One of the most promising young distance runners in the nation in Kate Murphy returns to lead the Lake Braddock Bruins, a team that just missed an auto spot for Nike Cross Nationals last fall. Murphy, a rising junior, ran 4:16 for 1500m this summer to land a spot on the U.S. All-Time List before winning the Pan-American Championships in the event. She was "just" 24th at NXN in 2014, but expect the 10:19 3200m runner to contend for the national title this fall.
The Bruins return four of their top five and six of their top seven from last year's varsity roster. Murphy is not the only one who made huge strides in the spring. The team ranks No. 2 in the nation based on Top 5 returning 3200m times, with an average time of 11:03.75 and the entire top five under 11:24. Sophomore Sarah Daniels returns as a conceivable No. 2 after an outstanding rookie track campaign that included an 11:05 3200m PR - which is actually better than Murphy's freshman best. Head coach Mike Mangan also points to Daly Ferguson (18:25 5k) and Sonya Butseva (11:12 3200m) as top contributors, but the Bruins' No. 5 is harder to pin down. Their weakness will be the 1-5 gap. Can Daniels continue her stellar spring and pull her teammates closer to Murphy?
Top Returnees from 2014 XC Season:
| 1) Kate Murphy | 17:31.60 | 6 | ||
| 2) Sarah Daniels | 18:22.40 | 107 | ||
| 3) Daly Ferguson | 18:25.00 | 118 | ||
| 4) Sonya Butseva | 18:39.30 | 203 | ||
| 5) Madison Tippet | 19:06.00 | 374 | ||
| Average Time: 18:24.86 Total Time: 1:32:04.30 1-5 Split: 1:34.40 | ||||
| 6) Taylor Kitchen | 19:08.00 | 385 | ||
| 7) Emily Schiesl | 19:37.45 | 659 | ||
Top Returning 3200m Times from 2015 Outdoor Season:
| 1) Kate Murphy | 10:19.95 | 5 | ||
| 2) Sarah Daniels | 11:05.37 | 76 | ||
| 3) Sonya Butseva | 11:12.30 | 92 | ||
| 4) Emily Schiesl | 11:17.93 | 125 | ||
| 5) Daly Ferguson | 11:23.18 | 155 | ||
| Average Time: 11:03.75 Total Time: 55:18.73 1-5 Split: 1:03.23 | ||||
| 6) Kylie Finnegan | 11:44.85 | 271 | ||
| 7) Rebecca Doran | 12:00.88 | 382 | ||
| Top Returning 1600m Times from 2015 Outdoor Season: | ||||
| 1) Kate Murphy | 4:46.99 | 3 | ||
| 2) Emily Schiesl | 5:18.99 | 212 | ||
| 3) Sarah Daniels | 5:20.69 | 242 | ||
| 4) Sonya Butseva | 5:26.16 | 321 | ||
| 5) Madeline McAvoy | 5:29.49 | 376 | ||
| Average Time: 5:16.46 Total Time: 26:22.32 1-5 Split: 42.50 | ||||
| 6) Daly Ferguson | 5:31.63 | 424 | ||
| 7) Kylie Finnegan | 5:34.05 | 459 | ||
In the 10 day span between Sunday, August 16 and Monday, August 24, MileSplit will release the Pre-Season National XC Team Rankings for Boys and Girls. The No. 1 team will be released on Tuesday, August 25 along with the Pre-Season Saucony Flo50 Team Rankings, which includes the Top 25 teams for each gender. Selections are made by the MileSplit national team, including insight and input from state web masters, and based on 2014 final rankings, placement at 2014 NXN, number and quality of returning runners, improvement during track season and tradition of excellence.