Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Updated CCS rankings (Top 15 Boys & Girls) thanks to www.lynbrooksports.com

14 comments:

Sal said...

WCAL still looking really good in top 3 spots. D2 race at CCS should be a barnburner! Which one of the four top D2 teams will miss out on state?

John Rankr said...

WCAL #2 today boys! Here's my breakdown of today's action:

My guess is Bell will NOT run their A team following a big meet at Crystal Springs. This leaves the question, can SI and SF both get in front of the Bellarmine JV team? A third place finish in a league meet for Bell would be their lowest in... forever? Even the Bellarmine JV team could take both teams because the Machine is just that damn good. It will be fun watching SI and SF go at it again. SF has the lead horse in this race but SI has the depth. The team places are pretty much a lock if A teams run and maybe even if they don't: Bell, SI, SF, Serra, Mitty, Riordan, VC, SHC.

Individual Picks (assuming Bell does not run A team): Olivero (SF), Hacker (SI), Herrera (S)

On the Radar: Riordan vs. VC. Interesting subplot.

Girls race is a yawnfest. Which brings me to my thought of the day, why run three league finals races WCAL? What's up with that? We get it, you are far apart from one another but you could get creative. The same teams and same runners winning all three WCAL meets is lame. Have an A race and a B race with 4 teams and score as duals. Get creative here. Anyways, back to today's races. Not much going on here as it will be another dual meet between Mitty and SF. On paper SF should be a step above everyone, including Mitty but the Monarch machine have gone from underdog to frontrunner. Mitty is always good, don't get me wrong and they get their fair share of talented athletes, so it's not a true dark horse story here. But thanks to the SF slide Mitty is there to clean up. They beat SF head to head the last two meetings so it won't be surprising to see it again but SF could put together a great race and get one back. Both are good teams and like I said, it will be a dual meet. The rest of the team placings also a lock: Mitty/SF (pick 'em), SI, Pres, VC, SHC, NDB.

Individual Picks: Lemack (M), Skahill (SF), Janiczek (SI)

On the Radar: Presentation moving up and could challenge for a State spot. You heard it here first.

Albert Caruana said...

In regards to Bellarmine, they have run their next tier varsity group at some of the league meets but they may need to run their regular varsity runners today with more competitive teams in 2nd and 3rd. That is my guess.

As for the WBAL meets, I think 3 meets (one of which is the league finals) is perfectly fine. That allows teams to truly earn a league championship over 3 races as opposed to just running well at one meet at the end of the season. The league final is worth more when determining the league champion as well.

Thanks for all the info about the boys and girls races. It's a very competitive league and once we get to CCS, many of the WCAL schools will be in the mix among state contending teams and individuals.

John Rankr said...

WCAL #2 today boys! Here's my breakdown of today's action:

Crystal Springs Uplands has been at the top of this league for a long time and after a victory in WBAL #1 look to once again be the favorites at Badlands today. SHP could challenge and was only 9 points back in the first battle but CSU rolled at the Crystal Springs invite and defeated SHP for the second time in a row. Miranda from Menlo is the class of the league on the Individual side. No shake ups on the team side, league finals #2 is more of the same: CSU, SHP, Menlo, TKA, Woodside, Eastside, Harker.

Individual Picks: Miranda (M), Novitsk (SHP), Shigihara (CSU)

Prediction: Miranda wins CCS individual title for D5.

Despite not winning the first league meet the Harker girls look to be the favorite here. The Eagles have superstar Niki Iyer, the heavy favorite for the league title, who ran 17:45 at Crystal last weekend. Astoundingly that may only be good enough for a top 5 in the uber competitive D4 race but will be good enough to run away from second place easily. She has a decent supporting cast putting three Harker runners before Castillero's #2 runner but Harker's will need someone in the #5 spot to really step up. Still the 1-4 strength of Harker is what makes me plug them in at #1.

Individual Picks: Iyer (H), Marsheck (W), Novitsky (SHP)

Prediction: CSU girls win CCS for D5

John Rankr said...

BVAL Action over at Montgomery Hill today!

Group I: James Lick, Oak Grove, Pioneer, Prospect
Group II: Branham, Independence, Leigh, Sobrato

Nolan Dosier of Sobrato is the favorite here and looks to be one of the contenders for the CCS individual title as well. But is going to have his hands full as D2 is stacked with talent. He should handle league pretty easily and will do so today. Pioneer is the best over-all team here with a strong trio upfront but Leigh has some depth and could challenge for the top spot. This league runs like a cluster meet but hen splits things into dual meet scoring which could mix it up.

