Monday, June 08, 2015

2015 North Coast Section Division III Cross Country Pre-Season Individual Rankings

It's never too early to peek ahead at the upcoming 2015 Cross Country season so per tradition, we begin with the NCS Division III individual rankings thanks to Campolindo assistant coach, Andy Lindquist. Feel free to leave your comments below and let us know if we missed anybody.

Boy’s individuals: With the Burke twins graduating, it will be up to Nick Downs to continue the recent hot streak of superstar frontrunners for Bishop O’dowd. Last year’s runner up, David Frisbie will also be in contention along with a cluster of athletes from the DFAL.  

1. Nick DownsBishop O’Dowd (Sr) Continued to impress this track season, running 9:18 in the 3200, giving him the best returning mark for this XC season. Also showed good range running 4:19 for 1600m.   

2. David FrisbieJohn F. Kennedy (Sr) After a surprising end to the cross country season which saw him finish 7th at the state meet, Frisbie seemed to stagnate during track, failing to make the finals at MOC in the 1600m. Still posted quality marks of 4:21/9:38 in the 1600/3200 so don’t count him out just yet.

3. Cameron GaskellAcalanes (Sr.)  Despite battling illness and injury throughout the season, Gaskell still managed to post some solid times, running 4:25 in the 1600 and running 9:28 in the 3200. Past results indicate the talent is there and with a healthy summer of training he will put himself in great position to challenge the top 2.  

4. Jared YabuCampolindo (Jr)  After being a solid contributing team member the past 2 years, it appears that Yabu is ready to step up as the top gun for the Cougars this fall. His marks of 4:29 and 9:29 in the 1600/3200 point to great potential, especially considering the success Campolindo has had churning out top notch individuals in recent years.  

5. Tom Robey Las Lomas (Sr) Continued to be rock solid during the track season, running personal bests in the 3200 (9:30) and running 4:25in the 1600 to advance to MOC in that event. Getting to run against the rest of the rugged DFAL will provide him plenty of chances to compete against top level talent.  

6. Danny JervisLas Lomas (Sr) After a breakout XC season, Jervis continued that trend during track running 9:42 in the 3200 and 4:25 in the 1600. DFAL competition plus a talented training partner in Robey should help Jervis continue his upward momentum this fall.  

7. Nathaniel SauerbergCampolindo (Sr)  A somewhat confounding cross country season gave way to an impressive track season for one of the critical pieces of the Campolindo machine. A solid time in the 1600 (4:31) plus a great performance in the 3200 (9:41) positions Sauerberg right next to his DFAL foes and the rest of the NCS, giving the Cougars a strong 1-2 punch that will be vital in the team battle as well.  

8. Munir KabbaraSan Rafael (Soph) Impressed during his freshman campaign and seems poised to take over the mantle from his older brother Nassim. His 4:32 and 9:51 performances in the 1600/3200 point to great fitness and great potential for the youngster, making him a dark horse to move up the list.   

9. Will/Jack DunbarPetaluma (Soph) The twins kicked it into high gear this track season running near identical times in the 1600 (4:33/4:34) showcasing a nasty double threat for the Trojans, who are seeking to make an impact in the team race. While track times do not always correlate with XC performance, look for the Dunbars to continue their wicked improvement curve this fall.

On the Bubble: Jonathan Semenza (Campolindo), Aidan Carpenter (Piner) Christian Gonzalez (Miramonte)

Girl’s individuals: Last year’s NCS/State champion Chloe Hansel returns for her senior year, looking to defend her titles. However, after a somewhat disappointing track season, the gap has been closed considerably as Bishop O’Dowd’s Grace Taylor enters the season with the best marks in the 1600 and 3200, beating Hansel head to head in the 1600m final at NCS MOC. Transfers and freshmen will shake up these rankings but for now this is how it looks.  

1. Chloe HanselLas Lomas (Sr)  After a phenomenal cross country season where she captured the NCS/State Div. III tiles and also qualified to NXN, Hansel seemed to regress this track season only managing to run 11:11 in the 3200 and 5:05 in the 1600. Despite this, she enters the season as the favorite if she can return to her form from last fall.

2. Grace Taylor Bishop O’Dowd (Sr)  Came on strong at the end of track season to run an impressive 5:03 in the 1600 at the NCS MOC finals to enter the fall season on a big upswing. Also ran 10:54 in the 3200 which gives her the best 1600/3200 times from this track season. She should challenge for the individual title.

