It's time to get fired up for cross country! Our traditional XC countdown is back, although it may look a little different this time around - our longtime data analyst Jeff George has moved on, leaving this energizing project to the MileSplit team in CA. Our collective goal is to briefly highlight 30 boys and 30 girls teams that we think will have an impact this fall. We will spotlight one team per gender per day over a 30-day period. Similar to past countdowns, we will provide a cross-sampling of teams from all 10 sections without regard to statewide or even division ranking (those will come later, as will articles previewing each section, and returning athletes to watch). As always, if you catch an error or have updated information for us, email CA state editor Jeffrey Parenti (jeffrey.parenti@flosports.tv) and we'll make the corrections.
Poway (SS/Division II)
Few schools could miss the graduation of a front-runner like Mackenzie Rogers (11th in the state) and still have Top 5 hopes, but the Titans were extremely young behind Rogers and now those runners have a solid year behind them. Junior Tessa Buswell, she of the 2:09.54 800 speed, 4:55.52 1600, and a second-place finish in the San Diego Section cross country championships (18:26.2), not to forget 15th in the State, is now in the leadership role.
Two more 11th-graders who gained experience a year ago, Avalon Nash (fourth in the section at 18:46.9) and Kaitlin Surber (19:21.2 in 11th), should make a bigger mark this year with now-sophs Tori McIntosh (20:14.1) and Mackenzie Juza (20:15.6) ready to build on their first year and the experience gained in the state meet.
The Titans, behind Buswell, will need to improve as a group but if they do, another fifth-place team finish or better would not be a shock.
| Poway (SD) | ||||
| 1) Tessa Buswell | 18:18.70 | 43 | ||
| 2) Avalon Nash | 19:08.90 | 139 | ||
| 3) Kaitlin Surber | 19:12.30 | 151 | ||
| 4) Mackenzie Juza | 20:12.00 | 337 | ||
| 5) Tori McIntosh | 21:01.10 | 564 | ||
| Average Time: 19:34.60 Total Time: 1:37:53.00 1-5 Split: 2:42.40 | ||||
| 6) Jessica Shikwana | 21:45.60 | 717 | ||
| 7) Katherine Greene | 21:47.40 | 723 | ||
Scoring points are against all returning teams.
Steve Brand is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplit.
Photos by DeAnna Turner