Individual Pics: Dozier (S), Garaffo (P), Leibecher (P)

On the Radar: Dozier is the league favorite and could make state as an individual.

Three really good freshman are the story for the girls. Branham's Skyler is good and was the top finisher last time around. Then there's Emily Harris of Sobrato and Rachel Guynh of Leigh. Not he team side Prospect and Branham were separated by just one point in dual meet scoring but they didn't run their #2. Prospect has a solid 1-2 combo that has carried the team's success much of the season.

Individual Pics: Miller (B), Baron (P), Cannell (P)

On the Radar: A solid prospect girls team

Anonymous said...

John,

Miranda and Menlo are D4.

Anonymous said...

Results of WCAL show that top SF runner did not toe the line today. Is the GG Park course 3-mile or 5k?

Albert Caruana said...

3.0 Miles

John Rankr said...

Thank you. I was wrong on many points today... Bell ran the big boys and [wait for it] Riordan topped not just VC but also Mitty.
Looks like 7 of the top 15 teams in CCS are from WCAL. Not to mention St. Francis girls topped Mitty by one point.

Got killed in WBAL predictions too. Oh well, guess I better stick with fantasy football.

Anonymous said...

You got the winners in WBAL correct...though those weren't the toughest picks to make. ;-)

Anonymous said...

If Olivero doesn't sit out and comes in either 1,2, or 3 (which wouldve been likely) St Francis tops SI. Shouldn't warrant a shake-up in the rankings, but 3 weeks from now when everyone comes in on equal rest, I wouldn't be shocked (or might actually find it likely) to see St Francis beat SI.

Anonymous said...

SF had a meet in Fresno 5 days before WCAL 2, SI has been off since WCAL 1. Not to mention that it was a home meet for SI. League final and CCS at Crystal should be a lot closer.

Anonymous said...

St Francis and Mitty girls seem to be crazy close this year - hope both teams are at full strength at CSS and state!

John Rankr said...

No where to put this anywhere so I'll put my preview of SCVAL #3 here:

Interesting note... SCVAL & WBAL run a slightly shorter course than WCAL, who after the start run to the trail on the right side of the course while the other leagues remain on the grass not he left side until hitting the trail resulting in the WCAL running a distance of about 50-ish meters longer. Not a big deal but it makes the all-time list is not completely compatible. Which is my one issue with running courses like this at a park, it is near impossible to keep an accurate all-time list. Start lines, finish lines can be moved, corners cut. You just never know.

Another issue: the parks system. Has anyone read what Walt had to go through just to use the park? Almost $1000 in bathrooms and you have to pay for a supervisor? Are you kidding me? No flags, no tents, no course markings. And this course is one of the most awful XC courses out there running basically 4 x 1200 meter loops and to top it off the path is narrow. Can we please get a reasonable course in Santa Clara County? What is wrong with the park system in that they make it so hard to use the parks? What do our tax dollars pay for? Ridiculous.

Anyways, onto today's action.

The boys will have a classic dual on their hands today between Kent Slaney of Paly and Justin Robison of Lynbrook. Robinson had a huge breakthrough at Woodward Park and is rounding into form after some early season inconsistencies. There two are the class of the league and will have a great dual today. Paly runs away with the team title. Los Gatos and Lynbrook could challenge but no one seemed to have a good day at Clovis. My not so bold prediction: Homestead will likely dog another league meet. A quick look at this team and they had 7 runners sub 17 at Toro Park to start the year. They had just three at Clovis. They jogged their crystal springs league meet and will probably do the same here as they are headed to Mt. Sac this weekend. Time will tell if that strategy pays off in the long run.

Team Favorite: Palo Alto

Individual Picks: Slany / Robinson (Pick 'em)

The girls race will be a good one. Gunn looks strong this year and Meeks is the run away favorite for the league title. Los Altos could content in the team race while Gee (Cupertino), Jacobs (Los Altos), Myjer (MV) and Escalara (Fremont) could all challenge. These girls have been good a long time, and while not running at where they were a year or so ago they are outstanding. Homestead is probably the favorite in this league but as mentioned above they are headed to Mt. Sac. Last time around the girls jogged 28+ min at Crystal Springs which is slower than training pace. Expect more of the same until league finals.

Team Favorite: Gunn

Individual Pics: Meeks

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