CIF-State Girls Individual Rankings

http://rise.espn.go.com/track-and-xc/california/2010-xc/Rankings/State/Divisional-Girls-Individuals.aspx?pursuit=TrackAndXC

NCS Overall Top 10 Individual Rankings coming up...

For CCS folks, you can find the top individuals at the following link:
http://www.dyestatcal.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2010/rankings.htm

All-CCS Cross Country Teams

Boys' All-CCS Team

First Team
Tyre Johnson 12 Palma
Garrett Rowe 11 Mt.View
Ian Myjer 11 Mt.View
Nohe Lema 12 Willow Glen
Philip MacQuitty 11 Palo Alto
Brennan Lynch 12 Santa Cruz
Parker Schuh 10 Mt.View

Second Team
Rylan Hunt 12 Aptos
Peter Birsinger 12 St.Ignatius
Mitch Moriarity 11 Aptos
Daniel Filipcik 12 Woodside
Ethan Scardina 10 Carlmont
Lawrence Smith 12 Bellarmine
Paul Summers 11 Gunn

Honorable Mention
Greg Innes 12 St.Ignatius
Jake Arveson 12 Monterey
Dayne Gradone 12 Aptos
David Perez 11 Salinas
Kevin Liao 12 Evergreen Val
Robt McLauchlan 12 Mt.View
Lance Wolfsmith 12 Sobrato
Nick Oliver 12 Homestead
Luca Signore 11 Lynbrook
Skyler Cummins 12 Palo Alto

Runner of the Year- Tyre Johnson (Palma)
Senior of the Year- Tyre Johnson (Palma)
Junior of the Year- Garrett Rowe (Mt.View)
Soph of the Year- Parker Schuh (Mt.View)
Frosh of the Year- Michael McCabe (WG)

Girls' All-CCS Team
First Team
Jennifer Bergman 12 Leland
Justine Fedronic 12 Carlmont
Jessie Petersen 10 Carlmont
Rachel Hinds 10 St.Ignatius
Katy Daly 12 St.Ignatius
Mary Reynolds 12 Mt.View
Marissa Ferrante 11 Aptos

Second Team
Stephanie Barnett 12 Leland
Alex Westbrook 12 Mt.View
Kathleen Miller 12 Gilroy
Courtney Allen 12 San Benito
Lisa Fawcett 11 Gunn
Samantha Hamilton 11 HMB
Cindy Huang 10 Lynbrook

Honorable Mention
Claudia Barnett 11 Leland
Jean Feng 12 Monta Vista
Allegra Mayer 12 Gunn
Zoe Pappas 11 Mt.View
Kristine Talbot 12 Mt.View
Katie Nast 12 Saratoga
Rachel Stump 12 Los Gatos
Katie Castro 10 Los Gatos
Bita Manesh 12 Santa Clara
Melissa Hopper 11 Leigh

Runner of the Year- Jennifer Bergman (Valley Chr)
Senior of the Year- Jennifer Bergman (Valley Chr)
Junior of the Year- Marissa Ferrante (Aptos)
Soph of the Year- Jessie Petersen (Carlmont)
Frosh of the Year- Abbey Blake (Westmont)

Some stats from today's CCS Meet

Results from today's CCS Meet:
http://www.dyestatcal.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2008/ccsres.htm

BOYS
Fastest #1 Runner
Tyre Johnson (12) Palma #1 15:28
Fastest #2 Runner
Ian Myjer (11) Mt. View #2 15:37
Fastest #3 Runner
Parker Schuh (10) Mt. View #3 15:56
Fastest #4 Runner
Robert McLauchlan (12) Mt. View #4 16:30
Fastest #5 Runner
Bryan Crook (10) Mt. View #5 16:41
Fastest #6 Runner
Neil Lingarkar (12) Mt. View #6 16:46
Fastest #7 Runner
Alex McGuirk (11) Mt. View #7 16:59

