4th Annual Jackie Henderson Memorial Meet Preview by Coach Gustavo Ibarra

Another great PREVIEW by Coach Gustavo Ibarra for the 4th Annual Jackie Henderson Memorial Meet on Saturday, September 9th.

2023 Pre-Season Central Coast Section (CCS) Division V Boys and Girls Cross Country Rankings

Below are the last pre-season rankings for CCS, Division V. For the boys, the two best teams are Ccrystal Springs Uplands School and Menlo. It was a close battle all the way through the state meet last year and it looks like a toss-up once again this year. The Nueva School was the 3rd best team but they will be in rebuild mode this year. The same goes for the 4th place team, Monte Vista Christian, and the 5th place finishing team in 2022, The King's Academy is now back in Division IV. For the girls, the best four teams going into the season are Crystal Springs Uplands School, Castilleja, Menlo, and Nueva. Only three teams will qualify to the state meet this year after losing one spot since last season which means one of those teams will not be advancing to the state meet in 2023. 

The division breakdowns for all CCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK.

Division V Boys (Top 3 Advance to state)
1) Crystal Springs-Section and State Champs in 2022. Now veteran group led by juniors Ben Bouie and Tarik Baker.
1) Menlo-2nd at the state meet last year with a strong group returning led by juniors Landon Pretre and Will Hauser.
3) The Nueva School-Impressive sophomore Ryan Fitzpatrick leads the way for rebuilding Nueva.
4) Monte Vista Christian-4th place last year. Lose individual state qualifier James Ponzio.
5) TBA

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Benjamin Bouie (2) Crystal Springs 15:23.7
Landon Pretre (3) Menlo 15:31.0
Tarik Baker (5) Cyrstal Springs 15:41.3
Oliver Boesch (10) Cyrstal Springs 16:28.1
Matthew Morris (12) Crystal Springs 16:38.5

Division V Girls (Top 3 Advance to state)

1) Crystal Springs-Defending Section and State Champs. Sophomores Anna Salter and Kira Dye lead the way.
2) The Nueva School-Return their entire top 7 from last year's 3rd place team.
3) Castilleja-Senior Perry McElhinney leads the way for consistently one of the top teams in this division.
4) Menlo-Veteran coach Jorge Chen will have a competitive team by section time led by soph Ariya Kaushek.
5) Santa Catalina-Provided they can field a full team, Santa Catalina seems to be the 5th best team in this division.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Oceana, St. Thomas More, 

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Lara Scanziani-Grij (2) Oceana 18:38.8
Perry McElhinney (3) Castilleja  19:01.7
Kira Dye (6) Crystal Springs 19:31.4
Ariya Kaushek (7) Menlo 19:51.1
Ariane Yedidia (8) The Nueva School 20:01.6

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. I won't be offended if you strongly disagree as the above rankings are meant to be a launching pad for conversation. Fortunately, section titles and state meet berths are decided by the runners themselves. Any impact freshmen that we should know about?

NorCal results from this week

Rancho Invitational (8/25/23)
https://redwoodempirerunning.com/2023-girls-rancho-invitational/
https://redwoodempirerunning.com/2023-boys-rancho-invitational/

Oakmont Invite Results (8/26/23)
https://ca.milesplit.com/meets/566935-oakmont-invite-2023/results

Hayward High School Scrimmage (8/26/23)
https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/224434/results/896949

Monta Vista Watermelon Run (8/24/23)
https://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2023/mv-tt.htm

Sac-Joaquin Section Divisions now posted

SJS Rankings will be up next after I finish up CCS Division V.

For those of you that are more familiar with the SJS, who are the impact teams that moved to a different division this year? I see Jesuit is in 2 now, St. Francis is in 3...any others?

Rocklin and West Park to Division 2 and Vista del Lago to Division 3.

Sprints and Hurdles Training Group

My name is André Chapman Jr., and I ran track for Bellarmine from 2007-2011 and then went on to run at UCLA and then semi-pro, aiming for the 2020 Olympics. I am putting together a fall/winter training group with another coach, Jalen Williams, who ran for Piedmont and has coached several athletes here in CCS.  

