I've been on-course with Cole Paton (16th in the pro-xc), that was about 3 years ago, I talked to him after the race and he seemed like a really nice kid. I started in masters a couple of minutes after him, I was really pushing the pace on the climbs (and I'm a pretty decent masters c1 climber), and his climb times were SO much faster than mine.
I'll also be looking at the jrs finishes; a local really-fast kid and family are there, he did really well in the enduro on Thurs, I expect he will do well in the xc Sunday.