Division 1 Girls
Teams to Watch (Full Rankings)
Carlmont has been one of the top programs in the section dating back to the 60s and legendary coach, Loren Lansberry. The girls' team were at their best under coach Jeff Gilkey in the 2000s as they established a new team time record on the historic Crystal Springs course in 2007 that stands to this day. After a few lean years, the team appears to have rebounded with two very competitive varsity programs. While their boys will be contending for the last state meet spot, their girls will be slight favorites to win their first section crown over perennial contender, Homestead. Only two teams will advance to the state meet so the margin of error for the top teams is quite slim. The teams that will hope to break up the Scotts and Mustangs will be Monta Vista, Palo Alto, and Menlo Atherton.
Athletes to Watch (Full Rankings)
Defending champion Naomi Donovan of Los Altos will be back to defend her title. In her only cross country season to date as a junior, Donovan raced to victory on the Toro Park course in 2017. Her strongest challenger will be Watsonville sophomore Layla Ruiz. She had an outstanding freshman season that concluded with 2:24.16/5:08.67/11:09.40 personal bests on the track. Homestead senior Kaitlyn Williams along with sophomores Viveca Pannell of Los Gatos and Hannah Gehrt of Abraham Lincoln HS will also contend and vie for one of the five auto individual spots that automatically advance to state.