The Top 10 Sophomore Girls To Watch This XC Season

* Macy Wingard (right) enters as a top returner among sophomores for the 2022 cross country season.

Photo Credit: Roderick Pernetter/MileSplit Texas

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With a year of high school competition under their belts, the rising sophomore class enters the fall cross country season with experience at their advantage.

The top distance girls from the class will look to continue their progression on the course in 2023.

The list of elite returners includes state champions, nationally-ranked talents and even a world age group record-holder on the track.

We narrowed down our list to the top 10 members of the Class of 2027 that could make a significant impact this fall on a national scale.

Continue below for our top 10 rising sophomore girls to keep an eye on heading into the 2023 cross country season.

10. Cameron Macias

Clovis West (CA)

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Macias could be the biggest breakout star among sophomores this cross country season.

She enters the fall as one of the top combined athletes across 5K and three miles thanks to stellar PRs of 17:28.50 and 16:41.00 set in 2022. Those marks also came on two of the biggest stages in California, earning her a fourth-place finish at the ASICS Clovis XC Invitational and a top 25 honor at the Woodbridge Classic.

However, Macias did not compete at the CIF State Championships in November.

If her track fitness is any indication of what to expect from her this fall, it could be a special season from the sophomore.

She logged solid marks of 2:15.78 for 800m and 4:55.52 for 1,600m and even advanced to the CIF State Championships in the 800m.

9. Meg Peterson

With bests of 17:40.90 for 5K and 17:19.85 at three miles, Peterson could continue to develop into a star in Illinois.

Peterson showed steady progression throughout the 2022 cross country season, beginning with a 18:15.20 5K opener in September and she ended with the fourth-fastest performance among freshmen at Nike Cross Nationals in December.

Along the way, she also took eighth at the IHSA State Championships and earned a stellar 11th-place finish at the Nike Midwest Regionals.

Mt. Prospect, with a long history of success in cross country, has benefitted greatly from the addition of Peterson, too. With Peterson as their No. 1 runner, the team took fifth at NXN and won a Class 3A state title in Illiniois.

Peterson should continue to lead Mt. Prospect to national success and she should rank among the top distance athletes in the Class of 2026.

8. Kynzlee Buckley

Is Cohen the next up-and-coming star out of Colorado?

She certainly made a case for that honor during her freshman season at Cherry Creek.

In her first year competing for the Colorado powerhouse, Cohen registered a 5K personal best of 17:26.40 and earned top 10 finishes at both the Roy Griak Invitational and the Colorado Class 5A State Championships. On the national stage at the Garmin RunningLane XC Championships, she would earn 16th overall in 18:15.80.

Cohen followed up her cross country season with a well-rounded outdoor campaign, running 4:57.94 for 1,600m and 10:41.07 over 3,200m. 

Her 5K best from last season ranks Cohen at U.S. No. 3 among returners for the Class of 2026.

Williams went on a tear during her freshman year of high school.

Not only did she finish fourth against prominent names at the CIF Division I State Cross Country Championships in a PR of 17:38.84, but her greatest efforts came on the track as she clocked a class-leading 10:11.01 for 3,200m at the CIF State Championships in May, taking fourth overall.

She also ranked among the top freshmen this spring in the 1,600m (4:46.26) and 2-mile (10:28.92).

Williams returns to the course in 2023 as one of the top athletes in California and one of the top sophomores nationally. 

Distance running certainly runs in the family for Addison.

The daughter of Dathan Ritzenhein earned national attention last fall when she was the top freshman finisher at Nike Cross Nationals in a 5K personal best of 17:38.40. That earned her a stellar 18th-place finish in her first time competing on the national stage for cross country.

Ritzenhein continued that momentum going into the track season as she took third in the 2-mile at Nike Indoor Nationals in 10:21.03 and posted notable PRs on the outdoor track; 4:58.04 over 1,600m and 10:29.42 for 3,200m.

Black has been a consistent figure in the Class of 2026 since middle school. 

She first made national headlines as an eighth-grader competing for the Cambridge Christian high school varsity team and clocking 17:51.29 for 5K that season.

That trend carried over to high school as the latest Florida phenom was the definition of consistency, clocking times under 18 minutes in all nine of her 5K races last season.

Of those nine contests, she won all but one of them, including an elusive title win at the FHSAA class 1A State Championships.

Her 17:15.50 best from the North Port XC Invitational last September ranks her as the second-fastest returner for the rising sophomore class in the 5K.

During the track season, Black ranked among the best in the grade for distance events with personal bests of 2:10.78 for 800m, 4:48.83 in the 1,600m and 10:30.18 for the 3,200m.

As the 14th-place finisher and the lone freshman competitor at the Champs Sports National Championships last fall, Dailey made a big statement to end her debut season.

It was a season full of highlights, including a runner-up finish at the CIF State Cross Country Championships -- in a 5K PR of 17:27.22 -- and a stellar second-place effort in the rated race at the Woodbridge Classic. She ran 16:34.80 for three miles.

But then came track season and Dailey logged class-leading marks in a variety of events.

She led freshmen in the 1,500m (4:23.67), 1,600m (4:42.43) and mile (4:44.47) during the outdoor campaign and also posted stellar efforts of 2:09.23 for 800m at Nike Outdoor Nationals and 10:24.48 for 3,200m.

Expect to see Dailey contend for top placements at the national championships this fall.

The 2-mile 15-year-old world age group record-holder will be a force this cross country season.

Leachman clocked 9:57.65 at Nike Outdoor Nationals in June for the fastest 2-mile ever marked by a 15-year-old.

As a freshman in cross country, she also put together her best performance of the season at the FEAST Patriot XC Invitational with a 18:16.64 best for 5K. She also finished as the runner-up at her district championships and was 20th at the UIL Texas Class 5A State Championships.

Her world record-breaking runs on the track could very well give her the boost needed to take command of the cross country season this year.

Eliana Black of Cambridge Christian (FL) was the only other girls freshmen last season to run under 17:20, and the next best returner sits over 10 seconds behind Wingard in the 5K rankings.

That experience and consistency should be crucial for Wingard in 2023 and it will set her apart from the rest returners nationally.