Key Losses
Key Returners
The Chargers only lose their 5 and 6 from last XC season and return as the #2 team in the NCISAA in our returning rankings. Cary Academy stole the 3A team title last year at the state meet and they'll be hungry to redeem that title this season. Their strength is their 24 second gap amongst their 1st-4th runners. They'll be lead by Justine and Regan Cronk who both had strong track seasons running 5:25 and 5:26 respectively for 1600. Justine was 3rd at the NCISAA 3A Outdoor State Meet where she ran 11:32 and that was just her freshman year at PD! The Cronk sisters should leave this Providence Day team this fall.
Claire Landis and Molly Kral return as the 2 and 3 based off last years seasons best in the tight pack PD has. But neither of them ran track last year, and neither have since middle school. Landis does hold a PR of 18:49 from middle school in 2013, and seems to have been injured during her freshman year. Last year she had a full season and was consistent throughout the season. She will be a wild card for PD heading into the fall season, but certainly has the potential to be a star for this team. Kral has been consistent for PD in XC over her career. She is the senior leader for this team and will look to return back to 2015 form early on in the season.
Where PD will struggle this year is their gap from 4 to 5. Last year their top 6 was interchangeable from meet to meet and they'll lack that depth this season. Blaire Barton, Ananyaa Bharadwaj and Dayna Asher will be the three girls most likely to compete for that 5th spot, as well and any newcomers to the team. Providence Day does have a strong middle school program and they very well could have a strong freshman class come in. Barton and Asher had very similar track seasons running 6:13 and 6:14 respectively for 1600. Bharadwaj only runs XC for PD. One of these girls will need to step up and be a strong 5th runner for the Chargers if they want to challenge Cary Academy this season.