Photo: Raymond Tran/MileSplit California
Over the course of the next 36 hours, over 15,000 athletes from at least 500 high schools are set to compete at the 44th Annual Woodbridge Classic.
The cross country staple will be contested over the course of two days, with the Bob Day's Girls and Doug Speck's Boys Sweepstakes races closing out the meet tomorrow night.
On both the girls' and boys' sides, there are several teams and athletes ranked inside the COROS MileSplit50, setting the stage for what is shaping up to be an electric contest.
Here are four storylines to watch for at the 44th Annual Woodbridge Classic.
Chiara Dailey & Lily Alder Ready To Clash Under The Lights
Photo: Raymond Tran/California MileSplit
A year ago, La Jolla's (Calif.) Chiara Dailey and Timpview's (Utah) Lily Alder battled for all three miles at Orange County Great Park, culminating with the pair finishing second and third behind a record-breaking Rylee Blade (Santiago Corona).
This year, all eyes fall on the top two returners as each star looks to break the tape at their last Woodbridge Classic
Through the first few weeks of the season, Dailey and Alder have looked pretty strong, but it's clear that the pair have had their eyes set on Woodbridge and haven't had the need to shift gears.
Dailey clocked 16:10.7 for three miles at the end of August, while Alder ran 16:57.5 just over two weeks ago, both solid runs.
The future Stanford (Dailey) and BYU (Alder) standouts both finished under 15:30 last year, and if they're working hand-in-hand again this time around, Blade's record may not last more than a year.
Outside of Dailey and Alder, there's a contingent of additional contenders, including but not limited to Paige Sheppard (Union Catholic), Jaelyn Williams (Eastlake), Summer Wilson (Irvine), Maddie Carney (Caldera), Emily Cohen (Cherry Creek), Rowan Saacke (Bridgeland), and Macy Wingard (Denton-Braswell).
There AreToo Many Cooks In The Doug Speck Sweepstakes Race
Photo: Raymond Tran/California MileSplit
Don't worry, that's not a bad thing! Tomorrow evening, the last of 52 races will bring this year's Woodbridge Classic to a close.
Lucky for us, the Doug Speck Sweepstakes race is shaping up to be the most exciting of the weekend in more ways than one.
While there are a few ranked squads toeing the line tomorrow evening, a top-10 battle is expected between No. 2 Jesuit (Calif.), No. 6 Herriman (Utah), and No. 8 Coeur D'Alene (Idaho).
Throw in No. 14 Matilda Torres (Calif.), No. 17 Woodbridge (Calif.), and No. 19 Beckman (Calif.), and you've got yourself six of the top-20 teams in the country in one race.
Obviously, the team to beat is none other than the Marauders of Jesuit, who are coming off an incredibly dominant performance at the Kim Duyst XC Invitational.
Led by senior Kyle Jakary, Jesuit's top six runners finished 2-7-8-14-18-23, enough to take down Matilda Torres 37-41.
For Herriman, they're coming off a third-place finish behind No. 5 American Fork (Utah) and Riverton (Utah), where they finished 104-106-125, respectively.
However, Coeur d'Alene might carry the most momentum heading into the weekend, considering they took down 23 teams by 60+ points at the Timberlake Farragut Invitational earlier this month and would love to play spoiler out west.
Regardless of how they've all been performing this season, at the end of the day, there's a reason they actually run the races.
To put it another way, it would be a considerable upset if any of those three programs aren't posing with the first-place plaque tomorrow night.
NO. 2 BUCHANAN TAKING ON NO. 3 UNION CATHOLIC IN BATTLE OF TOP-RANKED SQUADS
Photo: Tom Harkins/MileSplit New Jersey
It's a battle of the juggernauts as third-ranked Union Catholic (N.J.) is looking to steal a win on the road against a West Coast contingent led by Buchanan (Calif.).
The Vikings are fresh off a dominant performance at the Oak Ridge Invitational, where Paige Sheppard led Cayleigh Kaiser, Ella Solorzano, Eden Solorzano, Harper Telesca, and Abigail Robisky to a perfect score. Sheppard won comfortably in 11:14.4, navigating the two-mile course with ease.
Buchanan, on the other hand, hasn't debuted their full squad yet in one race, but on paper, that roster is stacked.
With sophomore Brooklyn Buckley leading the way for the Bears, they've got arguably the best pack and depth in the country.
Let's take a look at what their top seven has looked like through a pair of 2-mile races this season.
Rank | Athlete | Time (2-Mile) |
1. | 10:56.4 | |
2. | 10:58.2 | |
3. | 11:14.2 | |
4. | 11:14.8 | |
5. | 11:19.2 | |
6. | 11:26.6 | |
7. | 11:34.2 |
That's a blistering 23-second split between their top five runners, and 38 seconds between the squad's 1-7.
I'd be remiss if we didn't mention the other strong squads that could add to the chaos, including No. 6 Air Academy (Colo.), No. 16 Trabuco Hills (Calif.), No. 17 Bridgeland (Texas), and JSerra (Calif.).
Is This Jackson Spencer's Race To Lose?
As a junior, Jackson Spencer clocked 13:49.20 in his sixth-place finish in last year's Doug Speck Boys' Sweepstakes race, and looks to be the top returner this weekend with Southlake-Carroll's (Texas) Caden Leonard opting not to run it back.
Spencer is unbeaten through two races, winning the UIAAA Invitational and the Timpanogos Invitational in 14:53 and 15:02, and will have fresh legs when he toes the line in California.
In addition to Spencer, several contenders could just as easily break the tape, including Cheyenne Mountain's (Colo.) Aiden Le Roux, who finished runner-up at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede in 15:18.9 at altitude.
Bridgeland's (Texas) Griffen Saacke has looked stellar through two races so far, running 14:40 and 14:53 to win big at the Strake Jesuit Invitational and the Texas A&M Invitational.
Here's a list of other athletes that are bound to be up front, pushing the pace.
Zarian Rodriguez (Hamilton), Kai McCullough (Austin Vandegrift), Noah Strohman (Holliday), Brady Anderson (Faith Lutheran), Mason Morical (Caldera), and Carson Smith (Air Academy).