2023 Pre-Season Central Coast Section (CCS) Division IV Boys and Girls Cross Country Rankings

Below are the pre-season rankings for CCS Division IV. ScottsValley appears to be the best-combined team in this division as they will attempt to win the boys and girls section titles for the 3rd year in a row. The boy's race seems to be wide open after Scotts Valley. The same may be the case for the girls.

The division breakdowns for all CCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK.

Division IV Boys (Top 3 Advance to state)
1) Scotts Valley-Lose top 3 from last year's team but a strong track season sets them up to 3-peat here.

2) Santa Cruz-Eli Fitchen-Young is the best individual in this division and will lead team to the state meet.

3) Carmel-Junior Mack Aldi led the 2022 team to a 2nd place finish and will be back to lead another state qualifying team.

4) Archbishop Riordan-State team qualifier in 2022. Will be tested often in WCAL before the section final.

5) Harker-3 strong runners led by Veyd Patil could make this team dangerous with an improved support troop.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Half Moon Bay, Sacred Heart Prep, Saratoga

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Eli Fitchen-Young (1) Santa Cruz 15:24.3
Mack Aldi (4) Carmel 16:05.8
Veyd Patil (7) Harker 16:15.7
Hideto Hara (10) Half Moon Bay 16:34.2
Giovanni Ochoa (11) Gonzales 16:37.3

From Division V: Thomas Tasker (7) The King's Academy 16:14.9

Division IV Girls (Top 3 Advance to state)

1) Scotts Valley-Senior Ashlyn Boothby leads the way for the Falcons as they go for 3 team titles in a row.
2) Carmel-Next best team could give Scotts Valley a challenge with return of 5 of top 6 runners.
3) Half Moon Bay-State team qualifier last year returns top 4 from last year's section final.
4) Sacred Heart Prep-Will need a strong addition to contend for a top 3 spot.
5) San Lorenzo Valley-Historically strong team in this division. 
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Notre Dame (Belmont), The King's Academy

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Ashlyn Boothby (1) Scotts Valley 18:10.5
Ava Ghio (4) Carmel  19:04.2
Ava Decleve (5) Scotts Valley 19:10.1
Deia Kerseg (7) Half Moon Bay 19:50.5
Sophie Cheung (9) Sacred Heart Prep 20:02.9

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. I won't be offended if you strongly disagree as the above rankings are meant to be a launching pad for conversation. Fortunately, section titles and state meet berths are decided by the runners themselves. Any impact freshmen that we should know about?

First NorCal cross country results of the season

Pleasant Grove 6th Annual Eagle Run
https://timerhub.com/get_web_index.php?page=redcaptiming.com/2023/eaglexc/

Also, one more race added in the comment section below.

Sierra Invitational - 2 miler by grade. True cross country course. Large number of Sac Joaquin Section including Whitney and Jesuit. Plus some Tahoe/Nevada schools

https://ca.milesplit.com/meets/563237-sierra-invite-2023/results

2023 Pre-Season Central Coast Section (CCS) Division III Boys and Girls Cross Country Rankings

Below are the pre-season rankings for CCS Division III. There are a few teams that have moved up to Division II like Westmont, Gilroy, and Hillsdale that will change the strength of this division but we should still have two competitive races, and qualifying for the state meet will still be quite challenging.

The division breakdowns for all CCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK.

Division III Boys (Top 3 Advance to state)
1) St. Ignatius-With Westmont's exit to Division II, last year's 2nd place team is now the favorite.

2) Sacred Heart Cathedral-Coach Andy Chan returns his top 3 runners from last year who all ran faster than 16:03.7 on the Crystal Springs course.

3) Willow Glen-Has been one of the most competitive teams in the section. Senior Thomas Doherty leads the way.

4) Woodside-6 of 7 runners back for coach Al Hernandez as they compete in a new division.

