California Cross Country Newspaper Coverage

High School
•Running with fire Philip MacQuitty and Palo Alto XC
•Lodi, Tokay cross country teams sweep competition
• Prep: Cross country Preview capsules (MCAL)
•No surprises in first SVC x-country meet
•Prep Roundup: Novato's Olson cracks county's cross country top 10
•Arcata, Eureka win at Sequoia Park
•DFAL and BCL East Results
•DFAL Results (Scroll Down)
•Hamilton third at prestigious East Bay meet
•Deer Valley Results from Oregon Meet
•SJS Results on Sac Bee

College
•Former straggler becomes team leader
•Butte Cross Country Preview: Matz looks to be key returner

NCS Best Male Cross Country Runner

Just curious with the poll to the right. I see 3 votes for other. Who did I miss for best male distance runner in NCS?

North Coast Section (NCS) Rankings #2

Here are the 2nd edition of the NCS Rankings after 4 weeks of racing. Some teams have been very busy racing up and down the coast while other teams are keeping a low profile. Feel free to comment on the rankings below.
Division I Boys
1) Amador Valley-Most complete team in Division I so far this season. Impressive 2nd at DLS/Carondelet Nike Invitational.
2) Monte Vista-2nd to Skyline at Ed Sias without #1 runner. 6th at DLS/Car Invite without #2 runner. 1-6 back from last year.
3) Castro Valley-Tough duo up front (Leng and Fazzio) with talented freshman #4. With strong 5th could run with anybody.
Really strong division this year. With NCS only sending 2 teams to state meet, some very good teams are going to be left home during Thanksgiving weekend. Teams right on the cusp: College Park, San Ramon Valley, Foothill, Granada, Liberty and Deer Valley.
Division I Girls
1) Castro Valley-Ran close race to Carondelet at Ed Sias. As long as they stay healthy, will be very tough to beat.
2) College Park-Alycia Cridebring leads the way. 3rd place finish at DLS/Car Invite with F/S taking 1st. Close 1 point loss to Campolindo in first DFAL meet.
3) Granada-Finished in 4th place at DLS/Car Invite. Returns 2-5 from last year's 3rd place NCS Div. I team.
Division II Boys
1) Petaluma-#1 ranked team in Norther California. Everybody is back from 5th place state team. Broke Spring Lake Park team record which dated back to 1988.
2) De La Salle-Strong team with five runners under 17 minutes at own invitational.
3) Santa Rosa/Montgomery-Toss up between these two teams. Santa Rosa has upper hand over Montgomery so far but Montgomery missing a runner at each meet.
Division II Girls
1) Carondelet-Everybody back for defending division II team. Hood is running better than ever.
2) Santa Rosa-2nd at Panther Preview, 4th at Ed Sias. Top 5 back from last year's 5th place NCS Division II team.
3) Casa Grande-3rd at Panther Preview. Jacque Taylor, one of state's finest leads way. Upper hand over Montgomery so far this season.

Division III Boys
1) Maria Carrillo-Best team so far in the early season with Nate Huckeba leading the way.
2) Las Lomas-Two race results so far (Earlybird and 1st DFAL meet) and can boast a talented runner at each grade level. Could be team to beat at the end of the season.
3) Campolindo-Still putting it together so far but will be there at the end.
On the cusp: Acalanes with talented lead runner, Beach, will have plenty of opportunities to knock off DFAL opponents (Las Lomas and Campo).
Division III Girls
1) Maria Carrillo-With Curtin twins running xc this year, haven't missed a beat. Won Panther Preview and Ed Sias.
2) Campolindo-Laurie Finnegan is defending NCS Div III champion. Campo had nice win in first DFAL meet defeating College Park and Las Lomas.
3) Redwood-Team has been impressive early with solid 1-5 pack at the Stinson Beach Relays and league meet. Lowell Invitational this Saturday will be good test for them.

Division IV Boys (Toughest division to call...teams here definitely keep a low profile).
1) St. Mary's-Defending NCS Div. IV champions. Duffy is back with talented group behind him.
2) Moreau Catholic-Brian Fix leads the way for perennial NCS Div. IV contender.
3) Piedmont-Showed there is still life in this program at the Farmer Invitational.
Division IV Girls
1) St. Mary's-Very impressive at Ed Sias and Farmer's Invitational. Team to beat at this moment.
2) Arcata-Won first league meet with Allie Maher leading the way.
3) Piedmont-Didn't run everybody at Farmer but will be there at the end. Defending champions.

Division V Boys1) College Prep-Defending NCS Division V champions. Not quite at full health right now but still very solid team.
2) Berean Christian-Close loss to CPS in first BCL East meet. 9th at Ed Sias in Small School race but top Div. 5 team.
3) SF University-Haven't been able to race everybody together yet but history says they are at least top 3.
Stuart Hall is going to be a sleeper this year. Watch out for them.
Division V Girls
1) Crystal Springs Uplands-2 time defending NCS champions. Started season going 1-5 at first BCL meet
2) SF University-Young runners ran well during track season. Could challenge CSU if Cecilia Furlong skips volleyball to run xc.
3) Marin Academy-Alesandra Roger is back after back injury in track. Team ran well at Stinson Beach Relays.
College Prep is going to be very good this year as well with talented freshman (Adrienne Strait). Tough to tell how good with no competition in 1st meet.

