Previewing the Field: 3A Girls Cross Country

Alan Versaw

Using the idea of examining returners from last year's state meet and 3200 times from this spring as an indicator, we turn our attention to who holds strong hands heading into this fall's 3A girls cross country season.

First, the returners (at least as far as I can tell) from the top 50 at last year's state meet in Rio Rancho (a question mark indicates a runner of uncertain year of graduation):

 

  1 Rachel Fleddermann           Sandia Prep                19:11.70    --
  3 Haley Rach                   Taos                       20:04.70     2
? 4 Taira Whitman                Thoreau                    20:09.50     3
  5 Jordyn Romero                St. Michael's              20:15.80     4
  6 Karianne Jones               Wingate                    20:23.00     5
  7 Dayna Guerro                 Socorro                    20:27.80     6
  8 Shandiin Yessith             Shiprock                   20:30.10     7
  9 Tanaya Belone                Wingate                    20:32.30     8
 10 Hannah Gunther               Taos                       20:33.20     9
 14 Angelica Vega                Silver                     20:58.30    13
 15 Lakota Benally               Shiprock                   20:59.50    14
 16 Mackenzie Serrao             St. Michael's              20:59.90    15
 17 Clarrisa Trujillo            St. Michael's              21:05.90    16
 18 Lenandra Willie              Wingate                    21:08.40    17
 19 Jade Dee                     Shiprock                   21:18.60    18
 20 Julie Aster                  Socorro                    21:19.20    19
 21 Avery Sanders                Thoreau                    21:20.50    20
 22 Anabella Miller              Robertson                  21:29.40    21
 24 Jordin Aguilar               Santa Fe Indian School     21:43.80    22
 25 Ranai Nez                    Thoreau                    21:47.90    23
 26 Bree Tassin                  St. Michael's              21:48.40    24
 28 Emily Nicolaysen             Hope Christian             21:56.30    26
 29 Alexandra Haigh              Hope Christian             22:02.10    27
 30 Esperanza Martinez           Robertson                  22:05.20    28
 31 Genevieve Atencio            West Las Vegas             22:05.80    29
 32 Rebekah Hutchinson           Robertson                  22:06.20    30
 33 Cecilia Gutierrez            West Las Vegas             22:07.10    31
 35 Shania Vallo                 Santa Fe Indian School     22:08.80    33
 36 Megan Joe                    Hope Christian             22:09.30    34
 37 Mikayla Garcia               Pojoaque                   22:10.00    --
 38 Elena Garcia                 Robertson                  22:12.10    35
 39 Summer Villegas              Santa Fe Indian School     22:14.00    36
 42 Ashley Quam                  Santa Fe Indian School     22:24.60    38
 43 Courtnae Magdelena           Santa Fe Indian School     22:30.50    39
 44 Felicia Nez                  Wingate                    22:32.90    40
 45 Tristen Gonzalas             St. Michael's              22:36.00    41
 46 Taylor Jones                 Silver                     22:44.00    42
?47 Destiny Robles               Silver                     22:44.80    43
 48 Emily Zollinger              Silver                     22:45.90    44
 49 Alexis Devries               Robertson                  22:47.60    45
 50 Danielle Quintana            Santa Fe Indian School     22:48.10    46
 
And, then, the returners among the top 50 ranked 3A girls 3200 times from this spring (allowing that results from several meets this spring were missed--in fact, we only have records for 27 returners from this spring):
 
 
Rank Time Athlete Name Team C/O Date Meet
1. 11:32.50 Rachel Fleddermann NM Sandia Prep High School 2014 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
2. 11:53.41 Hailey Rach NM Taos High School 2016 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
3. 12:11.98 Tanya Belone NM Wingate High School 2013 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
4. 12:27.22 Karianne Jones NM Wingate High School 2014 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
5. 12:36.88 Jordyn Romero NM St. Michael's High School 2015 04/26/2012 Dave Mathieu Memorial Invitational
6. 12:37.43 Hannah Gunther NM Taos High School 2015 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
7. 12:56.17 Sarai Clendenin NM Hot Springs High School 2013 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
8. 13:05.34 Jordin Aguilar NM Santa Fe Indian School 2015 05/05/2012 New Mexico District 5 - 3A meet
9. 13:10.00 Karlene Montano NM Robertson High School 2014 04/12/2012 Sundevil Invitational
10. 13:17.63 Kristen Lundberg NM Hope Christian High School 2016 05/05/2012 New Mexico District 5 - 3A meet
11. 13:24.76 Emily Zollinger NM Silver High School 2014 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
12. 13:28.51 Courtenae Madelena NM Santa Fe Indian School 2015 05/05/2012 New Mexico District 5 - 3A meet
13. 13:31.18 Caitlin Zollingr NM Silver High School 2015 04/20/2012 Cobre Invitational
14. 13:32.83 Dominique Tso NM Bloomfield High School 2016 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
15. 13:33.78 Jessica Leap NM Portales High School 2014 05/11/2012 New Mexico 3A-5A State Track and Field Championships
16. 13:36.93 Kaitlin Dobesh NM St. Michael's High School 2016 05/05/2012 New Mexico District 5 - 3A meet
17. 13:46.52 Kylie Katalinich NM Portales High School 2013 04/05/2012 Lovington Wildcat Relays
18. 13:46.68 Alex Haigh NM Hope Christian High School 2014 03/17/2012 Bernalillo Invitational
19. 13:50.61 Annabella Miller NM Robertson High School 2016 03/17/2012 Bernalillo Invitational
20. 14:32.91 Emily Philips NM Hope Christian High School 2014 04/07/2012 Rio Rancho Invitational
21. 14:56.47 Gaby Cdebaca NM St. Michael's High School 2014 04/14/2012 Capital City Invitational
22. 15:15.43 Valerie Calabaza NM Santa Fe Indian School 2015 05/05/2012 New Mexico District 5 - 3A meet
23. 15:50.53 Hannah Varela NM Taos High School 2013 04/28/2012 High Altitude Championships
24. 15:59.28 Julie Aster NM Socorro High School 2015 05/04/2012 New Mexico District 3 - 3A Meet
25. 16:02.00 Ynez Quintana NM St. Michael's High School 2014 04/12/2012 Sundevil Invitational
26. 20:10.56 Leah Guengerich NM Socorro High School 2013 05/04/2012 New Mexico District 3 - 3A Meet
27. 20:24.06 Bryn Botko NM Socorro High School 2013 05/04/2012 New Mexico District 3 - 3A Meet

 

Once you start shaking and sorting this, a few conclusions start to emerge:

1. There is no clear leader (team-wise) going into the season, but Wingate, St. Michael's, Hope Christian, and Santa Fe Indian School each potentially hold strong hands. Each of these teams has every reason to believe they're in the mix going into the season unless a major player or two from last year doesn't show up for cross country in the fall.

2. Not far behind these four teams are Thoreau and Robertson. 

3. Taos, Socorro, and Shiprock each boast a strong 1-2 combination, but will need to bring a few more up to speed to be legitimate team contenders in the fall.

4. Pending the arrival of any new reinforcements, there aren't many more teams who even figure to be able to fill out a complete roster with five scoring runners. This can change, however, as runners who may have been hidden from last year's results start showing up.