Pre-Season NCS Division I Rankings

Boys
10 of last year’s top 14 graduated, so this year will be a reset for most of the teams – only two will move on to state this year, so it will be an absolute dogfight for the top two positions

1 - Dublin graduated 4, 5, 6 yet returns 7 runners under 16:35 over 3 miles and top 8 between 4:28 and 4:41.

2 - Dougherty Valley was hit hard by graduation, losing 5 of their top runners, but has 6 returnees who ran under 16:54, and their top 8 are between 4:38 and 4:46. They will have to step up to challenge Dublin.

3 - California graduated top 3 runners from last season, and their top two returnees ran 16:22 and 16:43 – 4:35 to 4:54 top 7.  They are always a threat to contend for the two state spots.

4/5 - Castro Valley graduated top 2 runners – top runner 16:54 - 17:53, and James Logan seems evenly matched – top runner 16:52 – 17:38

6 – Berkeley, a recent champion of this division, has to rebuild after losing all 7 of their scorers to graduation

The top runners may be loaded between Dublin and Dougherty Valley squads

·       Daniel Santhiapelli, Dublin (4:30, 15:43)

·       Jorge Martinez-Fernandez, Dublin (4:34, 15:52)

·       Justin Feng, Dublin (4:30, 15:55)

·       Lucas Lipman, Dublin (4:28, 16:05)

·       Akash Jain, Dublin (16:11)

·       Laksh Kamboj, Dougherty Valley, (4:39, 15:36)

·       Zachary Lee, Dougherty Valley (4:38, 15:48)

·       Aayaan Al-Quraishi, Dougherty Valley (4:43, 15:48)

·       Jair Garcia, Dougherty Valley (4:42, 16:05)

1 - Berkeley has been the class of Division 1 girls the last two years – They will have to replace 2 scorers #3 and #4 (Hougan and Koch), but still appear to be the team to beat.  They are led by two-time NCS champion Carina Nottingham and Dakota Saenz, who posted the best times in the section last Spring on the track.

              TF – Carina Nottingham 4:54, Dakota Saenz 5:02, Elsa Dietz 5:31, Zoe Kohlmeyer 5:35, Kaitlyn Fischl 5:39

2 - Castro Valley – graduated four of their scorers 2, 3, 5, 7 (Dughi, Dughi, Murry and Choy). Iliana Nierengarten could challenge for the individual title and is backed up by Mika Gomes.  They will have to reload their squad with some of the solid performers from track season

              TF – Iliana Nierengarten 5:08, Paige Pacheco 5:26, Mika Gomes 5:28, Maria Kryuchkova 5:28, Isabella Rodriguez 5:35

3 - Dougherty Valley returns all 7 of their 2024 squad that finished 3^rd in last year’s NCS meet.  They’ll need solid performances from their 3-5 runners to challenge for the higher podium spots

              TF – Neha Chhabra 5:09, Ananya Kumar 5:21, Sara Richards 5:35, Alyssa Shah 5:46, Varshaa Nuthi 5:47   

4 - California graduates #5 runner – Like Dougherty, their success depends on their 3-5 runners having banner years

              TF – Emily Bellinger 5:13, Madison Tran 5:24, Alicia Pombo 5:47, Freya Darvell 5:47, Nithya Kuchibotla 5:48

5- Dublin graduated three of their top 7 (Prenton, Balupari and Johnson)

              TF – Isabella Geraghty 5:35, Kiran Nayyar 5:38, Leila Reddi 5:50, Kylene Wong 5:55, Kaitlin Yu 6:00

Individual runners

·       Carina Nottingham, Berkeley – two-time NCS champion (4:54, 10:54, 17:37)

·       Dakota Saenz, Berkeley (5:02, 10:54, 18:30)

·       Iliana Nierengarten, Castro Valley (5:07, 11:31, 18:11)

·       Neha Chhabra, Dougherty Valley (5:09, 11:27, 18:38)

·       Emily Bellinger, Cal (5:13, 11:42, 18:33)

·       Ananya Kumar, Dougherty Valley (5:21, 11:34, 17:56)

·       Alyssa Shah, Dougherty Valley (5:19, 18:43)

·       Madison Tran, Cal (5:24)