Thursday, August 20, 2015

Northern California incoming freshmen

Here is what I have so far as freshmen for the 2015/16 seasons. If you have any additions, please email them to me at albertjcaruana@gmail.com and I will add them to the list. You can also add their names, school for next year and their PRs in the comment section below. Also, feel free to list any students who will be competing for a different school this coming season. What about athletes from SJS, NS, SF and OAK?

Girls
Cassy Haskell - Miramonte.  4:44 for 1500m and 10:30 for 3000. Won Devil's Mountain 5K in 17:40 as a 7th grader.
Kate Tavella - San Ramon Valley. 4:56 for 1500.  5K in 18:35
Emma Tavella - San Ramon Valley.   5:19 for 1600  5K in 18:59.   Kate and Emma are twins
Jasmine Powell - Bishop O'Dowd. 2:19.3 for 800
Erin Hong - Piedmont 5:30 for 1600, 11:04 for 3000 and 19:36 for 5k
Lauren Cervantes - Monte Vista 5:07 for 1500 and 19:26 for 5k
Emily Perez - St. Joseph Notre Dame 5:19.83 for 1500 and 11:16.12 for 3000
Lila Roake - Santa Cruz 2:24 for 800, 5:10 for 1500 and 10:55 for 3000
Sasha Pickard - Saratoga 5:26 for 1600
Reina Garcia - Aptos 4:49 for 1500 and 10:30 for 3000
Cynthia Rosales - Piner
Jessica Kain - Scotts Valley 5:19 for 1600

Boys
Preston Norris - Las Lomas.   4:24 for 1500 and 9:26 for 3000
Sean Carrick - Amador Valley.   5:02 for 1600m
Tommy Murphy - Bishop O'Dowd.  2:29 for 800, 4:48 for 1500, 5:09 for 1600 and 10:05 for 3000m
Cameron Meier - Granada.  5:08 for 1600m
Ryan Ma - Homestead 4:42 for 1600m
Caleb Foster - Albany 4:52 for 1600m
Colton Colonna - St. Francis, Mt. View 2:07.07 for 800, 4:27.56 for 1500 and 4:48.10 for 1600
Miles Worthen - Jesuit 2:15 for 800, 4:32 for 1500 and 9:52 for 3000
Rusell Sullivan - Foothill, Pleasanton 4:45 for 1500, 5:03 for 1600 and 10:31 for 3000
Chris Anderson - San Lorenzo Valley 2:07.8 for 800, 4:39.8 for 1600 and 9:40 for 3000
Joshua Lee - Bellarmine 4:50.44 for 1600
Ross D'Orfani - Bellarmine 4:52.54 for 1600
Nitin Sagi - Mission San Jose 2:08.24 for 800 and 4:38.09 for 1500
Chris Solorzano - Del Mar 4:51 for 1600

75 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hurdler Woodward has a fast younger sister. Not sure if she starts high school this year or another year.

Anonymous said...

Isabella Fauria - St. Francis (Sacramento). 2:17.23 for 800m, 4:42 for 1500m, 10:12.48 for 3000m.

Anonymous said...

Isabella is still in middle school she will be entering the 8th grade at St. Rose!

Anonymous said...

Yes she is. Albert was asking for 2015/2016 seasons.

Anonymous said...

Ryan Ma, 4:42 for 1600, and won 8th grade race at Footlooker last Dec.

Albert Caruana said...

What high school is Ryan attending this coming school year?

Andrew said...

Would guess Miles Worthen will be attending Jesuit (Sacramento) with his older brother.

Miles's PRs are 2:15/4:32 (1500)/4:55 (1600)/9:52 (3000).

Also, at the 2015 Stanley Invitational, there were a few nice times:

Erin Hong: 5:35 1600, 5:12 1500, 11:04 3000 will be going to Piedmont.

Caleb Foster 4:52 1600, went to Albany Middle School, so its likely he goes to Albany High. But, you never know.

I feel like Woj on this first day of NBA free agency.

Anonymous said...

Sources tell me that Caleb Foster is not going to do cross country at Albany this season, but you never know.

Anonymous said...

I think Ma is headed to Cupertino.

Anonymous said...

I heard Ma is going to Homestead next year.

Anonymous said...

Colonna ran a 2:07.07 800M at the WBAL JH finals.

Anonymous said...