GIRLS
Fastest #1 Runner
Jennifer Bergman (12) Valley Christian SJ #1 18:15
Justine Fedronic (12) Carlmont #1 18:15 Fastest #2 Runner
Jessie Peterson (10) Carlmont #2 18:43
Fastest #3 Runner
Zoe Pappas (11) Mt. View #3 19:13
Fastest #4 Runner
Kristine Talbot (12) Mt. View #4 19:23
Fastest #5 Runner
Martina De Geus (11) Mt. View #5 19:54
Fastest #6 Runner
Sarah Wells (9) Mt. View #6 20:09
Fastest #7 Runner
Susie Reynolds (10) Mt. View #7 20:12
Top 10 Senior Boys
1 TYRE JOHNSON 12 PALMA 15:28
4 BRENNAN LYNCH 12 SANTA CRUZ 15:38
5 NOHE LEMA 12 WILLOW GLEN 15:44
10 NICK OLIVER 12 HOMESTEAD 16:09
11 DANIEL FILIPCIK 12 WOODSIDE 16:14
12 PETER BIRSINGER 12 ST. IGNATIUS 16:16
13 LAWRENCE SMITH 12 BELLARMINE 16:17
16 RYLAN HUNT 12 APTOS 16:26
17 KEVIN LIAO 12 EVERGREEN VAL. 16:28
19 CHARLIE AVIS 12 PALO ALTO 16:30
20 ROBERT MCLAUCHLAN 12 MOUNTAIN VIEW 16:30
22 MARCOS HINOJOSA 12 BELLARMINE 16:30

Top 10 Junior Boys
2 GARRETT ROWE 11 MOUNTAIN VIEW 15:29
3 IAN MYJER 11 MOUNTAIN VIEW 15:37
6 PHIL MACQUITTY 11 PALO ALTO 15:48
8 MITCH MORIARTY 11 APTOS 16:07
14 PAUL SUMMERS 11 GUNN 16:25
15 KRANTI PEDDADA 11 MONTA VISTA 16:25
18 WESTON STRUM 11 PIONEER 16:29
24 NATHAN LEE 11 CARLMONT 16:34
26 NATHAN STRUM 11 PIONEER 16:35
27 BENJAMIN HECK 11 CARLMONT 16:36
28 LUCA SIGNORE 11 LYNBROOK 16:36

Top 10 Sophomore Boys
7 PARKER SCHUH 10 MOUNTAIN VIEW 15:56
9 ETHAN SCARDINA 10 CARLMONT 16:08
21 WILL GEIKEN 10 LOS GATOS 16:30
23 DONALD PLAZOLA 10 WILLOW GLEN 16:32
29 STEVEN MANDAC 10 WESTMOOR 16:41
30 BRYAN CROOK 10 MOUNTAIN VIEW 16:41
45 AARON HSIA-CORON 10 ANZAR 16:54
51 TONY FERRARI 10 BELLARMINE 16:58
57 CHET REYEN 10 CARLMONT 17:01
60 JOSE CASTILLO 10 SAN BENITO 17:02

Top 10 Freshman Boys
33 GRANT FOSTER 9 PROSPECT 16:43
63 MICHAEL MCCABE 9 WILLOW GLEN 17:04
109 MITCH MARTIN 9 HALF MOON BAY 17:32
133 CHRIS WASCHURA 9 WOODSIDE 17:47
138 PETER ANTHONY 9 CUPERTINO 17:49
143 MICHAEL HESTER 9 MENLO ATHERTON 17:51
148 KURT REFUERZO 9 INDEPENDENCE 17:52
155 NATHAN MADONICH 9 SOUTH SF 17:56
157 EDGAR GARCIA 9 WATSONVILLE 17:56
175 ERNEST LARDIZABAL 9 SACRED HT CATH 18:02
Top 10 Senior Girls
1 JUSTINE FEDRONIC 12 CARLMONT 18:15
2 JENNIFER BERGMAN 12 VALLEY CHR. 18:15
3 KATY DALY 12 ST. IGNATIUS 18:34
4 STEPHANIE BARNETT 12 LELAND 18:36
7 MARY REYNOLDS 12 MOUNTAIN VIEW 18:45
8 ALEX WESTBROOK 12 MOUNTAIN VIEW 18:56
10 KATHLEEN MILLER 12 GILROY 19:08
14 RACHEL STUMP 12 LOS GATOS 19:21
15 COUTRNEY ALLEN 12 SAN BENITO 19:21
16 KRISTINE TALBOT 12 MOUNTAIN VIEW 19:23

