6. Marvin Ridge
As the Roman philosopher Seneca said, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." The Mavericks have preparation - what was once a highly promising group of freshman and sophomore talent is now a veteran squad projected to have 4 seniors and 3 juniors in the top 7 this fall. There will never be an opportunity as good as this one for Marvin Ridge to win a 3A championship, as the classification's dominant force for the last several years has moved to 4A for the upcoming school year. Led by rising junior Alexa King, as they have been for the last 2 seasons, these Mavericks posted very good track results, showing that they continue to progress toward their full potential. The window on that potential closes soon, so you can bet this summer's training has a serious sense of urgency. Summer training has to have a secondary purpose for Marvin Ridge, as well - the team needs depth, and soon they will need young talent to replace departing seniors. Right now, an injury to anyone in the top 5 would threaten to derail a potential championship season, but if the team stays healthy the sky is the limit.
- Returning Ranking: 4th
- 3-Year Improvement Rating: 12th
- 5-Year Improvement Rating: 20th
- Returning 1600 Team Ranking: 6th
| 1) Alexa King | 18:04.80 | |||
| 2) Jennae Jacob | 19:17.10 | |||
| 3) Nicole Renwick | 19:26.00 | |||
| 4) Kylie Hennessey | 19:32.80 | |||
| 5) Melanie Hussey | 19:41.10 | |||
| Average Time: 19:12.36 Total Time: 1:36:01.80 1-5 Split: 1:36.30 | ||||
| 6) Graziana Mangione | 21:41.00 | |||
| 7) Katherine Mueller | 22:10.00 | |||
7. Ardrey Kell
This is a program that has a long history of developing strong cross country teams, but hasn't always placed the highest emphasis on track season. That's why it's noteworthy that the Knights finished the outdoor season in the top 10 in the state in team 3200 and 1600 rankings. Ardrey Kell broke out of a small down period with a strong 2014 campaign that culminated in a 7th-place finish at the 4A state meet, and they did that without a single senior or junior on their squad! That means they have all 7 back for both 2015 and 2016, and it also means the Knights should be a top-5 team this fall with a chance to be something even greater the following year. The only concern for this Ardrey Kell team is depth, but with returning #1 Kiley Aymor leading the way through a strong spring season, that should be well on they way to being a non-issue (especially if new discovery Lexi David, who ran 5:34 but did not compete in cross country, can join the team and contribute).
- Returning Ranking: 8th
- 3-Year Improvement Rating: 4th
- 5-Year Improvement Rating: 3rd
- Returning 3200 Team Ranking: 7th
- Returning 1600 Team Ranking: 9th
| 1) Kiley Aymor | 18:20.00 | |||
| 2) Josie Jordan | 18:35.00 | |||
| 3) Shelby Foreman | 19:30.40 | |||
| 4) Erin Maguire | 20:18.00 | |||
| 5) Katherine Wilder | 20:27.00 | |||
| Average Time: 19:26.08 Total Time: 1:37:10.40 1-5 Split: 2:07.00 | ||||
| 6) Katie Zhao | 20:31.00 | |||
| 7) Emma Wiese | 20:47.00 | |||
8. Lake Norman
NOTE: This preview was written before I first began to hear rumors that some top-5 runners were leaving Lake Norman. Since then I have confirmed that returning #2 Melissa Zammitti has left the school, but I have not been able to verify the other rumors yet. By the time I had concrete information on this subject, it was too late to change this ranking without changing all the teams that had already been published, as well. I had no choice but to leave Lake Norman here, and we will all have to find out what happens together. I kept the paragraph below as things stood when I wrote it two weeks ago, so that it would demonstrate why the team was originally ranked here.