Which of these boys will make an immediate impact on varsity and who will have to go the FS route first? Do they have to break in as a #5 to displace an upperclassman or is being a #6 or 7 good enough to be chosen for an invitational like Stanford or Clovis?

Anonymous said...

Carrie Verdon's little sister Veronica will be a freshman with Chuck's red army this fall.She wasn't planning on running but Chuck's first lieutenant Andy convinced her to join the team.Andy thinks she may be better than Carrie.

Anonymous said...

@ anon at 9:10am: nice try but we know that's just a blatant lie. Looks like the well is starting to run dry for Chuck's Army though: all these talented incoming frosh are choosing rival schools in the district (Miramonte and Las Lomas) over the mighty Campolindo.

Anonymous said...

Students get to choose what school they go to? I'm not have to go to the school based on school district boundaries ?

Anonymous said...

Coaching>talent in the long run

KnightsDon'tLie said...

Students in the Acalanes Union High School District (Miramonte, Acalanes, Las Lomas and Campolindo) are assigned a school based on residence but are allowed to transfer once within the district.

As for Anonymous @ 1:57 PM, the incoming talent might or might not be drying up at Campo, but only time will tell. FWIW Joyce, Verdon, Leach and Finnane, to name a few, all started running AFTER they arrived at Campo.

Anonymous said...

^ lol. Prove it.
How many NCS & state championships would chuck could win at Encinal HS?

Talent > Coaching. A coach is only as good as their players.

Anonymous said...

How is Encinal different from College Park? He won 2 state championships at CP and I would guess similar demographics.Chuck relates to the girls teams better as he has 4 state titles with girls and zero for boys.Rumor at Campo is that Chuck is going to let Andy(1st LT) take over the reins of the boys team so he can focus on a rebuilding girls squad.Is it true that Veronica Verdon is going to Campo and not Head Royce?

SiddFinch said...

I thought the legendary Veronica was turning pro?

Andy Lindquist said...

As much as I enjoy some of the conversations that happen on this website, I think some of the anon's here are getting pretty overzealous with their trolling. Chuck is the head coach, I'm the assistant, that's how it's always been (and presumably how it always will be). All of these rumors about anything else are totally false: I know you guys love to bash the successful programs in the area but this is all a little too much. Also, there is no younger Verdon coming into HS, I don't know who made that up but they are totally off base with such an assertion. As for the eternal coaching vs talent debate I think both play a critical role in the success of any HS program, but I wouldn't put either one ahead of the other. Talent is relative in HS and it can manifest itself in many different ways. There is 'talent' in someone coming out to the team having never run before and turning into a solid varsity contributor their Sr year. They may not win any races or get any accolades, but they still are a critical component to the team. Coaching plays a critical role as well. At Campolindo we've been fortunate enough to have had 2 incredible distance oriented coaches over the past 26 years between Chuck and Chris Walsh, and that consistency has been a huge part in why we are having our current level of success. People forget how hard it is to build up a program: it doesn't just happen automatically. The vast majority of successful programs in our area didn't just magically become good: it took a combination of talented athletes and talented coaches working together to build the program. I hope everyone out there is enjoying their summer!

Buzz Kill Bill said...

Oh boo. And all the trolling was just getting fun and then someone comes along and has to be reasonable. What a buzz kill.

Anonymous said...

So I guess Andy isn't going to take the Head Royce job.I hope Chuck gives Andy more credit for the team's incredible run of domination over the rest of the NCS runner-ups!!What is the rank after 1st Lieutenant?

Anonymous said...

Any comments on the talent of the kids or is this post just for snarking about certain coaches? Who is going to help their school of choice?

Anonymous said...

Andy, Miles Worthen is going to Jesuit, but he does not have an older brother. He does have an older sister who runs for St. Francis though.

Andrew said...

Oops my mistake. I knew that.

Anonymous said...

Jaxin Woodward 2:21/4:54/10:35

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Joshua Lee and Ross D'Orfani,
incoming freshmen at Bellarmine, 4:50.44 1600
and 4:52.54 1600, respectively.

Anonymous said...

And the rich get richer. Everyone else starts gets 5:20 8th graders. Bell 4:50 and under!o

Albert Caruana said...

and what do you think some of the teams in Southern California start with each season?

Anonymous said...

Josh and Ross are great, but Ryan, Colton, and Chris have raced them many times and usually come out on top on the track and XC. Those 3 all run under 4:50 in 8th grade and are not going to Bell, so what is the point?