5) Pioneer-Junior Carson Hedlund could lead the way for his team with an individual title.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): North Monterey County

 

Top 10 individuals: (1600, 3200, and 2022 Crystal Time)

1. Carson Hedlund Pioneer (4:11.16, 9:31.52, 15:23)

2. Trey Wright St. Ignatius (4:20.36, 9:38.02, 15:44)

3. Miles Cook Sacred Heart Cathedral (4:19.19, 9:54.18 15:53)

4. Luciano Roberts St. Ignatius (4:29.86, 9:31.33, 16:12)

5. Cam Gregg Sacred Heart Cathedral (N/A, 15:58)

6. Luke Moore Sacred Heart Cathedral (4:34.29, 9:38.32, 16:03)

7. Andrew Song San Mateo (4:28.99, 9:51.95, 16:46)

8. Jude Bowen Woodside (4:31.01, 9:57.94, 16:39)

9. Dominic Barty Woodside (4:40.11, 9:57.98, 16:42)

10. Thomas Doherty Willow Glen (4:26.39, 10:06.01, 16:56)

Division III Girls (Top 2 Advance to state)

1) Willow Glen-Veteran coach Victor Santa Maria returns top 4 out of 5 from last year's section championship team.
2) Leland-2nd best team behind Willow Glen will be led by sophomore Maile Shinmoto.
3) Sacred Heart Cathedral-Should battle with Leland for last state meet qualifying spot. 
4) St. Ignatius-Will be tested in WCAL along with Sacred Heart Cathedral. Senior Chloe Fong will lead the way.
5) Burlingame-Sophomore Stella Newman finished 2nd in this division as an individual.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Prospect

Top 10 individuals: (1600, 3200, and 2022 Crystal Time)

1. Kylie Hoornaert Prospect - (4:58.38, 11:32.22, 17:53)
2. Stella Newman Burlingame - (2:27.93, 5:13.04, 18:53)

3. Taylor Cheasarek Willow Glen - (N/A, 19:04)
4. Lola Herning Willow Glen - (5:02.36, 11:23.02, 18:55)
5. Cassie Itatani Pioneer - (5:46.37, 13:05.95, 19:45)
6. Maile Shinmoto Leland - (5:34.51, 11:55.55, 19:06)
7. Isabella Riggs Willow Glen - (5:12.80, 11:27.17, 19:34)
8. Bridget Pannina Sacred Heart Cathedral - (N/A, 19:25)
9. Gabriela Cardenas Rancho San Juan - (5:55.73, 12:52.74, 20:02)

10. Katelynn Dilbeck Willow Glen - (N/A, 20:43)

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. I won't be offended if you strongly disagree as the above rankings are meant to be a launching pad for conversation. Fortunately, section titles and state meet berths are decided by the runners themselves. Any impact freshmen that we should know about?

2023 Pre-Season Central Coast Section (CCS) Division II Boys and Girls Cross Country Rankings

Below are the pre-season rankings for CCS Division II. The boys' team race is going to be incredibly tight and we could have a surprise winner. The girls' team battle should be super competitive and some very good teams will not qualify to the state meet. Individually, some of the best runners (boys and girls) in the section are in this division. 

The division breakdowns for all CCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK.

Division II Boys (Top 3 Advance to state)
1) Los Gatos-Tough call here but defending champs led by Aydon Stefanopoulus who had strong track season.

2) Palo Alto-Already had Grant Morgenfeld leading the way and will now have Tristan Kippes (formerly with Wilcox) as a talented 2nd runner.

3) Westmont-2022 Division III champs are now in Division II and will be going for 2 section titles in a row.

4) St. Francis-Finished in 2nd place as a team last year and will be in the hunt for the title this year.

5) Branham-Qualified for 2022 state meet with impressive freshman Alijah Murillo.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Archbishop Mitty, Los Altos, Lynbrook

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Grant Morgenfeld (1) Palo Alto 14:54.1
Liam Saxton (2) Archbishop Mitty 15:27.5
Aydon Stefanopoulus (4) Los Gatos 15:34.6
Denny Dong (6) Monta Vista 15:50.8
Adarsh Iyer (7) Lynbrook 15:50.9

From Division III: Shane Dalziel (3) Westmont 15:32.3, Joshua Guzman (4) Gilroy 15:39.0

Division II Girls (Top 3 Advance to state)

1) Los Altos-First girls team from CCS to qualify to NXN returns the majority of 2022 team.
2) St. Francis-Super talented group will challenge Los Altos for section crown.
3) Palo Alto-Junior Kinga Czajkowska finished off impressive track season at state final. Will lead way here in 2023.
4) Los Gatos-Return 6 of 7 from last year's 4th place team led by junior Shea Elmore.
5) Archbishop Mitty-Junior Evie Marheineke leads the way for the Monarchs and will challenge for individual title.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Gunn, Hillsdale, Leigh

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Evie Marheineke (2) Archbishop Mitty 17:36.2
Kinga Czajkowska (3) Palo Alto 17:36.8
Emily Soobrian (8) Los Altos 18:19.4
Jasleen Sidhu (10) Los Altos 18:23.4
Shea Elmore (13) Los Gatos 18:39.8

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. I won't be offended if you strongly disagree as the above rankings are meant to be a launching pad for conversation. Fortunately, section titles and state meet berths are decided by the runners themselves. Any impact freshmen that we should know about?

