By Rich Gonzalez
Editor, DyeStatCal.com
FRESNO -- Long-recognized
as a girls' cross-country hotbed on the national landscape, the Golden
State's female harriers of 2005 appear well prepared to raise the bar
to new levels this weekend, with the Corona del Mar girls team and Mission
Prep frosh Jordan Hasay already prompting discussion as among the finest
distance performers in U.S. history! On the boys' side, Southern Section
megapower Royal of Simi Valley leads a solid contingent of teams, with
record-setting runner Diego Mercado of West Covina and top U.S. returnee
A.J. Acosta of Oceanside El Camino headlining the individual entries.
Here's our quick glance at what's in store this weekend:
Our championship action kicks off in
grand fashion in Girls Division III as
the Corona del Mar squad ranked #1 in the nation as of press time takes
aim of bettering its own Woodward Park course record. The Sea Kings
torched this very course to win the Clovis Invitational last month in
a cumulative team time (five scorers) of 91 minutes, 21 seconds and
are fixated on taking down the state-meet record 91:53 achieved by Sultana
three years ago. Stanford-sign Annie St. Geme leads the CdM crew, which
cranked it up a few notches to blow away the Mt. SAC course record by
58 seconds (89:42 there) in winning the Southern Section crown last
weekend. Sarah Cummings, Shelby Buckley (who won the Division III state
individual crown last year while attending Rosary) and Allison Damon
support St. Geme in the attack. Southern Section runner-up Oak Park,
which found itself three minutes behind the talent-laden CdM lineup
in its state-qualifying meet, will be challenged by a pair of sensational
North Coast Section squads in Miramonte and Campolindo. Sophomores Courtney
Lightfoot and Marissa Diehl teamed with junior Breeann Strenkowski to
pace Oak Park to its runner-up placing down south, while frosh Elaine
Tanski and veterans Jenny Bergren and Grace Peck powered Miramonte to
a 15-point win over Laurie Finnegan-led Campolindo at the NCS Finals.
St. Geme is also the individual title favorite, although Acalanes' Mo
Huber, and Enterprise's Lindsay Kirschman have been running very well
this Fall.
A dynamite rematch of Central
Coast Section powers receives top billing in the Girls
Division IV outlook, where section champion Half Moon
Bay aims to close out a perfect peak by maintaining the 7-point advantage
it held over rival San Lorenzo Valley in the CCS Finals two weeks ago.
Half Moon Bay, which rides a nice 2-3 attack (with Aly Millett and Abby
Herhold as the two front-of-the-pack runners and three others not far
behind) to fuel its success. San Lorenzo Valley, which boasts super
sophomore Taylor Johnson at the front of its lineup, had its remaining
scorers pair up in two groups to account for its tight finsh against
the state's top-ranked team. Riverbank (Sac-Joaquin Section) and Orange
Lutheran (SS) project to battle Carmel (CCS) for the third spot, with
the first two squads out very quickly this Fall and the latter team
coming on very well of late. The race for the individual title is wide
open.
The season's third showdown
in Boys Division III between
two elite Southern Section teams will obvious be the most important,
with top-ranked Barstow and #2-ranked Cabrillo of Lompoc each looking
to gain the best-of-three upper hand here. Cabrillo won their first
clash in a tight battle at the Mt. SAC Invitational in mid-October,
with Barstow returning the favor in a superb 44-point win at the Southern
Section Finals last weekend. Barstow's efforts are keyed by Sam Melton
and Stuart Murphy while Cabrillo counters with All-American candidate
Michael Coe (signed to attend UC Berkeley) and Colin Hacker. A very
dangerous CCS squad also appears within reach of the top spot, as St.
Francis of Mountain View is comnig off a stellar showing at ts section
finals, with Mt. SAC Invitational Individuals Sweepstakes Race champion
Ben Sitler leading their efforts throughout the season. Cabrillo's Coe
and St. Francis' Sitler are the co-favorites for individual honors,
with Barstow's Melton, St. Augustine's Marco Anzures and Campolindo's
Chris Vizcaino also in the hunt.
