We'll conduct a poll every week highlighting some of California's best cross country performances.
The California Performer of the Week poll will close at 5 p.m. PST this Thursday, and the winner will be announced shortly after on MileSplit West Social media pages (Instagram, X, Facebook).
PREVIOUS WEEK WINNERS
*Previous winners will be listed on each Performer of the Week poll, and the audience will vote on the Performer of the XC regular season on the week of December 15th. All POW winners of the 2025 XC season will not be eligible to be nominated again after being selected.
Emma Alba (Arnold O. Beckman): A year ago, Emma Alba ran 13:41 at the Mountie Xpress Invitational to finish third in the large school freshman girls race. This year, Alba not only won the large school girls race, but she was the fastest of the day at 11:32 for the 2-mile course. She also helped the Beckman girls finish 2nd overall in the meet's merge.
Anais Cruz (Westlake): There may be a breakout freshman on the horizon out of Thousand Oaks at Westlake High School, where Anaisa Cruz ran the third fastest time of the day at the Mountie Xpress Invitational. Cruz ran 11:50 on the 2-mile course to win the large school freshman girls' race with her twin sister, Sabina Cruz, finishing second at 12:06.
Arielle Avina (Murrieta Valley): At the Roosey Relays, Arielle Avina kicked off her senior season with the fastest 2400m split in the varsity girls 5x2400m relay championship. Her split of 8:16.77 helped Murrieta Valley win the relay because she was forty seconds faster than any person on that day.
Olivia Campos (Mt. Carmel): The Sundevils of Mt. Carmel swept the individual wins at the Bronco Roundup, which started with Olivia Campos' win in the varsity girls' race. Campos ran 11:40 on the 2-mile course to take the win with her teammate, Isabella Mayer, behind her in second place.
Natalie Drewitz (ML King): It was a dominant day for the Martin Luther King girls at the Redondo Cross Country Relays, where they captured the 5x3000m title in a time of 52:18.63. Their relay win was bookended by Natalie Drewtiz's 10:02.34 split, earning her the fastest split of the meet and just beating her teammate, Elizabeth Jacklin, by 35-hundredths of a second. Last year, MLK finished tenth at the CIF State D1 XC State Championships, and this win is further proving how formidable they will be in 2025.
