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.

Monte Vista (NC/Division II)

The graduation of consistent No. 1 John Loughery opens the way for rising senior Ethan Miller to naturally take over that spot. Miller is the Mustangs' top returner who ran No. 2 as Monte Vista placed second in the North Coast Section Division 2 finals, and 10th in D-II at State. 

Miller is one of three returning scorers from those two big post-season meets, and one of six returners who took the line at one or both of those championships. 

Senior Benjamin Inocencio ran No. 3 at NCS and No. 4 at State, senior Jake Pederson ran No. 5 at State, and senior Draven Grondona ran No. 5 at NCS. 

Also scheduled back to push for scoring spots are senior Tyler Inocencio, sophomore Owen Brandeis, and senior Jack Frederiksen. 

Tyler Inocencio ran No. 6 at NCS and No. 7 at State. Brandeis, as a freshman, took the line for the Mustangs at the NCS Final.

Monte Vista has NCS titles in Division 1 from 2007 and 2015 but has yet to reach the top of the podium since moving to D-2 where Granada has won two of the last three seasons. The battle again this fall figures to be between Granada, Monte Vista, and De La Salle, the same trio that placed 1-2-3 in '21.

Scoring is against all returning boys in CA.