Top 10 Junior Girls
9 LISA FAWCETT 11 GUNN 19:08
11 ZOE PAPPAS 11 MOUNTAIN VIEW 19:13
12 MARISSA FERRANTE 11 APTOS 19:15
17 MELISSA HOPPER 11 LEIGH 19:30
18 CLAUDIA BARNETT 11 LELAND 19:33
21 SAMANTHA HAMILTON 11 HALF MOON BAY 19:37
22 DARI SALVADOR 11 ALISAL 19:37
25 ERIN HICKS 11 LOS ALTOS 19:40
31 ABBY BARKER 11 CARLMONT 19:51
32 MARTINA DE GEUS 11 MOUNTAIN VIEW 19:54

Top 10 Sophomore Girls
5 JESSIE PETERSEN 10 CARLMONT 18:43
6 RACHEL HINDS 10 ST. IGNATIUS 18:45
13 CINDY HUANG 10 LYNBROOK 19:19
19 KATIE CASTRO 10 LOS GATOS 19:34
24 EMMA DOHNER 10 GUNN 19:39
26 ANGIE KORPUSIK 10 PRESENTATION 19:41
27 ELIZABETH SCOLERI 10 LOS GATOS 19:44
29 DOMINIQUE GUINNANE 10 PROSPECT 19:50
36 EMILY SITLER 10 ST. FRANCIS 20:00
46 VICORIA TSOLIS 10 PRESENTATION 20:10

Top 10 Freshman Girls23 ABBEY BLAKE 9 WESTMONT 19:38
35 SAMANTHA GARCIA 9 EVERGREEN VAL. 20:00
44 SARAH WELLS 9 MOUNTAIN VIEW 20:09
60 LAUREN CROSHAW 9 ARAGON 20:30
63 ATHENA ALARCON 9 GILROY 20:31
70 KIERAN GALLAGHER 9 GUNN 20:37
71 TATIANA BAIZA 9 SACRED HT CATH 20:37
76 SAVANNAH SILACCI 9 GILROY 20:41
77 MEGAN SHEARER 9 CARLMONT 20:41
79 ISABEL GARCIA 9 VALLEY CHR. 20:43

Weather temps for todays races (courtesy of www.lynbrooksports.com):
10:00AM 70
11:00AM 78
12:00Noon 83
1:00PM 87
2:00PM 88
3:00 89
4:00 88

Teams qualifying both teams (girls and boys) to the state meet:
Carlmont Div. I
Mt. View Div. II
Gunn Div. II
St. Ignatius Div. III
Aptos Div. III
Carmel Div. IV
Crystal Springs Uplands Div. V

More stats to come. Feel free to comment on today's races below. Congratulations to all the competitors today and all the state meet qualifiers (team and individuals).

CCS Guesstimates by Walt Van Zant

Here is a great way to see what might happen at the CCS meet today before it actually takes place:
2008 CCS Guesstimates

Best of luck to all athletes and coaches today.

Cross Country rankings and newspaper articles...

Latest CCS rankings posted 9/23/08 in the San Jose Mercury News:
CCS Cross Country Rankings


•Big run at Stanford next for PHS, Casa (Petaluma Argus Courier)
•Prep roundup: Novato cross country shocks Redwood (Marin IJ)
•Hamilton becomes a race spectator (HMB Review)

New rankings (NCS, CCS, SJS and Norcal) on this blog will be coming next week following the Stanford Invitational.

Feel free to comment on teams and runners to watch this weekend.

CCS Pre-Season Rankings Division IV '08

My coaching history includes a coaching stint (basketball) in this division when I was an assistant coach at Half Moon Bay HS in the mid 90s. I am very familiar with this division as the majority of the teams are long time members such as HMB, Palma, Carmel, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Pacific Grove.

The best boys' team returning this year will be Palma HS. following their 2nd place finish last year in CCS behind a senior loaded King City team. Palma returns their top 6 including the defending CCS champion, Tyre Johnson (15:08), which means they should be starting out their team score with a possible 1. They will also get to race the section race at Toro Park which should be to their advantage.

Their closest pursuers should be Carmel HS, a consistent threat in this division. Carmel has not only done well in the section but at the state level as well including a state title in 2003 (3rd in 2001, 4th in 2002, 1st in 2003 and 2nd in 2004). Carmel returns 5 out of their top 7 including their 2-4 runners who all have the potential to run under 17 minutes on the Toro Park course.

