10 Championships & 4 NXN Berths on the Line

It's not often that one school sweeps both divisional races at the California State Meet but if the Flintridge Prep girls do win their race, the FP boys will take care of business and complete the double victory for the Rebels. This will be their 5th state championship for the boys following their previous victories in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004. They finished in 3rd place last year behind Xavier Prep (SS) and St. Joseph Notre Dame (NCS) but a motivated group returned this year to finish the season undefeated against like sized schools. They even won the Division IV race at the Clovis Invitational vs one of the top ranked Division IV teams in state, Sage Creek (SDS). Their main opposition will come from the North Coast Section with a very fired up Marin Academy team. At last week's NCS MOC, MA won their first section title defeating the four-time defending section champion, St. Joseph Notre Dame. Both NCS teams will challenge for podium team finishes along with the SS 2nd place team, Desert Christian, defending state champion Xavier Prep and a much healthier College Prep (NCS) team. From the Central Coast Section, Crystal Springs Uplands School and St. Francis CCC tied at the section championship race and will both be looking to finish as high as possible in the top 10.

The race for the individual title will come down to two of the best runners in the state, regardless of divisions, Flintridge Prep's senior, Jack Van Scoter and St. Joseph Notre Dame junior, Cooper Teare. Van Scoter defeated Teare in their lone matchup this season at the Mt. SAC Invitational 14:45 to 14:48. Henry Fleming of Marin Academy proved last week that he won't be afraid to follow a hot early pace and will chase both front runners in hopes of a top 3 finish. College Prep senior Alex Glavin has rebounded nicely from an early season injury and will be in the mix for a top 5 finish along with Eli Horwitz of Stuart Hall, Dawson Reckers of Athenian, Isaiah Lozano of St. Bonaventure and Peter Callan of Thacher.

The Flintridge Prep girls made the podium 3 times (2003, 2004 and 2013) before finally winning the ultimate prize last season over league rival Mayfield. This year, FP has been the dominant team all season and they will be heavy favorites to repeat as state champions. The contenders for state meet podium finishes will come mostly from the North Coast Section. Newly crowned section champion, St. Joseph Notre Dame, has had quite a bit of success on the boys' side but now have a competitive girls' team to boot. If team scoring stopped after the third runner, SJND would be declared the team winner in a landslide. With five runners scoring, they seem be the favorites to finish second behind Flintridge Prep but with 3 runners potentially in the top 10 and with 3 freshmen as part of their top 5, that makes them very dangerous. Lick-Wilmerding will attempt to claim another podium finish and will need to stay ahead of NCS rivals, Branson, Sonoma Academy, and Urban and the 2nd place finisher at the SS meet, Pacifica Christian. San Diego Section champion Francis Parker just missed making making the podium last year with a fourth place finish and will need to navigate through all the NCS teams in order for them to capture the school's first state meet trophy.

The favorite to win her 2nd straight individual champion is lightly raced sophomore, Rylee Bowen of Sonoma Academy. She won last week's NCS MOC meet over Kiera Marshall of St. Joseph Notre Dame and it wasn't easy as Bowen edged out Marshall by less than five seconds, 17:29.7 to 17:34.2. Both runners finished first and second at last year's state meet and look for the same finish this year. Those two should be well ahead of the field with the chase pack consisting of NCS runners, Grace Dailey of Branson, Brianna Bourne of College Prep as well as Marshall's teammates, Emily Perez and Beatrice Levy. Section champions will make up the rest of the pack with Southern Section champ, Mazzy Genovese of Rolling Hills Prep, Sac-Joaquin Section champ Katarina Stashyn of Vacaville Christian and Central Coast Section champ, Hana Marsheck of Woodside Priory.