Division 2 Girls
Teams to Watch
Bella Vista won the Division 1 race at section finals last year, and now they're heavy favorites in D2, predicted to have half the score of any other returning squad from 2014's section meet. Whitney and Vacaville also have solid teams back from last year's championship, but the chief competition to Bella Vista could come from St. Francis. The Troubadours have 5 sub-20 5K runners back from the squad that finished 3rd in D1, and they rank second coming into the season in both the 5K and 3 Mile team rankings. You certainly shouldn't count out defending champ Del Campo, who lost 2 strong seniors but still have a lot of talent back.
Returning Team 5K Rankings
Individuals to Watch
Only three of last year's top 10 runners in this division graduated, and with Bella Vista moving down from D1 there's even more talent contending for the individual crown. Kathryn Loken (Del Campo) grades out as the top returner in both the 3 Mile and the 5K, and she also ran sub-11 during the spring season. Her returning XC rankings came about in part because Kendall Derry (Bella Vista) hit a rough patch in the middle of the 2014 championship season, though; Derry recovered well enough to make it to Foot Locker Nationals, and then ran 4:57 on the track. Those two should have some very interesting races this year, with Isabella Dobson (Elk Grove) also potentially getting into the mix. Speaking of strong track performances, keep an eye on Erika Wolf (Nevada Union), whose 5:03 in the spring could be a sign of a big step forward. Bella Vista has more than just Derry, by the way - Hannah Wohlenburg and Cessaire McKinney are definite top-10 runners that could be in the top 5.