By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

The 69th Mt. SAC Invitational is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-22 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Here are 10 storylines to follow at the largest high school meet in the country:

Elite Eight

In its only appearance on the Mt. SAC course this season, expect Great Oak to be highly motivated to win the Division 1 girls sweepstakes championship Saturday for an eighth year in a row, in addition to pursuing a third straight grand sweepstakes title. Whether Kiyena Beatty, Sydney Belus, Evelyn Mandel, Nicole Rice, Sandra Pflughoft, Michelle McIntosh and Devin Ito can challenge Great Oak’s course record of 87:58 in 2013 is uncertain, but the Wolfpack have the potential to produce a fifth performance under 89 minutes after running 88:34 last year. Davis Senior and Arcadia will get a third and final regular-season matchup with Great Oak after the Wolfpack defeated both teams at the Stanford and Clovis invitationals. Arcadia continues to battle injuries, with Cindy Liang out of the lineup and being replaced by sister Kelly Liang, and Davis Senior will be without sisters Annie Mitchell and Ruthie Mitchell.

Running With the Wolfpack

Although Great Oak won’t have a rematch with Dana Hills following a convincing victory at the Clovis Invitational, the Wolfpack will be challenged by the elite programs in Division 2, with Loyola, Claremont, Mira Costa and West Ranch all competing in the boys team sweepstakes Saturday. Great Oak is seeking its third consecutive grand sweepstakes title, capable of producing a fourth performance under 76:30 in the past three years after setting the course record 74:47 at last year’s invitational. Carlos Carvajal and Solomon Fountain return from last year’s record-setting lineup for Great Oak, joined by Jacob Korgan, Justin Eipp, Ryan Shields, Tyler Tickner and Anthony Ruiz. Claremont placed second to Great Oak in the Clovis Invitational championship race, but this will mark the only time in the regular season that Loyola, West Ranch and Mira Costa will be in the same race as both Wolfpack teams, Claremont and Great Oak.

How Fast Will This Lane Be?

Malibu sophomore Claudia Lane ran 18:14.8 to place second in the Southern Section Division 4 final last year, the last time she ran at Mt. SAC before this year’s invitational. After a string of impressive performances, including a second-place finish behind Brie Oakley of Grandview (Colorado) in the Woodbridge Classic sweepstakes race, Lane will take on another significant challenge by moving up from Division 4 to compete in the individual sweepstakes Saturday. Lane is unbeaten against California runners this season, but will face strong competition from Burroughs’ Emily Virtue, Walnut’s Chloe Arriaga, Citrus Valley’s Claire Graves, La Quinta’s Akemi Von Scherr, Redwood Larkspur’s Glennis Murphy and Bakersfield Liberty's Cagnei Duncan in a race that should produce the fastest time of the meet.

Fast Friday

After great boys sweepstakes matchups involving California’s top individuals at the Woodbridge Classic, Stanford Invitational and Clovis Invitational, the fastest time at Mt. SAC could come from the Division 5 sweepstakes race from St. Joseph Notre Dame senior Cooper Teare. With Michael Vernau of Davis Senior and Armijo’s Luis Grijalva not attending the meet, Teare decided to run Friday with his team instead of moving up to the individual sweepstakes Saturday. Teare clocked 14:48 to place second to Flintridge Prep’s Jack Van Scoter in last year’s Division 5 sweepstakes, the seventh-fastest time of the meet overall. San Luis Obispo senior Callum Bolger, who recently gave his verbal commitment to Stanford, is scheduled to run in the Division 4 sweepstakes Friday but could also move to the individual sweepstakes Saturday. Bolger ran 14:59 twice at Mt. SAC last year.

Preview for new-look Division 2

With North Coast Section girls powers Granada, Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley competing in Division 2 this season, the only regular-season matchup involving Southern Section leaders Claremont and Saugus with the East Bay Athletic League trio will be in the team sweepstakes Saturday. Although Haley Herberg won’t be racing for Capistrano Valley, the Alyssa Bautista-led Cougars will still remain in the team sweepstakes, along with Anaheim Canyon in the deepest Division 2 field in any invitational this season. Claremont won the Cool Breeze Invitational and placed fourth at Roy Griak and Clovis, with Saugus prevailing at the Staub/Barnes Invitational. Saugus junior Mariah Castillo, Monte Vista senior Meredith Corda and Anaheim Canyon junior Sara Leonard are among the Division 2 individual challengers in the team sweepstakes.

