ALL-STATE XC '22 - CA's Elite Junior Girls

CA Cross Country '22 in Review
Mark Gardner

Tessa Buswell of Poway in the San Diego Section was voted as the MileSplitCA Junior Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year in a statewide poll conducted though our partners at FanPower. Buswell received 30 percent of the vote. Payton Godsey of Oaks Christian (SS) was second, receiving 29 percent of the vote. Congratulations to Tessa!!


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The MileSplitCA All-State Cross Country teams are subjective selections based on results within the class at the State Meet, section championships, and marquee events like the Clovis Invitational. Each team is limited to seven on the line. We also conducted polls to select each team's runner of the year. Those winners are acknowledged above with a banner photo. 

 

MILESPLITCA ALL-STATE JUNIOR GIRLS XC


FIRST TEAM

(Listed alphabetically)


ASHLYN BOOTHBY (Scotts Valley/CC) 



With her eighth-place finish at the state meet in Division IV (18:05.3), keep in mind that it was the fastest the division has ever witnessed in California state meet history.  She rolled to a 17:44.3 on the same course at the Clovis Invite for a seventh-place finish overall. Boothby also captured the Central Coast title, over her sister, at 18:10.5, on the Crystal Springs course.  

TESSA BUSWELL (Poway/SD)



Her best performance came at the state meet as she raced home with the Division 1 title (17:25.0) and the second-fastest of all juniors on the day.  She was runner-up at the San Diego Section championships.  Earlier in the season, she placed 14th at the Woodbridge Classic (16:20.4) and later, added a 17:38 at the Mt. SAC Invite to her resume.   

PAYTON GODSEY (Oaks Christian/SS)



After a breakout 15:51.9 runner-up performance at the Woodbridge Classic, Godsey bookended that with an even more impressive November that saw her capture the Division IV state title (17:00.1) with the fastest time of all juniors.  She ran 16:54.2 on the Mt. SAC course to win the CIF-SS title.  On the national stage, she ended by winning the Garmin RunningLane race in 17:28.3 cementing herself as one of the top girls in the nation.  

GIOANA LOPIZZO (La Costa Canyon/SD) 



Placed second in Division III at the State Meet (17:41.2) for the third fastest time of all juniors.  But, she raced to a 17:28 on the same course to place second overall at the Clovis Invite. After impressing to a 17:14 at the Mt. SAC Invite in the Team Sweeps, she qualified for the Champs Sports national meet with yet, another second-place finish. Lopizzo also ran the fastest time overall at the San Diego Section at the divisional finals.   

TATUM OLESEN (Menlo-Atherton/CC)



In improving by over a minute from the 2021 State Meet, she placed seventh in the Division I final (17:45.9).  She also shined in capturing the Central Coast Section title (18:33.5), despite a more conservative effort on the Crystal Springs course.   

RENAE SEARLS (Alhambra/NC) 



With the Division IV State Meet race driven by some of California's top juniors, Searls placed fourth in that race (17:45.3).  She raced to a 16-second victory to capture the North Coast Section title a week earlier while earlier in the season, Searls placed fourth at the De La Salle Invite (18:06.1).

SHEA VOLKMER (Campolindo/NC) 



One of the reasons for Campolindo's ascendancy to the run-way Division III team title, she placed fourth overall (17:56.3) to help advance the Cougars to the Team Nationals.  Volkmer was third at the North Coast Section Championships (17:23.4) while placing fifth earlier in the season at the De La Salle Invite (18:06.9).  

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SECOND TEAM


Denise Chen (Claremont) - She placed 17th in the Division II state meet final (18:19.5) after running 18:03.3 at the Clovis Invite six weeks earlier.  She was seventh at the CIF-SS finals and ran 17:40 at the Mt. SAC Invite.

Melisse Djomby Enyawe (Corona del Mar/SS) - Placed fifth in the Division III State Meet final (17:59.6) after taking second place a week earlier at the CIF-SS Finals (17:38.8).  

Sophia Ebiner (Bishop Amat/SS) - Placed 12th in that epic Division IV State Meet race (18:13.1).  A week earlier, she rolled to a 17:50.9 on the Mt. SAC Course at the CIF-SS finals for a sixth-place finish.  

Kaitelyn Emmons (Clovis North/CS) - Placed 16th in the Division I State Meet final (18:17.3) and a vital cog for Clovis North reaching the podium with a third-place team finish.  She was sixth in the Central Section finals.  

Kirra Fisk (La Jolla/SD)  - (pictured above) Yet another junior from the Division IV State Meet final, Fisk placed ninth (18:05.6).  She opened the season with a 16:54.5 clocking at the Woodbridge Invite and placed second at the San Diego Section divisional championships.   

Jesse Redding (Colfax/SJ) - Yep, another one from the Division IV final!  Redding exploded onto the scene with her seventh-place finish (17:58.3) from that race.  She was the divisional champ at the Sac-Joaquin championships.  

Mia Torrecillas (Highland/CS) - Two-time CIF-Central Section champion, running away with the D-2 title (43 seconds-plus) after winning D-3 as a soph. Mia placed eighth in the championship race at Clovis Invitational and won seven races during the season. 

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THIRD TEAM


Lyla Fedio (Redondo Union/SS), Makenzie Kordic (Peninsula/SS), Katelyn Matarese (La Canada/SS), Rachel Moen (Campolinda/NC), Winter Moritz (University City/SD), Madilyn Siana (Rancho Cucamonga/SS), Jasleen Sidhu (Los Altos/CC), Anna Soares (Placer/SJ).

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CHECK OUT JUNIOR GIRLS 3-MILE/5K COMBO RANKINGS

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Photos by DeAnna Turner, Raul Ebio, Phil Grooms, Daniel Hernandez, James Huenink, and Wells Sports Photos

Mark Gardner is a teacher, former coach, in-demand announcer, and a regular contributor to MileSplit.

MileSplit California State Editor Jeffrey Parenti contributed to this article.