This Thursday Oct. 14th, the Bay League cross country teams will meet in Pollywog Park for part two of their seasonal three meet series. The first of seven races begins at 2:00 pm.
The day's events will consist of seven races. Starting with the Novice division race, there will then be separate boys and girls races for freshmen, junior varsity and varsity runners.
Highly rated teams and individuals will be going head-to-head at the varsity boys and girls level, but there will be especially competitive races at all levels. The Bay League is recognized as one of the toughest for distance running in the country.
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The premier event is expected to be the varsity girls race featuring several of the top ranked teams in California, including CIF Division 3 powerhouses West, ranked 4th in CA, and Palos Verdes, ranked 5th in CA. But the Bay League match up everyone is watching closely is the race for the team title between Mira Costa, ranked 5th in CA for Division 2, and Redondo Union, ranked first in CA across all CIF divisions, who just this week has moved up to take the 3rd spot in the national rankings.
In the previous meet on Sept 23rd, Mira Costa provided the individual winner in Savanna Pio, however after that it was all Redondo as the lady Sea Hawks took the next five places. Redondo's low score of 20 points to Costa's 39 is considered a rout.
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Factors is this week's rematch however, create a scenario that could pump a much greater degree of competition into the meet. Starting with the Pollywog Park location providing Mira Costa with the home-course advantage versus the previous meet's neutral site on West's home-course at Entradero Park. Additionally, in the last outing the Costa girls took their first Bay League defeat in years. That kind of wake-up call should bring a more fiercely competitive attitude to this week's race. After all, they are an experienced and well-respected team, especially when considered that this squad is pretty much the same one that took second in the state XC championships last year.
Other factors that could well effect the outcome of this meet include the improvements made by the West girls and the possibility that Palos Verdes' Rebecca Mehra, absent from the first meet, may be back. If she is then she could well be a factor in the both the individual race and the team scoring.
Still, the Redondo girls are not a force to be taken lightly. They are undefeated in both California and Oregon competition. They consistently place five or six runners at the front end of every race. They have always won by large margins. And, interestingly, no one girl has emerged as the top runner. In one race or another, most have led their team across the finish line.
So who will be the first Sea Hawk to finish the 3-mile course on Thursday? Will it be super-sophs Kayla Ferron or Cara Ulizio? Will it be strong and steady seniors Laura O'Neill or Kelly Ryan? Or will it be journeyman (women?) juniors Rachel Bush or Lyndsey Mull?
On paper, Redondo looks good to repeat, but this is cross country, and anything can happen. Even Mira Costa's strong finishing Pio, also favored to repeat, is not a sure bet.
Come out and see it all for yourself.