Let's talk California XC

Found on Spotify. A 30-minute podcast covering some of the top teams in California. There are some inaccuracies (we do not have 6 divisions for example) but I think he does identify the top boys and girls teams in the state.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2kayVSOKFpjq5BwHX2D98A?si=uz6S72jfRFS6G0VW4C0btA&nd=1

2023 Pre-Season Central Coast Section (CCS) Division I Girls and Boys Cross Country Rankings

Here are the pre-season rankings for CCS Division I. The division breakdowns for all CCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK.

Division I Girls (Top 2 Advance to state)

1) Menlo Atherton-Dominant section in 2022 will return with the best runner in CCS, Tatum Olesen
2) Mountain View-Qualified for the state meet last year and will be a slight favorite to repeat the same finish this season.
3) Carlmont-Strong group returns to challenge the Spartans for last auto-qualifying state meet spot.
4) Santa Teresa-Solid four return from last year's team but will need help from freshman class.
5) Evergreen Valley-Ramneek Kaur and Ruby Chen strong duo up front that could make them dangerous.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Alisal, Hollister, Watsonville

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Tatum Olesen (1) Menlo Atherton 18:33.5
Katelynn Ruiz (4) Watsonville 18:49.4
Annie Pflaum (5) Menlo Atherton 18:53.8
Cleo Rehhopf (8) Menlo Atherton 19:29.8
Ramneek Kaur (10) Evergreen Valley 19:39.1

Division I Boys (Top 2 Advance to state)
1) Menlo Atherton-Get slight edge over Homestead due to slightly stronger depth in the critical 4-7 slots. 

2) Homestead-Defending CCS 800 meter champion Evan Gardner could make the Mustangs a favorite to win the team title.
3) Bellarmine-As always, the deepest team in this division and will be led by junior Shrey Chettiar.
4) Mountain View-Had a strong track season in the distance events by a very young group of runners.

5) Carlmont-Solid returning group will race Menlo Atherton multiple times in the PAL .
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Alisasl, Milpitas, Salinas

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 CCS meet time:
Aidan Doherty (4) Menlo Atherton 16:04.1
Jordan Althouse (6) Milpitas 16:06.3
Nathan Morris (8) Mountain View 16:24.2
Evan Gardner (9) Homestead 16:25.8
Ido Halevy (11) Homestead 16:36.9

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. I won't be offended if you strongly disagree as the above rankings are meant to be a launching pad for conversation. Fortunately, section titles and state meet berths are decided by the runners themselves. Any impact freshmen that we should know about?

I will post the uber competitive Division II pre-season rankings tomorrow.

2023 Pre-Season North Coast Section (NCS) Division IV Boys & Girls' Cross Country Rankings

Here are the pre-season rankings for NCS Division IV. The division breakdowns for all NCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK.

Division IV Boys (Top 3 Advance to state)
1) Bishop O'Dowd-Return 5 runners from last year's 2nd place team.

2) Archie Williams-Frequent state meet competitor return solid pack led by Will Mulliken.
3) Albany-2-time defending section champs return led by impressive senior Lucas Cohen.
4) St. Mary's-Another frequent contender in this division will be in the hunt for a state meet berth.
5) Miramonte-One of the individual favorites, Asher Patel, leads the way here for the Matadors.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Acalanes, Piedmont

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 NCS meet time:
Logan Farzan (4) Acalanes 15:15.0
Asher Patel (5) Miramonte 15:24.3
Lyle Phillips (6) Bishop O'Dowd 15:30.5
Lucas Cohen (8) Albany 15:36.1
Callum McBride (10) Albany 15:44.9

Division IV Girls (Top 3 Advance to state)

