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.

Dougherty Valley (NC/Division I)

Dublin has won the last three large-school division titles in the North Coast Section, punctuating that with a 1-5 sweep last November with an all-senior lineup. 

The next boy across the line was Andrew Richards, a rising senior at Dougherty Valley. The Wildcats had won the previous two NCS titles before Dublin's recent streak. Is this the year they return to the top of the podium?

Richards was a clear No. 1 for Dougherty Valley last season, placing sixth overall at NCS and 39th in scoring at State as the Wildcats placed 18th. 

Daniel Municio, another senior, ran No. 2 at State and No. 4 at NCS. Shane Badcock, also a senior, ran No. 6 at NCS but did not take the line at State. 

The key for the Wildcats this fall will be in replacing three seniors from the middle of their lineup and developing young runners like sophomores Noor TozulAhmad, Robi TozulAhmad, and Carter Bliss, and junior Tyler Omega. Noor got experience at both NCS, where he ran No. 5, and State (No. 6). Robi took the line at State in place of Badcock. 

On the track last spring, Richards went 4:20.80 for 1600m and 9:15.15 for 3200m and placed third at the NCS Meet of Champions. Badcock (4:24.53/9:44.32) placed third in at MOC in the 800m and ran his PR of 1:54.91 at State Prelims.