No. 24 Castle View (Castle Rock, Colo.)
Key Returners: Evan Dann (So.), Wyatt Dann (So.), Nathaniel Bartunek (Sr.)
Analysis: Last season, Castle View High School finished 3rd overall at the 5A Colorado Cross Country State Championship, and they won the Gold Division at the RunningLane XC Championships.
They were led by freshmen twins Evan and Wyatt Dann, who both finished in the top 20 in the whole state! Evan finished the season with a PR of 15:06 for the 5k and placed 7th overall at the state meet. During the track season, he also broke the 9-minute barrier in the 3200m, running 8:57! Wyatt was not too far behind him, ending the fall with a personal best time of 15:14 and placed 20th at the state meet. He also ran 8:57 in the 3200m, making both of these brothers ones to watch going into this season.
Having such strong frontrunners, who are only going to get faster considering how young they are, does give this team an edge over others. They also have some other returners that could help bolster their lineup, including senior Nathanie Bartunek, who ended his fall season with a new personal best time of 15:43. That time was a huge improvement from the season before, improving by over a minute! That kind of jump in fitness definitely shows that Bartunek has the potential to grow even more going into his final season.
Though this squad will need some more members of their team to step up to fill the rest of the scoring positions, Castle View has the depth and experience to do just that.