The cross country season is not quite complete with the Nike Cross Nationals and Footlocker Western Regional meets still coming up this weekend. Once again this year, a committee will be selecting the All NorCal HS XC teams and this is your chance to chime in on this site.
You can view our selections from last year at this link:
http://archive.dyestatcal.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2011/allnorca.htm
At this point, who do you think is the Northern California Boys' Runner of the Year? Girls' Runner of the Year? Who are the best 7 runners in Northern California (boys and girls)? Who is the senior of the year? Junior? Sophomore? Freshman? Who are the best runners in each Section (NS, SJS, NCS, CCS, OAK, and SF)?
You can view our selections from last year at this link:
http://archive.dyestatcal.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2011/allnorca.htm
At this point, who do you think is the Northern California Boys' Runner of the Year? Girls' Runner of the Year? Who are the best 7 runners in Northern California (boys and girls)? Who is the senior of the year? Junior? Sophomore? Freshman? Who are the best runners in each Section (NS, SJS, NCS, CCS, OAK, and SF)?
I propose keeping the Batman & Robin award at SJND. Replacing Ratto/Arias-Sheridan with Murphy/Murphy.
ReplyDeleteOr as we like to call them: Thing One and Thing Two. Loved how even their coach cannot tell them apart. Great job Murphy boys!
ReplyDeleteRobin to Batman should go to Hutchins and Lawson
ReplyDeleteBoys runner of the Year: Aidan Goltra
ReplyDeleteGolta +1
ReplyDeleteWell, since SF (SJS) Girls finished second in the state - and all five top runners finished under 19 mins - the entire team. The top spots are always pretty easy to pick - so instead I will nominate some others for potential recognition from SJS that may be overlooked: McCauley Porter (Rio Americana); Mikayla Florez (Riverbank); Faith Makau (Enochs); Megan Gentes (Del Oro); Leane Jarvis River Valley); Laney Teaford and Giula McIssac (Davis Sr.). At least some Honorable Mentions in that group I think.
ReplyDeleteThis list is excluding the Central Section, the majority of that section is in Northern California. I am guessing you are excluding them to feel better about "Nor Cal" awards that should go to more deserving runners. Add the CS!!!
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt - Maggie Bell is Freshman of the Year
ReplyDelete@ 3:16
ReplyDeleteAll NorCal selection has been going on since 1962. You can see the history at:
http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/XC/alnorcal.htm
also read the HISTORY link from the above page to help you understand how the NorCal teams selection process (ie. which sections were included) was formed. All we are doing is following the same guidelines (in order to preserve the "History" of the all NorCal teams) that was started in 1962. If you would like to add in the CS then feel free to begin your list of "All NorCal+" and send to me an I will be happy to post.
hank
What about Chloe Pigg?
ReplyDeleteGoltra for sure for best runner
ReplyDeleteSenior: Lawson
Junior: Goltra
Sophomore: Reinhart
Freshman: Salazar
Reinhart should be a Junior. He was born in 1996- check USATF results. Most of the kids he has competed against in his age division, are running as Juniors. In addition, Austin Tamagno (born in 1998) from the southern section should be a Sophomore. Holding kids back in school to gain a competitive edge for athletics and academics should not be rewarded with accolades.
ReplyDeleteThat's ridiculous, his birth date is totally within the allowed bounds. I was born in Dec 1996 I compete as a sophomore. I have two friends born in November 96, one competes as a junior, one as a sophomore. That's just the way it turned out after their different schooling. And my brother was born in Oct 1998 and he's an 8th grader.
ReplyDeleteSome kids wills always be right on the edge of these borders, and considering we don't even know their real birth dates, we can't be sure! If Reinhart was born in January of 1996, then yes he should be a junior, but 1996 is not an arbitrary number incriminating him as "cheating" the system.
@Anonymous 6:21 PM, its not like they're breaking class records where the "class" actually means something. They are competing in high school and are still of high school age. When they get to their respective senior years (and thus are older than anyone else they are competing against), then there is reason to bring the age argument up. But right now, they are competing withint their age range still, so its still fair.
ReplyDeleteNow if you want to talk about entering those kids in races that are Freshman-only or Sophomore-only, then that's different. But championship racing is not done that way - its whoever is fastest.
I guess your contention with Reinhart is him winning "NorCal Sophomore of the Year." Well, these awards are arbitrary after all. Offer up your own candidate. But as of now, Reinhart competes as a sophomore.
I like Lawson and Hutchins as Batman and Robin as well. Its hard to see anyone but Goltra getting Runner of The Year on the boys side. And Julia Maxwell should easily win the girls award. There's a nice battle between Pianin, Ankehyli, and Fraser for Senior of the Year.
