Saturday, June 18, 2011

2011 CCS Girls' Cross Country Top 20 Pre-Season Rankings

Thanks to MV Moose for the following rankings:
20.  Wilcox (D1) - Not a recent challenger in CCS cross country; however, their entire 2010 CCS team was underclassmen.  Lalida Maokhamphiou, a senior this fall, leads her six junior and sophomore teammates.
19.  Evergreen (D1) - Samantha Garcia will team up with five other 2010 CCS runners.
18.  Mitty (D2) - Only three return from the 2010 CCS team.  An historically strong WCAL team, expect them to have a team that can challenge for a top 15 spot.
17.  Homestead (D1) - Not a team known for its cross country teams lately, but coach Kenrick Sealy is developing a strong program.  They are led by Sharon Ng and return 6 from their 2010 CCS team.
16.  Valley Christian (D3) - Return 1,3,5,and 7 from 2010 CCS.  Morgan Lira leads the team.  Expect Coach Small to pull together a tough squad to continue to compete in the WCAL.
15.  Gilroy (D1) - Had a tough 2010, reloading after losing most of its 2009 squad.  They return 6 from their 2010 CCS team.
14.  San Benito (D1) - Vanessa Estrada returns with 4 others who ran at 2010 CCS.  Need to fill out 5, 6,and 7 to move up.
13.  St. Ignatius (D3) - Lose Rachel Hinds plus three others from last year's CCS team.  Depending on how the youngsters develop, this team could move way up.
12.  Aptos (D3) - Their three returners, especially junior phenom Nikki Hiltz, are great, but filling in the last two scoring positions could be tough.  Need to wait to see how they do at Earlybird.
11.  Aragon (D2) - Wow, returning Croshaw and the entire 2010 CCS team bodes well for Aragon.  Let's hope coach Bill Daskarolis can keep developing this young squad.
10.  Saratoga (D3) - Here's another SCVAL team moving up the rankings.  They return six and their top three are quality runners.
9.  St. Francis (D2) - Lancer's return four from their 2010 CCS team, but most importantly, #1 and #2 in Morgan Healy and Madeline Roemer.  Expect Coach Chisam to keep her team in the top 10.
8.  Gunn (D1) - Coach Tompkins and Lee need to bring in or develop some talent to replace Erin Robinson.  I assume they can, so I leave them in the top 10 even though they only return three finishers from 2010 CCS.
7.  Los Gatos (D2) - The Wildcats only return three from their 2010 CCS team, but it includes two-thirds of their three headed monster:  Danielle Katz & Kayla Knapp.  A great program with numerous girls ready to step right in.
6.  Scotts Valley (D4) - Returning six from their 2010 CCS team, including standout Vanessa Fraser bodes well for Coach Chase's Falcons.
5.  Presentation (D2) - Returns 5 from their 2010 CCS team, including 1, 2 and 4.  Four of the top six JV Girls at WCAL Finals last year were Presentation underclassmen.  Watch Out!
4.  Sacred Heart Cathedral (D3) - Returns their top six from their 2010 CCS squad, led by Sophia Cannata-Bowman.  If they stay healthy, I'm not sure they can be beat in D3.
3.  Carlmont (D1) - Keep six of their 2010 CCS runners, but lose the big #1.  Assuming Coach Randazzo can get the turn-out she got last year, expect good things for this perennial powerhouse.  Running CCS on their home course helps, too.
2.  Mountain View (D2) - Keep five from last year's CCS Champions, losing only #4 and #5.  Assuming second year coach Bordoni can keep an even keel, the depth of the Spartans, led by Allison Sturges, should keep them in the hunt for their fourth consecutive CCS Crown (5th consecutive D2 Crown).
1.  San Lorenzo Valley (D4) - When you return seven starters PLUS the CCS individual champion, you put a target on your back.  Anna Maxwell is amazing.  I can't wait for Fall!

Feel free to comment in the section below.  Who are the freshmen girls that will have an impact on the above teams?  Who should be ranked higher or lower?  Who wasn't listed but should?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the rankings MV Moose. Glad to see the CCS represented!

