Last year, Davis placed 15th at NXN with one senior and four sophomores in the top five. That number includes No. 1 Aubrey Argyle, whose outstanding track season should catapult her among the nation's elite this fall. The rising junior ran a personal best of 16:50.35 for 5k to place fourth at New Balance Nationals Indoors before dethroning perennial state champ Lucy Biles at the outdoor meet in both the 1600m (4:57.3) and 3200m (10:35.87).
Argyle is on another level, but ready to join her at the upper echelon of the nation's ranks is stud transfer Courtney Wayment (formerly of Northridge). The rising senior lent Davis considerable depth this spring, as she cruised to PRs of 10:40 for 3200m and 5:00 for 1600m. The shocker? Wayment actually ran faster than Argyle at NXN last fall, finishing 32nd to Argyle's 38th.
Add in Wayment's 5k XC best of 17:36 and the Davis 1-5 split goes down to just 1:17. Ally Geisler is a consistent No. 3 behind those two with sub-18 minute 5k credentials, while probable No. 4 and No. 5 runners Miah Weaver and Sam Hendquist both dipped well under 12 minutes for 3200m this spring.
Top Returnees from 2014 XC Season:1) Aubrey Argyle | 17:33.31 | 7 | ||
2) Ally Geisler | 17:48.22 | 22 | ||
3) Miah Weaver | 18:23.30 | 112 | ||
4) Sam Hedquist | 18:50.75 | 264 | ||
5) Grace Neuenschwander | 18:54.03 | 294 | ||
Average Time: 18:17.92 Total Time: 1:31:29.61 1-5 Split: 1:20.72 | ||||
6) Sarah Waddoups | 19:47.00 | 745 |
Top Returning 3200m Times from 2015 Outdoor Season: | ||||
1) Aubrey Argyle | 10:30.66 | 8 | ||
2) Courtney Wayment | 10:40.24 | 19 | ||
3) Miah Weaver | 11:17.93 | 124 | ||
4) Sam Hedquist | 11:51.49 | 312 | ||
5) Grace Neuenschwander | 12:07.24 | 438 | ||
Average Time: 11:17.51 Total Time: 56:27.56 1-5 Split: 1:36.58 |
Top Returning 1600m Times from 2015 Outdoor Season:
1) Aubrey Argyle | 4:57.30 | 24 | ||
2) Courtney Wayment | 5:00.70 | 38 | ||
3) Ally Geisler | 5:05.79 | 71 | ||
4) Miah Weaver | 5:13.72 | 140 | ||
5) Grace Neuenschwander | 5:31.35 | 419 | ||
Average Time: 5:09.77 Total Time: 25:48.86 1-5 Split: 34.05 | ||||
6) Jenna Connell | 5:36.41 | 488 |
In the 10 day span between Sunday, August 16 and Monday, August 24, MileSplit will release the Pre-Season National XC Team Rankings for Boys and Girls. The No. 1 team will be released on Tuesday, August 25 along with the Pre-Season Saucony Flo50 Team Rankings, which includes the Top 25 teams for each gender. Selections are made by the MileSplit national team, including insight and input from state web masters, and based on 2014 final rankings, placement at 2014 NXN, number and quality of returning runners, improvement during track season and tradition of excellence.