NCS Division I Rankings by Peter Brewer (Update #4)

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N0rth Coast Section
Division I Rankings
September 28, 2008

Once of the benchmark points of each cross country season is the Stanford Invitational. A large number of teams compete here, and that provides a good early set of comparisons. Other teams from around the state, and from up and down the west coast also give us a contextual background to assess where each team is at this point in the season.

Not all teams were at full strength, and the heat (past 90 degrees for the later races) and course conditions (nice soft grass for cushioning, but nice soft grass for dampening full on speed) impacted different teams differently. Also, some teames used the race as a time trial, others were in survival mode, and still others looked at this as their version of the Olympics.

Even though the Stanford results will linger as comparison standards far into the season, perhaps these results are overly regarded. The season stretched another two months before us, and for many teams their final product is still being molded. It is important to remember that rankings and race results this early on are only indications of possibilites, and not divine directives that are not to be contravened for the rest of the season.


Boys:
1. Amador Valley 7th seeded race Stanford; 83:19 team time; great :20 gap 1-6; Brett Hornig and Kellen Cole still a great 1-2 punch.
2. Monte Vista 1st unseeded D-I race; 84:58 team time; Mike Roderick still a major stud in 2nd; back pack starting to bunch up.
3. College Park 2nd unseeded D-I race; 85:33 team time; Soph Jeff Bickart establishing himself as #1; very good 1-6 gap of :57
4. Granada 3rd unseeded D-I race; 85:51 team time; Alex Summers takes individual 4th.
5. San Ramon 6th unseeded D-I race; 86:40 team time; many-headed hydra of runners again swithc up finish order in close front pack.

Poised to pounce: Castro Valley -- Trojans take the Ram Invitational title with 1-2-6 finish. Soph Ben Eversole wins race in late surge over teammate Tom Ashby.
Fallen off the pace: Deer Valley -- Wolverines took 13th in unseeded D-I race at Stanford; 88:29 team time; Ryan DeVito and Nate Baker lead the pack

Amador boys have extended their hold on this division. The Dons are a very determined bunch, and their tight upfront cluster will be hard to break up come NCS time.
Monte Vista rides the coattails of MIke Roderick, and his trailing pack is not trailing by as much as it did. It remains to be seen if they can get and stay closer to their star.
College Park has its own nice grouping and that is always a good thing. Falcons possess a strong tradition.
Granada still hasn’t been able to gain any ground on the other teams, but stays tantalysingly close.
San Ramon apparently has an undecided top set of runners, but all close to each other.
Castro Valley’s sophomores are gaining experience. It remains to be seen if they can gain ground of the other teams in the division.

Girls:
1. Castro Valley 1st in unseeded D-1 race; 100:03 team time; Chelsea Schneider and Kelsey Santisteban finishe 5 & 10 individually
2. Monte Vista 2nd in unseeded D-I race; 102:24 team time; Kyla Aiuto and Nicole Aha lead Mustangs
3. College Park 3rd in unseeded D-I race; 101:07 team time: Alycia Cridenbring is excellent runner, 2nd here; trailing pack thinned out today
4. Granada 4th in unseeded D-I race; 104:18 team time; Hayley Swanson continues to open eyes with great 4th plae finish here.
5. California 8th in unseeded D-I race: 105:06 team time; Colleen Lillig handles field easily in dominant individual win; Elaine McVay very capable #2 girl.

Still not going away: Amador Valley -- 10th unseeded D-I, 108:15 team time and SAn Ramon -- 11th unseeded D-I, 108:06 team time.

Castro Valley appears to be very solid here with a good win. Monte Vista took advantage of a late-race College Park fade to edge the Falcons. Will this hold up over the season? Granada has a good #1 and a nice group. Calfornia has the stud in Lillig, and the can hold their own. Amador and San Ramon have some improving to do to seriously challenge the rest.

Thank you to Peter Brewer for his continued contribution to this blog with the NCS Division I rankings. If anybody would like to contribute rankings for any division in CCS, NCS, SJS, SF, NC or OAK, please send them to albertjcaruana@gmail.com and I will post your rankings.

New Norcal rankings will be posted next. Section and divisional rankings will follow.