The No. 2 girls' team on our pre-season cross country countdown are the Crusaders of Cardinal Gibbons.

Cardinal Gibbons was 3rd at last year's NCHSAA 4A cross country state meet, finishing only three points behind runner-up Weddington. 

They return their entire top five from the state meet, and only one of their projected top five will be a senior.

They are led by NCHSAA 4A 3,200m state champion Hannah Rae Shaffer who is heading into her sophomore season. Shaffer was also runner-up last fall at the cross country state meet, runner-up in the indoor 1,000m, and 3rd in the indoor 1,600m. Shaffer's ranking in our individuals' pre-season countdown has not yet been revealed. 

At last fall's NCHSAA 4A East Regional, Cardinal Gibbons finished 1-3-4-8-10. Shaffer took home the win, but the performances behind her highlighted Cardinal Gibbons' regional win.

Ina Lazarczyk was 3rd place at the cross country regional, and went on to place 12th at the state meet. On the track, she ran 5:11.67 for 1,600m and 2:24.28 for 800m. She was class NC No. 5 for the 1,600m. 

Addy Mitchell was right on the tail of Lazarczyk. She placed 4th at the regional, and 29th at the state meet. Mitchell went on to run 5:19.39 over 1,600m in the spring. 

The trio had the top three freshman times in the state last fall during cross country.

Peyton LaNasa opened her season with a runner-up finish at the BaySix Kickoff Classic 3,000m. Last fall, she was 8th at the regional and 28th at the state meet. She was runner-up in the 1,600m at the CAP 6 Conference Championship running a personal best of 5:13.46.

We haven't seen Kiera Lumley since the 2022 indoor season, but if she is at full strength she is really going to bolster this Cardinal Gibbons varsity squad. 

Kira Bautz may be on the verge of a breakout season. She finished runner-up to Shaffer at the BaySix Kickoff Classic, finishing ahead of Lazarczyk. She ran 11:21.01 in the 3,200m at the NCHSAA 4A East Regional this spring placing 5th. 

They also add a new freshman who may find her way into the top seven. Maggie Whitham finished 6th in the 9-10 BaySix Kickoff Classic, proving she has the talent to run with some of the best. Now, that was only a 3,000m, so she has to prove herself in the 5,000m race. 

Cardinal Gibbons is a young team, but they have tons of experience. Now, with the majority of their squad having state meet experience they are ready to attack the post season like we haven't seen before. They have heard the talk all summer of another high school being at the top of the state, but these girls know their talent and they collectively have one goal in mind come November: state champions.