The fall season doesn't officially start until NCRunners finishes revealing the teams on the All-Classes Top 25.
As we have the last two years, NCRunners will release a Pre-Season Cross Country Top 25 this month. One team will be released every day, starting with #25 Tuesday and ending with the top 2 teams on August 1st (the official start of cross country practice). These are subjective rankings, reflecting my opinion only, based on several factors. I began with statistical rankings, dividing the teams into tiers according to their points (separating where there were large gaps or where the entire tier represented more than a 20% change). Then, I adjusted for depth, development, strong front-runners, potential for pack-running (as evidenced by the returning 1-5 split), and program strength in recent years. There were also some other factors for individual schools, such as coaching changes or the addition of known talent (I do not attempt to predict the strength of an incoming freshman class, but where there are individuals that have posted results they can be factored in). The decisions have been made, the rankings are set on paper, and the only thing left is to reveal them. When the season starts, we can see how well I did!
Before we start the Girls Top 25, take a look at some of the teams that narrowly missed the cut, or that stood out for their improvement even though they did not make the list. All of these teams should be contenders to make the state meet, and should factor into the rankings for their classification:
Honorable Mention (considered for the Top 25):
| Charlotte Catholic | ||||
| 1) Margot Corcoran | 19:06.12 | 41 | ||
| 2) Phylissa Greeley | 20:00.00 | 122 | ||
| 3) Sydney Farris | 20:20.00 | 179 | ||
| 4) Alexandra Stanley | 20:21.99 | 186 | ||
| 5) Eryn Feeney | 21:15.00 | 344 | ||
| Average Time: 20:12.62 -- Total Time: 1:41:03.11 -- 1-5 Split: 2:08.88 | ||||
| 6) Madison Quigley | 22:27.81 | 666 | ||
| 7) Emma Winters | 23:02.67 | 809 | ||
| Bishop McGuinness | ||||
| 1) Carly Kreber | 19:27.77 | 64 | ||
| 2) Bailey Seach | 20:02.65 | 129 | ||
| 3) Sarah Grace Johnson | 20:49.24 | 268 | ||
| 4) Lexi Weidman | 21:04.51 | 311 | ||
| 5) Amanda Kabealo | 21:13.75 | 340 | ||
| Average Time: 20:31.58 -- Total Time: 1:42:37.92 -- 1-5 Split: 1:45.98 | ||||
| 6) Sam Uliana | 22:22.12 | 637 | ||
| 7) Christine Dudley | 22:26.84 | 660 | ||
| Sanderson | ||||
| 1) Lexi Newsome | 19:59.37 | 121 | ||
| 2) Olivia Bane | 20:14.27 | 164 | ||
| 3) Holly Livingston | 20:46.08 | 257 | ||
| 4) Catherine Allen | 20:54.00 | 287 | ||
| 5) Erin Mares | 21:09.70 | 325 | ||
| Average Time: 20:36.68 -- Total Time: 1:43:03.42 -- 1-5 Split: 1:10.33 | ||||
| 6) Catie Mason | 21:21.74 | 374 | ||
| 7) Elizabeth McSoley | 21:57.00 | 532 | ||
| Corinth Holders | ||||
| 1) Arden Vessie | 19:08.00 | 42 | ||
| 2) Cameron Rutherford | 20:12.71 | 157 | ||
| 3) Sara Kochan | 21:20.26 | 367 | ||
| 4) Abby Pittman | 21:22.69 | 378 | ||
| 5) Courtney Everett | 21:28.45 | 408 | ||
| Average Time: 20:42.42 -- Total Time: 1:43:32.11 -- 1-5 Split: 2:20.45 | ||||
| 6) Selina Mikolowski | 21:37.48 | 452 | ||
| 7) Heather Griffin | 21:47.19 | 491 | ||
Off The Radar (Could Be Better Than Their Ranking):
| Ardrey Kell | ||||
| 1) Sydney Foreman | 18:01.30 | 5 | ||
| 2) Yara Bauer | 20:26.02 | 198 | ||
| 3) Annie Britt | 20:30.58 | 211 | ||
| 4) Kristen Serano | 21:55.00 | 517 | ||
| 5) Delaney Graves | 21:57.00 | 533 | ||
| Average Time: 20:33.98 -- Total Time: 1:42:49.90 -- 1-5 Split: 3:55.70 | ||||
| 6) Alexa Pantazonis | 22:05.00 | 575 | ||
| 7) Margarita Margiotis | 22:31.00 | 683 | ||
| West Johnston | ||||
| 1) Becca Meshaw | 18:53.00 | 28 | ||
| 2) Lauren Hermane | 20:19.00 | 174 | ||
| 3) Patricia Patterson | 20:54.00 | 286 | ||
| 4) Katie Rutherford | 21:53.90 | 508 | ||
| 5) Taylor Wilkins | 22:14.40 | 611 | ||
| Average Time: 20:50.86 -- Total Time: 1:44:14.30 -- 1-5 Split: 3:21.40 | ||||
| 6) Rachel Willis | 23:31.17 | 914 | ||
| 7) Allie Sekulich | 24:09.30 | 1082 | ||
| South View | ||||
| 1) Taylor Delaney | 20:16.00 | 168 | ||
| 2) Kaila Ramos | 21:05.00 | 313 | ||
| 3) Morgan Gaither | 21:12.00 | 331 | ||
| 4) Yasmin Ayala-Johnson | 21:29.00 | 410 | ||
| 5) Keana Wells | 21:34.00 | 437 | ||
| Average Time: 21:07.20 -- Total Time: 1:45:36.00 -- 1-5 Split: 1:18.00 | ||||
| 6) Ashley Damron | 21:55.00 | 520 | ||
| 7) Jessica Blanks | 22:07.78 | 589 | ||
| Northwest Guilford | ||||
| 1) Sarah Bomkamp | 20:42.30 | 246 | ||
| 2) Lexie Lahr | 20:46.00 | 254 | ||
| 3) Shelby Newton | 21:04.00 | 309 | ||
| 4) Mallory Peterson | 21:23.88 | 383 | ||
| 5) Sarah Plott | 21:42.90 | 472 | ||
| Average Time: 21:07.82 -- Total Time: 1:45:39.08 -- 1-5 Split: 1:00.60 | ||||
| 6) Katie Holmes | 21:44.78 | 478 | ||
| 7) Alaina Bethea | 21:45.83 | 482 | ||