New Mexico Cross Country Countdown Series

The New Mexico Cross Country Countdown breaks down the top 25 New Mexico boys and girls teams returning this fall. These rankings will include projected top runners and weighing how each team may do in their respective districts and state competitions. Changes to class alignments and adaptions to the state championship format have been taken into consideration. These rankings are based on past two seasons of performances and do not include teams that did not compete last year due to a lack of athletes and team information. All top returning runners are only projections and may include athletes no longer on the team due to transfer or out-of-state relocation.

#21 St. Michaels Horsemen

St. Michael's had an impressive spring 2020 season just shy of landing on the podium. A roster that included three 8th graders led by the 3A state runner-up Raylee Hunt. Hunt continued her success from spring cross country onto the track to win the girls 300m hurdles state title along with top-three finishes in the 800m,1600m, and 3200m. Lauren Patten and Lauren Barela fill out the top returners for St.Michaels to be so far the only all freshmen returning squad on this list. This program dominated the latter half of the 2000s including 7 individual state titles from Irena Ossola and Kate Norskog. 3A will continue to be a tightly contested battle for a podium team finish but for a team as young as St.Michaels they have to be confident that success is in the near future.

3A Girls

2020 State finish: 4th

State Titles: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Individual State Champions: Irena Ossola (2003,2004,2005) Kate Norskog (2006,2008,2009,2010)

2021 St. Michael's Rankings

New Mexico Ranking	21st
3A Ranking	4th
District 2-3A Ranking	1st

Top Returning Runners

Name	Grade	Personal Best (5k)	Best State Finish
Raylee Hunt	Fr	19:26	2nd
Lauren Patten	Fr	25:16	27th
Lauren Barela	Fr	26:04	31st