Summary of Nike Team National ranked teams below. Statewide results here
California Region
Report #1
Due to the fact that 7 of the 10 CIF sections do not begin their official season until this week, action was very light in Week 1, with almost no high-caliber teams in action. Below are current notes/results on each Top 15 team, whether it has competed or not:
BOYS
1. Royal, Simi Valley -- Opens its season on Friday at the Seaside Invitational, a very flat and fast three-mile course along the beach in Ventura. Races are run by grade level. Currently has #2 runner Jason Pedersen rehabbing from toe surgery, and is not expected to rejoin the team until late September. With its fine depth, the Highlanders should be able to cover the temporary loss of their #2 better than any other squad in the state.
2. Don Lugo, Chino -- Opens its season this Saturday at the Colton Swarm Invitational, another very fast and flat three miler on pavement/asphalt. Expect weather conditions here to be as hot as at any course in the section this weekend. Chose to skip its traditional season-opening Bronco Invitational meet due to entry cost concerns. Report just surfaced yesterday that #1 runner Fitsum Tesfa has come down with injury. Still trying to confirm details.
3. Murrieta Valley, Murrieta -- Will not begin season until the 18th of this month at the Woodbridge Invitational, opting to skip it traditional opener at the Bronco Invitational. Training is going well for the Nighthawks.
4. Canyon, Canyon Country -- Opens the season this Friday at the Seaside Invitational, where it is expected to unveil a new addition to its tightly-bunched squad. The Cowboys have reportedly recently picked up a transfer from the L.A. City Section, 4:18 miler Salid BenMohamed.
5. Dana Hills, Dana Point -- Opens the season this Saturday at the Laguna Hills Invitational, a hilly and moderate three-mile course. Races are run by grade level. Heat is sometimes a problem on this course early in the season and there is a heat wave in California this week.
6. El Camino, Oceanside -- Will run a split squad in each of the next two weekends, as Coach Tom Kloos tries to ensure his team is healthy by postseason. At least one (and possibly a second) runner has been injury prone in the past, thus the white-glove treatment this time around. Expects to run its full squad for the first time at the Stanford Invitational on September 25.
7. St. John Bosco, Bellflower -- Will open its season this Saturday at the Bosco Tech Invitational at Legg Lake, a fast and fairly flat three-mile loop course with plenty of shade. Races are run by grade level.
8. El Toro, Lake Forest -- Opens the season this Saturday at the Laguna Hills Invitational, where races are run by grade level. As stated above, course is three miles and moderately hilly, with the heat often being an issue.
9. Jesuit, Carmichael -- Placed a distant second to #11 Madera at the Granite Bay Invitational, losing 27-62 in an 18-team field which included only those two ranked teams in the DyeStatCal Super 25. Jesuit trailed by 16 points through two miles of the very challenging 5k Willow Hills Reservoir course that was being used for the very first time, but two reports had the Marauders struggling on the final hill loop, thus creating the wider final margin. It would be wise to note that Jesuit (whose postseason tradition on the boys side includes seven state championships in the 17-year history of the state meet) is fairly conservative in the first month of each season, while Madera is annually among the hottest teams in the state each September. This was the third consecutive year that Madera beat Jesuit at this season-opening meet, and the two previous two occasions Jesuit has come back to perform faster than them at the state meet. Although this was the first time the course was ever used in official competition, an initial estimate tends to yield a conversion factor of about 75 seconds slower per runner than on the state meet 5k course at Woodward Park, making this the slowest championship course in the state. It should also be noted that one key Jesuit runner (Alex Nelson) did not compete. Deep results
10. North Monterey County, Castroville (Central Coast) -- Opens the season this Saturday at its own Earlybird Invitational. Top runner Nathan Huerta has been hampered by two separate injuries in the last month, but neither appears serious enough to actually sideline him.
