Layla Ruiz, Watsonville, So.: One of the biggest surprises last school year, Watsonville’s star distance runner will be one of the favorites to win nearly every race she will participate in this fall.
She was named the top freshman cross country runner in Northern California last fall after winning a league title, taking third in the Central Coast Section Division I race and becoming the first runner from Watsonville to advance to the CIF state meet since 2000.
In the spring, she led the Wildcatz to their first team league title since 1990 and won two individual league titles while also resetting the school record in 3,200-meters.
Editor’s Note: 20 athletes in 20 days is a daily series that will highlight one local high school athlete per day leading up to the start of 2018-19 school year.