The battle for the final state meet berth should come down to the following teams. Half Moon Bay has a very strong front runner in Bryce Williamson as well as a great middle school feeder program which could shortly be tapped out following the retirement of their long time coach, Howard Clemente. San Lorenzo Valley and King City have been strong performers consistently in this division and looking at their track results should be contenders here as well.

The battle for the individual title starts and ends with Palma's Tyre Johnson. He is the defending champion as he posted an impressive 15:08 in a solo effort at last year's CCS championship race. His closest pursuer and 2nd place finisher from last year is Brennan Lynch of Santa Cruz. Lynch posted some impressive times during track season but there is some ground to be made up to challenge Johnson.

The girls' favorite will be the defending champions, Carmel HS who like their male counterparts have done well at the CCS and state levels. Carmel's victory last year was not an easy one as 6 points separated the top four teams. They just edged 2nd place Valley Christian SJ (81-82) last year but VC will be testing the waters at the Division III level this coming season. Carmel will return two very strong runners (Melanie Hong and Jessica Fenton) who both were in the very low 19s on the Crystal Springs course last year.

Carmel's challengers should include Santa Cruz who return their own dynamic duo (Tanya Naranjo and Elle Sanders) but will need help from their supporting cast. San Lorenzo Valley has been a major contender for the past decade in Divisions III and IV and despite some key losses should contend here as well. Kings Academy and their talented 800 runner (Priya Pappu) and Half Moon Bay with the individual title favorite, Samantha Hamilton, should also be in the mix.

As just previously mentioned, the individual favorite will be Hamilton of Half Moon Bay. Her road to the title improved immensely as the defending champion, Jennifer Bergman of Valley Christian SJ, will now be competing in Division III. Last year's 3rd place finisher, Annie Lee of Robert Louis Stevenson, and Carmel's Melanie Hong appear to be her closest pursuers but as in all girl's races, a talented 9th grader could challenge for an individual title.

Division IV Boys (Top 3 teams advance to state)
1) Palma-Tyre Johnson leads way to possible championship.
2) Carmel-Consistent contender in this division.
3) San Lorenzo Valley-One of several contenders for final state meet berth.
4) King City-Defending champions looking to return to state meet.
5) Half Moon Bay-Will need help from incoming freshmen.
On the bubble: Harker, Greenfield, Harbor

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Tyre Johnson (1) Palma 15:08
Brennan Lynch (2) Santa Cruz 15:50
Alex Wutke (7) Palma 16:32
Allan Hetke (9) SLV 16:37
Aadithya Prakash (11) St. Harker 16:43

Division IV Girls (Top 4 teams advance to state)
1) Carmel-Defending champions looking to repeat.
2) Santa Cruz-Tanya Naranjo will lead the way.
3) San Lorenzo Valley-Can't count them out despite key losses.
4) Kings Academy-Looking for 1st state meet berth (I believe).
5) Half Moon Bay-Incredible string of success in this division.
On the bubble: Harker, Santa Catalina, Notre Dame Salinas

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Samantha Hamilton (2) Half Moon Bay 18:02
Annie Lee (3) RLS 18:39
Melanie Hong (5) Carmel 19:02
Jessica Fenton (8) Carmel 19:17
Tanya Naranjo (10) Santa Cruz 19:29

NCS and CCS Division V predictions will be up next. Feel free to comment on the above rankings. Thank you to Walt VanZant for all his team comparison data that you can find at the following link.

CCS Division III Pre-Season Rankings '08

Looking at the state meet results from the 2007 CA state meet, 2 CCS teams finished in the top 5 (out of all divisions, boys and girls) and they both resided in Division III. The Aptos boys finished in 3rd place last year as they made their first appearance on the podium (top 3) at the state meet. Willow Glen finished in 3rd place at the CCS final just one point behind the 2nd place St. Ignatius team (83-84) and 21 behind the Aptos boys. Showing the strength of this division, WG finished 4th at the state meet behind the top 10 finishes of Mohammed Abdalla and Nohe Lema.

For this coming season, both teams appear well armed to compete well again at the section and state meets. Aptos returns their #1 runner, Rylan Hunt, as well as 4 out of their top 6. As they have done in the past, Aptos might come out of the gates slowly but Coach Gruber will have them humming again during post season.

Willow Glen does lose their #1 runner from the previous four seasons, Abdalla, but return the rest of their formidable team. Lema, despite being a junior last year, was experiencing his first xc season which makes his 7th place finish at the state that much more impressive. According to www.dyestatcal.com in their latest ratings of the top boys' teams in the state, Aptos is ranked at #23 with Willow Glen right behind at #24.