Lurking in the shadows
and quietly inching its way up the division's hierarchy, recently crowned
North Coast Section champion Piedmont now moves into the favorite's
role heading into the year-end Boys Division
IV race. The crew gained its position after a dominant
35-point win over St. Mary's College, including a sparkling 80:27 team
time along the Hayward Park course. Junior Mark Ceraldi was the runaway
champion in the section final, with teammate Ricky Griffith also enjoying
a personal breakthrough to earn a runner-up placing. Big Bear was the
surpise winner in the Southern Section Finals, with heavy individual
favorite Chad Hall wheeling his way to an impressive 53-second win in
14:58 as the Bears finally ran their full lineup in a high-profile meet
to perhaps catch the competition off guard. McFarland, which had built
a dynasty of champions in the 1990s and into the turn of the century,
is a third squad very capable of running up with the leaders, with Octavio
Ruiz leading that fine crew. Big Bear's Hall, Parlier's Erick Garcia
and Piedmont's Mark Ceraldi -- the top three returnees from last year's
state meet -- should battle up front.
Jordan Hasay is the freshmen course recordholder!
A sensational
treat is on tap in Girls Division V,
with Jorday Hasay-led Mission Prep of the Central Section joining an
intense season-long rivalry between meet-day foes Flintridge Prep and
Chadwick of the Southern Section. Mission Prep has been the dominant
Central California force at this level for years, but ratcheted up its
performance capabilities with the arrival of frosh phenom Jordan Hasay,
who has been destroying course records (including the Woodward Park
all-time 9th-grade standard after running 17:02 here two weeks ago)
left and right. Although Mission Prep will score very low with its frontrunners,
its depth will be challenged by the two SS squads in the team title
battle. Flintridge Prep was declared the SS champion after review of
the phototiming images last week, edging Chadwick in a thrilling tiebreaker.
Flintridge Prep is led by Kathryn Iwata, who tied Chadwick #2 Kelly
Owen to eventually force the 6th-runner tiebreaker situation. Junior
Jessica McFarlane paces Chadwick's squad. Junior Katie Fritzke and sophomore
Natalie Sojka -- who finished 1-2 at state last year -- give Mt. Shasta
two strong entries in the individual battle, but everyone figures to
be chasing after the usually fast-starting Hasay!
Royal is rumored to have dropped to #4
in the newest national rankings!
The Boys Division I clash
might end up being a race against the clock for a Royal lineup that
could go down as the best in state-meet history. The Highlanders --
whose sole loss this year was on this very course when it sat three
runners by necessity -- are ranked third in the nation and have the
deepest squad in the state, with Michael Cybulski, Kevin Sullivan and
vastly improved Jun Reichl faring well at its section finals win. Royal,
champions of the Woodbridge, Stanford, and Mt. SAC invitatioals, aims
to take down the team-time course record (77:59, 15:36 average) held
by the legendary 1993 Thousand Oaks squad. El Rancho, perhaps the surprise
program in the Western United State this fall, has posted excellent
showings at the Woodbridge, Clovis and Mt. SAC Invitationals before
placing second to Royal last weekend. The Dons attack is keyed by Luis
Guevara, Manny Mejia and Julio Jimenez. Murrieta Valley, which has been
very consistent in the key meets this fall, has an excellent 1-2 punch
in Patrick Milloy (signed with Arizona State) and Mike Munoz. The individual
battle will be a fierce one with a fast pace, as Mt. SAC course recordholder
Diego Mercado (14:24) of West Covina and twin sibling Daniel face Oceanside's
A.J. Acosta for top honors. Acosta was the top non-senior (and 9th overall)
at last year's FootLocker Nationals. Folsom's Jake Matthews, Murrieta
Valley's Milloy, and Royal's Cybulski are the prime contenders.
