Girls Coundown to XC Day 6: Sage Creek

This is the highest-ranked small school team in the countdown, but Sage Creek's size won't matter this fall: they're as good as anyone else on this Countdown with the possible exception of the top 4 teams. The Bobcats rank in the top 10 returning teams in the state for both 3 Miles and 5K, and they have the 3rd-best returning team from the 2018 state meet (all divisions). They did run at Woodbridge and Dana Hills, so those 3 Mile times are blazing fast, but five of their top 7 runners posted 5K season bests at the state meet - that's legit. Senior Skyler Wallace and her sister, sophomore Stormy, pace the defending Division 4 state champions, and Lavanya Pandey joined those two in running under 11:20 for 3200 this past spring. All told, the Bobcats put 7 returning runners under 5:40 in the 1600, which indicates continued development of their depth runners. As a program Sage Creek has been developing well over the past three seasons, and all they need is to shore up the back end of their top 7 to justify this placement in the Countdown. This team is heavily favored to repeat in Division 4, and with a good summer they could be on the fringes of the NXN conversation as one of the top 5 teams in the state overall.