The Central Coast Section has done quite well at state in this division which means they get rewarded with 4 state meet berths. Once you get past Aptos and Willow Glen, the rest of the contenders will include St. Ignatius which managed to just get past WG (83 to 84) last year to finish 2nd. Saratoga returns most of their 6th place team from last year and hope they can leap frog two teams devastated by graduation, North Monterey County and Terra Nova.

The individual battle will start with now seniors Hunt and Lema who finished in 4th and 5th last year respectively at the CCS meet. Hunt had a spectacular junior season on the track (4:13.38/9:21) as he qualified for the CA state meet in the 1600. Lema (4:18.60/9:32.48) was equally impressive as he finished 5th at the CCS 1600m. final.

The rest of the challengers will include Hunt's teammates, Dayne Gradone (4:22.63/9:37.06) and Mitch Moriarty (4:25.56/9:40.63), St. Ignatius' Greg Innis (4:22.23 to finish 7th at CCS), Monterey's Jake Arveson (1:55.62/4:23) who qualified for the ca state track meet in the 800 and Saratoga's Alan Menezes.

The girls' team favorite this coming season will be the defending champions, St. Ignatius. They return the whole kit and kaboodle (entire top 5) which includes the defending CCS individual champion (Rachel Hinds) and defending state champion (Katy Daly). Their main competition will once again be Aptos which finished a close 2nd to SI last year (56 to 62). They return 6 out of the top 7 including Marissa Ferrante (4:55.27/10:57.41) who had an outstanding track and field season finishing 2nd in both the 1600 and 3200 at the CCS finals.

The battle will be for the last state meet spot (3rd) will be between North Monterey County (qualifiers here last year as the 3rd place team), Sacred Heart Cathedral (4th place last year, just 10pts. out of the "money"), Saratoga which returns 6 out of their top 7 and Valley Christian SJ, 2nd placers last year in Division IV.

Hinds and Daly will once again battle for the individual title. Hinds has youth on her side but did not run track during the spring. Daly is an incredibly tough runner who rebounded from her 2nd place finish at CCS by winning state. Moving up to Division III will be Valley Christian SJ's Jennifer Bergman who ran the fastest time on the Crystal Springs course last season (17:25). Ferrante ran well on the track and appears ready to challenge the three runners above. NMC's Jovita Trujillo finished in 4th place last year at CCS and should not be counted out. Katie Nast of Saratoga, a 2nd generation runner on the Crystal Springs course, finished in 9th place last year and will look to move up this season.

Division III Boys (Top 4 teams advance to state)
1) Aptos-4 out of top 6 return for state podium team.
2) Willow Glen-Lema ready to step in as #1 runner.
3) St. Ignatius-4 sub 16:30 runners return.
4) Saratoga-Falcons looking to improve 6th place finish from '07.
5) Monterey-Individual hopeful Arveson leads the way.
On the bubble: North Monterey County, Pioneer, and Riordan

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Rylan Hunt (4) Aptos 15:22
Nohe Lema (5) Willow Glen 15:27
Jake Arveson (7) Monterey 15:47
Mitch Moriarty (10) Aptos 15:52
Greg Innes (12) St. Ignatius 16:08

Division III Girls (Top 3 teams advance to state)
1) St. Ignatius-Top 5 are back for state '07 state qualifying team.
2) Aptos-Will give Mt. View all they can handle.
3) Valley Christian SJ-Bergman is fastest returning runner from last year.
4) North Monterey County-State meet qualifiers last year.
5) Saratoga-Could have 2 runners in top 10.
On the bubble: Burlingame, Notre Dame Belmont, and Sacred Heart Cathedral

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Rachel Hinds (1) St. Ignatius 17:41
Katy Daly (2) Gunn 17:45
Marissa Ferrante (4) Aptos 18:24
Jovita Trujillo (5) North Monterey County 18:31
Katie Nast (9) Saratoga 18:53

From Division IV
Jennifer Bergman (1) 17:33

Thank you to Gus Ibarra (NMC) and Walt Van Zant (Wilcox) for their help with the above rankings.

Feel free to comment on the above rankings. NCS and CCS Division IV rankings will be up next.

