On one of the deepest girls' rosters the state has ever known, Melissa Garrett is one of the best. Photo by Alan Versaw.
When you hear 3A, you think "small school." There's nothing small school about the kind of cross country Utah's 3A girls run.
Last year, Park City raced to the title, sending their seven to the finish line in two clumps and a onesie. Pine View took home second by placing three in the top ten. Ogden, it could be argued, had a subpar day at state and finished only third despite claiming the first two places. All three teams scored less than 75 points. Together, they claimed 15 of the top 23 places.
Will it be that intense at the top again this year? Let's take a look.
The first information to examine is the list of returning runners from last year's top 50.
2 Sarah Feeny Ogden HS 18:41.00 2
4 Aimee Bryson Cedar HS 18:54.20 4
5 Hazel Harvey Wasatch HS 19:00.90 5
6 Rachel Stone Pine View HS 19:16.00 6
8 Jessica Peterson Pine View HS 19:26.90 7
9 Alisse Walker Park City HS 19:30.00 8
10 Annie Orr Park City HS 19:34.30 9
11 Sophie McDonald Park City HS 19:41.30 10
13 Katlyn Baker Canyon View HS 19:48.30 12
17 McKenzie Snyder Park City HS 20:01.70 16
18 Kaila Balch Park City HS 20:02.10 17
19 Summer Dvorak Park City HS 20:04.00 18
20 Sierra Lawrence Ogden HS 20:04.90 19
22 Payton Schiff Judge Memorial CHS 20:08.70 21
23 Melissa Garrett Ogden HS 20:10.20 22
24 Maddie Criscione Judge Memorial CHS 20:12.60 23
27 Mia Hart Pine View HS 20:31.70 25
28 Jenessa Mitchell Snow Canyon HS 20:32.70 26
30 Sara Mathewson Ogden HS 20:33.60 28
31 Rachel Goodrich Carbon HS 20:42.50 29
32 Emily Olsen Dixie HS 20:48.80 --
34 Cambry Jensen Canyon View HS 20:53.40 31
35 Maddie Jakus Cedar HS 20:54.10 32
36 Jessica Sams Ogden HS 20:54.30 33
37 Aubrey Barton Ogden HS 20:54.50 34
38 Kashley Carter Juab HS 20:54.90 35
40 Keeley Curry Cedar HS 20:58.20 37
42 Kaylee Corry Cedar HS 21:08.10 39
43 Kaitlin Walker Wasatch HS 21:08.50 40
44 Aubrey Rust Uintah HS 21:08.90 41
45 Kamryn Watts Hurricane HS 21:09.20 --
46 Andrea Millburn Morgan HS 21:09.50 --
?47 Rachel Heinrich Pine View HS 21:14.80 42
49 Heather Evans Wasatch HS 21:20.50 43
50 Lindsey Rust Uintah HS 21:20.90 44
Frankly, neither Pine View, nor Ogden, no Park City lost much in terms of numbers. All three lost a key scoring runner (Pine View actually lost two), but, as they saying goes, "There's more where they came from."
None of these three teams figures to be wallowing in the throes of a down year this fall.
If you go strictly off finishes of returning runners from the state meet, you must conclude Park City has the upper hand. If, however, you go with the bigger picture of cross country performances through the entire season, you must conclude Ogden holds the trump cards. And, either Cedar or Pine View could make things interesting from the southern tier of the state.
Perhaps the results from track this spring will shed a little more light on the topic?
What these names and times reveal is this: Ogden and Park City are the teams to beat. If either team holds an advantage, it is of the most miniscule proportions. One summer of training easily overturns any advantages between these two powers present at the end of track season. The fact that the top six returning 3200 runners are split evenly between Ogden (Sarah Feeny, Melissa Garrett, and Jessica Sams) and Park City (Alisse Walker, Alyssa Snyder, and Sophie McDonald) pretty much summarizes what you need to know about the early handicapping in this title race.
Pine View holds a clear third, but it's a distant third.