29th California Cross Country State Championships --
10 Storylines to Follow

By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

Greatest of them all?

Great Oak became the first school since Dana Hills in 2008 to sweep Division I boys and girls state titles in the same season.

Nordhoff has captured both state championships in the same season three times, but no school in state history has accomplished the feat in consecutive years. Dana Hills, Madera South and Jesuit are the primary challengers to the Great Oak boys, with Davis Senior and Monte Vista looking to upset the Wolfpack girls.

Great Oak is also pursuing Woodward Park course records of 76:12 set by the Arcadia boys in 2010 and 89:25 established by the Saugus girls in the same year.

The Wolfpack can also join Saugus and San Francisco University as the only girls cross country programs in California history to win four consecutive state titles.

Prepped for history

There have been state title sweeps by one school in the top four divisions, but never in the 20-year history of Division V since expansion of the state championships took place in 1996.

Flintridge Prep has the potential to end that drought and become the seventh program in California history to secure boys and girls state titles in the same year.

The Rebels won their first Division V girls state championship last year by defeating Prep League rival Mayfield. With the Cubs now a leading title contender in Division IV this season, Flintridge Prep will need to get past St. Joseph Notre Dame and Francis Parker in order to repeat.

Flintridge Prep’s boys, seeking their fifth state title, have their sights set on two records as they battle Desert Christian and Marin Academy. The first is the Division V team time standard of 80:32 set by St. Margaret’s in 2011, especially after the Rebels ran 80:34 at Woodward Park at the Oct. 10 Clovis Invitational.

The other record would make Flintridge Prep the most decorated boys team in state history with a 15^th podium finish. The Rebels have 14 top-three performances – four championships, six runner-up efforts and four third-place finishes – since 1997 and would break a tie with McFarland, which has made the podium 14 times since 1987.

Flintridge Prep’s girls have an outside shot at breaking the Division V record of 96:02 set in 1998 by San Francisco University. The Rebels clocked 97:11 in last year’s victory, which ranks fourth in division history.

Saugus state of mind

With a victory in the Division II girls state final, Saugus would capture its ninth championship and move one title closer to San Francisco University for the most in California history.

Jesuit and McFarland have both won nine boys state championships, but only University's girls have reached 10 titles, although it took the Wildcats 17 seasons (1996-2012) to achieve that record.

Saugus is seeking its ninth championship in 10 years, including its seventh in Division II after capturing the first two in Division I in 2006-07. The Centurions won seven in a row in the two divisions from 2006-12.

Saugus produced a four-point victory over Serrano at the Southern Section Division II final, with Bella Vista and Granada also looking to challenge the Centurions for state supremacy.

Serrano, Granada and Bella Vista are all seeking their first state championships.

Podium streak on line for Palos Verdes

The boys and girls teams from Palos Verdes have placed in the top three in Division III every year since 2009, with both groups capturing two state championships during that six-year run, including the girls title last season.

That streak could be in jeopardy for both teams this year, with the Sea Kings placing second in the Southern Section Division III girls final and fourth in the boys race.

Palos Verdes must contend with Aptos, Campolindo, Esperanza, La Costa Canyon and Moorpark in the girls race. The Sea Kings will be challenged by Brea-Olinda, Baldwin Park, Campolindo and Paso Robles in the boys final.

Palos Verdes and Saugus are both pursuing their 10^th state podium finishes, a feat accomplished by only three other California girls teams (San Francisco University, Chadwick and Campolindo). The Sea Kings would be the 10^th program in state history with seven boys podium finishes.

A challenging path to Portland

With Great Oak’s boys and girls teams both ranked No. 2 nationally, they are expected to qualify automatically to compete Dec. 5 at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore.

Which schools could be joining the Wolfpack at the 12^th annual event remain to be seen, with several quality challengers looking to secure California’s second automatic qualifying berth or strengthen their case to be selected as an at-large entry.

Dana Hills, Madera South, Jesuit and Ventura will compete against Great Oak in the Division I boys final, with Division II West Torrance and Division III Brea-Olinda also in contention. Ventura and Brea-Olinda both competed at NXN last year, along with Jurupa Hills.

Davis Senior, Monte Vista and Arcadia will race against Great Oak in the Division I girls championship, with Saugus and Serrano in the hunt in Division II and La Costa Canyon a potential sleeper from Division III.

Racing toward repeats

Seniors Phillip Rocha of Arcadia and Austin Tamagno of Brea-Olinda are both seeking state championship repeats, in addition to pursuing division records at Woodward Park.

Rocha takes aim at the Division I mark of 14:43 set by former Arcadia star Ammar Moussa in 2010. Moussa is the last runner to win back-to-back Division I boys titles in 2009-10.

Tamagno will attempt to eclipse the Division III standard of 15:00 established by South Pasadena’s Samuel Pons, also in 2010. Campolindo’s Aidan Goltra won consecutive Division III boys championships in 2012-13, with Tamagno looking to become the third runner in division history to repeat.

Sonoma Academy sophomore Rylee Bowen has the potential to become the fourth consecutive athlete to repeat as Division V girls champion. Mission Prep’s Jordan Hasay (2005-08), Marin Academy’s Lucy McCullough (2009-10) and Branson’s Julia Maxwell (2011-13) dominated the division before Bowen’s arrival last year.

