The Contenders
A Stotan Season
In 480 BC, 300 Spartans approached war against the overwhelming Persian numbers with stoic indifference. Two millennia later, channeling the amalgamation first coined by Percy Cerutty, the Stotans of Fayetteville-Manlius (NY) face similar foes. Flash back to the first practice of the season, where 23 girls come out for the sport of cross country in the small Syracuse suburb. Their numbers are dwarfed, as the Spartans were, by the rosters of their national competition, many of which run nearly one hundred deep. Of these select few, Coach Aris knows that at least 7 of them will need to be of a national caliber, to continue the traditions set in by their precursors. That tradition is lined with 7 National Titles, among unprecedented individual and team glory. Even in defeat, their numbers still impress, missing out on their 8th-straight title in 2013 by a mere 12 points. Their success has defined the modern age of cross country, and with it comes an aura. Everyone on the starting line come November knows who Fayetteville-Manlius is.
The tradition began back in 2004, when the first Stotans of the program were born onto the national scene. After scoring a perfect 15 at the Manhattan Invite, they were dubbed "The Five First Men." The moniker came about from the fact that they indeed had no frontrunner; any one of the top five was capable of being their first scorer. Flash forward exactly 10 years, and Fayetteville-Manlius now brings you, "The Five First Women." In the past four major invitationals, Fayetteville-Manlius has had exactly four different top scorers. At Manhattan, then Sectionals, then States, then Regionals, a different girl has stepped up to the plate. With their fifth girl being only a step away from winning their League Championship, the Stotans have proved the leaders at NXN will have five faces to watch out for.
Their season hasn't been without setbacks. An early season mishap at McQuaid showed there was still work to be done. They know that September successes and failures are only a measuring stick of potential. With stoic indifference, they returned to the grind. Emerging again at Manhattan, the cloud of uncertainty was lifted, and they began to strike. Three weeks between each successive showing, they emerged a stronger and tighter unit. At regionals, they managed to run as if the snow wasn't on the ground, proving their state meet performance could be replicated. With less than a week to go, it would seem Fayetteville-Manlius was ramping up for success. But that success is never guaranteed without performance, and there are 21 other teams searching for their own.
A Stark Contrast
Newton's third law states that for every action, there is an equal, but opposite reaction. In girls XC, Great Oak (CA) is that reaction. On opposite coasts of the continental United States, everything from their training, their lifestyle, and their philosophies could not differ more from that of Fayetteville-Manlius. Great Oak trains on flat and fast, with near perfect conditions a constant. They embrace the social media and spectacle of the sport, engaging with their fans through interviews and interactions. And they don't fear striking early, winning high-caliber meets in early season, like Clovis, Woodbridge, and Pre-Nats. Their progression has been more gradual than their east coast rivals, a slight improvement over a longer period of time. It is a risk/reward based system, in which teams can be rewarded with early season glory, yet risk their athletes running at a high level for too long.
Chief among those risks are overuse-related injuries, and as the national powers approached the final invitational of the season, disaster struck. National frontrunner, as both a team scorer and an individual, junior Destiny Collins fell off the pace going up the hill at the Mt. SAC Invitational. It would later be discovered that she had developed a slight tendonitis in her upper ankle. It was a tough blow, filled with silver linings. In her absence, in both Mt. SAC, and succeeding races, the girls of Great Oak still dominated the competition. With Collins on the mend, the following five kept their composure, and more importantly their race compression, and kept on improving in the subsequent meets. Collins would soon return, not quite at the level she would have liked, but still relevant to the competition at large. For Collins, while an individual victory may not be in the cards, a single point scorer for her team is very much in the conversation.
And the team is what's most important. Nobody knows that more than Great Oak themselves, who will have a similar rallying cry to that of the Alamo, as an extra incentive presented itself after their boys squad was denied a chance to compete as well, under questionable standards of selection. They will also be racing for teams of California past, who have also entered as favorites to NXN, only to be tripped up by the mud and the mess. That's all the motivation they'll need.