Anonymous said...

I think we were talking about who might have an immediate impact. Obviously not the Bell kids for a while. Homestead is strong, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Ma scoring for them soon. Who's Chris? Where is he going? I think Lynbrook adds another sub 5 8th grader too.

Anonymous said...

SLV. I see now. Sub 4:40 should be making an impact.

Anonymous said...

Where does this group of boys rank among recent groups going into 9th grade?

Anonymous said...

It looks to be about the same for CCS. A solid group for sure. A handful of kids who've run around 4:50, and 2-3 standouts in low/sub 4:40.

Anonymous said...

"How is Encinal different from College Park? He won 2 state championships at CP and I would guess similar demographics.Chuck relates to the girls teams better as he has 4 state titles with girls and zero for boys."

True.

And if you were to look at one of those Girls State Championship Teams at College Park (under Chuck) you would notice that just about every single girl on that team was a freshman or sophomore that wound up getting injured and never ran "competitively" again come their senior year.

Anonymous said...

Albert, are you trolling for more Bellermine bashing? Lists are great but which of these guys will make an impact on their team this year?

Dan said...

As for the impact any freshman will make, there are a few variables to consider; strength of the program they are coming in to, there are also freshman who are top notch 2 milers, but who have a harder time converting over to the varsity 3 mile/5k distance, other runners have a much easier time being a front runner in middle school to trying to hang on to the back of the pack at big varsity races. My son runs for a top program in the Sacramento area and the top 7 run varsity regardless of grade level. I've seen some kill in the frosh/soph races and get demoralized when they struggle to be 6th or 7th man on a varsity squad and get dropped back to frosh/soph for further development and confidence. Regarding the coach/talent argument. There is a reason that at the high school level some programs are consistently among their league and section leaders. Good coaches create a culture of success and cast a wider net, attracting those who might become top runners. There are year to year variations when extremely talented runners come in or graduate, but there are a handful of programs in Northern California that are consistently at the front of the pack. Not surprisingly, almost all of them have long time coaches and a legacy of success.

Anonymous said...

Not surprising that schools that can draw talent from all over, and aren't confined to local boundaries do very well also.

Albert Caruana said...

I am not trolling for anything. With a lot of the teams starting official practices, now is the chance to add to the list as new runners join teams.

In regards to public and private schools, there are pros and cons to both. While private schools can draw from a larger area, most public schools are bigger with a bigger pool to pick from within. You also have students who live closer to each other and can run together more during the summer.

Anonymous said...

Chris Anderson of SLV could certainly have an impact, certainly within his team, and quite possibly on the D4 level. I can say definitively, as a competitor from the league, SLV has been building him up over at least three years, and as a single campus district, the high school coach likely has had access to him during this time. His older brother ran on the varsity team. I wish Chris and SLV the best of luck, and hope that he will develop into a great runner, but as one of the more accomplished on this list, I hope that the progression will be steady over his high school career.

Anonymous said...

Reina Garcia Freshman(Aptos High school) 4:49 1500m and 10:30 3000m
Lila Roake Freshman (Santa Cruz HS) 2:24 800m, 5:10 1500m 10:55 3000m

Sal said...

Chris is a very good runner. I got a chance to watch him at XC JO prelims and national finals last year. Being in a smaller program (D4) will allow him to make an immediate impact. The others going to D1 and 2 might have to wait a year. I think Norris, Ma, and Colonna have a shot at contributing this year. The Bellermine guys will likely have to wait 2 years.

Anonymous said...

Is Garcia moving? I thought she was headed to Los Gatos.

Anonymous said...

Sasha Pickard(Saratoga) 5:26 for 1600
Chris Solorzano(Del Mar) 4:51 for 1600

Anonymous said...

Bellarmine guys will never have an impact. Maybe in their JV team. How they aren't top 3 in state every year is baffling.

As for SLV nice humble dig on the illegal athletic influence of the SLV program. Well played. Publics are more dirty at recruiting than the privates. Good to see you put it out there, be it subtle.

Anonymous said...

Saratoga boys / girls look good this year. Who's their new coach?

Anonymous said...

I think there's a magical forest in Nisene Marks that just grows these girls for Aptos.
10:55 and 3:29 We need to hang out.

Anonymous said...

SJND Emily Perez1500-5:19.83a and 3000 Meters11:16.12a

Sal said...