Despite a third-place finish at the North Coast Section final, Las Lomas senior Chloe Hansel is still in contention to capture back-to-back Division III state titles. Campolindo’s Carrie Verdon is the last girl to repeat in Division III in 2010-11.

Perhaps the biggest wild card in Davis Senior star Fiona O’Keeffe, who has won the past two Division I state titles. Slowed by tendinitis, O’Keeffe hasn’t raced since Oct. 7, but the Stanford commit could become the first girl to three-peat in Division I since Santa Rosa’s Julia Stamps in 1994-96.

Small-school rematch with huge talents

The Division V boys final has the potential to be the best in the division’s history, with Flintridge Prep senior Jack Van Scoter and St. Joseph Notre Dame junior Cooper Teare squaring off again in a rematch of their thrilling showdown Oct. 23 at the Mt. SAC Invitational.

Van Scoter prevailed in 14:45, securing a three-second victory over Teare.

Van Scoter was third at last year’s state final in 15:32, with Teare placing fifth in 15:44. Both athletes will look to challenge the division record of 14:59 set last season by Marin Academy’s Trevor Reinhart.

Van Scoter is looking to become Flintridge Prep’s second individual state champion, following Alan Yoho in 2013. Teare was a member of St. Joseph Notre Dame’s Division V state championship team two years ago.

Seniority rules

With the exception of the Division V girls race, the other nine individual championships are favored to be won by seniors.

The four remaining girls battles will showcase several of the state’s most talented and accomplished veterans. In Division I, Monte Vista’s Brooke Starn and Clovis North’s Lauren Moffett are both in title contention, along with two-time champion Fiona O’Keeffe of Davis Senior and Great Oak’s Destiny Collins, who was slowed by shin splints that resulted in a 37^th-place finish at the Southern Section final.

Tesoro’s Amanda Gehrich, Gunn’s Gillian Meeks, Granada’s Megan McCandless and Anaheim Canyon’s Nikki Zielinski headline the seniors in Division II, with Sultana’s Stefani Gaskell, Palos Verdes’ Jacquelyn Smith, Moorpark’s Michelle Magnani, Aptos’ Matti Peoples and defending champion Chloe Hansel of Las Lomas leading the way in Division III.

Perhaps the most intriguing girls matchup comes in Division IV, with seniors Cate Ratliff of Santa Cruz, Gabby Satterlee of Central Valley Christian and Morgin Coonfield of McKinleyville all in contention for the title in what could be one of the most exciting battles of the meet.

The boys individual championships have the potential to go to Arcadia’s Phillip Rocha, Anaheim Canyon’s Dylan Scarsone, Brea-Olinda’s Austin Tamagno, JSerra’s Andrew Burkhardt and Flintridge Prep’s Jack Van Scoter, all seniors.

Great Oak’s Spencer Dodds and Madera South’s Eduardo “Lalo” Herrera could challenge in Division I, with Agoura’s Cole Hoff, Anaheim Canyon’s Chance Lamberth, Saugus’ Ryan Tate and West Torrance’s Yousef Baddour all in the hunt in Division II.

Tamagno is the clear favorite in Division III, but Foothill Tech’s Moses Bojorquez, Sir Francis Drake’s Jeremy Leary and Bishop Amat’s Robbie Santoyo all have the potential to challenge Burkhardt in Division IV. St. Joseph Notre Dame junior Cooper Teare will be a serious threat to a senior boys title sweep, challenging Van Scoter in Division V.

Southern Section stranglehold

After the Southern Section won nine of the 10 state team titles last season and produced six individual champions, the remaining nine sections will be motivated to shift the balance of power this year.

The Southern Section is favored to win four of the five boys team championships, with parity in Division IV having as many as five teams capable of winning the title. All five boys individual crowns could be secured by Southern Section as well.

Four of the five girls team championships potentially could go to the Southern Section, with a balanced Division III having four programs in legitimate contention to win the championship.

The five individual girls showdowns favor could produce the most champions from outside the Southern Section, as they did last year with the only titles won by Redondo Union’s Amber Gore (Division II) and Malibu's Caroline Pietrzyk (Division IV), both of whom have graduated.

Freshmen seek fantastic debuts

Sonoma Academy’s Rylee Bowen became the first freshman in any division to capture a state individual title since Granite Bay’s Maggie Bell in 2012 when she won the Division V girls championship last year.

Walnut’s Chloe Arriaga, McFarland’s DeDe Salcedo and Rolling Hills Prep’s Mazzy Genovese are all making their state championship debuts following victories at their respective section finals.

Arriaga captured the Southern Section Division I title and Genovese secured the Division V crown at Mt. SAC, with Salcedo winning the Central Section Division II championship at Woodward Park.

La Costa Canyon freshman Kristin Fahy has been instrumental in La Costa Canyon’s pursuit of a Division III state championship. Mayfield freshman McKenna Smith could be a significant factor in the Cubs winning their first Division IV state title, with Flintridge Prep’s ninth-grade trio of Sasha Codiga, Jenna Mijares and Haley Allen looking to contribute to the Rebels’ repeat in Division V.