1) Archie Williams-Return the entire team from last year's 2nd place team.
2) St. Mary's-Defending section champs return solid four but will need some help to repeat.
3) Acalanes-The return of Olivia Williams could make this team formidable here.
4) Miramonte-2021 section champs could be contenders for state meet berth.
5) Albany-Senior Kaia Place will lead Albany with hopes of joining the boys' team to the state meet.
On the bubble (alphabetical order): Marin Catholic, Piedmont

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) and 2022 NCS meet time:
Renae Searls (1) Alhambra 17:53.9
Alyssa Silversteinj (2) Archie Williams 18:17.2
Annika Punz (3) St. Mary's 18:47.2
Nevis Murphy (4) Acalanes 18:48.2
Alexandra Greenwald (5) Archie Williams 18:53.7

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. I won't be offended if you strongly disagree as the above rankings are meant to be a launching pad for conversation. Fortunately, section titles and state meet berths are decided by the runners themselves. Any impact freshmen that we should know about?

Ashlin Mallon Learning More About Running, Family History

https://www.milesplit.com/articles/337311/ashlin-mallon-learning-more-about-running-family-history

Ashlin Mallon's mom is Julia Stamps who attended Santa Rosa HS and Stanford University. You can check out Julia's bio on the Stanford University website at this LINK. Her daughter Ashlin will be attending Maria Carrillo HS in the fall.

2023 Crystal Springs Course Schedule

Crystal Springs Course Schedule

Steps4Smiles Charity Run Event!!

I hope summer training is going well for the team! A few friends and I are setting up a charity race at Vasona Lake County Park (Los Gatos) on Saturday, Aug 12. It’s a 5k/10k fun run/competitive race and all proceeds are going to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley. You can learn more about it here (steps4smiles.net) and if you’re interested, you can also register there.

It could serve as a long run, workout, time trial, or an all-out race - whatever meets the team's needs. Since it is a charity race/fundraiser, we do charge money for entry, but if that poses a problem, we are willing to waive registration fees. 

Shrey Chettiar '25 (Bellarmine)

Shrey Chettiar | Assistant Marketing Officer
Steps4SMILEs
Email: shrey.steps4smiles@gmail.com

Crystal Springs course cleanup this Saturday

Hello all,

I recently looked over the entire course and the SMCCCD maintenance crew has done a great job of getting the course almost race ready, along with the fire break established by Cal Fire. 

Because of the condition of the course, I would love to have a clean-up day for this coming Saturday - Saturday, August 12, from 8:00-1:00. We will definitely need volunteers to bring up tools, but I'll have some to share too.  We might not even need to work until 1:00, but better for people to plan for later and be done before, than the opposite.  If you want to arrive early and go for a run first with your team, we can start around 8:30 ish, I just want to start on the early side to be done before it gets too warm.    

Here is the link for the workday information:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wnj-5kdR7FCYAFz0ay_PCadRv9r-09GqdAPmzPLUq4M/edit

There is a link for the Google Form for all volunteers to fill out so I have contact info, and there is a link to the liability release that all volunteers need to have signed and sent in or brought on the day of the event.

Please share the word!!

Thanks and let me know if you have any other questions.

Mr. Jim Marheineke

jmarheineke@serrahs.com

Central Coast Section (CCS) pre-season rankings

Coming up this week, I will post pre-season rankings for all divisions in CCS.

For now, here is the division placement for this coming season.
https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/e/5/5f862i3hwi4kbd/2022-23_CBEDS_for_XC.pdf

Here are the auto qualifiers from each division:
https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/g/b/h6l2fmt9qhswhq/2023-2024_Team_Entries_XC.pdf

The teams that will be competing in a different division than last fall are as follows:
Division I
Fremont from Division II

Division II
North Salinas from Division I
Hillsdale from Division III
Westmont from Division III (Boys section champs in Division III)
Gilroy from Division III
Junipero Serra from Division III

Division III
Woodside from Division II
San Mateo from Division II
Lincoln from Division II
Oak Grove from Division II
North Monterey County from Division IV

Division IV
The King's Academy from Division V

2023 Cross Country Invitational Schedule

UPDATES ADDED TODAY

August 24 2023 Mustang Cross Country Invitational at Monte Vista Christian School
August Oakmont Invitational at Maidu Park 

