Girls XC Preseason Rankings: #21

2014 Girls XC Preseason Countdown

Jul 15, 2014

<p> <span style="font-size:14px;">NCRunners is counting down the top 25 girls teams heading into the fall season.  The full rankings will be released on the first day of official practice: Friday, August 1st.  These are subjective rankings (not computer generated); they take into account returning team rankings, returning team averages, team rankings in the 1600 and 3200 from indoor and outdoor track, and a school's "Improvement Rating."  Improvement Rating is a custom metric developed by researching the improvement in a team's 5-person average from year to year, in comparison to that same team's ranking.  Improvement Rating numbers and methodology will be released on the weekend of August 2nd.</span></p>

Emme Fisher (back) will have a tough 3A East opponent in Arden Vessie, but she can also carry her West Carteret team to the top 5 in 3A.

West Carteret (NC)
1) Emme Fisher	18:46.66	33
2) Isabelle Baggett	20:19.84	175
3) Emma Gomez	20:20.00	176
4) Joanna Lopez	20:25.08	205
5) Samantha Schleiker	20:27.00	211
Average Time: 20:03.72 Total Time: 1:40:18.58 1-5 Split: 1:40.34
6) Kristen Wagner	21:07.00	331
7) Mackenzie Whitaker	22:04.00	523

The Blake Dodge era is over, but the cupboard is far from bare in Morehead City. Emme Fisher is a star in the making, having run solid 1600 & 3200 times in the spring to follow up her sub-19 cross country debut. Depth is the big concern - the Patriots only had 4 returning girls record 1600 times this spring, and the returning cross country squad has gaps after the 5th and 6th runners that need to be closed. Another cause for concern: the Improvement Rating metric doesn't rank them highly, although it can be susceptible to being skewed by injuries to a major runner (such as Blake's difficult 2012 fall season). If the traditions and work habits established the last 4 years carry over, though, this team will win the 3A East regional and contend for the top 5 in the 3A State Meet.