I get a little weary of posters on this site disrespecting the athletes and their families for the decisions that they make in their own kid's interest.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that Trevor Reinhart transferred here from Europe in high school. Due to differences in curriculae, he came in as a freshman rather than a sophmore. Don't be so hard on the kids and their families - lots of the kids are not quite in the grade that their ages might allow for many reasons other than mere athletics.
Aidan Goltra & Julia Maxwell; can't see it any other way.
ReplyDeleteI think Yohaness Estifanos should be considered as well. He was the fastest Northern California runner at the Stanford Invitational finishing 3rd in the seeded race and 3rd overall. He won the Crystal Springs (Serra) Invitational running 14:39 which is the 6th fastest time ever on the course. He also broke the Toro Park record by running 15:02 this season. At his league finals, he ran 14:49 by himself on the same Crystal Springs course. He won the CCS Division I race and finished 6th at the state meet in the tougher Division I race in a time of 15:21.
ReplyDeleteI think he should be considered for the Runner of the Year conversation as well.
While Gotra had a spectacular post season, Estifanos is a completely legit case for runner of the year.
ReplyDeleteBoth are great runners and by all accounts, fantastic kids as well. Tough call but my vote goes to Goltra. His performance on the mud slop that was hayward this year was pretty impressive and to back that up with a win at state gets my vote.
I only hope we get to see the two go head to head at some point this spring.
Runner of the Year - Yohaness Estifanos
ReplyDeleteSenior - Yohaness Estifanos
Junior - Aidan Goltra
Sophomore - Matt Schumann
Freshman - Ben Zaeske (ran 15:56 at CCS - 1 second off Philip MacQuitty's freshman course record at Toro)
Runner of the Year - Julia Maxwell
Senior - Jena Pianin
Junior - Julia Maxwell
Sophomore - Diribe Abdo
Freshman - Maggie Bell
Senior Boys- Tyler Hanson
ReplyDeletejunior boys- Aidan Goltra
Aidan Goltra should get Transfer of the Year, actually.
ReplyDeleteGoltra, Ho, Estifannos, probably Lawson will break 9. Goltra is a realllly strong maybe actually
ReplyDeleteBoys:
ReplyDeleteJunior - Aidan Goltra
Sophomores - Matt Schumann
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteRunner of the Year - Yohaness Estifanos
Senior - Yohaness Estifanos
Junior - Aidan Goltra
Sophomore - Matt Schumann
Freshman - Ben Zaeske (ran 15:56 at CCS - 1 second off Philip MacQuitty's freshman course record at Toro)
You NCS people need to relax. Estifanos was the most consistent all year, Ho is a close 2nd, and Goltra is 3rd. I agree with a comment before that Goltra had a great post season.
Runner of the year Estifanos
Senior Richard Ho,
Junior Goltra
Ersiti 14Goltra, Ho, Estifannos, probably Lawson will break 9. Goltra is a realllly strong maybe actually...Do you know how hard it is to break nine? Noone of these guy's a have GOOD shot maybe in the right race and the right conditions...maybe one of them.
ReplyDeleteFact: Trevor Reinhart was 16 years, 5 months and 20 days old when he won the D5 state meet last weekend. I don't know if that disqualifies him for a running blog award, but can I still vote for him for Sophomore of the Year ?
ReplyDeleteand speaking of Reinhart's accomplishments this season, how about a mention of his Marin Academy teamate James Kinney, in the Batman & Robin award. James was 2nd in the D5 race at Stanford; 3rd in the BCL-W Championships; 3rd at NCS & 6th in the D5 State meet race. Not too shabby for a "under-the-radar" season
ReplyDeleteTeam of the year?
ReplyDeleteTeam of the year for girls is pretty easy.
ReplyDeleteEstifanos and Goltra both had outstanding seasons (with FL still to come).
ReplyDeleteWhat's more impressive, 6th in a deeper D1 race in a time of 15:21 or 1st in a less deep D3 race but with a faster time of 15:17?
The judges also have to consider whether they are awarding consistency over the entire season or weighting performance in the post season more heavily.
If you choose the latter than a State title + faster time trumps all in my book....
Estefanos times on Toro and Crystal Springs are legit. I invite any Nor Cal team to come over and run those courses to see how incredible those performances are.
ReplyDeleteEstefanos' consistency is by far superior. Winning an inferior race is great, but you're talking mere seconds here. When it's that close you have to look at the season in which Estefanos is far, far better.
I appreciate chuck's army once again pushing for their guy but its just not there this time. If it were Fraser of Scotts Valley should be in the conversation for successfully defending her title. I haven't heard her name yet and your boy only won once.
Anonymous @ 4:20pm
ReplyDeleteNo one is knocking Estifanos. He had a fantastic season so please stop with the Chuck's Army BS and grow up.
If you place consistency over the entire season as your top criteria than he's a great choice. If you place post-season titles and State time higher than it's hard to go wrong with Goltra. It's subjective so there's no wrong answer.
