The Ultimate NXN Girls Team And Individual Preview

Great Oak's Girls (CA)

In some ways, you could say the Wolfpack have been overlooked all season. Simply by virtue of its schedule, Great Oak has raced not only against the best in California, but versus some of the nation's best teams overall. 

And since October, the Wolfpack, ranked No. 2 in the Flo50 national rankings, have been unbeatable, logging big wins at the Clovis Invitational, Mt. SAC, the CIF Southern Section Finals and the Division I Championship in California. 

While you could say the Wolfpack have losses on their resume against Buchanan (CA) and Naperville North (IL), those came in September before the team was truly at its top form. 

So if there's any team who could give Fayetteville-Manlius a run for its money, the Wolfpack girls are it. Their best performance came in 2014 when they finished second overall, but they returned in 2015 to finish third, too. 

And to the pleasant surprise of head coach Doug Soles, he may have a No. 1 and No. 1A on his team. For much of the season, sophomore Tori Gaitan has led the Wolfpack as its top runner, but at the Division I Championships, junior Fatima Cortes was fourth overall and first for the club. 

Senior Sandra Pflughoft supplies dangerous depth at No. 3 and sophomores Audrey Dang and Arianna Griffiths finish out the ranks. 

It will be Dang and Griffiths, though, who will have to come through with big performances in Portland if the Wolfpack have any shot of uprooting FM. The team's spread from the state championship race was nearly 90 seconds and will need to be tighter to win. 

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