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TSR's 2024 Preseason High School XC Top 25 Team Rankings: #25 - #13 (Girls)
- Donald Speas
- Aug 7, 2024
- 8 min read
Written by Donny Speas, additional edits & commentary via Garrett Zatlin
25. Auburn Tigers (AL)
The Alabama 7A cross country champions are back in full swing with a year of experience underneath their belts. The Auburn Tigers (one can only guess where they got that nickname) are led by a lethal duo of sophomore Sarah Tole and junior Abby Merner, both of whom have run under 18 minutes for 5000 meters, sporting respective personal bests of 17:37 and 17:50.
While I believe that the key to the Tigers' success lies in the strength of their top duo, we all know cross country is a sport won by the third, fourth and fifth scorers. The Tigers are fortunate enough that all of their backend scorers have experience in championship settings such as the state championship meet and the NXR Southeast meet. In theory, that should set up Auburn quite well for the season ahead.
24. Timpview Thunderbirds (UT)
The Timpview Thunderbirds have a very high floor for how well they will perform this season. That, of course, is due to their elite duo of Jane Hedengren (Woodbridge Invite champion) and Lily Alder (20th at NXN in 2023).
Hedengren is a bonafide contender for the individual national title and Alder looks like she’ll be scoring in the single digits in the national meet. However, a cross country lineup has seven runners, not two.
The Thunderbird’s supporting cast is plenty respectable, although they are going to need to collectively improve to chip away at some excessive point swelling. I think the two athletes most likely contenders for that spot are junior Mary Marvell, the Utah JV state champion, and senior Daphne Batmale, who holds a promising 18:44 (5k) personal best.
If either (or both) of these athletes have a great race when it matters the most, then Timpview's ceiling can be that of a top-15 team in the nation.
23. Southlake Carroll Dragons (TX)
There’s good news and bad news for the Southlake Carroll Dragons.
The good news is that Southlake Carroll looks like one of (if not the) best teams in both the state of Texas and the entire Nike South region. The bad news is that they lost four of their top-seven athletes from last year’s squad which qualified for NXN.
Luckily, the Dragons have a MASSIVE roster and plenty of eager replacements for the departed seniors. They also return a varsity strong core composed of senior Elizabeth Smits (77th at NXN), Junior Vanessa Vezga (156th at NXN) and Sarayu Veluri (87th at Woodbridge Classic).
When you combine that returning core with a relatively easy path to the national meet, it makes us feel very confident that we will be seeing Southlake Carroll at the national meet this December.
22. Wayzata Trojans (MN)
In my mind, the team name "Wayzata" is synonymous with Heartland cross country. Nearly every year it feels like a safe bet to expect the Trojans to be in Portland during the first weekend of December and this year looks no different.
Last year, the Trojans qualified for NXN, finishing in 21st place which, admittedly, wasn’t a terrific result. However, the Trojans do return their entire scoring five from NXN, giving us a ton of confidence about their odds of improving on their national meet finish this December.
One athlete who could help make or break Wayzata’s performance this season is senior Juila Link who ran 18:58 (5k XC) in her first season racing on the grass and has strung together some strong performances this past outdoor track season.
21. Fossil Ridge SaberCats (CO)
The Fossil Ridge SaberCats are the defending cross country national champions...but not in the way that you're probably thinking. That's because this Colorado-based distance program actually won the (truthfully less competitive) RunningLane XC National Championships last fall rather than NXN.
From the SaberCats' squad that won last year's RunningLane national title, they only graduated one athlete from their top-five. That, in theory, should set them up for a return to greatness in 2024.
Fossil Ridge is led by senior Tatum Berg who made some massive strides during the 2024 track season running stellar personal bests of 4:53 for 1600 meters and 10:37 for 3200 meters (both times were run at high elevation). That gives me massive confidence in her potential (and her team as a whole) for this upcoming fall season.
20. Ventura Cougars (CA)
Many of you may have heard of the Ventura Cougars because of superstar Sadie Engelhardt. The NC State commit has lit up the track and has almost single-handedly rewritten the high school middle distance record books.
As you may expect, having a low-stick megastar like Engelhardt is huge positive for a team looking to make it out of a very challenging California region. In fact, they very nearly made it to NXN last fall, winning the CIF Division 2 XC State Championship. Now, in 2024, they appear favored to defend their title.
In addition to Engelhardt, the Cougars return another five athletes from last year's top-seven, giving them a very realistic shot at contending for a spot at the national meet and potentially a top-10 finish.
19. Chaparral Wolverines (CO)
If you haven’t heard of the Chaparral Wolverines before this article, then I can’t say that I’d blame you. In fact, I had not heard of them myself until I started my research for these team rankings.
And that's when I realized...I don’t think they’ll be "unknowns" for too much longer.
Back in 2023, the Wolverines took 6th place in the toughest region in the country and were 3rd at the toughest state meet in the country. Now, in 2024, they will return their entire scoring five. That alone is enough for me to put them in our top-25.