NCS and CCS Division III rankings on the way...

They will be posted by Sunday. Feel free to offer your opinions on this division in both sections. Who are the team favorites? Individuals favorites? Surprises? Exciting new talent?

Stay tuned...

CCS Division II Pre-Season Rankings '08

The following rankings are based on teams and individuals that competed in this division last year. The CBEDs are not out yet for CCS so there could be changes which will be dealt with later in the season. Thanks to former Palo Alto coach Jeff Billing with his help on the following rankings. Thank you also to Walt VanZant for his incredible compilation of all runners and teams in every CCS division which can be found at this link.

With my sabbatical from teaching and coaching last year, I was able to attend a LOT of cross country races and without a doubt, two of the most exciting races I witnessed last year involved Mt. View and Palo Alto High Schools, but more specifically Philip MacQuitty (Palo Alto) and Garrett Rowe (Mt. View). Fortunately for cross country fans, MacQuitty and Rowe were both sophomores last year so we will get to see those two battle once again for at least two more years.

Going into this season, it appears that Mt View and Palo Alto are going to lock horns again in a very tight battle during the league, section and state competition. The match-ups will be tight down the line starting from the #1s (Rowe vs. MacQuitty), #2s (Charlie Avis vs. Ian Myjer), and #3/4s (Parker Schuh/Neil Lingarker vs. Skyler Cummins/Henry Jordan). As with most close cross country races, the winner could be decided by the 5th and 6th runners as both teams displayed a lot of depth this past track and field season.

With 3 teams going to the state meet and with Mt. View and Palo Alto already spoken for, the next two teams are no strangers to CCS Championships. St. Francis, the defending Division II champions, have won 7 CCS titles ('91, '94, '97, '98, '02, '05 and '07) while Los Gatos, last year's 2nd place team, has won CCS titles in 4 separate decades ('78, '79, '80, '88, '92, '98, '99, '00, '05 and '06). While they both lose several key runners, it appears that St. Francis will have the edge returning 4 out of their top 7 from last year.

This is a clearly a very deep division that will result in several very good teams staying home during Thanksgiving weekend. The teams at this moment that appear to be on the cusp of state meet berths are Gunn with their 5 juniors, the Vince Rodriguez led Santa Clara squad who should have a very low number begin their team scoring.

The contest for the individual crown will be a repeat from last year as most of the top finishers are all back as well as Sobrato's Lance Wolfsmith who drops down from Division I. Last year's race had the first five runners separated by 5 seconds and this year's race could be just as competitive. Despite some setbacks during the just finished track and field season, the two favorites will be juniors Philip MacQuitty and Garrett Rowe. Rodriguez and Avis should be right there with those two as well as Daniel Filipcik of Woodside, Lance Wolfsmith of Sobrato and Myjer of Mt. View.

The girls' team race will be a battle between two teams returning their entire top five, league rivals Mt. View and Gunn. Both have tremendous front runners (Jackie Evans and Allegra Mayer for Gunn and Mary Reynolds and Alexandra Westbrook for Mt. View) and tremendous team depth. I am not sure how many times these teams will meet each other but the CCS race could be the tie breaker to determine the season champion.

While Gunn and Mt. View may have the two best teams, the team with the two best runners will be Leland as they return the individual section champion, Stephanie Barnett and her sister Claudia who finished in 4th place in the same race. The rest of their team included precocious 9th graders who should benefit from the experience. The next two teams should be one of the state meet qualifiers from last year, Presentation and Lynbrook which boasts two runners (Lauren Tang and Cindy Huang) with sub 19 Crystal Springs clockings.

As with most girls' races, the majority of last year's finishers are back. The favorite and rightfully so will be Stephanie Barnett of Leland. She won last year's race by 23 seconds in an impressive 17:32 but don't count out her sister Claudia, the Mt. View and Gunn runners who could all venture into the sub. 18 territory.

