The world’s largest cross country invitational will once again be in Walnut, California at the Brooks Mt. Sac Invitational. This will be the 67th edition of the meet, and 115 races will be contested over two days this Friday and Saturday. Flotrack will be on site this weekend covering all the action LIVE. Here is a preview of some of the top races, featuring the top prep talent in the country. 

WATCH MT. SAC LIVE HERE!

Boys Individual Sweepstakes

Teams: Arcadia, Big Bear, Brea Olinda, Carlsbad, Casa Grande, Corona, Dana Hills, De La Salle, El Diamante, Huntington Beach, Livermore, Loara, Los Angeles, Redonda Union, Redwood, Rio Mesa, Roosevelt, Steele Canyon, Tesoro, Vista Del Lago, Walnut, Warren

Watch To Watch: The D1/D2 individual sweepstakes race at Mt. Sac is loaded with some of the best that California has to offer. Headlining the field is Saucony Flo50 #11 Austin Tamagno of Brea Olinda High, winner of all four of his races in 2014. Tamagno has 8:56 3,200m pedigree, and should be riding a wave of confidence when he takes the line at Mt. Sac after his dominating performance at last week’s Orange County Championships. The junior is the highest returner from last year’s California State Meet, a race where he ran faster than current Oregon frosh Blake Haney (they were not in the same race). After running 14:34 at last year’s Mt. Sac Invite, Tamagno will be shooting for Diego Mercado and Ammar Moussa’s course record of 14:24, a time within his ability. 

Challenging Tamagno for the crown at Mt. Sac will be Phillip Rocha of Arcadia High. Rocha finished 5th at the D1 race at the California State Meet last year, and was the fastest non-senior in that race. At the 2013 Mt. Sac Invite, Rocha placed 2nd in the team sweeps race, finishing three seconds back of current Stanford runner Blair Hurlock. Rocha will try and avenge his loss to Tamagno at last month’s Woodbridge Classic, where he lost by just two seconds. Although Rocha was very close to Tamagno at that meet, he will have to be on his game at Mt. Sac to beat his rival as Tamagno’s 14:34 from last year’s race was 17 seconds better than Rocha’s time on the same course. 

One final name to watch is Caleb Webb of Big Bear. The senior was 5th at last year’s race, and was another runner who took down Blake Haney by running 14:56 on the three mile course. Webb won the D4 race at the California State meet in 2013, and continued his success by running 8:59 in the spring. Webb will have to run much better than he did at Woodbridge (9th, 25 seconds back of Tamagno) if he plans on competing with Rocha or Tamagno this weekend. 

Prediction: Tamagno is a man on a mission this season, and he even stated that he was ready to take on Grant Fisher after his victory at Woodbridge. While that may be a stretch (nobody is touching Fisher this season), Tamagno is the class of this field. It should be a nice duel between Tamagno and Rocha, but ultimately the junior from Brea Olinda has bigger goals than just winning this race. The 14:24 course record can be a dangerous target that could make Tamagno vulnerable to being caught by Rocha, but his 14:34 from last year shows that he knows how to run this course. Tamagno wins in 14:30. 

Boys TEAM Sweepstakes

Teams: Agoura, Ayala, Beaumont, Burroughs, California, Canyon (#17), Claremont (#18), Davis, Glendora, Granite Bay, Great Oak (#4), Jurupa Hills, King, La Costa Canyon, Los Gatos, Loyola, Poly, Quartz Hill, Westview

What To Watch: The most highly anticipated team competition at Mt. Sac will go down in this race. Saucony Flo50 #4 Great Oak High will enter as the favorites after winning the Clovis Invite two weeks ago in Fresno. Led by junior Spencer Dodds, Great Oak beat California rival Canyon High by 48 points at that meet, and the two teams will square off in Walnut once again this weekend. 

Claremont High is another Saucony Flo50 ranked school looking to upset Great Oak at Mt. Sac. Coming in at #18, this squad will have its work cut out for them against Canyon and Great Oak. 

In the individual battle, Dodds of Great Oak will face off against Chris Foster of Los Gatos and Robert Brandt of Loyala. Foster finished fourth at the highly competitive Stanford Invite, running 15:03 to finish right behind Arcadia’s Phillip Rocha. Foster should enter fresh, as his last race was four weeks ago. 

