Fayetteville-Manlius Girls Shoot for 9th Title in 10 Years

The Running Times Girls Top 10, September 9. 

Chris Hornbecker

(NXN 2015 placing in parentheses. NR=did not qualify for NXN.)

The F-M girls are the New York Yankees of high school track and field, only better. After taking second in 2013 to end a seven-year NXN winning streak, they regained the title in 2014. They return only four from last year’s top seven, but F-M has a great shot at winning their ninth title in 10 years.

2. Great Oak HS, Temecula, California (2)
Led by 10:00 two-miler Destiny Collins, Great Oak has the best chance of taking down the F-M juggernaut this season with six runners returning from last year’s second-place team.

3. Saratoga Springs HS, Saratoga Springs, New York (10)
Saratoga Springs brings back six of their top seven, including Carly and Samantha Vetter, twin sisters who were freshmen on last year’s 10th-place NXN squad.

4. Naperville HS, Naperville, Illinois (4)
Judy Pendergrast was 22nd at NXN 2015 (third in the team scoring), and comes back as a senior this season to lead Naperville, who returns five runners from last year’s fourth-place team.

5. Carmel HS, Carmel, Indiana (3)
Carmel returns four from its 2014 team. They kicked off the season with a dominating win at their county championships. Led by junior Sarah Leinheiser, Carmel scored 21 points against solid competition.

6. La Salle Academy, Providence, Rhode Island (9)
Eliza Rego was ninth in the team race at NXN last year. Now a senior, she leads a group of five runners who will be back for La Salle. 

7. Wayzata HS, Wayzata, Minnesota (6)
The 2013 champs should not be counted out. They lost Anna French, their top runner from 2013 and ’14, but bring back six of seven from last year’s sixth-place team, including Annika Lerdall and Michaela Keller-Miller, who were 28th and 29th, respectively, in the team scoring at NXN last year. 

8. American Fork HS, Utah (22)
The state of Utah continually has great showings at NXN. American Fork looks like the best team in the state this season, with four returners and the addition of 5:03 miler Sara Musselman who moved to American Fork from Lehi High School in Lehi, Utah.

9. Lake Braddock HS, Lake Braddock, Virginia (NR)
Lake Braddock just missed qualifying for NXN last season, placing third at NXN Southeast. Kate Murphy qualified individually and placed 24th as a sophomore.

10. Camas HS, Camas, Washington (13)
Camas brings back five of it’s top seven, including now sophomore Emma Jenkins, who led the team at NXN as a freshman with a 16th-place finish in the team scoring.

Top 5 Regional Rankings

New York
1. Fayetteville-Manlius
2. Saratoga Springs
3. Shenendehowa
4. Monroe-Woodbury
5. East Aurora

1. La Salle Academy (RI)
2. Pennsbury (PA)
3. Coe-Brown Academy (NH)
4. Cardinal O’Hara (PA)
5. Hillsborough (NJ)

1. Marcus (TX)
2. The Woodlands (TX)
3. New Braunfels (TX)
4. Smithson Valley (TX)
5. Kingwood (TX)

1. Lake Braddock (VA)
2. Green Hope (NC)
3. Oakton (VA)
4. Riverside (SC)
5. Winter Park (FL)

1. Carmel (IN)
2. Naperville North (IL)
3. Columbus North (IN)
4. Northville (MI)
5. Palatine (IL)

1. Wayzata (MN)
2. Willmar (MN)
3. Edina (MN)
4. Urbandale (IA)
5. Whitefish Bay (WI)

1. American Fork (UT)
2. Desert Vista (AZ)
3. Cherry Creek (CO)
4. Davis (UT)
5. Monarch (CO)

1. Camas (WA)
2. Summit (OR)
3. Timberline (ID)
4. Sunset (OR)
5. South Eugene (OR)

1. Great Oak
2. Saugus
3. Clovis North
4. Bella Vista
5. Davis Senior

See the boys' rankings here

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