September 1 Serra Jamboree at Hallmark Park
September 1 Bill Springhorn Classic at Shasta College
September 2 Lagoon Valley Classic at Lagoon Valley Park
September 2 Del Oro Invitational at Del Oro HS
September 2 Earlybird/Dave Zacharias Invitational at Buhach Colony HS
September 9 Lowell Invitational at Golden Gate Park
September 9 Ed Sias Invitational at Hidden Valley Park
September 9 Jackie Henderson Memorial Cross Country Invitational at North Monterey HS
September 9 Kim Duyst Invitational at River Oaks Golf Course
September 9 Josh Ruff Invitational at Willow Hills
September 9 Nevada Union Invitational at Nevada Union HS
September 15 Stump Invitational at Wildhorse Golf Course
September 15 Mt. Shasta Invitational at Shastice Park
September 15/16 Woodbridge Invitational at Orange County Great Park
September 16 De La Salle Invitational at Newhall Park
September 16 Farmer Invitational at Hayward HS
September 16 Hillsdale Knight Joust at Hallmark Park
September 16 Monterey Bay Invitational at Toro Park
September 16 Viking Opener at Spring Lake Park
September 16 Bobcat/Ryan Nunez Invitational at UC Merced
September 16 Bret Harte/Frogtown Invitational at Calaveras City Fairgrounds
September 22 Black Butte Invitational at Lake Buckhorn Campground
September 23 Eye Opener Invitational at Shellenberger Park
September 23 Gold Mine Invitational at Railhead Park
September 23 Jessup Invitational at William Jessup University
September 27 Dr. Bill Brown Classic at Fall River HS
September 30 Amanda Garcia Memorial Invitational at Atwater HS
September 30 Foothill Small School Invitational at Foothill HS
September 30 Be The G.O.A.T. Invitational at Pinole Multi-Use Trails
September 30 Tom Laythe Invitational at Willow Hills
September 30 Ram Invitational at Westmoor HS
September 30 Scott Bauhs Invitational at Shadow Cliffs
September 30 Truckee Invitational at Ponderosa Golf Course
Stanford Invitational RIP (1974-2018)

October 4 Mid-Season Mania 1600 Invitational at Campolindo HS
October 6 West Valley Co-Ed Invitational at West Valley HS
October 7 Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park
October 7 Serra Crystal Springs Invitational at Hallmark Park
October 7 Artichoke Invitational at Half Moon Bay HS
October 7 Rio Linda Invitational at Roy Hayer Park
October 7 PGHS Palo Corona Invitational at Palo Corona Regional Park
October 11 Escalon Invitational at Oak Grove Regional Park
October 13 Rough Rider Invitational at Woodward Park
October 14 Terry Ward Invitational at Baylands Park
October 14 Hughson Supercross Invitational at Hughson HS
October 14 Chico Autumn Invitational at Hooker Oak Park
October 14 Clam Beach Invitational at Clam Beach State Park
October 14 Wildfire Invitational at Foresthill HS/Old Mill Course
October 20/21 Mt. SAC at Mt. SAC College
October 21 Flat SAC Invitational at Gibson Ranch Regional Park
October 21 Mariner Invitational at Hayward HS
October 25 Mid-Season Mania 3200 Invitational at Campolindo HS
October 27 Trinity Invitational at Trinity Alps Golf Course

November 4 SJS Sub-Section Meet at Frogtown (Angels Camp)
November 9 Northern Section Final at West Valley HS
November 11 CCS Meet at Hallmark Park
November 11 SJS Championship at Willow Hills Reservoir 
November 15 SFS All-City Finals at Golden Gate Park
November 15 OAK Finals at Lake Chabot Golf Course
November 18 NCS MOC at Hayward HS
November 25 California State Meet at Woodward Park

December 2 Champs Sports West Regional at Mt. SAC
December 2 Nike Cross Nationals at Glendoveer Golf Course, Oregon
December 9 Champs Sports Championships at Balboa Park

More will be added but please feel free to add dates of meets that you have confirmed in the comment section below.

2023 Pre-Season North Coast Section (NCS) Division V Boys' Cross Country Rankings

Here are the pre-season rankings for NCS Division V girls. The division breakdowns for all NCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK. The following rankings are courtesy of University coach Carin Marrs with additional input from Lick-Wilmerding coach Jeffrey Gardiner.

