Girl's Team
When looking at the D2 girl's team race, three teams standout: Minster, McDonald and St. Thomas Aquinas. Who is on top of the podium in November just may come down to how the 5th place runners on the teams step up. Right now, on paper, the Minster girl's look like the team to beat.
The Minster girl's were 2nd last year and return five girls from last year's team. They are led by Sr. Morgan Pohl who was 13th last year. Their #2 runner is So. Kaitly Albers and she was their lowest place finisher last yera, running 62nd. Three Jr.s round out their top 5 girls: Lisa Barlage was 34th. Madeline Magoto was 36th and Casie Francis was 48th. They should battle for the Top Spot on the podium in November and would be the Preseason favorites to win.
McDonald was 3rd last year and returns 4 of the State starters, including Malina Mitchell who was 11th. Joining Mitchell from last year's race are Jr. Ally Jamison (38th), Jr. Abby Pratt (70th) and Jr. Alyssa Lynch (72nd). McDonald's question mark will be who is stepping up to their #5 spot. They should contend for a top three berth.
The other to team that should vie for a top three podium spot is the defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas. They return the #1 ranked D3 girl and last year's runner up, Sr. Kalee Soehnlen, Sr. Kacee Soehnlen (24th), Jr. Hanna Soehnlen (33rd), So. Hanna Ohman (50th) and Jr. Natalie Vinci (104th). Like McDonald, just how good they are will be determined by their 5th runner.
Other Teams to watch for: St. Henry, Eastern Reedsville, Russia and Columbus School for Girls
| Rank | Team | Score | Highest | Lowest | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minster (OH) | 2.47 | 1 | 12 | 5000m 1-3 Gap (34.10) |
| 2 | St. Henry (OH) | 7 | 2 | 16 | 5000m 1-2 Gap (23.00) |
| 3 | Eastern-Reedsville (OH) | 7.31 | 3 | 19 | 5000m 1-5 Gap (2:18.40) |
| 4 | Russia (OH) | 8.21 | 2 | 24 | 5000m 1-2 Gap (32.50) |
| 5 | Columbus School for Girls(OH) | 10 | 5 | 31 | 5000m 1-2 Gap (55.50) |
| 6 | Fredericktown (OH) | 10.4 | 3 | 27 | 1600m 1-4 Average (6:21.54) |
| 7 | St. Thomas Aquinas (OH) | 13.3 | 1 | 40 | 5000m 1-2 Gap (1:24.10) |
| 8 | Liberty Center (OH) | 16.8 | 6 | 29 | 5000m 1-5 Gap (2:55.40) |
| 9 | Fairfield Christian Academy (OH) | 16.8 | 6 | 48 | 5000m 1-2 Gap (2:13.38) |
| 10 | Miami East (OH) | 18.0 | 8 | 40 | 5000m 1-4 Gap (2:46.00) |
What are composite team rankings?
A few years ago, MileSplit developed a data based number-cruncher system to rank cross country teams called "composite" team rankings. The rather complicated algorithm takes into account both cross country and track seasons, based on various categories and weights. It even indicates what the computer believes the biggest weakness is at this point.
Teams that did not have much of a track season or did not have at least four of their top distance runners out for track may see their scores drop. However, teams that busted it and looked great this past spring will show higher. Hopefully it is a good balance to predict who is strong coming in! It does not necessarily take into account any new freshman or transfers.
The score represents the team's weighted composite average rank across all categories. The highest column represents the highest ranking they received in a category, and conversely the lowest is the worst ranking they received in a category.
If you pull up the XC Team Scores page, you'll see a link to "Composite" scoring. This is a type of scoring that gives a team a rank on a number of different categories, with different weights on each:
- XC 5K Team Rank (normal)
- XC 5K 1-5 Split
- XC 5K 1-5 Average
- XC 5K 1-4 Rank (normal)
- XC 5K 1-4 Split
- XC 5K 1-4 Average
- XC 5K 1-3 Split
- XC 5K 1-2 Split
- Outdoor 1600m Top 4 (normal)
- Outdoor 1600m Top 4 Average
- Outdoor 3200m Top 4 (normal)
- Outdoor 3200m Top 4 Average
By using all of these factors and weighting them appropriately, we should get a really good and balanced idea of who are the best teams. This is especially designed for returning teams.