Madison Garlock is one of a handful of top Davis cross country runners who dabbles only in middle distance in track and field. Photo by Alan Versaw.
Last October 19, Davis managed to score half the points of their next closest rival. There aren't many ways to wordsmith that to make it sound closer than it was. Davis was dominant.
And, in the great graduation sweepstakes, Davis didn't lose much. Whoever intends to chase them this fall has a lot of works on their hands. Hopefully, that work is already well underway or it may be a case of too little, too late.
Here's what the list of returners from last year's state top 50 looks like:
1 Shea Martinez Davis HS 18:28.00 1 2 Tavia Dutson Jordan HS 18:34.30 2 3 Whitney Paskins Alta HS 18:36.70 3 4 Madison Garlock Davis HS 18:39.20 4 5 Emily Rich Bingham HS 18:39.50 5 8 Joanna Boyd Davis HS 19:00.40 8 9 Jessica Smith Lone Peak HS 19:01.30 9 10 Jackie Heaps Lehi HS 19:11.30 10 13 Ashley Tyndall Davis HS 19:20.90 13 16 Maddy Kauffman Lehi HS 19:37.80 16 17 Nicole Scharman Lehi HS 19:39.80 17 18 Chelsey Johnson Davis HS 19:41.80 18 19 McKayla Morgan Riverton HS 19:44.70 -- 20 Kenzie Draper Lehi HS 19:46.50 19 21 Diane Leach American Fork HS 19:47.00 20 23 Sam Heaton Weber HS 19:56.40 22 25 Kami Dixon Davis HS 19:59.80 24 27 Emily Allen Lehi HS 20:08.90 26 28 Paige Brooks Weber HS 20:12.50 27 29 Breann Bate Riverton HS 20:13.60 -- 30 Hannah Mayne Lone Peak HS 20:20.90 28 31 Sharlie Dimick Syracuse HS 20:26.10 29 32 Caitlin Hepworth Lehi HS 20:31.50 30 33 Malkie Wall West HS 20:36.10 31 34 Maddie Bench American Fork HS 20:36.40 32 35 Makayla Bernardo American Fork HS 20:38.80 33 36 Megan Jordan Northridge HS 20:40.50 -- 39 Sarah Jane Hansen West HS 20:43.80 36 40 Lexie Green American Fork HS 20:44.60 37 41 Ashlan Gates Lone Peak HS 20:46.00 38 43 Lizzy Rasmussen Viewmont HS 20:50.20 40 45 Kiara Barnes Bingham HS 20:52.30 42 46 Shaelee Sweatfield Northridge HS 20:55.40 -- 47 Jessica Johnson Copper Hills HS 20:55.70 43 48 Amber Bardin American Fork HS 20:58.40 44 49 Morgan Taylor Taylorsville HS 20:59.40 45 50 Sierra Chowen Viewmont HS 21:01.20 46
Four of the top nine of that group belong to... Davis. Five of the top twelve. Six of the top seventeen.
So, does the picture look any different when we dig into the rankings for returning 3200 runners from this spring?
It looks quite a bit different until you account for the fact that Shea Martinez, Madison Garlock, and Kami Dixon don't run the 3200.
Even without those three, however, Davis still nails down four of the top 10 positions in the persons of Chelsey Johnson, Ashley Tyndall, Ellie Child, and Joanna Boyd. Names like Emily Rich and Jackie Heaps go to the top of the pile, but it's still pretty much Davis's pile. Bingham and Lehi figure to be pretty credible teams this fall, but maybe not credible enough to take down Davis unless some big news is on its way through the pipeline.