State Meet Preview: Division V

There are certain divisions where there is a clear individual favorite and this race is no different. St. Helena junior Harper McClain (DeAnna Turner photo above) may be new to Cross Country but she has certainly proven herself over the past year. During the spring Track and Field season, Harper recorded personal bests of 5:01.04 and 10:29.68 and finished in 7th place at the California state meet in the 3200m. Earlier this season, Harper finish in 3rd place at the Clovis Invitational Championship race with a time of 17:10.2. If you look at all the past Division V results, only one Division V athlete has posted a faster time on the Woodward Park course, four-time state champion, Jordan Hasay. She ran 17:05 as a junior in 2007 and for good measure also posted the four fastest times by a Division V athlete (17:05, 17:11, 17:15 and 17:18). Her main competition should come from Village Christian junior, Mia Barnett, the three-time Southern Section champion. She finished in 2nd place at last year's state meet and is looking to finish one place higher this Saturday. St. Margaret's freshman  Liesel Blau finished in 2nd place behind Barnett at the SS Divisional final and will be looking to score important team points for her team that is contention for the state team crown. Crystal Springs Uplands School freshman Kaiya Brooks won the CCS final and was followed by last year's 5th place finisher, Castilleja senior, Tevah Gevelber. San Francisco University freshman Maya Mason and Lick-Wilmerding senior Mira Terdiman finished in 2nd and 3rd at the NCS MOC meet and should both be in the top 10 on Saturday. The 10th place finisher at last year's state meet, Alaina Zamorano of El Cajon Christian, is a two-time SDS individual champion and has improved her times for most courses from last season.