3. Hana SunCampolindo (Sr) Sun flew under the radar during most of the track season as her teammates stole the headlines for Campolindo, but she still managed to have an impressive spring season, making it to the finals at MOC in the 3200 and running 10:59.  

4. Hannah RuaneCampolindo (Soph)  Another solid contributor to Campolindo’s impressive distance squad, her marks of 5:17 and 11:13 for 1600/3200 bode well for this upcoming season.  

5. Jourdan AmenBishop O’Dowd (Jr) One of the most consistent performers for the Dragons during the fall, Amen continued that trend during the spring running 5:17 in the 1600 and 11:23 in the 3200 to make MOC finals. Her 5th place finish at last year’s NCS XC meet indicates plenty of upside and should give O’Dowd the upfront presence to challenge for the team title. 

6. Lizzy Labeeuw-AndersonTamalpais (Jr) The top returner for last year’s 3rd place team, she made the finals in the 1600m at the NCS Meet of Champions this spring and with a 1600m personal best of 5:12, she has placed herself firmly in contention to land in the top 10 and help her team nab another state meet birth

7. Marissa D’AtriAlhambra (Soph) Solid performances during the recently completed track season including a 5:12 clocking in the 1600m, place her in contention to advance to state as an individual this upcoming season. Plenty of opportunities to race against talented runners in the DFAL will no doubt help D’Atri to continue to progress this fall.  

8. Jenna MilesCampolindo (Soph) Raced sparingly during the 2014 XC season but impressed with a 7th place finish at the NCS finals. While hampered by some injuries during the track season, Miles still showed impressive upside in running 5:23 and 11:29 in the 1600m/3200m.  

On the Bubble: Sarah Cella (Campolindo) Sammy Taketa (Acalanes) Megan Bartschat (Tamalpais)

32 comments:

Father Time said...

Yes, it is too soon.

Andrew said...

Just when I think I'm gonna be early with D1...yeah, not ready to publish those yet. But great read.

Albert Caruana said...

Look away Father Time.

Anonymous said...

What about cooper teare?

Albert Caruana said...

Division III only so far. Cooper might make top 10 for Division V (kidding).

Anonymous said...

When will their be a posting for top 10 Boys/Girls regardless of division and section in NorCal returning for XC?

Albert Caruana said...

Yes, here is last year's list:
http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/2014/07/top-10-returning-norcal-xc-runners-boys.html

Anonymous said...

Another DFAL coach told me that Woolridge is grooming Lindquist to take command of the "army"as he(Wool)expects to be the new coach at Cal when Sandoval heads to his lazy boy.Any truth to the rumor?Why is Campolindo always so much better than all of the other squads?Do they really practice three hours a day?
End of last XC season there was talk that Hayward was going to be under construction and not able to host NCS.Any updates on this?

Anonymous said...

Not true, Chuck will be taking his talent North run the Nike Oregon Project project after Salazar gets let go!

DoYouBelieveIt? said...

rumor has it Chuck's army is not allowed to take more than 5 classes or APs. They run 3 times a day and 150 miles during easy weeks...

Albert Caruana said...

From an outsider's point of view, Campolindo has been successful for multiple reasons. They have the culture. They were very good under coach Chris Walsh prior to Chuck's arrival. They train consistently throughout the year. Chuck is a very good coach. He won multiple state titles at College Park before coaching at Campolindo. If you look at any of the top programs in California, you will see that a coach has been with the team for a long period of time. Also, the kids believe in the training plan. They do all the little things that make a team successful (mobility, strength, goal setting etc). There are no secrets to what they do as it's all on their website. The hard part is to consistently do what they do year after year with different students.

Army Insider said...

All rumors are true. He will be coaching both Cal and NOP simultaneously.

Yes. He's that good.

Anonymous said...

I heard Nike is bringing in Chuck up to Oregon to head both NOP and Bowerman Elite thus bringing unity to the brand! He can just email the Cal kids the workouts like he does now :-)

Anonymous said...

Previous poster mentioned Hayward being under construction this fall.Any word on this Albert?

Albert Caruana said...

I don't believe that will effect this upcoming season's NCS meet.

Jason Rexing said...

150 mile weeks?

Did the looked relaxed? Was it in trainers?

TrainersOnly said...

Jason Rexing,

Only trainers, even when racing. Word on the street is the girls also ran a 5 x mile workout after MOC....

Unknown said...

How come 800 m times are never included into XC pre-season expectations? Is it because so many see it as a sprint? The 800 times are still important to look out for.

Anonymous said...