11. Madera (Central) -- As previously stated, thumped #9 Jesuit at the Granite Bay Invitational, along a very tough Willow Hills Reservoir 5k course that contains seven hills and somewhat tricky footing on loose, soft gravel. Puts in a tremendous summer and annually comes out breathing fire in September. Heavily favored to win the Central Section Finals, but has had little luck in recent years against Southern Section teams, finishing behind the last SS team at the state championships. Had an 81-second scoring spread at the meet, but that is somewhat deceptive in light of the front-running Benny Madrigal. Runners 2 through 5 were separated by only 17 seconds. Ran an 89:10 team time, and temperatures were said to be in the 90s. The 89:10 team time on this course converts to about an 81:25 at Mt. SAC, which is a mere ten seconds (for the total team time) away from what we plotted for them on this conversion. Deep results
#11 Madera beats #9 Jesuit at Granite Bay Invite
1 Benny Madrigal Madera 16:52
2 Jake Matthews Folsom 17:15
3 Christian Morinico Hiram Johnson 17:48
4 Austin Fritzke Mt Shasta 17:52
5 Tony Pulido Madera 17:56
6 Jake Kelly-Strong Jesuit 18:00
7 Aaron McCormack Oak Ridge 18:03
8 Nathan DeVault Madera 18:04
9 Julio Moreno Madera 18:05
10 Dillon Ramos Jesuit 18:08
11 Brendan Gregg Davis 18:10
12 Claudio Moreno Madera 18:13
16 Anthony Solis Madera 18:21
17 James Laville Jesuit 18:27
19 Scott Jesuit 18:33
20 Evan Watchempino Jesuit 18:34
25 Alex Gragg Jesuit 19:00
26 Jesse Perez Madera 19:03
45 Michael Enabnit Jesuit 19:56
12. Upland (Southern) -- Opens the season this weekend, likely at the Bronco Invitational. enjoyed a very good summer of training despite losing four runners from a year ago.
GIRLS
1. Ventura -- Plans to open invitational season on the 18th of September at the Ojai Invitational. The team is very well coached and is not expected to run anything indicative of its Top 5 national ranking during the course of the regular season. They are too smart to run to defend a ranking, opting to focus on gradually prepping itself well for the state meet. We took flack for having them ranked #1 in the state during the season last year, but we could not find those skeptics anywhere once the Cougars closed well and peaked magnificently to win their first Division I state title.
2. Miramonte, Orinda -- Opens the season today at the Monte Vista Invitational, where it is the defending champion. The group is also the defending state champion in Division III, where it it top-ranked to begin the season this year. Has made the competitive California state meet each of the last four years, despite never winning league. Hails from the DFAL of the North Coast Section, considered the strongest girls league in the state.
3. Fountain Valley -- Opens the season with something like 7 meets in 11 days - and that's no joke. High-mileage program will have its girls run back to school after its meets, with some of those locales begin 7-10 miles away. First measureable challenge should be the Woodbridge Invitational on September 18th, although it will bypass the featured evening sweepstakes division in favor of an afternoon non-seeded divisional race.
4. Murrieta Valley, Murrieta -- Will open the season this Saturday at the Bronco Invitational. Training is going very well after team initially struggled to find its identity at the start of the summertime (its leader graduated last June). Traditionally has run very fast starting in Week 1.
5. Thousand Oaks -- Seeking to confirm where they will compete in Week 1, and expected to compete at the Mt. Carmel Invitational in Week 2. Traditionally enjoys a conservative start to its season, and comes on well at the end.
6. College Park, Pleasant Hill -- Opens the season this weekend at its own Ed Sias Invitational, where it won last year. Recent report has one key runner with an injury and two others also coming along a bit gingerly. Will find out what it is made of in the early weeks, as it might need to cope with a few early doses of adversity.
7. Canyon, Canyon Country -- Will open the season this Friday at the Seaside Invitational, where the team traditionally performs very well. Races at this meet are contested in "by-grade" format.
8. Ayala, Chino Hills -- Coming off an outstanding summer that yielded a few surprise newcomers, the Bulldogs will open the season at the Cal Poly Pomona Bronco Invitational along a moderately challenging/slow 5k course.
9. Sultana, Hesperia -- Welcomes in two excellent freshmen to join a trio of solid veterans. Is ranked first in the state in Division II.
10. Rancho Bernardo, San Diego -- This group opened the season last Friday at the Wolfpack Invitational. Competing along a 1.6-mile course (most courses in San Diego are short) Rancho Bernardo clocked a meet-best team time of 48:08 in a race-by-grade format. When pulling out the 10 leading teams and crunching the numbers with five scorers and two displacers, however, Torrey Pines beats Rancho Bernardo 46-55 in a 10-team mock race.
#10-ranked Rancho Bernardo
1. Lindsay DeLaMontaigne 8:55
2. Annie Draper 9:39
3. Kiyara Iravanian 9:39
4. Jana Drake 9:51
5. Carly Bliss 10:04
Unranked Torrey Pines
1. Sarah Gill 9:29
2. Sophie Davidson 9:34
3. Brigitte Doctor 9:42
4. Kaitlin Dorissert 9:44
5. Ashlin Yahr 9:46
6. Kim Andrews 9:49
7. Julie Coy 9:57
(plus four others than ran faster than Rancho Bernardo's #5)
8. Tina Betry 9:57
9. 10:02 Michaele Hitchborn 10:02
10:02 Kim Krieger 10:02
11. Amy McCaslin 10:03 |