Big stakes in small school showdown

For the first time since the Cool Breeze Invitational, Lancaster Desert Christian and Flintridge Prep will square off in the Division 5 boys sweepstakes Friday in a preview of Southern Section and state championship races. Flintridge Prep and Desert Christian have placed first and second in the Division 5 sweepstakes the past two seasons, with the Rebels also winning in 2012. The last time Desert Christian finished ahead of Flintridge Prep in the sweepstakes race was 2011, when the Knights were second behind St. Margaret’s and the Rebels finished third. Desert Christian senior Andrew Mitchell and Flintridge Prep junior Evan Pattinelli will also get to measure themselves against St. Joseph Notre Dame senior Cooper Teare in preparation for the Nov. 26 state final.

Sea Kings ready for sweepstakes showcase

Instead of racing against Esperanza and La Costa Canyon in the Division 3 sweepstakes Friday, Palos Verdes is stepping up to test itself in the girls team sweepstakes Saturday. Grace Catena, Caitlin Stoner, Camille Hines, Mazzy Genovese, Olivia Polischeck, Alex Regan and Savannah Scriven are looking to build off a strong performance at the Bay League opener, with the Sea Kings’ top five runners separated by 41 seconds in their first race together this season. Palos Verdes won the Iolani Invitational in Hawaii and is looking forward to competing against the elite Division 1 and 2 programs in preparation for the Division 3 postseason.

We finally meet

For the first time this season, the top three boys teams in Division 3 will square off in the same race when Brea-Olinda, West Torrance and Cathedral Catholic compete in Friday’s sweepstakes. Brea-Olinda will look to rebound from a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Orange County Championships, with West Torrance and Cathedral Catholic primed for big performances after remaining under the radar in September. All three programs attended the Woodbridge Classic, but have shown significant improvement in the past month in preparation for a state finals preview. Cathedral Catholic junior Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos is among the favorites, along with Rubidoux’s Erik Gonzalez and Kevin Ramos, as well as Paso Robles' Trad Berti and Luis Armendariz, with West Torrance relying on Carson Bix, Rory Abberton and Caleb Terrill. Brea-Olinda is led by Gio Orellana, Daniel Perez and Kevin McNulty.

Plenty of female firepower left over

Although Malibu sophomore Claudia Lane is scheduled to run in Saturday’s team sweepstakes, several elite female competitors will be racing in sweepstakes and varsity races Friday. Bishop Amat senior Trinity Ruelas and Miramonte sophomore Cassy Haskell will race in the Division 4 sweepstakes, along with McFarland sophomore DeDe Salcedo and JSerra sophomore Nadia Tabrizi. La Costa Canyon’s McKenna Brown and Kristin Fahy will race in Division 3 against Esperanza’s Sapna Dholakia and Shannon Mackellar, Corona del Mar’s Raquel Powers, Paso Robles’ Annie Meeder and University City’s Elise Boisvert. St. Joseph Notre Dame senior Kiera Marshall headlines the Division 5 sweepstakes, racing against Flintridge Prep’s Sophie Gitlin and Natalie O’Brien, La Jolla Country Day’s Lexi Watkins and Pacifica Christian’s Christie Caruana. In varsity races, El Dorado’s Lucina Vincent and Ramona's Gwendalyn Gibson are scheduled to race in Division 3, Sonora’s Cassi Land, Notre Dame’s Mariah Moro and Sage Creek’s Skyler Wallace are entered in Division 4, with Wildwood freshman Lila Copeland in Division 5.

No junior achievement

One of the highlights each year at Mt. SAC is the junior varsity national championship races in each division, highlighted by the boys and girls Division 1 and 2 races Saturday. Great Oak won the title in both genders last year, with a sweep of the top eight spots in the girls race. Brea-Olinda won the Division 3 boys race, with Foothill Technology prevailing in Division 4 and Flintridge Prep in Division 5. La Costa Canyon won the girls Division 3 championship, Mayfield captured the Division 4 girls title and Flintridge Prep prevailed in Division 5.