Friday, July 19, 2019

2019 NCS Division II pre-season Cross Country rankings

Last season at the North Coast Section meet of champions at Hayward HS, several races (five to be exact) were held including both Division 2 races before the meet was terminated due to the bad air quality. The Granada boys and girls swept this division for the second time in school history after they accomplished double victories in Division 3 back in 1999. The Granada girls also won their 4th straight section title and finished in 2nd place at the state meet following a 3rd place finish in 2017.

Last year, the Granada boys easily won their section title as they outdistanced De La Salle by 49 points (31 to 80). This year, the boys' team battle should be much closer and may be a toss-up at this point. Both teams lose strong front runners as De La Salle graduated last year's section individual winner, Connor Livingston while Granada graduated 2nd place finisher Joshua White and 6th place finisher, Tyler Hattori.

The De La Salle boys qualified for the state meet last year after a couple misses the previous two seasons. DLS should have a strong junior group that will vie for their first section title since 2014 when they won Division I. 

The Granada boys will have a different lineup than last year and will continue to be a formidable team in this division. They have fielded very strong JV teams with lots of runners ready to compete well at the varsity level. Rising senior Seth Jeppson is the fastest returning individual in this division.

Division II is arguably the deepest division in this section and there will be plenty of team still in contention for a top 3 finish. Mission San Jose will be led by senior Arnav Arora (4:23.88/9:51.91). Redwood returns to Division II under new leadership and will have one of the top individuals in Hudson Grace (4:24.80/9:35.10). College Park has been one of the best programs in this division and should contend once again after a strong summer. 

The Granada girls have dominated this division in the past four years. They graduated an outstanding group in the spring of 2019 but they have plenty of talent ready to make a major statement for the varsity team. They should be led by rising juniors Shae Hill (2:26.08/5:14.73/11:03.70) and Amaiah McIntosh (2:28.53/5:23.96/11:40.43) who both gained valuable experience last year as part of the section winning team.

The two teams that will challenge Granada will be Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley. Rising senior Kelli Wilson (2:19.55/4:59.74/10:31.84) will be among the favorites for an individual title as she leads another strong Monte Vista team. Alumni Jason Intravaia will take over the helm at San Ramon Valley as another Tavella (Sofia) will be among his leading runners.

The rest of the contenders will be vying for that coveted last state meet spot. Vintage qualified last year as the 4th place team and will have star runner Mary Deeik (2:31.79/5:19.43/10:57.13) back as one of the individual favorites. Last season, the College Park varsity team consisted of one senior and six freshmen. The returning runners posted impressive times during the Track and Field season and will be looking to return to Fresno this fall. The Liberty girls finished in 7th place in 2018 and return the majority of their team from last season. Count them in as state contenders.

Division II Boys (Top 3 Advance to State)
1) De La Salle-Very slight favorites after impressive track season.
2) Granada-Defending champs will be a very formidable threat to win 2nd in a row.
3) Redwood-Solid returning group back to Division II under a new coach.
4) Mission San Jose-Senior Arnav Arora will lead a talented group.
5) College Park-Very conservatively in 5th at the moment but could finish near the top.
On the bubble: Clayton Valley, Vintage.

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2018 NCS meet time:

Seth Jeppson (5) Granada 15:13.9
Anthony Guerra (11) Granada 15:28.8
Arnav Arora (9) Mission San Jose 15:33.4
Patrick Curulla (13) De La Salle 15:40.0
Dylan Frye (14) Vintage 15:40.4

Division II Girls (Top 4 Advance to State)
1) Granada-Looking for 5th section title in a row.
2) San Ramon Valley-Still plenty of talent for this team.
3) Monte Vista-Kelli Wilson will lead a strong returning group.
4) College Park-Sophomore gang will make this team a contender here.
5) Liberty-Will be among several teams aiming for a top 4 finish.
On the bubble: Redwood, Vintage

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2018 NCS meet time:
Mary Deeik (3) Vintage 17:36.5
Kelli Wilson (6) Monte Vista 17:54.3
Amaiah McIntosh (8) Granada 18:00.8
Kylee Denver (9) Freedom 18:02.2
Shae Hill (10) Granada 18:04.1

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can someone explain the CCS XC divisions this year? I hear they are going with some sort of open system based on program strength and not school size. True?

Anonymous said...

When will CCS come out and what is the format this season? I hear it is not based on school size.

Anonymous said...

Per the CCS website, the divisions posted are based on school size

http://cifccs.org/Playoffs/CBEDS/18-19_CBEDS_for_2019__boys_cross_country.pdf

Has something changed? or is this a rumor

Albert Caruana said...

Other sports have changed their playoff format in CCS and other sections but divisions remain fairly similar in XC.

Anonymous said...

Totally a rumor; CCS divisions are determined this year as they have always been

Anonymous said...

Small correction, the Tavella era at SRV continues with Sophia. If she can stay healthy, her prospects are at least as good as her sisters. As an aside, I expect that the new coach, Jason Intravia, will have a huge positive impact on the program.

Mr.F said...

According to CIF website the 2019 NCS D2 boys will have 4 teams advancing to state meet.

https://www.cifstate.org/governance/constitution/Blue_Pages.pdf

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