What is with all the Chuck bashing and all of these nonsense posts? We are Campo rivals and have far more respect for him than those in these posts. It's messing up the legitimacy of this site.

Anonymous said...

Its almost like the relationship ESPN has with lebron lol.

Andrew said...

@Jim He,

800 times aren't as significant for XC because it doesn't have as much to do with aerobic capacity, which is extremely important in XC. A good 800 time could be an indicator of some latent talent, but an 800 time that stands high above the 1600/3200 times could mean other things that would translate poorly to XC - lack of aerobic development, laziness, etc. Those are my thoughts anyways. I'm sure the runners listed above have run some pretty nice 800s still (I know Downs went sub-2 this season).

Anonymous said...

Are you gonna do D2 rankings soon?

Coach Small said...

"An 800 time that stands high above the 1600/3200 times could mean other things that would translate poorly to XC - lack of aerobic development, laziness, etc."

Sorry Andrew, have to disagree with you here. Yes, a superior 800 in relation to longer events may not be indicative of fast XC times, but your rationale could not be more off. Some are just more genetically geared toward the 400/800 than a 3200/5k. To say an 800 runner lacks aerobic development or is lazy because they aren't good as good in the 3200 compared to their 800 mark is no better than saying a 5k runner can't run sub 50 for 400 because they are "lazy." The 800 is a long sprint and is one heck of a painful race.

Some people are better at the short stuff. Some are better at the long stuff. And it has nothing to do with work ethic.

Andrew said...

Fair enough, Josh. Was just speaking from both my experience and frustration. I know you have plenty more.

I agree that genetics plays a large role in athletics. I've coached many who are geared for the 800 instead of anything longer. Even some who I thought were long-distance runners ended up being way better in the 800. And not because they were lazy or lacked aerobic development. I'm not even sure it was genetics. Probably the coach's fault in training (which could be looked at as lack of aerobic development).

But I've also coached many runners who were good milers/XC runners and then after slacking off in a subsequent winter/summer, still managed to run faster at shorter distances. However, they barely improved in 3200/XC and some got worse. This is more my experience and where I am coming from with my post above.

Anonymous said...

What happened to Kate Miekley from Tamalpais?

Marty Beene said...

The relationship of 800m racing and XC racing is interesting to me. I think the two are quite compatible - i.e., developing speed to be a good 800m runner (as opposed to just running it because one doesn't feel like racing more than 2 laps), then combining that with good endurance training prior to XC season can lead one to some outstanding XC performances. I may have this somewhat incorrect, but I remember a couple years ago the "national champion" girls team (coincidentally from the high school in Michigan where my wife went) had set a record of some sort (national record maybe?) in the 4x800 relay the previous spring (or maybe did that the following spring after their XC season). For that matter, experiencing the kind of exhaustion one feels in an 800 race can help mentally during a 5k XC race, IMO....

Anonymous said...

Campolindo Boys look pretty good on paper and im sure they have the hopes of reaching the podium at state. It would be nice to finally see a nor cal team reaching the podium in D3. What are the chances of that happening?

Anonymous said...

As a runner in the DFAL i do think that the Campolindo Boys are really good. But podium at state...I don't know about that. I feel that they wont be any better than they were last year. Last year they had the ridiculous pack. But their team has changed in a year. They have a good front runner in Jared Yabu but their supporting cast is a question mark. Nathaniel Sauerberg listed as 7th overall; he had a rough XC season and his track season was inconsistent. Also, Jonathan Semenza after having a flawless XC season seemed to explode during track, running significantly slower than he should have. If these 2 guys are there projected 2 and 3 runners and they are as inconsistent as they have demonstrated it is not a good sign. I do think they should be able to win NCS just because the section is fairly weak.

Anonymous said...

Campo's varsity runners do 30 miles a week, all fast training, and strides after every workout. Their two guys who made it to MOC in the 3200 didn't run PRs, thus coming up short just like the state meet this past XC season

Unknown said...

@Andrew

Thank you, but do you think a solid 800 time (under sub 2) along with other decent times (above 4:40/ above 10:20) is a bad sign for a runner in terms of predicting future performance?

Andrew said...

@Jim,

Not a bad sign. My immediate thoughts with said runner is what Coach Small said - this runner is more geared for mid-distance than long distance. Still most likely a varsity runner to most teams out there in NCS.

Andrew said...

Sources tell me that Cassidy Haskell (4:45 1500, 5:09 1600, 10:19 3000) will be going to Miramonte starting next year.

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