As mentioned in the article about the Wildcat boys, this team is going through a coaching transition this summer, so that adds a bit of mystery to this ranking. The outgoing coaching staff was able to greatly improve on Lake Norman's already-solid 5-year Improvement Rating; only 5 other schools in the state have done a better job of progressing from season to season since the end of the 2011 cross country season. The talent is there for a run at the podium in the 2015 4A meet: this is the first team in the countdown to return 5 sub-20 runners, they have all 7 back from 2014, they had solid outdoor track results, and they will only have 2 seniors in the projected top 7 for 2015. Returning #2 Melissa Zammitti put up 5:12 and 11:23 during the spring season, times good enough to have her pushing for the top spot on the team. If the new coaching staff can maintain the program's momentum, the Wildcats have a two-year window to chase some trophies (they actually grade out as the top team in 2016 based on returning 2014 times).
- Returning Ranking: 7th
- 3-Year Improvement Rating: 6th
- 5-Year Improvement Rating: 18th
- Returning 1600 Team Ranking: 8th
| 1) Holly Bailey | 18:30.00 | |||
| 2) Melissa Zammitti | 18:56.00 | |||
| 3) Jessica Wynblatt | 19:35.00 | |||
| 4) Ashtyn Smith | 19:56.00 | |||
| 5) Zoey Bezanson | 19:58.26 | |||
| Average Time: 19:23.05 Total Time: 1:36:55.26 1-5 Split: 1:28.26 | ||||
| 6) Nicole Nelson | 20:48.00 | |||
| 7) Katy Johnson | 20:53.00 | |||
9. Myers Park
By every statistical measure, the Mustang women are one of the best programs in the state. Myers Park finished second to Green Hope in the 4A state meet last November (their 5th straight year in the top 6), and they return 5 runners from that squad - but one of the girls lost to graduation was long-time #1 runner Mary Prouty. Depth was the primary concern coming out of the 2014 season - the Mustangs showed a great returning front 4, but a gap of more than 1:20 to their 5th runner. Track results were encouraging, as Kate Eiselt looked more and more like this year's #1 and Story Gourley also ran well, but this is a critical summer for Myers Park to cultivate the younger runners they need to get back into the top 5 in 4A. History says they can do just that, as this team has some of the best Improvement Ratings of anyone on the list.
- Returning Ranking: 9th
- 3-Year Improvement Rating: 9th
- 5-Year Improvement Rating: 6th
- Returning 1600 Team Ranking: 11th
| 1) Kate Eiselt | 18:42.00 | |||
| 2) Story Gourley | 19:03.41 | |||
| 3) Sydney Farris | 19:16.00 | |||
| 4) Anna Albright | 19:33.00 | |||
| 5) Sophie Shepherd | 21:06.00 | |||
| Average Time: 19:32.08 Total Time: 1:37:40.41 1-5 Split: 2:24.00 | ||||
| 6) A.c. Keesler | 21:34.00 | |||
| 7) Mary Elizabeth Campbell | 21:38.00 | |||
10. South View
Although the Tiger girls don't have quite the history of success that their male counterparts have, this is a team with a bunch of indicators of upcoming success. They return 5 sub-20:30 runners, which only one other team in the rankings to this point can say (that's Apex). South View's girls had excellent track results, with Janay Hall stepping up to match returning #1 Taylor Delaney stride for stride all spring, and Ashley Damron joining them under 12 minutes (when Delaney went down at the state meet, it was Damron that stepped up to finish first for the team). Even more importantly, this team has 7 returners under 13 minutes in the 3200 (and the same seven under 6 minutes in the 1600), which should alleviate concerns about their returning depth in the 5K. The database puts them 7th among returning 4A teams before that track improvement, and that could mean the Tigers are a top-5 team this fall.
- Returning Ranking: 10th
- 3-Year Improvement Rating: 26th
- 5-Year Improvement Rating: 24th
- Returning 3200 Team Ranking: 4th
- Returning 1600 Team Ranking: 7th
| 1) Taylor Delaney | 18:38.30 | |||
| 2) Janay Hall | 19:17.00 | |||
| 3) Ashley Damron | 20:03.62 | |||
| 4) Faith Roy | 20:22.00 | |||
| 5) Michaela Ackerman | 20:28.00 | |||
| Average Time: 19:45.78 Total Time: 1:38:48.92 1-5 Split: 1:49.70 | ||||
| 6) Morgan Gaither | 21:27.33 | |||
| 7) Gjyljeta Carro | 22:07.00 | |||