Southern Section
teams battled to exhaustion in the Girls
Division II final, with top-ranked Newport Harbor pulling
out a 2-point win over Huntington Beach Edison is a mega-deep affair
in which two state-ranked teams failed to advance. Newport Harbor is
led by super senior Whitney Blue, while Edison has quickly improving
frosh Hillary Hayes leading an ever-interchanging lead quartet. Ventura,
the Division I state champions in 2004, has been magnificent down the
stretch and earned a solid third-place finish at the SS Finals. The
Cougars have a few kids comnig on at just the right time and now project
as the divisional favorite should all of its varsity cylinders click
in unison. Aptos, which threw down a strong showing at the early-season
Stanford Invitational and dominated the field at the Central Coast Section
Finals, and dangerous squads from Westlake (SS) and Maria Carrillo (NCS)
are other leading threats. Serrano's Kauren Tarver, Mira Costa's Kevyn
Murphy, Newport Harbor's Blue, Simi Valley's Anna Sperry and Oak Ridge's
Alex Kosinski and Maria Carrillo's Jacqui Wentz (with excellent clockings
for her on benchmark courses this Fall) are the leading names individually.
Woodcrest Christian has thus far been
cream of the Division V crop!
Woodcrest Christian has been the dominant squad in Boys
Division V all year long, beating its leading challengers
by a few minutes each time out. The Royals are in sync at this stage
of the game, with Tim Burdett and Kody Peterson very effective at trading
off the lead position in recent weeks. Southland power Flintridge Prep
gets very high marks for quickly replacing the bulk of last year's outstanding
crew, with Tom Adams and Matt Kleinart powering the Rebels to a runner-up
showing in the SS Finals. Shasta of the Northern Section has been relatively
hidden for much of the season, although frontrunner Austin Fritzke has
sought out individual competition and fared well. Cross-comparing his
times against his own teammates and extrapolating those gaps against
other top teams mark Shasta as a definite threat. Fritzke, Maranatha's
Tony Hilling and Dublin Valley Christian's Robbie Knorr are among the
frontrunners.
The final
girls' race of the day is the most anticipated, with Central Section
power Buchanan trying to win the Girls
Division I race on its home course, but having to field
challenges from a collection of national-class programs. With junior
Lauren Saylor and a superb frosh class on hand, Buchanan dazzled at
the early-season Woodbridge Invitational and had fared well at major
invitationals since. Torrey Pines, with frosh Erin Gillingham among
the key performers in its lineup, pulled off a big upset of La Costa
Canyon at the San Diego Section Finals, with the latter crew experiencing
difficulty (including one key runner not finishing) under adverse weather
demands. Fountain Valley has ace Crystal Reed leading the recently crowned
Division I champion while SS team runner-up Thousand Oaks has Lynne
Fletcher and Kaitlyn Sullivan serving as catalysts for a Lancers lineup
that has quickly passed most of the competition in recent days. Saylor,
Peninsula's Brittany Morreale and Fountain Valley's Reed help comprise
a deep well of individual talent.
Jesuit is rumored to be #10 in the U.S.
in the about-to-be released new national rankings!
There is intrigue surrounding the Boys
Division II clash, as top-ranked and Sac-Joaquin Section
champion Jesuit has been affirming its status atop the heap, but has
had Valencia (SS), Los Gatos (CCS) and Clovis (CE) closing the gap.
Jesuit has had Evan Watchempino emerge as the clear frontrunner of late,
with the tradition-rich Marauders fresh off their 14th consecutive section
title! Valencia, the SS champion, is led by Roman Pena, but recent injury
to key frontrunner Josh Linen now leaves its team title chances in uncertainty.
Los Gatos has been the biggest surprise in the state this season, with
Matthew Petrillo powering the 'Cats to victories at Stanford and the
CCS Finals. Clovis has individual title threat Mykel Thomas as the front,
with very fine depth on hand as well. Riley Booker of University City
is the slight individual favorite, with Westview's Travis Kuhlman, Jesuit's
Watchempino and Los Gatos' Petrillo also among the key players.
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