Teams:
1. Lick-Wilmerding: Led by senior Sean Green (3rd at NCS last year), Lick returns 4 of last year's 7, including junior Liam Hillis who placed 8th at NCS in 2022, sophomore Kai Scott (23rd at NCS, 4:46.60/10:24.59), and senior Pierce Thompson (33rd at NCS, 2:03.07)

2. University: Returning 5 of last year's top 7, University was the NCS runner-up on a 6th-man tie-breaker over College Prep in 2022. University is led by senior Allister Adair (14th at NCS, 35th at State (16:37.9), 4:36.48/9:48.00), junior Ben Duffin (25th at NCS), junior Wilder Kagay (27th at NCS, 10:12.03), senior Pierce Friel (34th at NCS, 2:03.48/4:39.29), and junior Ben Jones who suffered from multiple injuries as a sophomore but placed 47th at State as the Devil's 4th runner that day. 

3. Stuart Hall: Led by last year's NCS runner-up senior Malcolm Oakes (see below), Gavin Zeitz (6th at NCS in 2022, 1:59.12/4:29.94) will be a strong second runner for the Knights, followed by sophomore Julian Anderson (37th at NCS, 4:57.19/10:26.65), and senior Will Hesla-Seymour (45th at NCS).

4. College Prep: College Prep also boasts a strong 1-2 with senior Owen Irving (see below) and junior Emiya Rendall-Jackson (16th at NCS, 4:31.95./9:55.65). College Prep's third returner is junior Renzo DiGrande (29th at NCS).

5. Urban/San Domenico: Urban finished 6th and San Domenico 7th in 2022, but both teams return all runners and have seen marked improvement on the track this spring. Urban senior Matthew Klugen (20th at NCS, 1:57.29/4:34.15) will lead the Blues and San Domenico returns senior George Kunze (28th at NCS, 1:58/4:31) and breakout 800m star senior Joaquin Foster (1:53.89, 11th at the CIF state meet in the spring). Junior Devin Price will also be a factor (4:34.89/9:55.66)

Individuals:
1. Malcolm Oakes (Stuart Hall, senior):  last year's NCS runner-up and 14th (15:50.6) at the state meet is the clear favorite after a breakout track season running 9:06.23. for 5th place at the NCS Meet of Champions. Malcom also ran 4:18.87 for 1600 this spring. 

2. Sean Green (Lick-WIlmerding, senior): last year's 3rd place finisher at NCS (13th, 15:50.5 at state) suffered from injuries at the end of the spring and was unable to run any meets after April. Still, he ran 4:18.82/9:39.03 and if he's healthy should be the second-fastest boy in the section this fall.

3. Owen Irving (College Prep, senior): Placed 4th at last year's NCS meet and finished in 12th place (15:47.3) at the state meet. Has not run track during HS so our last data point is from last November.

4. Kaeden Anderson (Healdsburg, junior): placed 9th at NCS last fall and 46th at the state meet, but ran 9:43.00 this spring.

5. Liam Hillis (Lick-Wilmerding, junior): placed 8th at NCS in the fall and 42nd at the state meet. 4:29.67/9:54 in the spring. 

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. Any impact freshmen that we should know about? Division IV will be posted next.

Looking for assistant coaches

Mountain View High School (CCS) is looking for an assistant cross country coach for the upcoming 2023 season. Please email Jonathan Hubbs (coachhubbs@gmail.com) if you are interested or have any questions. 

Monte Vista High School (NCS) is looking for an assistant cross country / distance (T&F) coach. This is a stipend position, if interested please email Patrick Wales-Dinan at pwalesdinan@gmail.com

Monte Vista High School (NCS) is looking for an assistant track & field coach working with horizontal / vertical jumps and assisting with sprints. If interested please email Patrick Wales-Dinan at pwalesdinan@gmail.com.

Crystal Springs Uplands School: is looking for two cross country assistant coaches for the 2023 fall season. CSUS is located in Hillsborough and competes in Division 5. This is for the 2023-2024 school year. A zest for distance running, a positive attitude, and running experience is a plus. Practice will start on August 4th and will run until the end of November. A stipend is available. Interested individuals should send a resume with references to athletic director Bobby Long at BLong@csus.org and Albert Caruana at ACaruana@csus.org

2023 Pre-Season North Coast Section (NCS) Division V Girls' Cross Country Rankings

Here are the pre-season rankings for NCS Division V girls. The division breakdowns for all NCS teams can be found at this LINK. The number of teams that qualify for the state meet in each section and division can be found at this LINK. The following rankings are courtesy of University coach Carin Marrs with additional input from Lick-Wilmerding coach Jeffrey Gardiner.

