It’s that time again, we are only a few weeks away from that fall tradition, the opening of the college cross country season. Of course, along with that tradition, comes gocollegetrack.com’s annual preview of the upcoming year.

In looking at the 2010 season, the women’s and men’s competition can be seen very differently. On the women’s side, there are some changes to the defending champion Glendale team. Glendale, who has been the dominant women’s program over the last three years, will lose some key components to their line-up, which begs the question, will a new champion emerge or will traditional powers step up to challenge for state supremacy?

On the men’s side, the question is, can anyone step up to derail the runaway freight train that is San Bernardino Valley? SBVC’s streak now stands at 3, and with a strong group returning, can they be taken down or will they continue this amazing run?

                                                 Kimone Hewitt will leave some big shoes to fill as OCC looks for another front runner this year. (photo, courtesy of Dean Lofgren)

Orange Coast (2^nd So Cal Champs, 2^nd State Champs) - Although the Pirates have been supplanted by Glendale as the top women’s team, they have always been in the mix. The traditional power has not finished further back then second place over the last several years, and that in combination with their many championships, always makes them a team to watch. Yet, this year, OCC will have to face many key losses, much more so than their Western States Conference rival, Glendale. Having to replace a large portion of last seasons powerful roster on a much larger scale, the Lady Pirates are faced with a difficult task. Front-runner Kimone Hewitt, who placed 3^rd overall departs, as well as Hillary Labelle, who took 16^th overall. Jane Kerner, who placed 22^nd overall is also leaving, effectively removing their top three finishers from 2009 state meet. Other departures include outstanding runners Maggie McDuffee and Andrea Guerra. In all, five of the Pirates top seven move on. This will leave Andrea Jacob-Gayton and Sara Toberty, who finished 23 and 28^th respectively, carrying a large part of the experience for OCC in 2010. Toberty, who showed tremendous improvement in track, may be the one to look at to take over front running duties this year. She had a great deal of success in the 1500, which will be interesting to see how that translates to improvement in cross country. Word has it that OCC has another large recruiting class. If the numbers speak volumes, they should be able to find more talent in their new recruits.

  　 Jaasmin Pina (center), seen here at 2010 State Track Championships, will be an outstanding addition to the Mountie cross country team. (photo, courtesy of Dean Lofgren)

Mt. SAC (3^rd So Cal Champs, 3^rd State Champs) - The Lady Mounties, had an outstanding season in 2009 with a very strong 3^rd place finish, narrowly losing to Orange Coast by a scant 12 points. They were led by superstar, Lenore Moreno, who placed 5^th overall. Moreno is gone, however, Mt. SAC returns a large portion of it’s team and could be the favorite coming into the 2010 season. Yet, along with Moreno, there are some other big losses for Mt. SAC, including Mallory Celaya, who placed 8^th overall. However, the Mounties are going to add outstanding red-shirt runner, Jaasmin Pina, who had an “All State” caliber track season, to the mix. Her addition will definitely help soften the blow of losing Moreno and Celaya. Along with Pina, Jazmin Lopez who took 13^th overall and Evelyne Ruiz, who took 32^nd gives the Mounties a very strong outlook for the upcoming campaign and may make them the team to beat. Mt. SAC’s recruiting classes are generally strong. They do not need to add many pieces in order to be a state title contender. This may be the year that the Mounties take down the top team and reclaim a title they last won in 2000.

Larissa Davis, will be missed by the Lady Tigers. (photo, courtesy of John Goldman)

Riverside (5^th So Cal Champs, 4^th State Champs) - The lady Tigers have been a mainstay near the top of the state standings for the last several years and in 2009, they maintained that status with a 4^th place finish. Although, lacking a frontrunner at the state championships, their ability to pack, placing several runners in the top 35, was good enough to land them in a top five team position. Riverside does experience some losses, including their top two finishers, Katherine Gomez who took 17^th and Brenda Perez who placed 27^th respectively. They will also lose their standout, Larissa Davis. Riverside, however, does return Adrianna Davidek and Casey Candelaria, both of whom placed in the top 30 as well as Ashley Perryman who placed 44^th overall. Yet, if the Tigers are to challenge for those top three spots, they are most likely going to have to find a front runner to move into the top 20 to give them a fighting chance against the likes of Mt. SAC, OCC and Glendale.  This could happen with some of their returners.  Without that front runner, the Tigers will be giving up a lot of front end points, which will make it very difficult to have a shot at the title.

