It's time to get fired up for cross country! Our traditional XC countdown is back, although it will look a little different this time around - we just don't have as much quality data to approach it the way we have in the past. Instead, we will look at 25 boys and girls teams that we think will have an impact this fall in their section, in their division at the state meet, or even nationally. Unlike past countdowns, this year we're going to start with the clear contenders and then work toward some programs that might not be on your radar screen. As always, if you catch an error or have updated information for us, email editor Jeffrey Parenti (email at the bottom of every MileSplitCA page) and we'll make the corrections.
El Toro is sort of the opposite of yesterday's team, Newbury Park, at least in terms of the data we have on them. Of course, the two schools are both in Division 2 in the Southern Section, so it will be interesting to see how their different strengths play out against each other in the fall.
The Chargers had an excellent winter cross country season, dominating the South Coast League Championship and posting the 6th-best returning team 3 mile ranking in the state. They showed significant progress from the 2019 season, when they were ranked 16th for just freshmen and sophomores; the team's top 5 average has improved from 18:40 to 18:27 in that interval, despite everything that disrupted school and training during that time.
El Toro's track results were, well, not bad. On the one hand, they don't really show any measurable progress for the team's returning varsity runners. On the other hand, they do reveal impressive depth and youth, which is definitely in the Chargers' favor. Madison Greene and Darla Medina are the only two rising seniors among the team's returning top 18 runners! Medina leads the returners on the cross country course with her 18:07 3 mile mark, but it was rising junior Carly Miller at the front of the pack on the track, clocking 5:21 and 11:52. Given that Miller was only 2 seconds behind Medina in the winter, we can consider them co-#1 runners going into the upcoming season. Greene was right behind them during cross, and junior Kasey Lynd showed signs of rejoining that lead group (she ran 17:38 as a freshman to lead the team's frosh/soph rankings). If fellow Class of 2023 member Susana Torres can close up on Lynd as well, then El Toro is going to have a potent pack that will make them hard to beat.
More good news from track season: this team has a very deep group of rising sophomores that got some experience in the winter and fall, and that should pay off in outstanding depth in coming seasons. Evelyn Gonzalez and Shae Barrera, in particular, appear poised to make a push for spots in the top 7, and if even one of them develops into a top 5 caliber athlete it would really boost the team's chances. Given how little the Chargers will lose to graduation this year, I'm looking forward to seeing them in 2022! In the meantime, expect them to contend for the CIF-SS D2 title and be a top 10 team, at a minimum, at the state meet.