As for Fraser, your argument make no sense. Did she have a better season and/or state meet than Julia Maxwell using the same criteria you applied to Estifanos? Not even close....
If you guys from chuck's army think running 3 seconds faster is better than an entire season of a$$ kicking you are greatly mistaken. D3 is a JV race compared to D1. Your boy would not have won D1 do time to quiet down Campo.
ReplyDeleteOnce Aidan was eligible to run he was consistently excellent. His performance at NCS was nothing short of amazing and he capped the season off with a state title against one of the surest "locks" in the state. He can only be compared to estifanos in a "head-to-head fashion for the state meet, because this is the only time that they raced on the same course on the same day in roughly the same conditions, and Aidan pulled out ahead. He is a slam dunk for runner of the year.
ReplyDeleteLet's stick to stating our case for runners and teams and not demeaning anybody else.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
No offense but please have Campolindo come run Toro and Crystal to see how good those times are. He'll be no where close. You can look at South Madera to see how good those times are. And to think 3 seconds is "clearly" better in different races you are mistaken. Aiden would not have won D1. And they didn't race head to head. They were in different "heats." Thus the discussion.
ReplyDeletethe point was that you cant compare any of the two's performances except for the state meet.
ReplyDeleteNo one ever said that Aidan would have won DI and if anyone did they are just being foolish.
ReplyDeleteEstifanos has run 9:08, correct?
ReplyDeleteLawson has run 9:18 and besides state, has had a monster season
Goltra won state in a time of 15:17
Ho has run 9:12
And they all had pretty good xc seasons, and are already relatively close to sub-9. i think they'll do it
who would you say the teams of the year are albert?
ReplyDeleteIf you made me pick, I would have to say St. Joseph Notre Dame for boys and St. Francis (Sac) for girls.
ReplyDeleteYou can add John Lawson of Sir Francis Drake to the list of candidates for NorCal Runner of the year. He was the 4th fastest runner overall at the Stanford Invitational. He won the NCS Division IV race and finished 2nd at state. He also just qualified for the Footlocker National meet by finishing 3rd at the Western Region race.
ReplyDeleteand Richard Ho beat Goltra. Estifanos surely woulda been if front of both of them.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate but Goltra got bumped down today. The debate is now Estifanos vs. Lawson
ReplyDeleteNor Cal top boys:
1. Estifanos
2. Lawson
3. Ho
4. Goltra
Maxwell wrapped up her top Nor Cal honors today.
Big agree on the SJND boys for team of the year
ReplyDeleteWhy did everyone get quiet all of a sudden?
ReplyDeleteBecause Goltra got beat at FL. Chucks Army has nothing to say.
ReplyDeleteLawson ONLY CA. runner to make FL nationals. Winner
ReplyDeleteI think NXN is one of the reasons for that but nonetheless very impressive of Lawson to be the only CA runner to advance to the Footlocker National meet.
ReplyDelete1. Robin and Batman is probably my favorite award because it's so unique and addresses the best "dynamic duos". If it's being awarded by place and benefit to team it would have to go to Trevor Reinhart and James Kinney (1 and 6 at state, 1-2 at Stanford, 1 and 3 at NCS) but if you are going by speed John Lawson and Clayton Hutchins are a faster duo in general. Both exceptional pairs.
ReplyDelete2. John Lawson is undoubtedly Runner of the Year. 3rd at Footlocker West clinches it.
3. Boys
Senior: John Lawson
Junior: Aidan Goltra
Sophmore: Tossup between Matt Schumann and Trevor Reinhart (again goes back to whether time or place is more important. Schumann was faster but Reinhart is state champ)
Freshman: Matt Salazar
4. Girls
ROY- Julia Maxwell
Senior: Jena Pianin
Junior: Julia Maxwell
Sophmore: Diribe Abdo
Freshman: Maggie Bell
5. Best Boys Team: SRV or De La Salle. Both ran very fast at NCS and State
6. Best Girls Team: Arcata
7. Boys Coach of Year: St. Joes Coach. They had a great season and have had a lot of success*
8. Girls Coach of Year: University Coach. 10 state titles!?!?!?*
*My memory is fading, if there is only one coach of the year then I would choose the St. Joes coach
Some very good choices but St. Francis, Sacramento is the girls' team of the year. Second place in Div. I at the state meet trumps seconds place in Div. IV at state.
ReplyDeleteEven though Lawson qualified for FL, Estifanos and Goltra beat him at state, and Goltra also beat him at NCS. This being said Estifanos should be runner of the year... Lawson and Goltra come from a weak NCS section and I think that a CCS runner should win this year
ReplyDelete"Lawson and Goltra come from a weak NCS section and I think that a CCS runner should win this year" I have some state meet data right here that disproves your statement that NCS is weaker than CCS.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the top 10 boys in each state division there were 13 NCS boys compared to 5 CCS runners and when it really counted, Footlocker John Lawson pulled it out and beat all other CA runners. As for teams... 4 NCS in top 10 for D5 (no CCS), 1 CCS team in top 10 D2, 2 NCS team in top ten in D4 (no CCS), 3 NCS teams and 1 CCS team in top 10 for D3, and 2 CCS teams in D1.
