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.
Skyline (OK/Division III)
The Titans escaped with a one-point victory in the section final to earn Oakland's lone spot on the line at the State Meet.
Senior Silvia Kambouridis is the only loss from the seven who took the line at both OK and State Finals. None of the experienced returning six are seniors, which bodes well for a stronger fall in '22.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Forde (pictured) ran No. 2 for the Titans at both section and State Finals last year as a freshman and junior Jessica Vogel (pictured on the banner) was a consistent No. 3 in those meets.
Shoring up the back end will be essential for both a repeat at sections and an improved result at State, where the Titans were 25th in 2021.
The returning group is also expected to include this group of juniors: Zara Ahsan, Karina Larrieta Ceron, Helena Rudensky, and Charlotte Seven.
| Skyline (OK) | ||||
| 1) Kaitlyn Forde | 21:04.37 | 1 | ||
| 2) Jessica Vogel | 21:29.82 | 3 | ||
| 3) Karina Larrieta Ceron | 22:06.10 | 4 | ||
| 4) Helena Rudensky | 22:27.66 | 6 | ||
| 5) Charlotte Seven | 22:32.40 | 7 | ||
| Average Time: 21:56.07 Total Time: 1:49:40.35 1-5 Split: 1:28.03 | ||||
| 6) Zara Ahsan | 23:54.30 | 8 | ||
| 7) Ruby Davies | 26:00.10 | 12 | ||
Scoring is against all girls returners in the Oakland Section.
Photos by DeAnna Turner