I think the pre-season rankings are probably where they should be, but here are some thoughts for the upcoming season:

Mitty, SI, St. Francis... These programs are machines and will replenish just fine. When you get 100+ girls out for cross country you are going to have depth in the 3-4-5-6 spots. They will ALL be in the top 10.

Mountain View is #1... You can't drop the three time over-all champs when they bring back 5. Sturges was a new runner on the track this spring and my guess will carry that into Cross.

Santa Cruz will be tough once again and in the top 15 for sure. They are young and have girls coming up. There is something in the water over there in the Santa Cruz area.

For that matter Aptos had a new miler this year for track run 5:14 who didn't do XC! My guess she is now part of the machine over there and will fill in any holes. Their Mile times from SCCAL are: 4:53, 5:08, 5:14, 5:31, 6:07. And if that were not enough, an 8th grader from Aptos Middle ran 13:11 at the Lynbrook Invite. That is 5-6 solid runners right there... Aptos is in the top 5 no matter how they try and play it.

San Benito is tough this year as well. A big D1 school, you are bound to get someone.

Amazing how deep the girls XC has gotten in CCS. For the smallest sized schools in their divisions in the state they compete well!

Anonymous said...

A clarification on Aptos, their top miler (Hiltz) went a 4:43 at State, good for 3rd place

Anonymous said...

You are right but he said: "Their Mile times from SCCAL are..."

Regardless, Aptos will probably be top 3-5 this year.

Anonymous said...

D IV RANKINGS!!!

Albert Caruana said...

Let's keep it positive please.

Anonymous said...

No representation by half moon bay girls i see. Lets not forget that Hmb girls have gone to state the last 2years and have been placing top 10 team wise there. They were 3rd as a team at ccs finals in 2010 and in 09 there were ccs champions. they were 7th in 09 and 10th in 2010 (at state)
the team has changed losing 2 of its varsity scorers now, but they are easily replaced by a large sophomore base.

Jose said...

How about Boys?

Albert Caruana said...

This is the pre-season list and the rankings will be updated during the season. No doubt that HMB has had quite a xc program for many, many years.

I am hoping to have a boys top 20 list posted by next week.

Feel free to start ranking the teams in the comment section here. I will start with #1, Bellarmine. Who are the next best 19 teams?

MV Moose said...

Half Moon Bay girls... hmmm...

Yes they return five from their 3rd place D4 team including #1, 2, and 3. Problem is, their 6 & 7th girls from last year's CCS meet were both over 23 minutes. Looking at their 2010 PAL results, I can't find sophomores who can be plugged in to propel them far enough up the charts. As a team, they did not finish in last year's CCS Top 15.
I really hope they develop some girls to keep them competitive. Let's see how the season develops.

I spent a lot of time thinking about Aptos, but I think have them misplaced. Can someone guarantee that they will get their new track stars out for cross country? If so, they get bumped up to about 6th.

Santa Cruz falls on the bubble. They are a small school and only return four from their CCS Team. Looking at their SCCAL JV results, I don't see an immediate 5th. Can someone identify a new freshman who is going to produce?

I started working on the guys last night. I need to look at the respective JV results from the league meets. Anyway, M-A, Los Gatos and Los Altos all return five from their 2010 CCS teams and look like #2, 3 and 4 on the first run through.

Anonymous said...

Aptos Kim Stranger supposely doesn't run XC, parents won't let, but do have two incoming runners if they run, SV Abby Uttic moved, SV does have a Few good Freshman with potential, Santa Cruz not much coming in, Soquel does have a good Freshman coming in, Slv another Crop on both sides!

CCS fan said...

MV Moose great rankings as usual. I am not only excited by some of the CCS teams looking really strong, but CCS is also getting some runners who can compete with the southern California runners. Great performances by runners like Nikki Hiltz and Allison Sturges at the state meet and Anna Maxwell and others are people to watch. Great to see the young ladies of CCS doing so well, this current crop will certainly rival the likes of Alicia Follmar, Tori Tyler, Melissa Grelli, Mckayla Plank, etc. from a few years back!

Popular Posts