Wednesday, September 19, 2007

North Coast Section (NCS) Rankings #2


Here are the 2nd edition of the NCS Rankings after 4 weeks of racing. Some teams have been very busy racing up and down the coast while other teams are keeping a low profile. Feel free to comment on the rankings below.
Division I Boys
1) Amador Valley-Most complete team in Division I so far this season. Impressive 2nd at DLS/Carondelet Nike Invitational.
2) Monte Vista-2nd to Skyline at Ed Sias without #1 runner. 6th at DLS/Car Invite without #2 runner. 1-6 back from last year.
3) Castro Valley-Tough duo up front (Leng and Fazzio) with talented freshman #4. With strong 5th could run with anybody.
Really strong division this year. With NCS only sending 2 teams to state meet, some very good teams are going to be left home during Thanksgiving weekend. Teams right on the cusp: College Park, San Ramon Valley, Foothill, Granada, Liberty and Deer Valley.
Division I Girls
1) Castro Valley-Ran close race to Carondelet at Ed Sias. As long as they stay healthy, will be very tough to beat.
2) College Park-Alycia Cridebring leads the way. 3rd place finish at DLS/Car Invite with F/S taking 1st. Close 1 point loss to Campolindo in first DFAL meet.
3) Granada-Finished in 4th place at DLS/Car Invite. Returns 2-5 from last year's 3rd place NCS Div. I team.
Division II Boys
1) Petaluma-#1 ranked team in Norther California. Everybody is back from 5th place state team. Broke Spring Lake Park team record which dated back to 1988.
2) De La Salle-Strong team with five runners under 17 minutes at own invitational.
3) Santa Rosa/Montgomery-Toss up between these two teams. Santa Rosa has upper hand over Montgomery so far but Montgomery missing a runner at each meet.
Division II Girls
1) Carondelet-Everybody back for defending division II team. Hood is running better than ever.
2) Santa Rosa-2nd at Panther Preview, 4th at Ed Sias. Top 5 back from last year's 5th place NCS Division II team.
3) Casa Grande-3rd at Panther Preview. Jacque Taylor, one of state's finest leads way. Upper hand over Montgomery so far this season.

Division III Boys
1) Maria Carrillo-Best team so far in the early season with Nate Huckeba leading the way.
2) Las Lomas-Two race results so far (Earlybird and 1st DFAL meet) and can boast a talented runner at each grade level. Could be team to beat at the end of the season.
3) Campolindo-Still putting it together so far but will be there at the end.
On the cusp: Acalanes with talented lead runner, Beach, will have plenty of opportunities to knock off DFAL opponents (Las Lomas and Campo).
Division III Girls
1) Maria Carrillo-With Curtin twins running xc this year, haven't missed a beat. Won Panther Preview and Ed Sias.
2) Campolindo-Laurie Finnegan is defending NCS Div III champion. Campo had nice win in first DFAL meet defeating College Park and Las Lomas.
3) Redwood-Team has been impressive early with solid 1-5 pack at the Stinson Beach Relays and league meet. Lowell Invitational this Saturday will be good test for them.

Division IV Boys
(Toughest division to call...teams here definitely keep a low profile).
1) St. Mary's-Defending NCS Div. IV champions. Duffy is back with talented group behind him.
2) Moreau Catholic-Brian Fix leads the way for perennial NCS Div. IV contender.
3) Piedmont-Showed there is still life in this program at the Farmer Invitational.
Division IV Girls
1) St. Mary's-Very impressive at Ed Sias and Farmer's Invitational. Team to beat at this moment.
2) Arcata-Won first league meet with Allie Maher leading the way.
3) Piedmont-Didn't run everybody at Farmer but will be there at the end. Defending champions.

Division V Boys1) College Prep-Defending NCS Division V champions. Not quite at full health right now but still very solid team.
2) Berean Christian-Close loss to CPS in first BCL East meet. 9th at Ed Sias in Small School race but top Div. 5 team.
3) SF University-Haven't been able to race everybody together yet but history says they are at least top 3.
Stuart Hall is going to be a sleeper this year. Watch out for them.
Division V Girls
1) Crystal Springs Uplands-2 time defending NCS champions. Started season going 1-5 at first BCL meet
2) SF University-Young runners ran well during track season. Could challenge CSU if Cecilia Furlong skips volleyball to run xc.
3) Marin Academy-Alesandra Roger is back after back injury in track. Team ran well at Stinson Beach Relays.
College Prep is going to be very good this year as well with talented freshman (Adrienne Strait). Tough to tell how good with no competition in 1st meet.

Don't forget to keep voting in the poll to the right. Who is the best male runner in NCS?

Top 5 individuals (girls and boys) in each division will be posted shortly.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jusy curious what is the name of the #4 freshman at castro valley

Albert Caruana said...

Ben Eversole

Anonymous said...

Las Lomas in the mix D-3. Might be number 1. Their boys defeated both College Park and Campo Weds.

Albert Caruana said...

No question about Las Lomas. Both Maria Carrillo and LL are scheduled to run at Stanford so we can truly compare the top two teams in Division III.

Anonymous said...

d3 will be close again this year, it'll definitely be very tight. i wouldn't rule out any of the top four, they are all doing well, and as you said in the intro, some teams take it easy while others race all over. it'll be cool to see how stanford comes out...

-calvin thigpen

Anonymous said...

cool little poll too, that's a nice feature.

-calvin

Albert Caruana said...

Thanks Calvin. Going to catch any MC races this year?

Anonymous said...

i know they haven't seen much competition yet, but the college prep girls (d5) looked extremely strong in their 1st league meet. the top three of adrienne strait, emily erickson and barbara barnes should be really fun to watch if they stay healthy. that team has depth, too. stanford will reveal a few things, but i wouldn't be surprised to see them challenge for an ncs title. go prep

Anonymous said...

yeah, i went to the viking opener! it was pretty fun, nice to see the old mchs xc team again. hopefully i'll make it to ncs or state, but obviously davis xc comes first.

Anonymous said...

You can't leave the Deer Valley boys out of the D-1 rankings. They always surprise everyone at the end

Albert Caruana said...

You are right. Deer Valley is added to the list of an incredibly deep Division 1 field.

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