Brandt currently owns the second fastest 3 mile time of 2014, his 14:01 from the Rosemead Invite a month ago. Brandt ran 15:01 at Mt. Sac last season, and will enter this year’s race undefeated thus far in 2014. 

Prediction: Although this race will feature three teams ranked in the top 20 of the Saucony Flo50, Great Oak should take this race handily. Their biggest competition this weekend, Canyon, was 48 points behind at Clovis, and that margin won’t be made up on the brutal terrain in Walnut. 

In the race to the tape, Robert Brandt’s 14:01 from earlier in the season is too much to deny. He won’t run anything close to that on Saturday, but he’ll score a nice victory over Foster and Dodds by running 14:45. 

Girls TEAM Sweepstakes

Teams: Arcadia, Ayala, Canyon Crest Academy, Capo Valley, Claremont, Dana Hills, Davis, Great Oak, Quartz Hill, Rancho Bernardo, Redwood, San Clemente, Serrano, Simi Valley, Torrey Pines, Trabuco Hills 

What To Watch: The #1 ranked Great Oak girls team highlights this D1, D2 Girls Team Sweepstakes race. Led by #3 Destiny Collins, the junior will try and keep her undefeated season alive as she is the top returner (4th in 2013) from last year’s race. The Great Oak girls have been dominant this fall, averaging 17:56 at the Clovis Invite and 16:55 for three miles at the Woodbridge Classic. After Collins, Kiyene Beatty and Evelyn Mandel have been equally impressive, running 17:03 for three miles at Woodbridge. With the change in the NXN Course, we have to wonder if this team has their sights set on a national team championship in Portland this December. California has yet to produce a girls championship team, which is crazy when you consider the talent coming out of the state. Look for the Great Oak girls to take down defending Mt. Sac champions #20 Simi Valley. Even without 4x Mt. Sac champ Sarah Baxter, Simi has been strong in 2014, finishing runner-up to Great Oak at Clovis a few weeks ago.

Let’s not count out the Capistrano Valley team, though. Fresh off a team title at the Orange County Championships, led by runner-up Ashley Licata, this team could give Great Oak a challenge. Look for Capo freshman Haley Herberg. She was the only ninth grader to break the 18 minute barrier at OCCs, and stepped up when senior Rebecca Deitch (17:03 3M) suffered injuries and fell back to 28th place.

Individuals that could be a threat to Destiny Collins’ perfect season include Davis High’s Fiona O’Keefe. Davis raced in the individual sweepstakes race last year at Mt. Sac, taking the title in 16:54. This year, Collins (17:21 in 2013) and O’Keefe are featured in the same race, and it’s sure to be an exciting one. O’Keefe’s 16:40 at the Stanford Invite is the fastest 5k in the country this year.

Girls Individual Sweepstakes 

Teams: Arroyo Grande, Beaumont, Burbank, Homestead, Huntington Beach, Kennedy, La Quinta, Mira Costa, Monte Vista, Otay Ranch, Palisades, Poly, Rancho Cucamonga, Redondo Union, San Pasqual, Tesoro

What To Watch: Several top competitors in the state of California will toe the line in the D1, D2 Girls Individual Sweepstakes race. Most notably is Palisades Charter High’s Marissa Williams. Coming in 2nd at the Seaside Invitational, Williams threw down a 15:59 for 3M, just a second behind Great Oak’s Collins. A 16:27 for fourth at Woodbridge and a16:07 win at the Bell Gardens Invitational makes Williams the pre-race favorite.

Burbank’s Candela Fernandez is the favorite to challenge Williams in this field. Finishing third at Clovis with a 5k time of 17:30 is a good indication that she’s ready to fly at Mt. Sac.

Amanda Gehrich of Tesoro ran 17:32 at Mt. Sac last season, but has since ran 17:08 for the win at Dana Hills. With her 4:46 wheels, she’ll be in the mix.

La Quinta’s Marissa Rodriquez ran 17:10 at Woodbridge and 17:13 at Dana Hills (both 3M), but recently ran 18:41 at the Inland Empire Challenge race, over a minute behind the winner. Maybe the downhill course will fare better for Rodriquez.