Girls Coundown to XC Day 25: Burbank

You may be surprised to find a team that finished 10th in the Southern Section Division 1 race, not making the state meet, in this countdown. However, there are several factors that say the Bulldogs will be in contention for a state meet spot in 2019, and in their section/division that means this could be a top 20 team in the state overall. So what do we like about Burbank? Their returning top 3, for starters, led by rising senior Sol Fernandez. They also showed excellent progress in the spring, putting 5 girls at 12:03 or faster in the 3200 (three under 11:40). Finally, over the last three years this program has been steadily improving (for both boys and girls) as well as anyone in the state. Before I can say I'm totally sold on the Bulldogs, though, I need to see how their depth has developed: they need more runners to compete for the 4-7 spots, and for that group to close on the top 3. Fernandez is the only projected senior in the top 7 for this fall, so Burbank will return a strong group again next year.