Payton Godsey, a Northern Arizona-bound senior at Oaks Christian School in California and the reigning California Division 4 state champion and winner of the gold race at the Garmin RunningLane Championships, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss competing Sept. 16 in the Bob Day girls sweepstakes race at the 42nd Woodbridge Cross Country Classic presented by ASICS America at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. Godsey placed second in the girls sweepstakes race last year in 15:51.9 on the 3-mile layout, producing the fastest performance by a junior in meet history and the No. 3 all-time effort from all Woodbridge courses combined. She reflects on her Sept. 7 season-opening performance of 16:25.92 on the 3-mile course at Peppertree Park in Newbury Park to win the first Marmonte League meet and helping Oaks Christian achieve the fastest all-time team effort at the venue of 90:11, eclipsing the mark of 90:33 achieved by Newbury Park in 2019. Godsey revisits her performance last season at Woodbridge and placing runner-up behind Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura at 15:42.6, with both athletes having the opportunity to become the only female competitors in meet history to achieve multiple sub-16 efforts. She also examines how special it is to have four returning California state champions all in the same race together, with Tessa Buswell of Poway the defending Division 1 champ and Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery a two-time winner in Division 3, along with Engelhardt from Division 2 and Godsey representing Division 4. Godsey also speaks about how much she is looking forward to competing in a national field, especially after illness prevented her from racing in June at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle and at Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon. She analyzes how significant it was to focus on her mental approach during the summer in preparation for a long schedule that will culminate with racing in December, and explains how meaningful every event will be during her final prep cross country season. Godsey shares the relief in making her verbal commitment to attend Northern Arizona and how much she is looking forward to contributing to the team culture created by Lumberjacks coach Mike Smith. She also expresses gratitude to Oaks Christian coach Wes Smith, as well as the faculty, in addition to family, friends and teammates for their support during her running career and how proud Godsey is to represent the Lions.

WATCH LIVE WEBCAST SEPT. 15-16 OF 42ND WOODBRIDGE CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC PRESENTED BY ASICS AMERICA