These two teams took the defending champions right to the edge of defeat in 2013, but one has enough returning talent to do it again, and again.
Aside from having the best returning 5K times in the database, which I've already acknowledged is a dicey way to rank teams, what do the College Park girls have going for them? Behind their stellar front 5, who are separated by only 23 seconds based on 2013 times, depth would appear to be a concern: the returning times drop off to the 21's for the 6 and 7 runners. The Cavaliers' depth runners don't have many 5K times, although they had a veritable horde of 2 Mile times last fall. The same idea carries through to the times from track season, when College Park did not have 5 returning runners with recorded 1600 or 3200 times. The results they do have are very encouraging (like Pilar Glasser's 5:09/11:11 combo), but how can we be so certain that this team will improve enough to contend for the 6A title in 2014? Over the last 3 years, no other school has consistently improved as much year over year as this one, dropping their 5-girl team average by nearly 70 seconds per year despite ranking in the top 6 of the final team standings at TX MileSplit each of those years. Those kind of gains are not sustainable in the long run, but that's fine; the team with the best returning times doesn't have to improve as much to move to the top. After all, the Cavaliers nearly won the 5A title last year, losing a three-team dogfight where only 7 points separated first from third. The #1 and #7 runners on that state meet squad were seniors, but otherwise the rest are back not only for this season but also for the next. Just like yesterday's highlighted team, Kingwood, that opens a two-year window for the pursuit of a championship, and I think the odds slightly favor College Park. One thing is for certain: the 6A girls are going to be fun to watch this season!
| The Woodlands College Park (TX) | |||
| 1) Sarah Batton | 18:59.40 | ||
| 2) Stacie Macdonald | 19:00.90 | ||
| 3) Georgia Burner | 19:04.80 | ||
| 4) Pilar Glaser | 19:08.40 | ||
| 5) Brittney Prince | 19:22.70 | ||
| Average Time: 19:07.24 Total Time: 1:35:36.20 1-5 Split: 23.30 | |||
| 6) Camila Cortina | 21:05.20 | ||
| 7) Kaila Prochaska | 21:20.00 | ||