Great Oak Girls Cross Country Team Ranked #1 Nationally

Great Oak High School has something to be very proud of.

Wednesday afternoon it was announced that the girls cross country team had vaulted in the ranks from eighth to first place nationally.

The honor, bestowed by nationally known dyestat.com, was largely due to the girls cross country team having set an all-time record on the famed Mt. San Antonio College cross country course on Nov. 23. In the process, the team finished first in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 Finals.

(Click here for the rankings.)

Since the season began in early September, the Wolfpack girls have established themselves as the team to beat, taking title wins at nearly every race—often not at full strength.

On Nov. 30, the boys and girls cross country teams from Great Oak will compete for the state championships in Woodward Park, Fresno. The best teams from each section throughout the state will toe the line in the divisional races—10 races in all, five for the boys and five for the girls.

The Wolfpack boys team captured the seventh and final qualifying team spot on Nov. 23 to earn a place.

Other area athletes making the post-Thanksgiving trip include Vista Murrieta’s girls team (placed fourth at CIF-SS Finals); individuals Jackie Crowther and Brianna Wilson of Linfield Christian (6th and 8th places, Division 5); and Taylor Taite of Murrieta Mesa (9th place, Division 2).

December 7, the national race—sponsored by Nike—will be held at Portland Meadows race track, Portland, Ore. Twenty-two of the very best high school boys and girls teams from throughout the United States will compete in two races along with several outstanding individual runners.

Patch exchanged e-mails with Great Oak head cross country coach Doug Soles Wednesday. Here are the questions and his answers:

1) When did you hear of the dyestat.com national ranking that was released earlier today placing your girls team at the top nationally?

I actually noticed it right after practice in an email from Doug Binder [dyestat.com’s national editor]. We talked about the rankings in our team meeting at practice this morning before we knew and we realize that a ranking is just people's perception of your team's ability. It is very nice for the girls hard work to be recognized, especially since we have so many athletes and parents that make a lot of sacrifices for their kids to run in an intense program like this one.

2) What was your initial reaction when you heard the Wolfpack ladies had moved from 8th in the last ranking two weeks ago to first?

To have people out there that focus on cross country believe that we are the best team in the country right now is pretty amazing.  We have been as high as #2 in previous years, but #1 has eluded us.  This is just the 10th year of our school, so to move up to that level so quickly is definitely something that makes me personally very proud of our kids and our school.  My initial reaction was just pride for these girls and all they have sacrificed to get to this level.

3) Your girls are in company with some awesome talent, among them the perennial New York state champions Fayetteville-Manlius, NXN-Heartland champions Wayzata out of Minnesota, NXN-Southwest champions Davis from Utah, and Simi Valley winners of last Saturday's CIF-SS Division 2 race.  Any commentary on how you feel your girls team matches up?

I think when you talk about the top five [to] 10 teams in the country this year, anyone has the firepower to come out and have a big race at nationals and win.  Our top 3 have been very solid and should be able to compete with anyone in the country.  On the flip side of that we are very deep as a team, so we should stack up quite well with any team out there through our top five as well.  Fayetteville-Manlius is very well coached and has won seven national titles in a row, so no matter what the rankings say going into Nike Cross Nationals [aka NXN], they have to be considered a favorite to win.

4) Over the last several years, your teams have responded well to the pressures that accompany a team at the top.  Would you care to comment on how this No. 1 ranking might affect their focus given they have a state championship race this Saturday in Fresno?

I don't think it will have an effect on their focus at all.  We have been ranked top 10 in the country five seasons in a row, so most of these girls have been on a highly ranked team all of their careers.  It is all they have known.  Some teams get stressed out by being #1 in State; we seem to be more relaxed and comfortable there.  It doesn't add pressure, it just shows us we are doing the right things and feels normal to us.  I expect a national #1 ranking will feel the same.  We practice everyday to be the best team in the country, so it shouldn't feel any different to actually have that ranking.  I think if anything it takes the pressure off at State and allows us to focus on getting to NXN to take on those teams.

5) Not to leave the boys team out of the news--they were ranked as high as 33rd in the Oct. 31st rankings--to what do you attribute the success of your program?

The boys peaked in the rankings at #20 on Oct. 3rd and slid a bit from there.  They have had a resurgence of sorts at the end of the season where we reshuffled the roster and have a highly motivated group in the lineup right now.  These guys are listening and applying the same strategies that we have seen work so well for the girls and it is showing in their results.  They are coming off a school record performance at CIF Finals, which also qualified them for State, so we expect big things from them over the next couple of years.  They are young, but starting to put in the workouts that it takes to be successful.  If you add all of the top programs boys and girls teams times together at CIF Finals, we end up with the best time by 2 minutes and 10 seconds.  That shows us we are not just a good girls program, but probably the best combined program in the state, which is a goal we have every year.

6) Your girls team won the CIF-SS championship last Saturday.  How many times has that happened for Great Oak now?  What's the highest they've finished at the national meet?

We have won four CIF-SS titles in D1 so far.  Only Palos Verdes (6) has won more in D1.  We have won two D1 state titles and will be trying for our third on Saturday. There are some great teams in D1 that can't be overlooked, so we will go in and try to run a normal race for us and hope that gets the job done.

Nationals has been the one course we have yet to figure out.  Our best finish at NXN was 13th in 2010.  It has been hard for us to prepare for the mud and cold that is so different from the racing we do here in California.  This season we have been very focused on our long-term outcome and the girls really want to run well at NXN.  Hopefully the weather cooperates and gives us a nice dry, fast course to take on the best teams.

7) Tell us about your team leaders and how they've fared recently.

We have a lot of girls that lead in different ways.  Destiny Collins leads on the course and from the gun.  She has a racer's instinct and is very competitive, looking to push herself fast early and daring anyone to come along if they can keep up.  She just won the SS D1 individual title, which is very hard to do.  Haley Dorris is our team glue.  She keeps us steady and everyone bonded together.  She just ran third at the Southern Section Final and is looking to improve on that over the next two races.  Ashley Helbig is our experienced leader.  Having been on the state course all three previous seasons, she brings the knowledge on how to run the course and what we need to do as a team to help her get her third State Championship ring. Ashley just finished sixth at the SS Championships. Chrissy Calain is the consistency leader.  She is the one that makes sure that we do the core right, we eat right, we focus on the correct pace in our runs, etc.  She is our utility girl, willing to do anything for her teammates.  She also had her best races last year at State and NXN and looks to do so again this year.  She was our top placer at NXN in 2012 and runs that course really well, so we expect she will continue to move up for us this season.

8) Anything else you'd care to comment about?

I think it is important to recognize the talented athletes that came before these girls that helped lay the foundation for their success.  Each season we have built on the success that our earlier teams had, and especially individuals like Lauren Campfield, Heather Wilson, Jessica Barnard, Abbey Gallaher, Anna & Katie Johnson, Samantha Morabe, Pauline Mandel, and Miranda Kewley.  The list could go on and on, but these great athletes showed that through hard work and dedication, teams like our current one could be built over time, and our current athletes are definitely benefitting from that.

Thanks!

Coach Soles

Patch would like to extend our best wishes for a successful experience in Fresno and beyond to coach Soles’ teams and all the area athletes.

To see California State meet highlight videos and photos, visit this link Sunday afternoon and later:

http://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?do=view_event&event_id=1103&mgroup_id=44789&year=2013

To see coverage of last week’s CIF-SS Finals races, interviews, photos and awards—including an interview of race winner Destiny Collins from Great Oak, visit:

http://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?do=view_event&event_id=1423&mgroup_id=44789&year=2013