Leo Young's blistering run on the fast SilverLakes Course at the Woodbridge Classic last September was the fastest 3-mile XC performance in the U.S. last fall.
From the super-fast course in Huntsville, Alabama to the CIF-State Meet layout in Fresno, CA, returning Southern Section boys crushed the 5K.
The largest section in CA warrants a deeper dive. Take a division-by-division look inside the boys cross country competition in the CIF-Southern Section.
Scotts Valley's Ashlyn Boothby placed third at the CIF-State Meet while running the fastest returning 5K among CCS girls.
Check out the top 200 returning boys in the CCS who had times on 5000-meter courses during the 2021 c ross country season.
With lots of divisional changes, this will be a new era for Central Coast Section Cross Country.
When the national distance powerhouse lost head coach Sean Brosnan to a college job, his wife Tanya, who had been an assistant, was tabbed to take over.
Will this be one of those outlier years where Lowell doesn't sweep the All-City titles? The boys appear to have some work to do, while the girls appear strong.
Check out the top 300 returning girls in the Southern Section on 5,000-meter cross country courses.
Take a division-by-division look inside the girls cross country competition in the Southern Section.
We pulled the top 300 returning girls from schools in the Southern Section who had times on 3-mile courses last cross country season.
Bravo Medical Magnet rising sophomore Brynn Bogue has the fastest time on 3-mile cross country courses among returning girls in the LA City Section.
Ten L.A. City Section division titles, 10 different types of winning teams. That was the 2021 season. Which teams/individuals will rise to the top in 2022?
Palisades junior Max Fields is the top returning cross country runner in the LAC on 3-mile courses.
Pleasant Valley senior Chloe Alchin is the top returner from the Northern Section Championship race as well as among the section leaders on 3-mile courses.
Seniors dominated the top of the Northern Section Finals last November but there are plenty of expected returners for the '22 XC season.
University Prep sophomore Noah Gaido is the Northern Section leader on 3-mile courses heading into the '22 cross country season.
Three of the state's elite top the list of fast NCS girls on 5000-meter courses, including defending section and State champion Hanne Thomsen.
NCS champion and State Meet runner-up Olivia Williams leads the list of girls on 3-mile courses.
Following a stellar '21 cross country season, the NCS is loaded once again with team and individual State-title challengers looking to make history.
Courses lumped in under the 3-mile heading vary in degrees of both difficulty and distance, some running faster, some slower, and some measured at 2.9x miles.
Sean Morello's third-place run in the CIF-State Division IV race on the Woodward Park course is the fastest 5K among returning boys in the NCS.
UPDATED - The defending national champion Panthers add a key transfer to a lineup that already includes three of the top boys in the U.S.
Buchanan girls dominate the top of this list based on their times running the flat and super-fast Garmin RunningLane Nationals layout in Huntsville, Alabama.
Madera South's Dylan Devine is among the leaders on 3-mile courses in the Central Section.
Success for Central Section teams and individuals isn't much different than for others up and down California -- you have to run well at Fresno's Woodward Park.
As a freshman, Buchanan's Sierra Cornett ran some of the fastest times in the class, as well as among returning girls in the Central Section.
Clovis senior standout is not only the top XC runner in the Central Section, but he's among the elites nationally.
A returning CIF-State champion is among a handful of CA's top returning athletes from the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Ryan Mitchell of Davis leads all returning boys in the Sac-Joaquin Section on 5,000-meter courses.