CIF State XC Championships Preview - Girls Division 2

Girls Division 2

State Rankings (by Finished Results Media)

1. Mountain View St. Francis

2. El Toro

3. Rocklin Whitney

4. Ventura

5. Tesoro

6. Claremont

7. Monte Vista

8. Larkspur Redwood

9. Scripps Ranch

10. Murrieta Valley

Sadie Engelhardt has the potential to make history at 9 a.m. Saturday by becoming the first female athlete in division history to win three consecutive crowns.

Sadie Engelhardt (Ventura, 11/23/2024)

Unfortunately for the Ventura High senior, the Cougars might not have enough available depth to pursue another team title after capturing the third state championship in program history last season.

Engelhardt won a third straight Southern Section title Nov. 23 with a 17:31.9 effort on the 3-mile layout at Mt. San Antonio College and has the ability to challenge her all-time 5-kilometer mark at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Engelhardt ran 16:24.2 to win the Bill Buettner girls championship race Oct. 12 at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational to eclipse the 2017 performance of 16:30.3 achieved by Malibu’s Claudia Lane when she secured the Division 4 state title.

Engelhardt would become the 10th competitor in California girls cross country history in any division to win at least three individual state championships.

Although Engelhardt, junior Aelo Curtis and freshman Sophie Nuckols all finished in the top 20 at the Southern Section final, Ventura was edged by a 99-118 margin by El Toro, which captured its first division title in program history.

El Toro, Mountain View St. Francis, Rocklin Whitney and Monte Vista all have the opportunities to capture their first state championship, especially if Ventura – also winner of back-to-back Division 1 titles in 2003-04 – is competing at less than full strength.

Rocklin Whitney was second last season and Mountain View St. Francis took third, with El Toro looking to elevate from 11th and Monte Vista climbing from a 16th-place finish.

Whitney placed six athletes in the top 20 to win a third consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section title Nov. 16 with a 43-96 victory at the Willow Hills Course in Folsom.

Mountain View St. Francis had all seven competitors in the top 20, achieving a 15-second spread among its five scorers, to secure back-to-back Central Coast Section championships by a 47-66 margin against 2022 winner Los Altos.

El Toro, led by sophomore Gweneth Williams taking third, had five runners in the top 35 to triumph in the section final at Mt. SAC.

Gweneth Williams (#476, El Toro, 11/23/2024)

Monte Vista, highlighted by individual winner Alexandra Powell, edged Larkspur Redwood with a 44-46 triumph Nov. 23 in the North Coast Section final at Hayward High.

Alexandra Powell (Monte Vista, 10/12/2024)

Powell finished 15th in last year’s state championship race.

Scripps Ranch produced five scorers in the top 15 to capture a third consecutive San Diego Section crown with a 35-63 victory Nov. 16 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.

Murrieta Valley’s Arielle Avina, Newport Harbor’s Keaton Robar, Archbishop Mitty’s Evie Marheineke, Patterson’s Natalie Arriaza and Williams are all returning all-state competitors, in addition to Engelhardt.

Canoga Park senior Angelina Lopez, the L.A. City Section winner, returns following a 51st-place effort in the championship race last season.

Angelina Lopez (Canoga Park, 10/25/2024)

Olivia Campos of Mt. Carmel, the two-time San Diego Section champion, is looking to elevate on her 50th-place performance from last year’s state final.

Olivia Campos (Mt Carmel, 10/25/2024)

Grace Baxter from Granite Bay, the Sac-Joaquin Section gold medalist, is motivated to earn all-state recognition after finishing 40th last season.

Grace Baxter (Granite Bay, 10/12/2024)

Tesoro teammates Amber Dazey and Mackenzie Forrest, who placed 37th and 43rd in last year’s championship race, also have the potential to produce significant improvements after securing fifth and eighth, respectively, in the Southern Section final at Mt. SAC.

But the biggest movement in the division Saturday could be from Palo Alto junior Amaya Bharadwaj, who achieved 161st in last year’s state final.

Amaya Bharadwaj (Palo Alto, 10/12/2024)

Kinga Czajkowska, who took fifth in the 2022 division championship, is also making her return to the state final for Palo Alto.

Czajkowska and Bharadwaj placed first and third in a large school race Oct. 12 at Clovis, both producing sub-18 performances at Woodward Park, in addition to taking the top two spots Nov. 16 in the Central Coast Section final at Crystal Springs.

Murrieta Valley’s Jordin Lieberman, Newbury Park’s Sophia Grant, Newport Harbor’s Marley McCullough, Vacaville’s Khloe Delatorre, Granada’s Sade Bumpus, Scripps Ranch freshman Olivia Liu and Claremont teammates Isla Bulmer and Grace Smith are also capable of achieving all-state performances.

Arielle Avina (#1756, Murrieta Valley) and Jordin Lieberman (#1761, Murrieta Valley, 11/15/2024)

By Erik Boal