Girls Coundown to XC Day 23: Carlmont

Carlmont rising senior Kaimei Gescuk placed fourth in the Large School Division race at Clovis (pictured) and is the No. 6 returner among Division 1 girls from the CIF State Finals. (Credit: Jeffrey Parenti)

The Scots finished 2nd in the Central Coast Section Division 1 race last fall, but our system projects them as the #1 team this year in the section regardless of division. Carlmont returns all seven of their runners from that 2018 squad, which finished 11th at the state meet. The returning team includes CCS champion Kaimei Gescuk, 10th at the state meet, plus four rising juniors and three rising seniors. That makes this a veteran, experienced Scots team that has a clear goal: break into the top 10 in Division 1. Depth is the only thing that could hold them back: Carlmont has a big gap behind their star #1, which is natural, but also has space to fill between their returning 4th and 5th runners. If that 5-6-7 group can join the next pack, this team could be very formidable. Rising soph Jasmine Cassidy could be a key there: after a fall season that saw her right on the bubble of the top 7 for the Scots, she ran the 4th-fastest 1600 time on the team (and the cohesion in their top 7 1600 times indicates progress in developing that needed depth). Carlmont has been doing an excellent job of season-to-season cross country improvement over the last three years, and one more strong summer could have them contending for the top 5 in Division 1.