Girls Coundown to XC Day 10: Vista Murrieta

Some teams just don't put a lot of emphasis on competition during track season with their year-round runners, and some may have athletes from other sports that participate in cross country but not track. Those are a few of the reasons why you can see a statistical profile like Vista Murrieta's: one of the best returning cross country rankings in the state, but decidedly pedestrian team results from the spring. Part of that was the absence of star #1 Devyn Candaele during the spring (it would have been great to see her times!).  The Broncos did lose three seniors from the team that took Great Oak to the wire in the Division 1 state meet last fall, and that raises a valid concern about their depth. That issue shows up in returning cross country rankings as gaps after their 3rd and 4th runners, and spring results did not show enough improvement from the back end of the top 7 to alleviate my concern. I'm guessing Vista Murrieta takes a small step back from last year's results, but they should have enough firepower up front to make it to the state meet. If they can cultivate one or two more runners that can push for the 4-7 spots on the 2019 varsity squad, the Broncos could be back in the top 5 again.