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.

#19 Shiprock Chieftains

Shiprock managed to pull off a top 5 team finish in spring 2021 despite being in a short supply of athletes like the majority of schools. Led by junior Kaydence Platero who claimed a 4th place finish among 4A girls to garner the Chieftains to 94 points just out of reach of Aztec and just ahead of the young Belen squad. Predicting what's in store for this fall 2021 season is a bit of a mystery for Shiprock as they return only two from last year's state meet but had a decent-sized amount of underclassmen from 2019 that did not get the chance to compete. Athletes like Uriah Biggs who placed 59th in 2019 and holds a personal best of 21:50. Whether those runners from the 2019 roster remain in the program and will be toeing the line this fall, Shiprock has a rich history of success that will continue heading into the season.

4A Girls

2020 State Finish: 5th

State Titles: 2001, 2004, 2012, 2015

Individual State Titles: 0

2021 Shiprock Rankings

New Mexico Ranking	19th
4A Ranking	6th
District 1-4A Ranking	2nd

Top Returning Runners

Name	Grade	Personal Best	Best State Finish
Kaydence Platero	Jr	19:23	4th
Brianna Whitehorse	Sr	23:11	36th