Storylines to Watch for the Southern Section Girls
Division 2 in the Southern Section is stacked with returners where the top seven finishers and nine of the top 10 from the SS Finals return, including three top-seven freshman, including champion Maddie Coles of Claremont (528) and the Nos. 4-5 finishers, Tiana Goeson of Serrano (2031) and Emma Hadley of Anaheim Canyon (behind 1429). (Credit: Frank Bellino)
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The Southern Section girls always boast the top teams in California, and as evidenced from the 2018 finale at NXN in Oregon -- the nation! The patience of Vista Murrieta paid off as they leapfrogged Southwestern League foe, Great Oak to place seventh at NXN. But a week earlier, Great Oak held on to capture its SEVENTH straight Division 1 CIF-State title!
But these two squads need to watch out for a program that has made the move back into the division ...
In Division 2, Claremont's girls are looking to defend their title and claim a fourth consecutive D2 team title. In regard to representation at the 2018 State Meet, the group from D2 was stronger than that of Division 1.
Meanwhile, Palos Verdes looks to defend its Division 3 title while claiming the top hardware for the seventh time in the past 10 seasons.
Division 4 poses a lot of question marks as on paper, Foothill Tech is not projected to claim a third straight team title. But we feel that they just might have a coach that can guide them back to the top of the podium. Harvard-Westlake and the Quintero sisters may have something to say about that though.
St. Margaret's is favored to defend its Division 5 title from a year ago, which ended the five-year run from the girls of Flintridge Prep.
On the pages to follow, we go into greater detail in a division-by-division examination of the top storylines going into the 2019 cross country season.
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10 Hot Dates
With many choices each weekend throughout the season, here is just a sampling of 10 meets/dates of note in the Southern Section:
Aug. 31 - Great Cow Run (Cerritos Regional Park) - AM meet (pictured)
Sept. 6 - Cool Breeze (Brookside Golf Course, Pasadena) - PM meet
Sept. 20-21 - Woodbridge Invitational (SilverLakes Sports Park, Norco) - PM meet
Sept. 28 - Dana Hills Invitational (DHHS) - AM meet
Oct. 5 - Temecula Twilight (Galway Downs) - New PM meet
Oct. 18-19 - Orange County Championships (Oak Canyon Park, Silverado) - Afternoon Friday, AM Saturday
Oct. 25-26 - 72nd Mt. SAC Invitational (Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut) - AM/Afternoon Friday; AM Saturday
Nov. 1 - Apache Invitational (Whittier Narrows/Legg Lake - NEW LOCATION) - PM meet
Nov. 15-16 - CIF-Southern Section Prelims (Riverside City Championship Course) - AM meet both days
Nov. 23 - CIF-Southern Section Finals (Riverside City Championship Course) - AM meet
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