The Challengers
Destiny Collins | Great Oak, CA | SENIOR
Which Destiny Collins will show up on Saturday? The one who placed 37th at the Division I CIF Southern Section Finals, or the phoenix who flew to a 17:09 victory at the Division I CIF State Championship?
The nation's fastest prep over 3200m (9:53.79) has struggled with shin splints this season, though she has a history of underperforming in Portland. She placed 34th in 2013 and 40th in 2014.
But this is Collins' senior year and her No. 2 ranked Great Oak girls are poised to dance with Fayetteville-Manlius yet again, after placing runners-up to the eight-time NXN champions last fall. The Great Oak girls set an all-time team total time record at Woodward Park in winning the state meet last weekend and are undefeated even after traveling out to Bob Firman in Idaho to test themselves against the tough Utah stable.
There's nothing like a heated team battle to encourage the best of performances and Collins is on a solid upswing after her individual win at Woodward Park.
Judy Pendergast | Naperville North, IL | SENIOR
Judy Pendergast may be the most improved runner in the nation. The Harvard recruit ran her break-out race here last year, when she placed 22nd to lead Naperville North to a fourth-place team finish. The Huskies are back as a team but Pendergast is the one in the hunt for a podium spot this year.
Pendergast ran fast all season on Illinois' storied Detweiller Park course, but it was the state meet where she really stood out in breaking the course record with a blazing 15:53.8. That time still stands as the nation's fastest mark for three miles this year.
She followed that performance with another record-breaking effort at the NXN Midwest Regional, where she ran 17:00.6 to win by 28 seconds. Her time broke the LaVerne Gibson prep record previously set by Anna Rohrer, the two-time Foot Locker Nationals champion.
Pendergast had another brush with Rohrer's legacy at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional one week later, as she raced at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha. Prior to the meet, Rohrer was the only prep to record a sub-17 minute performance on the 5K course. Pendergast stuck with Taylor Werner as long as she could before falling to the Ste. Genevieve, Mo. senior, 16:57.3 to 17:18.6.
The good news for Pendergast? Werner will not race in Portland. A loss is never a good thing - especially one by 20-plus seconds, but to fall to a three-time cross country All-American and probable top-five Foot Locker finisher isn't necessarily a season-killer. Sometimes a tough loss can be just the wake-up call needed to take the extra step to victory.
Especially in Pendergast's case - she only ran her sub-16 Detweiller record after losing at Roy Griak to seventh-grader Grace Ping.
Cate Ratliff | Santa Cruz, CA | SENIOR
Though not nearly as well-known as her fellow Golden Stater Destiny Collins, Cate Ratliff may actually be the best distance athlete that the West has to offer this fall. The senior, a Cal Poly commit, has quietly run some of the fastest times in the nation this year.
At the Stanford Invitational in September, she was the only girl besides Fiona O'Keeffe to break 17 minutes and won her section, the Division 4 race, in 16:49.7. Ratliff swept through her league meets, clocking a new three mile PR of 16:31 and winning the California Division IV State Championship in 17:03.7, which stood as the fastest time of the day at Woodward Park.
Ratliff's major obstacle to winning here is her lack of national racing experience. Her sole run at the national level was a 21st place finish at Foot Locker West in 2014. NXN will be her first true test outside of the region - but that may be a good thing as long as she doesn't let it hold her back. Ratliff has placed 86th (2012), 11th (2013), 4th (2014) and 1st (2015) at the state cross country meet, indicating a strong rate of improvement.
