Picking the top cross-country teams in the state before the season begins is never easy. A lot can happen over the course of three months. Athletes can experience breakthrough seasons, newcomers can emerge as key contributors, and, of course, injuries to important runners can quickly change the outlook for a team.
But we’ll do our best to set the stage for what we expect will be another exciting season on the trails. For some of the state’s top teams, the outlook appears fairly straightforward if everything goes according to plan. For others, however, the picture is far less clear, and where they’ll ultimately finish by season’s end remains anyone’s guess.
Beginning with No. 10 and counting down to No. 1, here’s our preseason ranking of the top 10 girls’ teams in the state. As always, if we’ve given your team a little bulletin-board material based on our rankings, you’re welcome. It certainly won’t be the first time.
(Above photo by Sterling Vernon @rhodeandtrack)
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No. 5, La Salle Academy
Last year’s results: Second (8-1), Metropolitan Division; Third, RIIL Class A Championships; Fourth, RIIL State Championships
Key returnees/runners: Will Souza, senior, 16:25.51; Matt Lewis, senior, 16:35.60; Cameron Taylor, sophomore, 17:30.11; Noah dosReis, senior, 17:51.54; Jackson Lewis, senior, 17″54.57; Sidharth Simha, senior, 18:06.18
Outlook: Since 2013, La Salle has finished no worse than fifth at the State Meet. During that span, the Rams have placed fifth just once while capturing five team titles and three runner-up finishes.
We’re predicting the string of top-six performances will continue this fall for La Salle, with five runners returning from last year’s squad that was fourth overall at the states. This is a team, like most in our top-10 list, that we’ll have a slightly better picture of how they’ll perform as the season progresses. We’re putting them at No. 5, but that could certainly change in a few months.
A big loss for the Rams was the graduation of multiple all-stater Marshall Vernon, who won the state title in 2024 and was fourth at last year’s meet. The Rams return two runners who cracked the top 20 last year: Will Souza (11th) and Matt Lewis (15th). Souza and Lewis will give the Rams a solid 1-2 punch and could certainly move up a few places at the State Meet, providing the low numbers they’ll need to give the Rams a chance at a high team placement.
