The Great Oak girls, No. 8 in the MS50 XC Girls Team Rankings, are shooting for the course record of 89:13 set by the 2015 Great Oak team that went on to place third at Nike Cross Nationals.
The girls Championship race field is almost as loaded as the boys, with Buchanan, Great Oak, Mission Viejo, and Palos Verdes among the teams with top individuals including Sarah Shulze and Sylvia Cruz-Albrecht from Oak Park, Audrey Suarez from Pasadena Mayfield, Quinn Hagerman of Merced, Siena Palicke of Yorba Linda, Riley Chamberlain of Del Oro, and Kate Tavella of San Ramon Valley among them.
Buchanan junior Corie Smith, the defending CIF-State Division I champion, was second here last October to Maddy Denner of Oak Ridge (now at Notre Dame). Denner was one of five to have ever dipped under 17 minutes in the invite, running 16:58.70 with Smith next in 17:05.30. Denner came up short of the meet record of 16:55 set by Amber Trotter (Ukiah) in 2001, a standard this year's field undoubtedly will target.
Three weeks ago, Smith ran second at Woodbridge to Great Oak junior Tori Gaitan on the flat, fast 3-mile track at SilverLakes in Norco -- a race that produced 11 of the 12 fastest 3-mile times in the U.S.
Gaitan, who followed that victory with a win on the 5K course at Bob Firman (17:53.50), will be looking for her third major invitational title in as many races. If she is able to beat Smith on her home course, it would be the first title by a Great Oak individual since Destiny Collins won in 2014 (16:57.00, No. 2 in meet history).
Other top girls include Smith's teammate Meagen Lowe, a senior, who was second at State and eighth here last year (just behind Gaitan, who was seventh). Like Smith, this is Lowe's home course and a familiar layout.
"Clovis Invite is a really special meet that really helps me see where my fitness is at," said Lowe, who also placed sixth as a sophomore. "Being from the Central Section, I race there four times a year, so it is really easy to compare my fitness level throughout all of my seasons. Although it is early, I have always PR'ed at Clovis and it really builds my confidence going into the post season. I know exactly what I can improve on from race to race at Woodward and it shows me that I am fit and am ready to race even faster at the end of the year!"