I didn't take the SLV comment as a slight or implication of illegal recruiting. I think many HS coaches have access to kids that they know will be attending their school (both public and private). Lots of those kids get access to the HS coach through a private club team and that is completely legal. What would make that type of contact illegal under the CCS rules?

Albert Caruana said...

I will update the lists when I get a moment tomorrow. Keep them coming.

Anonymous said...

Original poster about the SLV freshman. I wasn't necessarily implying that the SLV coach has been giving him workouts, or training him over the last several years personally or with the team or really anything that wouldn't have possibly happened elsewhere.

But he certainly has met him well before this year if I had to guess, and I'm positive that the high school and middle school coaches talk to each other, and who knows, they might even talk about runners that are doing very well at their respective levels. The middle school coach (whom I know nothing about) has also very likely asked the experienced and pretty well accomplished high school coach for training advice, particularly with a runner that is running on a pretty competitive high school level. My comment was genuinely just to point out to run at that level, I would be very surprised if he was able to do it off of 4x200 workouts and 5 mile long runs. I just think that he has been putting in some hard work for some time now, and may possibly feel the effects of that over his high school career.

And god forbid that he ever tag along on a run with his older brother. I don't know if that would technically be considered "running with the team" but again, I really hope for the best for the student and the program, it really seems like they have a good future.

Sal said...

None of that sounds out of the ordinary or out of compliance with the letter and spirt of the rules. Local kids should have access to all resources including all of the good coaches in the area. They should at least have access to their own family. No?

Anonymous said...

Out of the ordinary? No.

Against the "letter of the law?"

Yes. By rule if you are a HS coach you should not have any athletic influence on any athlete but those enrolled in your school. But everyone breaks the rules. Teams are starting practice before the start date, they are out holding practices in the dead period, they recruit kids from other schools, etc.

As for the younger brother tagging along and training with the HS, that no as well. But not likely to draw any red flags.

The best programs live in the gray area. Just the way it is.

Out of the ordinary? No. But following the rules? That's a no as well.

But let's be honest, no one cares enough about XC to police all the rules no one knows about. They would need to be turned in by another schools administration. The best part of these comments is that it was a public school. Can you imagine if this was posted about Bellarmine?

Anonymous said...

Bellarmine is ultra sensitive about operating by the rules. Most of their kids compete for clubs which have access to just about anyone. The clubs are the key to doing whatever you want with regards to training or recruiting. Every top program either has one, or has kids that participate for one. Many of the club coaches are also the high school coach, and thus have year round access to train their kids, and unlimited access to talk to Jr. high kids as well as students from other schools. These days the gray area is bigger than the rule book, and most of the officials are the same coaches who know that they have to operate in the gray area just to compete, or give their kids a chance at scholarships. You are right about policing. Everyone is practicing over the summer.

Sal said...

I am glad to hear that Bellarmine is clean. Whether public or private, a program's compliance with the rules is up to the coaches and AD. There should be no automatic thought that private schools "recruit" or influence a kid's decision any more than a public school. Every kid has to decide what is best for them and the likelihood of making the team and contributing, and at what grade. Public or private, those decisions do not change.

Anonymous said...

The ability to accept kids regardless of boundries lets private schools build what amounts to all star teams. This is by far the most unfair advantage in HS sports. Clean is not the term id use. It's more of a CYA situation. The private schools will have you believe they don't even know that the top kids are coming in until they show up on the first day of practice. How do facility tours not count as recruiting? I think things like this might have some influence. In College they call them recruiting trips. No contact? Well there must be some if incoming freshman have an actual number of miles they are expected to be running each week over the summer.

Anonymous said...

In regards to CCS bylaws it is very clear that under no uncertain circumstances is a club allowed to circumvent the bylaws. In other words you can not creat a club to break the rules.

Of course you don't need to look far to see Mitty volleyball and basketball clubs. But being honest there are plenty of public schools found this as well. Cardinal track club, Los Gatos AC, SLV. It may give access to atetes you may not normally see but the gray area is what is said. I have had it reported numerous times from top athletes I have coached that another coach told them to move or transfer. Even in a joking demeanor this is over the line.

It used to be you grew up in a town and you knew the HS you were going to and there was pride in that. Some areas still may have that, but most don't. Not here in the Bay Area anyways.

