Countdown to XC Day 18: Vista Murrieta Girls



The good news is twofold for Vista Murrieta this spring: Paige Haynes is healthy after being forced to miss all of track season, and the Broncos add another Candaele to their squad in rising freshman Devyn. The bad news: they lost Annabelle Werner and Nadine Dubon, who were the top two 1600 on the team this past spring. There is still plenty of returning talent, but the projected Bronco team for 2018 has two potential issues - a huge gap between Haynes and the rest of the team, and a lack of depth after 7 runners (assuming Devyn makes the top 7). Those concerns can be addressed with a good summer, and Vista Murrieta's year-to-year improvement over the last 3 cross country seasons indicates this is a program capable of accomplishing that. I won't be a bit surprised to see the Broncos return to the state meet and finish in the top 10 there again, and they have a legitimate chance of repeating their top 5 finish from 2017.


RANKTIMEATHLETE/TEAMGRADEMEET DATEPLACE
116:27.702019
217:42.902020
318:01.602019
418:11.402019
518:16.402021
618:19.802020
719:45.402019


Team Statistics:

  • 5K Improvement Rating: 17th
  • 5K Returning Rankings: 4th
  • 3 Mile Returning Rankings: 10th
  • 1600 Returning Rankings: 35th


The purpose of the Countdown To XC is not to predict the top 30 teams in the state for the upcoming season (although we certainly hope that the top 15-20 teams are included in the countdown at some point). The goal is to recognize thirty teams to watch as cross country begins, using data to uncover squads with strengths that stand out from the pack. The countdown is also not meant to be in a strict order, because it's impossible to sort out several teams of similar strength at this point of the season.