That totals out to 9 NCS teams and 3 CCS teams in the top 10 over the 5 divisions and 13 individuals to 5 from CCS. Seems like NCS is quite a bit more competitive than you think. Because of it's deeper depth and overall competitiveness I think either Lawson or Goltra would be entirely reasonable choices for Runner of the Year (Estifanos is really good and definitely in the discussion but not good enough to beat out Lawson)
Senor: John Lawson
ReplyDeleteJunior: Aidan Goltra (also overall best, he had an amazing post season)
Sophmore: Trevor Reinhart (Now give it to Reinhart. He is a state champion and if you remember at the beginning of the season he was not suppose to be as good as he was. Many people counted him out.)
Freshman:Ben Zaeske
I think best team and coach of the year should go to St. Jose. A State Championship speaks for itself.
Maybe Lawson's goal was to peak at FL?
ReplyDeleteHere's State Meet data for you: Bellarmine and Carlmont were the top two teams at State from Nor Cal, both D1. The National Champions, Arcadia, also came from D1. Now please tell me more how D1 is not as competitive as any other division. How about we bump the traditional state meet up a week and then have a MOC like in Jersey with the top teams in the division races in a winner take all fight for top honors the way it should be.
ReplyDeleteNCS gets more spots to state, covers more area and has more population. Shouldn't they do better?
ReplyDeletePerhaps compare with an even smaller section like the north or Oakland to make yourself feel better.
And since were complaining let me throw this out there: if there is a SF section all SF schools should be in that section.
NCS is far more competitive than ccs. What are you smoking...
ReplyDeleteI think that most athletes in california peak for the state meet and, until the state meet is over, races like FL or NXN are afterthoughts.
ReplyDeleteI ran for Campolindo and I don't think I ever heard anyone even mention Footlocker during the xc season, let alone speak of it as a target meet.
It's because you had no shot of making it. Some teams focus on league or their section because that is as far as they are going to go.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the "WHO IS THE NORCAL BOY'S RUNNER OF THE YEAR?
ReplyDelete" voting should count because the athletes can have their facebook friends vote for them.
We always considered footlocker to be an afterthought. League finals, ncs, and the state meet are where you got your money. Practices and the training schedule ended after the state meet.
ReplyDeleteNo offense but it was because you didn't have a shot. I'm sure Arcadia with 2 national titles in 3 years feels differently.
ReplyDeleteAs for Footlocker, State is great and very very important. More important than NXN or Footlocker to many. But it is because while you may be top 3 in state on a team no one has a real shot at NXN of FL.
Maybe you didnt know but if you make footlocker the colleges come knocking. Maybe not to you but to college coaches it means more than state. It just does.
You cannot say Goltra beat Lawson at NCS or at State, they were in different races...different splits, head to head at Regionals Lawson won
ReplyDeleteI think that Lawson had an advantage on knowing the course over Estifanos and Goltra. Lawson has raced at FL before last year and placed 17 and as for estifanos and Goltra have not expirenced a race like FL in their HS careers where everyone is near the same speed as them. Also Lawson has run at the MT SAC invite multiple times as for Estifanos and Goltra have not.
ReplyDeleteWell, experience is part of the make-up of a champion. Still points to Lawson.
ReplyDeletelawson beat everyone from the state of california at footlocker.
ReplyDeletek
69th commentor woohoo
ReplyDeleteSmall correction but Aidan has ran the Mt. Sac course a couple of times. Last year while still at Las Lomas he ran 15:50 at the Mt. Sac invite as a sophomore which is 18 seconds faster then he ran at footlocker. So maybe he just had a bad race? I think hes allowed one after winning NCS and State
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is mt Sac Invite course is shorter than the 5000 that FL is...that may be the 18 seconds, maybe it is the hills, some runners are hill runners
ReplyDeleteLawson ran 15:03 at mt Sac invite...and in my opinion the best Nor Cal runner, but respect to all, all great athletes
ReplyDeleteThe Mt. SAC Invite is on the 2.93 mile course. That is a little less than a minute faster than the 5k course for Footlocker's, which is the same course, plus about an extra 300 meters run on the track.
ReplyDeleteJohn Lawson 9th at Fl Nationals
ReplyDeleteYes, and watching the FL race Lawson had a lot left to kick well at the end. I think he has earned NorCal Boys Runner of the Year.
ReplyDeleteHe's a top 10 runner in the country. How could he NOT be runner of the year?
ReplyDelete