Division II Boys (Top 3 teams advance to state)
1) Mt View-Top 5 are back for state '07 state qualifying team.
2) Palo Alto-MacQuitty/Avis, tough 1/2 punch.
3) St. Francis-Can they repeat another stunning performance at CCS?
4) Gunn-Paul Summers will lead the way.
5) Los Gatos-New coaches/key losses but don't count them out.
On the bubble: Leland, Sobrato, and Santa Clara

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Philip MacQuitty (1) Palo Alto 15:26
Garrett Rowe (2) Mt. View 15:27Vince Rodriguez (3) Santa Clara 15:27
Daniel Filipcik (8) Woodside 15:44
Charlie Avis (9) Palo Alto 15:47

Division II Girls (Top 3 teams advance to state)
1) Mt View-Top 5 are back for state '07 state qualifying team.
2) Gunn-Will give Mt. View all they can handle.
3) Leland-Barnett sisters lead the way.
4) Presentation-State meet qualifiers last year.
5) Lynbrook-Could have 2 runners in top 10.
On the bubble: Santa Clara, St. Francis and Palo Alto

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Stephanie Barnett (1) Leland 17:32
Allegra Mayer (3) Gunn 18:19
Claudia Barnett (4) Leland 18:21
Mary Reynolds (5) Mt. View 18:29
Emma Dohner (7) Gunn 18:33

Feel free to comment on the above rankings. NCS and CCS Division III rankings will be up next.

CCS Division I Pre-Season Rankings

By Kevin Liao (Evergreen Valley HS) aka attack the hill on dyestatcal message board.

After winning the CCS Division I title the last three seasons, the Surh brothers and other top athletes at Carlmont High have moved on to the college ranks, leaving the door wide open for a number of quality squads vying for the top two spots advancing to the state meet. A quick glance at the rankings shows Bellarmine College Prep the heavy favorite for the team championship. The Bells have five of their top seven returning, led by seniors Lawrence Smith, Marcos Hinojosa, and Ben Kelly (4:30 miler on the track) and junior Dalton Guthrie. A young Carlmont squad headlined by senior Chris Pedro as well as Evergreen Valley, Serra, and San Benito look to have a strong chance of grabbing the second ticket to the state meet. The battle for the individual title is also very much up for grabs. Nick Oliver of Homestead is the only returning individual state meet qualifier, but Salinas's Robert Anderson and members of the Bellarmine crew are also poised to compete for the win.

Division I Boys (Top 2 advance to state):
1. Bellarmine – Return most of 2nd pace team
2. Carlmont – Three time defending champs lose 4 of top 6 from '07
3. Evergreen Valley – Lose top 2 but have young runners with potential
4. Serra – Padres have four sub-17 Crystal runners returning
5. San Benito – Young athletes had solid track seasons
On the bubble: Salinas, Homestead, Monta Vista

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Nick Oliver (6) Homestead 15:53
Lawrence Smith (8) Bellarmine 16:00
Robert Anderson (9) Salinas 16:01
Dalton Guthrie (11) Bellarmine 16:04
Marcos Hinojosa (12) Bellarmine 16:13

Like their boys team, the Carlmont girls' squad is looking for their fourth consecutive CCS team championship. Led by defending champ Justine Ferdronic (CCS 800m runner-up) and CCS 3200m champion Jessie Petersen, the Scots took to be the presumptive favorite despite the unknown regarding often-injured star Hayley Pascale. Gilroy is looking strong for the second spot going to the state meet, returning all six of their top runners from 2007 squad that just missed a spot to Woodward Park. Salinas, Monta Vista, and Homestead could also challenge for those top two positions in the team competition. Several phenomenal athletes will be battling it out for the individual title at Toro Park on November 15. Fedronic is the two-time defending champ, but Petersen and a healthy Pascale, as well as Gilroy's Kathleen Miller could challenge for the top spot.

Division I Girls (Top 2 Advance to state)
1. Carlmont-3 time defending champions
2. Gilroy-Top 6 returning for 2nd spot they just missed last year
3. Salinas-Qualified to state last year with 6th runner tie-breaker
4. Monta Vista-Perennial contender in this division
5. Homestead-Top 5 are back and could move up rankings
On the bubble: San Benito, Piedmont Hills

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 CCS meet time:
Justine Fedronic (1) Carlmont 18:04
Kathleen Miller (2) Gilroy 18:09
Jean Feng (5) Monta Vista 18:27
Jessie Petersen (6) Calrmont 18:40
Emily Evans (7) Homestead 18:45

Keep coming back for more rankings (CCS, NCS, SJS and more) in the next few weeks. Feel free to state your opinions about the above rankings. Who are the sleepers in this division? Any new hot shot freshmen?

I don't have pictures for all the runners above so if you have them for any of the runners above, please send them to this email.