Shawvan Levi takes over the leadership of a very good Shiprock team for this fall. Photo by Alan Versaw.
If you were under the impression that 3A was good last year, you'll definitely want to hang around for this year. With just a few things going right for any of several teams, a state championship is in view.
Boys
1. Taos - This is a hunch kind of pick. A lot here depends on Roy Madrid, whom we did not see in track season, joining Donevan Gravelle and company on the cross country course.
2. Pojoaque Valley - Jereme Santistevan and friends are never far from the top.
3. Hope Christian - Track season had to open the eyes of this crew to some serious possibilities for cross country.
4. St. Michael's - It's difficult to imagine the Horsemen finishing as far back as fourth, but it's a very tough field at the top of 3A this fall.
5. Shiprock - The Chieftains are always solid in cross country, and Shawvan Levi should have them competitive from the very first scoring position.
6. Socorro - We saw some hints of upward mobility from Socorro in track season.
7. Lovington - A solid team brings back a solid core for 2013.
8. Santa Fe Indian School - Myron Tenorio leads a very respectable team out of the hills of Santa Fe.
Girls
1. Shiprock - As of this moment, Shiprock seems to have the edge in depth over the rest of the 3A girls programs, giving them a great shot at repeating.
2. St. Michael's - Depth is looking pretty good at St. Michael's as well, and this is the first team Shiprock will have to be concerned about.
3. Taos - Haley Rach, Hannah Gunther, and company also seem to be bringing a very competitive team to the table.
4. Robertson - I'm playing a hunch here based off of what I saw from the 1600 times this group of girls posted this spring.
5. Pojoaque Valley - PV isn't famous for doing a lot with distance in track season, but they seem to come back to distance with a vengeance in cross country season.
6. Sandia Prep - Two Fleddermanns and Hanna Grober make for a very difficult team to ignore.
7. Silver - Silver is a bit like Pojoaque with respect to track and cross country. There's more to this team than track season would tell you.
8. Hope Christian - Relative to the other teams clamoring for this spot in the preseason rankings, Hope had a very good track season in the distance events.