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.
Two years ago, West Torrance finished 7th in the CIF-SS Division 2 finals, and since then 9 of their top 11 runners from that squad has graduated. That means the Warriors have essentially started over from scratch, during arguably the most difficult time ever for building a team.
The reconstruction process seems to be going well! During the winter, West Torrance posted the 7th-best returning team 3 mile ranking in the state. Rising senior Conor Gibson, in particular, had an excellent cross country season, clocking 14:30. He and fellow senior Hayden Green are the two returners that competed in the championship season in 2019, so kudos to them for holding true to the potential they showed two years ago.
The winter results aren't all positive, though: depth is definitely an issue for the Warriors, which is to be expected given the timing for such huge turnover. Rising senior Matt Frey and junior Yudai Shimizu stayed close to the team's leaders to form a strong returning front four, but there's a big gap back to the next group.
We see the same pattern in their returning team 3200 ranking from the spring, where they finished 10th in the state. Gibson ran 9:17 at that distance and was the top returner in the Division 2 final, while Frey and Green both went well under 10 (with Shimizu right behind at 10:03). Behind that group, senior Kai Smith leads a pack of juniors that ran close to each other but need to close up on that front four. The Warriors' returning team 1600 rankings (also 10th in the state) don't show anything that dispels my main concern about their upcoming fall squad.
Here's the good news: West Torrance returns to Division 3 this fall, where they will certainly contend for the section title. To challenge at the state level, though, they will need to develop their second pack. Discovering some younger talent would really help - their top rising sophomore was their 10th-best 3200 runner in the spring. At least the talent pool is deep, as the Warriors had 37 returners record 1600 times. Given the historical strength of this program, it's not hard to imagine 2 or 3 runners making significant progress over the summer to fill out a title-worthy top 7.