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.
Del Norte (SD/Division I)
The top four have as much potential and star power as any team in the section. Since only one senior graduated, you'd think the depth is there, but the Nighthawks lost the D-I team title because of a lack of depth. So, barring a transfer, someone is going to have to step up big.
Ah, but those returnees. Hannah Riggins was 10th (18:34.9) in the San Diego Section meet, behind freshman teammate Emily Russo (5th in 17:55.6 and 19th at State in 18:17.5) but was a respectable 34th at State. Then came track season and Riggins was dazzling in the 1600-meter run, clocking a 4:46.97 to place fifth in probably the best individual event at the State Track and Field Championships. She also had a fine 10:53.18 for 3200m. Russo's 5:05.75 and 10:56.0 bode well.
Riggins' 16:42.50 to win at Dana Hills, ranks No. 11 in the state among returning girls on 3-mile courses.
Add in the sister combo of junior Ella Echsner (12th in the section at 18:42.7) as well as 5:05.49 for 1600m on the track, and soph Paige Echsner (20th in the section at 19:13.2) and 5:06.80 in track, and you have a very solid 1-4. You can bet they'll all work on pushing that speed for another mile, too.
2021 Returning Times for 5000 Meters
| Del Norte (SD) | ||||
| 1) Hannah Riggins | 17:51.50 | 19 | ||
| 2) Emily Russo | 18:17.10 | 40 | ||
| 3) Ella Echsner | 19:19.60 | 173 | ||
| 4) Paige Echsner | 19:27.00 | 188 | ||
| 5) Emma Hong | 19:50.50 | 250 | ||
| Average Time: 18:57.14 Total Time: 1:34:45.70 1-5 Split: 1:59.00 | ||||
| 6) Brianna Busse | 20:16.50 | 355 | ||
| 7) Madelynn Badillo | 20:44.60 | 490 | ||
Steve Brand is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplit.
Photos by Angel Pena