By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor
The 41st Woodbridge Cross Country Classic presented by ASICS is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Sept. 15-16 at Great Park in Irvine, Calif.
Here are 10 storylines to follow at one of the largest and most prestigious high school meets in the country:
WATCH LIVE RUNNERSPACE WEBCAST OF WOODBRIDGE CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC PRESENTED BY ASICS ON SEPT. 15-16
Deepest girls sweepstakes could showcase national preview
With 10 teams that competed in the gold race in December at the Garmin RunningLane Championships scheduled to participate at 9:34 p.m. PDT Friday in the Bob Day Sweepstakes Race, in addition to California Division 4 rivals JSerra and Oaks Christian, along with Utah 5A power Mountain View, it could result in the most competitive girls showcase in meet history.
California programs Buchanan, Anaheim Canyon, Great Oak, Mira Costa, Newbury Park and Oak Ridge will reunite with several opponents from John Hunt Park in Alabama, including Colorado 5A champion Arapahoe, North Carolina 4A winner Cuthbertson, Texas 6A title holder Flower Mound and NXR South Regional winner Southlake Carroll, also from Texas.
Newbury Park prevailed by a 124-130 margin last year against Flower Mound, with Buchanan taking third with 136 points. The gap was more than 100 points to fourth-place finisher Desert Vista from Arizona, which is also entered in Friday’s race, although the margin among the top teams is expected to be much closer this season.
Buchanan edged Southlake Carroll on a sixth-runner tiebreaker in 2019 after the teams ran to a 129-129 result. Buchanan also captured sweepstakes crowns in 2005 and 2017.
Flower Mound and Southlake Carroll are both looking to become the first Texas girls programs in meet history to win the sweepstakes title, same with Cuthbertson representing North Carolina and Arapahoe trying to secure the first girls crown for Colorado.
Desert Vista was the last girls program outside of California to secure the sweepstakes championship in 2016.
Buchanan was second at RunningLane, Arapahoe took third, followed by Flower Mound finishing seventh, Oak Ridge earning eighth, Newbury Park placing ninth, Cuthbertson capturing 14th, Anaheim Canyon grabbing 18th, Southlake Carroll securing 20th and Mira Costa achieving 22nd, with Great Oak in 25th place overall.
Both the RunningLane Championships and Nike Cross Nationals are scheduled for Dec. 3 this year, which could result in the only occasion for these elite programs to…
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