SJSGlaze 2.0 wrote:
800: Up in the air, but I’ll put an out there pick- Lily Symon (St Francis MV, previously at Los Altos). Grace Smith seems solid but her xc season wasn’t the greatest, she does have all of track season to get vengeance. Shirayah Lewis-Williams, Josie Hill, Ava Padilla, and Chloe Elbaz are others to look out for.
1600: Braelyn Combe no questions. Chiara Dailey, Amaya Bhardwaj, and Giselle Fernandez could also put up a good fight.
3200: Jaelyn Williams or Summer Wilson (it’ll definitely be one of them). Charlotte Hopkins and Isabella Ramirez should also be in the running.
Others to watch out for: Millie Bayles, Molly Sundgren, Avery Wolk, Addyson Johns, Ellison Williams, Aelo Curtis, Khloe DeLaTorre, Isla Bulmer, Brenna Mannion, The Cruz Twins, Natalie Arriaza, Sophie Hutchinson, Sydney Middleton, Maddie Goss, Gretchen Yakaitis, Alyssa Gutierrez, Carol Dye, Kamilah Salim, Taryn Coulston, Julie Plummer, Harper Diaz, Isabella Yroblewski, Lindsay Billotte, Ava Decleve, Maya Schiro, Brooke Lee, Ani Stieg, Maya Pawlowicz, Isabel Gladden, Ella Mogannam, Elliana Patterson, Farah Allen, Ari Llorens, Anna Salter, Ashlin Mallon
This year, Grace Smith was about 15 seconds slower in XC than last year. Shorter distance is defnitely her comfort zone, so I'd bet on her to be back where she was last year in the 800.
I expect to see some of the top senior girls try to double in the 1600/3200 this year. Jaelyn Williams, Summer Wilson, Aelo Curtis and Chiara Dailey - and maybe Bhardwaj. From that group, only Dailey tried it last year, and it proved to be too much for her. Hannah Thomsen was amazing in her double last year, and would have won both events if it weren't for Braelyn Combe outleaning her in an Epic finish. Speaking of Combe, she was the CIF D1 Champ in the 800 that past 2 years but hasn't run it at State yet, but she ran a 2:05 split at NON, so maybe she will try the 800/1600M double like Sadie did in 2023. She anchored Santiago's winning 4x800 last year, so for her it would be a tough triple. Sadie skipped the 800 in 2024 to run the 4x800 when she anchored that incredible comeback win for Ventura. Unlikely that anyone who runs the 4x8 can run the 3200 since they're back to back on the schedule, but it would have been fun to see Sadie try it and triple or even do the unthinkable and quadruple last year - if she had run track her final season in high school.