Ravenscroft NC frosh Wesley Frazier.  Photo Tommy Kopetskie, NorthRaleighSports.com

• Fantastic Freshmen – The biggest story so far on the national girls scene has been the explosion of new talent across the country, especially in the person of Wesley Frazier (who enters at #13).  The Ravenscroft NC frosh has been under 18:00 for 5k three times already this fall, but the most impressive performance came last weekend.  At the Seahawk Invite in Wilmington, she ran a reported state record 17:05.9, topping the state’s top 4A returnee, Carolyn Baskir, by more than 50 seconds.  The ability of Frazier to race top runners may be limited, though, until the post-season as she competes in the state’s independent schools association (NCISA).  Earlier this decade, that association saw another top national talent come from its ranks in Laura Stanley.

Other top 9th-graders to watch for, on the fringe of the top 25: Sara Sargent (Fairless Hills PA), who has already run a 17:48; Erin Finn (West Bloomfield MI), whose 18:11.50 was second (just 16 seconds back) to US#2 Megan Goethals at the West Bloomfield Invite; Amy Eloise-Neale (Glacier Peak WA), who won the Silverwood Invite in Idaho in 18:05; Sarah Fakler (Xavier Prep AZ), who was 2nd to Jessica Tonn with a 17:37 3M at the Scottsdale Festival, and Kaelyn Balch (Bishop Carroll KS), who beat defending the defending state 5A champ in her home invite.

• Doing the Rankings Shuffle – The top two national returnees, Chelsey Sveinsson and Megan Goethals, will be very difficult to unseat at #1 and #2.  They’ve built up serious creds to earn those spots and it will take monumental efforts (and, likely, losses on their parts) to take them down.  But many of the subsequent spots – especially #3 through #12 – are held by a group of girls who pretty much all have significant national level experience, in both XC and track.  Most of them are close enough that on a given day, they could beat each other and, indeed, have done so at different times the last few years. 

Those that dropped a few spots this week did so mainly they haven’t raced yet, or just had an easy effort, while others who have had strong early outings rose a few spots.  It doesn’t mean a lot and it will take some serious races later in the fall to see who is going to emerge from this group as the best threat to challenge “The Big Two.” 

• Successor to the Throne – Perhaps in no state is there a bigger opening at the top, and more runners eager to fill it, than in California.  For almost all of four years, Jordan Hasay was the unchallenged queen of the Golden State – though Christine Babcock was right there in 2007.  Several girls have a chance to take the throne, but the most significant early statement was certainly made by Molly Grabill, who defeated national contenders Megan Morgan and Allie Billmeyer at the Bronco Invite over two miles.  Grabill is the defending Stanford champ; that meet, this weekend’s Woodbridge Invite and the late October Mt. SAC meet will go a long way to determining the state’s top contenders.

• More New Faces – Besides Frazier, five other athletes entered the rankings this week
  • North Royalton OH jr Hannah Neczypor, 2008 NXN finalist who has won two major races, including her 17:54.03 to take the Tiffin Invite last weekend over most of Ohio’s best
  • Boulder CO jr Kelsey Lakowske, who has won two major races, including a 17:51 to top Kaitlin Hanenburg at the St. Vrain Invite last weekend
  • St. Thomas Aquinas LA sr Malia Cali, the 2008 NSIC 2M champ who rolled a big 17:48.26 to win the Mobile Challenge of Champions last weekend
  • Casa Grande CA sr Jacque Taylor, one of several contenders for the state’s best, who ran a 17:03 3M at the Rancho Cotate Invite
  • Classical Academy CO sr Katlin Hanenberg, who was a strong second to Lakowske at St. Vrain in 17:58

• Top Duos – There are two sets of teammates ranked in the Top 25, and could easily be at least 2-3 more at some point during the season.  Arguably the best overall combo are Dowling Catholic IA seniors US#10 Katie Flood and US#16 Ashlie Decker.  Two years ago, Flood was the NXN runner-up and was pretty much never challenged by her teammate, but last year, Decker improved significantly and Flood struggled somewhat with injuries.  This fall so far, Flood has been just a few ticks ahead, suggesting that both may be ready for a great senior year.  US#5 Emily Sisson and US#25 Diane Robison, also both seniors and 2008 Foot Locker Finalists (Parkway Central MO), are not far behind.  At Torrey Pines CA, 2008 Foot Locker Finalist and US#24 Megan Morgan and teammate Allie Billmeyer could both be ranked at some point.  The leaders of the #1 and #2 teams in the country, US#11 Courtney Chapman (Fayetteville-Manlius NY) and US#20 Kaylin Mahoney (Saugus CA) each have teammates that could join them in the rankings.