Really the atmosphere of coaching now has driven many great coaches away. You need to have a club or feeder program or some advantage to even compete now days. I love seeing schools like Santa Cruz win the CCS title in track or Scotts Valley on the podium. It gives me hope the evil galactic club and private school system has not distorted sports entirely.

Sal said...

Sounds like the old adage "if you're not cheating, you're not trying." Meaning you have to take advantage of the grey areas of the rules or you are going to be behind. I see lots of public school clubs as well. Should CCS close that loop, or is it understandable that they look the other way?

Anonymous said...

It's interesting here that looking at the list of athletes above. Every school and I mean every school all have a Track and Cross Country club associated to them and a club coach associated to them! Just like a lot of other sports! Then also quite a few coach's are also coaching middle school programs, which in some leagues are legal for coach's to coach middle school, high school and club! Some of these coach's are even AD's. Track and field/Cross Country are a lot like soccer/volleyball/basketball and now water polo!

Anonymous said...

Only in XC and track the best competition is still at the H.S. Level. The clubs and privates need the public schools to look good.

Anonymous said...

^ Truth

The CA State meet is THE best track meet in the nation. Any club meet or national meet is a joke.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dan said...

I assume a lot of the commenters are from the Bay Area since there is a lot of heat directed at Bellarmine. The whole private/public argument is interesting, but my experience as a parent of a kid running for a private Sacramento school bears no resemblance to what I am hearing about these others. 80-90% of the team came from Catholic middle schools that feed directly in to it. My son, wanted to go to the most academically challenging school so we saved our nickels and before his freshman year he went out for SOCCER. When he got cut, the cross country coach was there and told him that he could be a runner for a successful team if he was willing to put in the work. Currently about half of the top 10 runners on the team are "soccer cuts" who only ended up on the cross country team when their soccer dreams were dashed. Additionally, while there is a voluntary Summer program, there is no affiliation with ANY youth club teams or coaches at all. Having run cross country in high school and having closely followed a top notch program up close the last couple of years, I feel confident in saying that the most successful programs cast the widest net in getting potential runners out for the sport. Check out The Long Green Line, an excellent documentary on the subject that we recently saw on Amazon.

Anonymous said...

In recent years there has been one club in particular that is seems to be funneling most of its top young runners to Bellarmine because of an assistant coach who also happens to have access to the application process. He is also a middle school coach at a catholic junior high. From what I've heard, the head coaches of the club don't like to participate in this. This is not an accusation. This is what's going on now. I'm sure it's all legal, but let's not pretend that it's even close to a level playing field, and it's getting worse. As we've now seen with girls moving in and winning State titles with no paperwork, and college coaches clearly training high school kids, who really cares anyway? Some of the top officials in CCS track and field are former college coaches who now get paid to train kids like this, or former private school AD's who feel the public schools have let the most talented athletic kids down. High school sports has become a business for private coaches to get a few kids who probably need them the least, scholarships.

Anonymous said...

Well it's none of it is legal. But the rest of you post is right on.

Anonymous said...

Cynthia Rosales- Piner. 3rd fastest middle school time at Viking opener as a 7th grader just behind Riley & sister Kate Bowen.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know how Saratoga/Aptos/Aragon boys have looked at all this summer?

Anonymous said...

Looks like they're out of guys too. VC looked amazing in track. I can't see what those guys do. I'm sure VC have bubblegum too... Except it's not leftover bubblegum from last year. Best team on the track will be best team in cross country.

Anonymous said...

Jessica Kain, Scotts Valley. 5:19 1600m Private Coaching! Been training all summer. She will be very good and immediate impact.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

With all the top talent moving into and training privately in the Sant Cruz area, surely something now must be done to remedy only 2 qualifying spots the SCCAL gets for CCS in track.

Albert Caruana said...

A few people making the same comments over and over doesn't equal tension. I am fairly familiar with most of the coaches and programs in NorCal and don't really see the same kind of drama that I assume is more present in the southern part of the state.

Steve Palladino said...

Albert,
It seems that most threads devolve into a discussion of private coaching, training year round, some schools drawing away from other. This thread was supposed to be about making note of talented incoming freshmen.
A suggestion; open a thread on the pros and cons of HS distance running evolving to "club" / private coaching on top of HS competation. Let people hash it out there.

Anonymous said...

Jessica kain is a very talented runner who has been running under the Los Gatos Club, Her parents are also very competitive athletes.

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