lot of really fast, cool people.”

That group was mainly the other NXR Northwest athletes, including fellow University of Washington commit Parker Mong. They discussed going after the NXN regional team title and warmed up together before the race.

“It gives you that team aspect that makes it so that you’re not the only one out there with the same goal,” Neil added. “And it really just helps to just kind of loosen the tension.”

What Neil couldn’t fully prepare for was the course conditions. Portland received about an inch of rain overnight. A makeshift pond appeared at a dip in the course, which was about knee-deep, along with puddles in other areas. Other portions were muddy, exacerbated by runners looping back around on the 5,000-meter course.

Many runners struggled to keep their balance as they slipped on tight turns. Those conditions were challenging — Neil said he was “a little freaked out” at the start — but it ultimately “didn’t matter because everyone was dealing with them,” he added.

Neil sat near the back of the front pack through 2,000 meters, working his way up to 12th with about 1,000 meters to go. Jermyn said he could see the momentum building as Neil continued to pass runners, especially in the last 600 meters or so over the final two hills.

The expectation going into the race was to win, Neil said, based on him being one of the highest-ranked individuals. He added that he probably had too much left in the tank for the final kick, but still finished the race “absolutely exhausted.”

“I ended up getting super close to second,” Neil said. “It was less than a 10th of a second, which is really unfortunate. But (there is) nothing I can do about it now.”

Even with the slight disappointment, Neil said he’s very excited about his finish and will only have positive memories with more time removed. NXN also provides “free motivation” for track season, he added, which will include racing against a nearly identical field in the two mile at the Arcadia Invitational in April.

“I think it sets up what can be a promising indoor/outdoor track season, kind of ranking him among the elite of the elites across the country,” Jermyn said. “It’ll bode well for him in terms of racing at Arcadia, hopefully giving him the confidence to race some of those bigger outdoor meets and compete on that national level.”