1. San Francisco University - The Red Devils are still the overwhelming favorites to win back-to-back State Championships and three consecutive section titles. Senior Ben Friedland, two-time section champion, opened up the season with 14:41 at Woodbridge this past weekend. His teammate Ethan Kraska, will be challenging Ben for the individual title and opened up at 14:49 at Woodbridge. The duo has plenty of depth with Vivek Narottam, Hugo Tao Ong, Mateo Moretti, Charlie Kost, and freshman Kai Roy.
2. Healdsburg - The Greyhounds had a breakout year and have now established themselves as a team to challenge for a state podium spot. The team finished behind St. Margaret’s (SS No. 1) and ahead of Viewpoint (SS No.3) in its heat at Woodbridge. Lucas Welty is another runner to watch for the individual title as he ran 14:42. Lucas will be supported by 800m breakout star Phoenix de Maria Nall, along with Domenico Cornilsen, Jack Beckman, and first-year runner Kevin Suazo.
3. Stuart Hall - The Knights have another strong squad led by senior Reese Terrell. The team has improved at State the past two years going from 11th to 6th place and have a strong five that has an outside chance for a podium spot at State as they did beat Healdsburg all last year. The Knights have a strong pack with JJ Garg, Edward Fontaine, Sabry Bowden, and Jack Lynch. They all had an excellent showing at BCL West No. 1 and at the Ram Invitational.
4. The Bay School/College Prep - It is going to be a wild finish at NCS for the last qualifying spot to State. The boys of The Bay School are still seeking their first-ever team berth at the state championships. The Breakers finished second this past Saturday at the Be the G.OA.T. XC Invitational with junior Gordon Tan clocking in the fastest time of the meet. The Breakers will have XC state qualifier Matthew Gatz-Levine and junior Blaise Pascal. College Prep just finished with a league win at BCL East No. 1. While Bay may have a stronger trio up top, the Cougars have a deeper squad and a good history of running well at NCS. Their top five are Noha Petajisto, Alejandro Benito, Andrew Martinovsky, Zane Vingus, and Aiden Fong. With that being stated, both Sonoma Academy and Head-Royce can very well claim that last trip to Fresno.
GIRLS Division V Team Rankings (Top 6 Teams Qualify to State)
NCS is easily by far the strongest section in State Division 5 and the top three teams will be vying to win the State Championship at the end of the year. The difference will probably be the improvement of 9th grade or first year runners throughout the season.
1. San Francisco University -It was a very tight battle at the end of last season between University and Lick. This year should be no different. The Red Devils are led by junior Palmer Smit, who ran 17:01 at the Woodbridge Invitational, and is proving to be one of the top Division 5 runners in the State. Grace Tompkins-Pettigrew leads the rest of the deep squad, and is now being joined by two freshmen up at the top. Sienna Trujillo and Emily Simon have already improved a lot from early on this season. Anabel Laughlin should complete the team scoring. She has had an excellent season thus far and is the best no. 5 runner in the State.
2. Lick-Wilmerding - The Tigers are being led by the duo of Caroline Chang and Ella Adam-Teoh. They both had great season openers at BCL West No.1 and will be supported by the freshmen duo of Chloe Ong and Stella Hahn. Both girls were just above 19 minutes at BCL West No. 1 and may improve dramatically by the end of the year. The top 5 are rounded off by sophomore Ainsley King, who has already improved from last season.
3. Branson - The Bulls have the best trio in the state with State medalist Farah Allen, Hailey Sellers, and Maya Gidney. Allen will be looking to win the Division 5 State Champion from a very competitive group. Freshman Harper Gidney adds another dimension to the team. She had a great high school opener at the Ram Invitational as she finished 4th in the varsity race. We will wait and see the development of their no. 5 runner. Branson could win it all at the end.
4. Head-Royce - Things become more nebulous after the top three teams. Senior Emma Singh had an excellent debut by winning the Jim Tracy Challenge. She has yet to race again but in the meantime her teammates Maya Smith and the much improved Sasha Lujan Waisberg had a great showing at BCL East No. 1. Emalia Frank brings added depth but was missing, along with Singh, at BCL East No.1. This team will surely win a spot to state if they put it all together at the end of the season.
5. College Prep - Junior Sophie Martin is hoping to lead the Cougars to another trip to the State Championships. The team beat Head-Royce at BCL East No. 1 but as mentioned, the Jayhawks were without two of their top 5 runners. The trio of Enna Gerking, Sophie Downs, and freshman Tegan Pukdeedamrongrit have been showing solid performances. And once again, the common theme will be how their No. 5 runner develops.
6. Convent - Before we begin, The Bay School and Sonoma Academy will be looking to take a trip to Fresno and may take over the no. 6 spot later in the season. Convent had an excellent showing at BCL No. 1. Although they barely lost to They Bay School due to the head-to-head scoring format, they have a slight edge in championship scoring. The Cubs are still waiting for the possible debut of Juliet Sugar, who can possibly be their top scorer. In the meantime they have a solid four of Annette Moore, Isabel Ames, Aliyah Campbell, and Pauline Currier.,
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