                                        The departure of Maritza Hernandez will leave a big void in the LA Trade Tech line-up that they will need to fill to keep themselves in a top spot. (photo, courtesy of Dean Lofgren)

LA Trade Tech (6^th So Cal Champs, 6^th State Champs) - LATT had one of its highest finishes in the last few years with a 6^th place overall team standing. They accomplished this largely on the back of their star runner, the departing Maritza Hernandez, who garnered an 11^th place finish. However, after Hernandez, the points piled up fast, with their next runner, Liliana Mercado, finishing in the 50^th position. After that, Carla Ponce placed 79^th, Viginia Perez was 95^th and Cynthia Berrera was 104^th. Ponce, Perez and Berrera will return along with Jeanette Ortiz, who was one of their top runners earlier in the season but sat out at the state meet. The wild card that LATT may have to play is Danielle Low. Low, who had a break out season in track, garnering “All State” honors in the 800, could be a significant addition. If Trade Tech wants to be a factor in 2010, they will have to close some of those substantial gaps between their athletes and possibly get another runner to step up to Hernandez’s level. Their core is fairly solid, but will have to move up as a pack to become a threat.

                                                                   Kelly Barmann should be a major player this season and will be a factor in helping Cuesta reach greater heights. (photo, courtesy of John Goldman)

Cuesta (7^th So Cal Champs, 8^th State Champs) - Like LA Trade Tech, Cuesta was largely dependant on their high finish from the efforts of their outstanding freshman, Kelly Barmann, who took 2^nd overall. Yet, unlike LATT, they will have the services of their star front runner for another season, as Barmann returns for her sophomore campaign. Yet, Cuesta does have some needs, the major one being to close some of the large gaps between their front runner and their next highest finisher, which in 2009, was Paige Petersen, who took 57^th overall. Petersen does return, however, their third finisher, Jennifer Love does not. With a big gun like Barmann, Cuesta will have the opportunity to do some damage, but they will need to work on getting athletes to help Barmann out, trimming some of the points off their teams total score.

                                        Taylor Goto (right) was a pleasant surprise for the Hornets and could be a big factor in 2010. (photo, courtesy of John Goldman)

Fullerton (13^th So Cal Champs, 11^th State Champs) - The Hornets had a solid season in 2009 placing 11^th overall at the state championships. Although, they were not a threat to place in the top five, they did show elements of having a strong core coming back, that if combined with a frontrunner, may give them a shot at a position like that this year. Led by freshman, Taylor Goto, who placed 48^th, Fullerton also returns Samantha Gastelum (61^st) and Leslie Gomez (82^nd) to the mix as well. If Fullerton can develop or add a runner to move into a top 20 position in combination with better pack development, they may be able to challenge for a higher team placing.

      Teffany Gonzalez, seen here leading a pack of Mounties, was one of the top runners in the state in 2009, and will be a difficult runner to replace for Ventura. (photo, courtesy of John Goldman)

Ventura (12^th So Cal Champs, 12^th State Champs) - Ventura finished in the 12^th position last year, however, did that largely on the strength of their number one runner, Tefany Gonzalez who placed 12^th at the state meet. Stephanie Ramirez, was the next closest runner, placing 69^th overall. The bad news for VC is both those athletes are moving on. They will have a lot of work to do in 2010, as their next returning athlete did not finish in the top 130 of last years meet.