Teams
1. Convent/University:  Convent returns all of their top 5 from last season when they were runners-up to University HS at the NCS meet. The key to Convent's dominance this fall will be junior Sienna Faidi staying healthy. Faidi was 2nd at NCS last fall, clocking 17:58.7 on the Hayward course, and finished 2nd at the State Championships, but missed 6 weeks of the season prior to NCS with an injury. While University put five in front of Convent's 4th last year, University lost Mia Giles (8th at NCS) and Erin Wadsworth (20th at NCS) to graduation. 

Convent's returners: Sienna Faidi (18:18.6 at Woodward as a sophomore, 5:17.10 1600m freshman year, out most of the sophomore track season with an injury), Karina Abernathy (10th at NCS, 20:03.2 at Woodward, 5:17.34/11:37.32), Deidre Kenny (17th at NCS, 19:44.9 at Woodward, 2:20.04 800m), Phoebe Brockway (27th at NCS, 2:25/5:36), and Annika Carpenter (33rd at NCS, 2:31.43/5:34.68).

University returns senior Lucinda Laughlin (7th at NCS, 19:16 at Woodward, 5:08/11:18), Sophomore Sophia Nichol (11th at NCS, 19:43 at Woodward, 5:19/2:28), Junior Chapel King (18th at NCS, 20:06 at Woodward, 5:24/11:39), and Sophomore Finny Smit (38th at NCS, 20:45 at Woodward).

3. Lick-Wilmerding: Always a perennial favorite because of their strong program culture and ability to reload each year, Lick should continue to be a competitive force. Returning junior Saskia Lee (22nd at NCS) will be joined by sophomore Ella Mogannam (did not run XC in the fall, 5:10.58), sophomore Julia Howe (28th at NCS, 5:42.74/12:11.57), and seniors Nora Choi (30th at NCS, 2:30.89/5:30.90) and Mira Hoey (31st at NCS) and sophomore Ella Schumer (34th at NCS). 

4. Athenian: finished 5th last year, snagging the final team spot for the state championships, but returns all 5 from their 2022 squad including four rising sophomores. Led by junior Frances Clulow (15th at NCS) and Sophomore Eme Williams (16th at NCS), the Owls should be even stronger with an additional year of experience. 

5. College Prep: Led by senior Talia Green (9th at NCS, 19:37.4 at Woodward, 5:16.38/11:39.44), College finished 4th at the NCS meet last fall. Other returners include senior Adelaide McGuire (25th at NCS) and junior Emily Jung (49th). Could potentially move up with the improvement of their back of the pack.

Dark Horse: Bay School of SF: After finishing 8th at NCS in 2022, the Bay School girls had one of the best track seasons in the BCL, narrowly missing qualifying for the state championships in the 4x800m at the BCS Meet of Champions. Senior Elsa Krummel (4th at NCS, 19:27.1 at Woodward, 2:17.47/5:04.88/11:10.11) will lead Bay, followed by junior Lucy Peterson (6th at NCS, 19:32.6 at Woodward, 5:21.63/11:26.61), and sophomore and Vicky Tan (2:25.78) had a strong spring season. Although Breakers sophomore Claire Andrzejek (2:19.64/5:26.35) is rumored to be transferring, they may be able to build from their strong spring if they can find a 4th and 5th runner to move up to the longer cross country distances. 

Individuals:
1. Sienna Faidi-junior, Convent- see above
2. Elsa Krummel-senior, Bay- had an excellent track season and could very well move up to #1.
3. Athena Ryan-senior, Sonoma Academy- 5th at NCS in 2022, 11th at State (18:32 at Woodward at Clovis, 4:55.91)
4. Lucinda Laughlin-senior, University- see above
5. Lucy Peterson-junior, Bay- see above
Other noteworthy runners: Page Sparks (Urban), Quinn Joyce (San Domenico), Hannah Garrity (Clear Lake)

Please feel free to chime in on the rankings above. Any impact freshmen that we should know about? Boys Division V rankings will be posted tomorrow.