-Racine Horlick Rebel Invite; Photo credit: CoachJonGordon-
The summer has been heating up just in time to hit the cross country courses. With that, I want to kick off the 2014 season coverage by taking a look at the top 20 returning teams in each division.
The favorites are, no surprise, the Oshkosh Lourdes Knights. They will be looking to defend their state title being lead by an individual favorite, Nora Keller. Unlike the average person, I'm guessing Nora is tired of being the second best runner in the state. She will look to lead her team towards a state championship and should be looking to bring home an individual title as well.
After the Lady Knights, the team race could get very interesting. Colfax, Cedar Grove-Belgium, Fall Creek, and Lake Holcome are all within 100 points of one another according to the projections. This type of gap can easily be overcome through a summer of hard work. The team compositions are interesting as both Lake Holcombe and Cedar Grove - Belgium have more 'pure' front runners in Kayla Vavra and Lily Paul, respectively.
On the other hand are some of my favorite types of teams to watch, the pack runners. They will look to pack their 2-5 in as quickly as possible behind the #1 on the team. Fall Creek has a very impressive 36 second split from their first to their 5th runners based on returning times! What that translates to is that as soon as one athlete wearing the singlet crosses the line that their scores may close off quickly after. While they own't have an answer for the likes of Keller, nor will they likely be able to answer Paul and Vavra, but the question will be if their #5 can get in front of other team's #3s. Colfax also brings in an impressive split time under the minute mark.
Of course, there are a lot of variables to be seen and we will see them unfold in the coming weeks. Who do you think is ready for a breakout season to shake up all of these rankings? How about a game-changing freshman? Let the fun begin!
| # | Team | Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oshkosh Lourdes | 124 | 1 | 22 | 26 | 36 | 39 | - | - |
| 2 | Colfax High School | 218 | 24 | 25 | 35 | 57 | 77 | - | - |
| 3 | Cedar Grove - Belgium | 226 | 8 | 29 | 40 | 59 | 90 | - | - |
| 4 | Fall Creek | 294 | 32 | 54 | 67 | 68 | 73 | - | - |
| 5 | Lake Holcombe | 310 | 7 | 15 | 49 | 101 | 138 | - | - |
| 6 | Chequamegon High School | 324 | 34 | 50 | 60 | 63 | 117 | - | - |
| 7 | Boscobel | 348 | 3 | 11 | 52 | 139 | 143 | - | - |
| 8 | Eau Claire Regis | 366 | 18 | 70 | 89 | 93 | 96 | - | - |
| 9 | Rosholt | 435 | 30 | 45 | 53 | 129 | 178 | - | - |
| 10 | Phillips | 449 | 12 | 55 | 58 | 109 | 215 | - | - |
| 11 | Lake Country Lutheran | 509 | 17 | 44 | 80 | 170 | 198 | - | - |
| 12 | Pacelli | 534 | 43 | 46 | 75 | 97 | 273 | - | - |
| 13 | Kenosha St. Joseph | 601 | 19 | 61 | 81 | 189 | 251 | - | - |
| 14 | Marathon | 623 | 82 | 99 | 107 | 123 | 212 | - | - |
| 15 | Amherst High School | 632 | 5 | 103 | 145 | 186 | 193 | - | - |
| 16 | Rib Lake | 648 | 120 | 125 | 132 | 134 | 137 | - | - |
| 17 | Glenwood City | 660 | 38 | 111 | 135 | 173 | 203 | - | - |
| 18 | St. Marys Springs | 675 | 2 | 91 | 92 | 165 | 325 | - | - |
| 19 | Brookfield Academy | 703 | 78 | 88 | 144 | 184 | 209 | - | - |
| 20 | Pittsville | 741 | 51 | 106 | 169 | 195 | 220 | - |
- |