Girls 3200
Meet Record - Kristen Leung - Lowell- 2016 - 10:33.71
The favorite to win the 3200m. here may be a runner who has not run this event during her high school career (at least officially). Davis senior Olivia O'Keeffe (Kirby Lee photo above) has two podium finishes in the 1600m at the California state meet as well as a Division I XC state title to her credit. This will be her debut in this event and she will definitely come in looking for the win. So far this season, O'Keeffe has rolled to a 4:55.35 winning effort at the Sacramento State High School Classic. Her main competition should come from Gillian Wagner of Redwood HS who has proven to be another versatile runner with 2:12.91 and 4:54.41 personal bests, a 3000m victory at the Stanford Invitational (9:58.26) as well as an individual Cross Country title this past season in Division III. Granada junior Colleen McCandless is never afraid to set the pace and if both the girls above choose to shadow the leader, McCandless may be the one driving the pace. Other notable runners in the race include Sydney Vandegrift of St. Francis Sacramento who has the best personal best in the field at 10:32.12. Campolindo has always had a good group in this event and they will be led by Isabella Chao and Jenna Miles. If you are looking for a couple of upset specials, check out Caroline Garrett of Oakland Tech and Gabrielle Peterson of Healdsburg.
Boys 3200
Meet Record - Cooper Teare -St. Joseph Notre Dame- 2016 - 8:56.07
The North Coast Section has been dominated the past three years by St. Joseph Notre Dame alum, Cooper Teare. Now that Mr. Teare is tearing it up for the University of Oregon, the new dominant force in the section is Redwood junior, Liam Anderson (Anda Chu photo above). He opened a few eyes as a freshman when he finished in 2nd place behind teammate Andy Ehrenberg at the NCS MOC XC meet. Last track season, Anderson qualified for two events with a winning effort in the 1600m and a 2nd place finish behind Teare in the 3200m. This past XC season, Anderson continued his rise nationally with a state XC title and a 3rd place finish at NXN. He will be attempting a tough double here with the 800m and 3200m but he is more than up for the challenge. Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau of Bellarmine had his own spectacular XC season but was slowed a bit with a late-season injury. Menlo's Robert Miranda is the defending CCS champion in this event and will also be after the win here. Other runners that won't be afraid to lock onto the lead pack include Jesuit's spectacular sophomore Matt Strangio, Liberty Ranch's confident Collin Ullrich as well as Dublin's dynamic duo of Adrian Schroeder and Gaurav Phanse. Granada senior John Bennett will be after a hot time in this event before returning back to his specialty, the 1600m.