Monday, June 30, 2014

2014 NCS Division V Pre-Season Rankings (Boys)

Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the NCS Division V boys also rolled at the 2013 California state cross country meet. The 5 state qualifying teams finished in 1st (St. Joseph Notre Dame), 2nd (Marin Academy), 6th (Lick-Wilmerding), 7th (Athenian) and 14th (College Prep). The also had four individuals finish in the top 10 with Trevor Reinhart in 2nd, Gabe Arias-Sheridan in 4th, James Kinney in 5th and Michael Murphy in 9th. The St. Joseph Notre Dame boys won their 2nd straight team championship after finishing 3rd in 2011. The Marin Academy boys made their first state meet podium after a 7th place finish the previous season.

The most famous alumni from St. Joseph Notre Dame is hall of fame basketball player and current New Jersey Nets Milwaukee Bucks coach, Jason Kidd. Other alumnus include Mark Curry from Hanging with Mr. Cooper fame and Damian Lillard, who only attended SJND as a sophomore but is counted as an alumni on their Wikipedia page (good for them). With SJND's XC success the past few years, you can also include Gabe Arias-Sheridan, Nick Ratto and Louis Rodriguez as significant alumnus who helped put the Pilots squarely on the XC map. Despite the graduation of those athletes, SJND remains as the best team in NCS as well as perhaps the state. They will be led this season by the Murphy twins (Michael 4:31.38/9:40.84 and Matthew 4:32.85/9:47.17) and sophomore Cooper Teare (4:32.90/9:45.66). Sophomores Gavin Hill (17:04 at Hayward) and Willie Mein (17:11 at Hayward) will be asked to step up and fill the shoes of the two departing seniors along with Jackson Sundheim who was injured last season.

Marin Academy recorded three 2nd place team finishes to conclude their 2013 XC season. They finished behind Lick-Wilmerding at the BCL West meet, behind SJND at NCS and once again behind SJND at state. They lose their #2 man James Kinney but return a comparable front three to SJND. Trevor Reinhart is one of the top Division V runners in the state with a 1st place finish in 2012 and a 2nd place finish last year. He also made his track debut last year and in limited time recorded a 4:20.64 1600m. time. Junior Henry Fleming recorded 8th, 8th and 23rd place finishes in those last three races for MA. Fellow junior Connor Montgomery was equally as instrumental in MA's success and improved this past track season with 4:35.14/9:59.01 PRs. Junior Jack Williams (17:22 at Hayward) and sophomore Dustin Decker (17:24 at Hayward) will need to take a bigger role in order for MA to continue their team's success.

The Lick-Wilmerding boys recorded their 3rd consecutive league championship after finally breaking University's string of 18 that ended in 2011. They finished in 3rd place at NCS which is their 2nd best team finish at the section meet behind their 2001 team that finished in 2nd place. Their 6th place finish at state is their best finish in school history. They will be led by seniors Steve Page (4:27.79/10:08.01) and Matt Jenkins (9:40.63). Fellow senior, James Rich (4:43.03/10:23.69) was a consistent top 5 performer last year with Logan Pierce and Zac Oji also in the mix. L-W also had a great group of freshman/sophomores who will be competing to make their top 7.

College Prep was a consistent state meet participant including a section title and 2nd place state meet finish in 2006. They didn't qualify for the state meet in 2011 and 2012 but rebounded nicely last year with a 4th place finish at the NCS meet. They will be led by junior Alex Glavin (9:43.99) who finished in 15th at NCS and 24th at state and concluded the school year with an even more impressive track season. He will have plenty of fire power behind with with senior Tristram Dodge (4:37.81/10:09.78) and junior Stephen Sloan (2:04.67/4:37.92). Trevor Soule, Andrew Vaughn and Ethan Ashby will need to close the gap with the team's front three runners to challenge the top 3 teams mentioned above.

The rest of the top team contenders will include Athenian who will be led by one of the top sophomores in the state, Dawson Reckers (4:36.94/9:40.54). They return 3 of their top 7 from last year and will need some of their younger runners to challenge for a state meet spot. University finished in the dreaded 6th position last year but will have their top runner, Ben Tracy (10:14.00) back along with 5 of their top 7. Sonoma Academy, Urban, Head Royce and Stuart Hall will all be in the mix for a top 10 finish. An interesting team will be Roseland University Prep which finished in 10th place last year with only 5 runners but all five were freshmen and sophomores and with an addition or two could place better this coming season.

The individual favorite will be senior Trevor Reinhart who had quite a season last year setting the Hayward course Division V record at 14:44 and followed that up with a 2nd place finish at the state meet. He then went on to finish in 5th place at the Footlocker West Regional and 12th place at the Footlocker national meet. He will be two time section defending champion and provided he is healthy will win once again this coming season. The chase pack should include Michael Murphy, Matthew Murphy, Dawson Reckers, Cooper Teare, Henry Fleming and Connor Montgomery. Christopher Boranian of Head Royce (4:33.19/10:16.01) finished in 10th place last year and qualified for the state meet as an individual and should not be counted out.

Division V Boys (Top 5 Advance to State)
1) St. Joseph ND-Going for 4 NCS titles in a row. Record is 7 for UHS.

2) Marin Academy-Margin may be closer with SJND.
3) Lick-Wilmerding-Deepest team in this division with solid duo up front.
4) College Prep-Much improved team following terrific track season.
5) Athenian-Program on the rise but will be dealing with a coaching change.
6) University-Addition of a couple of freshmen studs could make them dangerous.
On the bubble:  Head Royce, Roseland University PrepSonoma AcademyStuart HallUrban

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2013 NCS meet time:

Trevor Reinhart (1) Marin Academy 14:44
Michael Murphy (4) St. Joseph ND 15:30
Matthew Murphy (5) St. Joseph ND 15:30
Cooper Teare (6) St. Joseph ND 15:32
Henry Fleming (8) Marin Academy 16:02

Comments?  Who did I miss?  What can you add to my rankings?  Also feel free to link this article to your team website/facebook etc.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When will the rankings for the other divisions be up

Albert Caruana said...

Throughout the summer.

Anonymous said...

We're is d4?

Anonymous said...

Calistoga Cross Country ... You'll include them in your rankings within a few weeks.

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