The Wolverines managed to achieve this largely by virtue of their top-four scorers (who have all run under 18:30 for 5000 meters). However, Chaparral’s ceiling will be determined by how much their projected fifth scorer, Swede Sabey, can cut down on the gap between herself and the Wolverine's top-four scorers.
18. Brentwood Bruins (TN)
One of many teams coming from a loaded Southeast region is the Brentwood Bruins. This squad lost a grand total of…zero (!) athletes from a 2023 squad that won the Tennessee 3A XC State Championship over a consistently-solid Hardin Valley team.
Looking towards a larger stage, the Bruins finished 6th at NXR Southeast meet. So why are they ranked this high? Well, that’s because of the team's depth and tight top-five time spread.
Brentwood has three different athletes (Abi Cobb, Lauren Banovac and Rachel Haws) who all placed inside the top-65 at the 2023 NXR Southeast meet. That trio doesn't even include Brentwood’s top returner based on PRs -- that honor belongs to Lia Banovac who has run 17:51 for the 5000-meter distance.
Not only that, but the Bruins had a very strong outdoor track campaign with their entire top-five lowering their personal bests across the board.
17. Barrington Broncos (IL)
The Barrington Broncos are one of the many talented squads in the Greater “Chicago-land” area. After placing 4th at the 2023 NXR Midwest meet and returning their entire scoring five, the Broncos looked poised to make their first trip to the national meet in recent memory.
The Broncos are led by senior Scout Storms who won a whopping nine out of 11 races this past fall, highlighted by a win at the IHSA 3A State XC Championships. One other key athlete for Barrington is sophomore Mia Sirois who had a solid cross country season, placing 27th at NXR Midwest meet. She also exploded this past track season (which is meant to be phrased as a good thing), capturing a state title over 3200 meters.
When you consider what Sirois’s improved fitness may mean for her cross country prowess, you quickly realize that a trip to NXN (and a top-half finish) is a very realistic possibility for Barrington.
16. Downers Grove North Trojans (IL)
Another "Chicago-land” team, the Downers Grove North Trojans check all the needed boxes (at least for me), when they qualified for NXN in 2023. They have a solid low-stick in junior Lily Eddington and they return the majority of last year’s top-seven.
Even so, this group does lose last year’s third and fifth scorers. That, in turn, leaves some questions about who will fill those backend scoring positions.
Luckily for the Trojans, senior Audrey Casten made a massive leap in fitness this outdoor track season, running 10:50 for 3200 meters. That is enough for me to slot her into a projected scoring position. Two other likely candidates for the Trojan’s final scoring positions are seniors McKenzie Willard and Hannah Renner, both of whom have spent time in Downers Grove North’s varsity lineup and raced at last year’s national meet.
15. Union Catholic Vikings (NJ)
This most recent outdoor track season made Union Catholic a household name after they broke the national record in the 4x800-meter relay, running a phenomenal time of eight minutes and 34 seconds.
While middle distance prowess is certainly the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Union Catholic, they have still had great success on the cross country course, most recently securing a top-10 finish at last year’s national meet.
The Vikings return a great sophomore duo composed of Paige Sheppard and Cayleigh Kaiser, both of whom finished inside the top-75 at NXN. However, in the grand scheme of things, Union Catholic’s success will depend on how much the trio of Ella Solorzaon, Emmy O’Hearn and Kayla Devine improve on their 2023 NXN performances.
That aforementioned trio will likely dictate the direction of this group throughout 2024. And if they run beyond expectations, then this will become squad with an outside shot of finishing inside the top-five.
14. Trabuco Hills Mustangs (CA)
Originally, I glossed over the Trabuco Hills Mustangs while making these rankings -- and gosh, if I hadn’t caught my mistake, then that would have been pretty bad. At first I saw that the Mustangs lost three of last year’s entire top-seven to graduation and I wrote them off...
...then I realized that they only lost one runner who was in a scoring position. And perhaps more importantly, they have an absolutely lethal average of 17:10 for three miles.
Up in the front for the Mustangs is senior Holly Barker who qualified for NXN as an individual and finished in a very impressive 12th place. Barker’s scoring potency will give Trabuco Hills a real fighting chance to make it out of an incredibly challenging California region and hopefully bring the whole team to NXN with her.
13. North Allegheny Tigers (PA)
In a year with an absolutely loaded girl’s field, it can be easy to lose track of schools like North Allegheny -- even though we most certainly should not. The Tigers placed 5th at last year’s national meet and return five of their top-seven runners, including the dynamic duo of Wren and Robin Kulcer who have both run 18 minutes for 5000 meters.
Unfortunately, the Tigers lost their third and fourth scorers. Those open scoring spots will likely be the biggest limiting factor(s) in the team's success this season. Outside of the Kulcer twins, the Tigers don’t have any returners who finished inside the top-150 at NXN.
Even so, it would be foolish to count out North Allegheny. They surprised us with a 5th-place finish at the national meet in 2023 and it’s entirely possible that they can pull off something similar later this fall.