                                                                  Sara Taylor led a surprising Victor Valley team that could make some major noise this year. (photo, courtesy of John Goldman) 　

Victor Valley (11^th So Cal Champs, 12^th State Champs) - One of the surprises of the 2009 campaign was the emergence of Victor Valley. The desert team showcased a nice group of runners that propelled them to a 13^th place finish. What also bodes well for them is their top two runners, Sara Taylor who placed 40^th and Joanna Cervantes, who placed 66^th are both returning. They showed quite a bit of improvement over the course of the year. If they can continue to show that same improvement and if VVC can add a couple of runners to fill in the gaps, this could be a team that could make some noise in the 2010 season.

   　 Michelle Thompson, seen here at the So Cal Championships, was the top women for the San Diego Mesa team in 2009. (photo, courtesy of John Goldman)

San Diego Mesa (10^th So Cal Champs, 14^th State Champs) - The deep south team of San Diego Mesa, showed some promise in 2009. They were led by Michelle Thompson who placed 21^st overall at the state championships. While losing Thompson to graduation might seem like a devastating blow on the surface, SDM does have some interesting returners that could keep them in the mix for this year. Suzanne Cornwell, who placed 39^th overall could be a major contributor as she only ran a few races during 2009 and could show major improvement in 2010. Kristina Schneider, also saw limited action last year, and placed 105^th overall. If San Diego Mesa can get consistency from this years sophomore group, as well as add some athletes that shore up the gap between their 3^rd and 4^th runner, Mesa may be a top ten contender or even better.

                      　              Tracee Van Der Wyk, seen here battling Rosa Del Toro of Glendale in the 1500 at the State Track Championships, will be one of the favorites to take the individual title this year. (photo, courtesy of Dean Lofgren)

Pasadena (17^th So Cal Champs, 15^th State Champs) - Pasadena was mainly about one runner last year, Tracee Van Der Wyk. Van Der Wyk was a force to be reckoned with all last season, and charged to a 4^th place finish at last years state championships. She is also what makes Pasadena very dangerous for this year. Having an athlete that can place in the top five gives a team a major advantage as they prepare for their next campaign and Pasadena certainly has that piece in place. The bad news for Pasadena is that they have some sizable holes to fill as their next runner, Lidia Garcia, finished 74 places back of Van Der Wyk in the 78^th position. Garcia does return, but the points will continue to pile up if they don’t get their pack to move up.

   　 Caitlin Choate (39) and Anaiz Ortiz (far right) will give AVC a boost in 2010. (photo, courtesy of Mark Covert)

Antelope Valley (16^th So Cal Champs, 17^th State Champs) - AVC has a very interesting team returning, including two very solid runners in Anaiz Ortiz who finished 34^th overall and Caitlin Choate who placed 80^th. Both runners continued to improve over cross country season and it is not hard to imagine both of those athletes moving up. If Ortiz can move into the rarified air of the top 20, and Choate continues to improve, it is not inconceivable that this team could be a significant factor come state championship time.

  　 Oxnard will have several runners back from the 2009 team that showed promise. (photo, courtesy of Mark Covert)

Oxnard (14^th So Cal Champs, 19^th State Champs) - Although many people did not notice, Oxnard had a three runners finish in the top 70, including one, Cynthia Navarro who claimed the 25^th spot. Where Oxnard took punishment was in the number four and five spots where they placed 174^th and 180^th overall, effectively removing them from a chance to place in the top ten. However, if those spots could be improved upon and they are able to maintain their front spots, this team has the strength to place in the top ten and maybe top seven.

                                                                         Tanya Valenzuela gives Southwestern a legitimate front runner in 2010. (photo, courtesy of Kevin Vidana-Barda)

Southwestern (4^th place So Cal, did not place at State Champs) - Southwestern has been one of the top programs in the state over the last several years, finishing in the top five several times, including a 3^rd place finish in 2008.  It looked as if they would be ready to make another run at a top three position in 2009. Yet, SW, after placing 4th at So Cal, did not field a full team in the state meet and therefore, did not place. That does not mean that SW will be out of it this year. All of their top runners are back from last season, including Tanya Valenzuela, who placed 14^th overall, Nadine Mulvany who took 18^th overall and Bianca Maela who took 40^th. With 3 runners back who were in the top 40 including two in the top 20, SW will not need much to be a contender again.