Emily Wolff had a great freshman campaign for Arapahoe. Continued success in her sophomore season will help to keep Arapahoe at or near the top of the pile in 5A girls. Photo by Alan Versaw.
I am thinking that the biggest question about 5A girls as we look into next year is, "Where do we go from here?!"
Four Colorado 5A teams in the top ten at NXN-SW. And one of those top-ten teams was without their top runner. Two more of the top 5A teams in the state were not even participating. Does all of this suggest anything? Of course it does!
It doesn't get much tougher than this unless you go to California, or possibly New York. So, what does next year look like (allowing that there's still a very significant something left of this year for two teams and a few individuals)?
Fort Collins - Marci Witczak leaves the flock. Bah-Ram-Farewell. As huge of a contribution as Marci Witczak has made, I don't think her departure will make a huge difference on a team where it already takes about a 19:20 to make varsity and where there have to be about 10 sub-20 runners on this year's roster, nine of whom would be freshmen or sophomores. She can leave with a clear conscience--knowing that she leaves things probably even better than how she found them. The Poudre Valley School District has open enrollment for high school students (And I'm not suggesting there is anything wrong with that--it simply is what it is. There are many good reasons why large school districts such as Poudre Valley provide open enrollment options.), so I don't see the roster of talent at FCHS depleting any time in the near future. Certainly not next year. Erin Hooker figures to be leading the team with lots of ample support behind her--doubtless including a few new incoming freshmen. The question of biggest concern for most aspiring team members might be, "Where do I fit into the picture?" And that question provides a world of reason to train hard over the summer!
Boulder - Of the top four teams from this year's state meet, Boulder has the biggest shoes to fill coming into next year. #1 Kelsey Lakowske and #3 Cilia Jaeger will depart by way of graduation. Those will be two big holes to fill, especially as Sam Lewis works to reestablish the consistency that defined her freshman and sophomore cross country seasons. Erin McLaughlin has the look of a promising contributor moving up to a position of greater prominence, but there will have to be more like her for Boulder to return to the kind of strength they enjoyed in 2010.
Arapahoe - This is a team that just got better and better as the season went on, and that's not easy to do. The Warriors seemed to embrace the challenges of each new week, however, and were at their strongest when it counted most--the state meet. That says a lot about the character and training of the team. Two seniors graduate out of the top five, but team mainstays Collen Koenig and Emily Wolff are among those slated to return. Having once tasted a measure of success, they should be primed for more next fall. Figure the Warriors to be back in the middle of things next fall.
Monarch - First things first: this is a much better team than the state results show. A couple of distressed athletes led to a major slip in the standings for a team that just might have won it all on another day. Claire Green has matured immensely as a freshman. Taylor Floming has proven herself as a sophomore. Monarch gradautes some serious talent off this team, including Mariel Fulton and Maddie Alm, but the pool of talent is deep enough for diving from the 10-meter board. Like Fort Collins, Monarch figures to be back and destructive once again next year.
Highlands Ranch - Just about the time that some serious help arrives at positions 4 and 5, Eleanor Fulton graduates. There is no way to replace Fulton, you simply hope to get better at every other position. How much better can Kristen Kientz and Kristi Oslund get? Good question, but we'll have to wait until next year to find out. Though still not a deep team in the sense that Fort Collins and Monarch are deep, or even in the sense that Boulder and Arapahoe are deep, Highlands Ranch has evolved into a very good--and truly dangerous--team. They're still a step or two away from making a run at the title, but if that help arrives somehow over the next year, Ranch could make life difficult for some of the aforementioned teams.
Cherry Creek - With Olivia Anderson returning, Cherry Creek isn't going to give up much to anyone at the #1 slot. It bodes well for the Bruins that the next three positions were held down by freshmen and sophomores this season and the entire top six from state returns. Cherry Creek has been close for a number of years but never quite able to push the talent over the top to the next level. They will need to do exactly that to be a serious title contender next year.
Liberty - Whatever went wrong for Liberty at state was fixed in time for NXN-SW. The top three of Hannah Everson, Gina Hauptman, and Hannah Dimmick are solid and will be back for 2011. With some added depth and progression at #4 and #5, it's conceivable that this team makes a serious run at a title. Liberty hasn't seen this kind of team success in years and the feeling has to be just a little contagious right now.
ThunderRidge - It seems like just last year that Dominique Gerard was arriving on the scene. And now, her time as a Grizzly is done. ThunderRidge will miss her and will have to fill her shoes to maintain the position they attained this year. Taylor Gerard, the younger sister, promises to help in that regard, but--as noted and hinted several times above--it takes five solid runners to be a contender in this classification.
Looking Around:
Mountain Vista - There's talent aplenty on this team, but no true front runner. In theory, the lack of a front runner shouldn't hurt that much if the rest of the team is solid. In practice, however, it does hurt as there's nobody around on a daily basis to remind the team of what the next level looks like. And that makes it more difficult for the team to recognize the leap necessary and make that leap. Mountain Vista is a team that could make the leap with one team-minded, inspiring presence.