Don't forget to keep voting in the poll to the right. Who is the best male runner in NCS?

Top 5 individuals (girls and boys) in each division will be posted shortly.

NCS Rankings on the way...

I will post the top 3 teams in each division Thursday morning. If you have any last minute information of any teams, please feel free to comment below or email me at acaru@csus.com.

Who are the season's biggest surprises so far? If you had to name the top 5 teams in NCS, regardless of division, who would they be? What NCS teams belong on the state's top 10 list?

Thank you to all of you that have expressed your opinion on this blog. It's important to get different perspectives for better rankings. Thank you also to all of you that posted your weekly mileage in the poll to the right. New poll will be posted shortly once this one closes in a few hours.

Norcal Rankings #2

Below is the 2nd installment of the top 10 Norcal (CCS, NCS, NS, OAK, SF and SJS) teams and individuals for boys and girls. It's still early in the season but teams are already starting to position themselves before we head to the best litmus test in Northern California cross country, the Stanford Invitational. The list will be updated throughout the season leading up to the California state meet.

Boys .................................................Girls
1) Petaluma NCS.................................1) Carondelet NCS
2) Jesuit SJS.......................................2) Davis Sr. SJS
3) Davis Sr. SJS...................................3) Ponderosa SJS
4) Carlmont CCS.................................4) Carlmont CCS
5) Woodcreek SJS...............................5) Castro Valley NCS
6) Willow Glen CCS............................6) St. Francis, Sacramento SJS
7) Amador Valley NCS.........................7) Del Oro SJS
8) Oak Ridge SJS................................8) Placer SJS
9) Aptos CCS.......................................9) St. Ignatius CCS
10) Skyline OAK................................10) Mt. View CCS
Honorable Mention (5 teams added in no particular order)
Del Campo SJS....................................Maria Carrillo NCS
Maria Carrillo NCS..............................Mt. Shasta NS
De La Salle NCS...................................Aptos CCS
North Monterey County CCS..................North Monterey County CCS
Las Lomas NCS....................................Gunn CCS

Boys' Individuals
1) German Fernandez (12) Riverbank SJS
2) Mohammed Abdalla (12) Willow Glen CCS
3) Brad Surh (12) Carlmont CCS
4) Philip MacQuitty (10) Palo Alto CCS
5) James Tracy (12) Del Campo SJS
6) Nate Beach (12) Acalanes NCS
7) James Attarian (12) Dublin NCS
8) Diego Estrada (12) Alisal CCS
9) Tyre Johnson (11) Palma CCS
10) Matt Duffy (12) St. Mary's College NCS

Girls' Individual
1) Laurynne Chetelet (12) Davis Sr. SJS
2) Jacque Taylor (10) Casa Grande NCS
3) Nicole Hood (10) Carondelet NCS
4) Justine Fedronic (11) Carlmont CCS
5) Diana George (11) Livermore NCS
6) Katy Daly (11) St. Ignatius CCS
7) Rebecca Habtamu (12) Prospect CCS
8) Deborah Maier (12) Ponderosa SJS
9) Samantha Hamilton (10) Half Moon Bay CCS
10) Stephanie Barnett (11) Leland CCS

Feel free to comment on the list above. If you feel that a team or individual is missing or should be higher up on the list, please let me know. If you don't want your comment to be made public, you can email me at acaru@csus.com

Only three days left to vote in the poll to the right.

Newspaper Coverage including weekend meets

•Beach, Hood go the distance at Invitational
•Petaluma boys win Nike Invitational
•Skyline XC at Nike Invitational (scroll to bottom)
•These Wolves also roam in packs
•Prep cross country: Redwood girls start season well with Stinson Beach win

New NCS and Norcal Rankings coming soon...

After the flurry of races this past week (including today), I will have newly updated rankings for both the NCS and Norcal (CCS, NCS, NO, OAK, SF and SJS) posted by early next week. Some teams are making early statements while some are still putting it together. It's still early but cross country is a short season so don't blink.

Any input on the coming rankings? Who belongs on the top 10 Norcal list? You can view the first edition at this link. Who are the new favorites for NCS titles? Who have been the most impressive runners so far?

Also, don't forget to vote in the poll to the right. How much mileage are you putting in at this point in the season?

More Newspaper Coverage

From SF Chronicle:
CROSS COUNTRY Highly Rated Carondelet girls try to make it 2 in a row

From Contra Costa Times:
Foothill cross country running strong

From The Paly Voice:
Cross Country boys return with exceptional amount of talent

De La Salle/Carondelet Nike Invitational Coverage

One of the early big meets of the season is this coming Saturday, the DLS/Carondelet Nike Invitational. It will be covered by Flotrack.com, a website that has really taken off this summer. For further information on the meet, check out the link below which includes course maps for the 2 mile and 3 mile courses as well as all the participating teams.

Many of the top teams in Northern California will be competing including the top ranked boys and girls' teams up north, Petaluma (boys) and Carondelet (girls). It should be a great team battle for the coveted Varsity titles (Varsity Girls at 11:15am/Varsity Boys at 11:45am) and the race within a race will take place for the individual battles.

Will this be the invitational season debut of Carlmont's Brad Surh and Justine Fedronic? In the girls' race, Nicole Hood (Carondelet) and Katy Daly (St. Ignatius) are both coming off impressive victories in the Ed Sias Invitational and Early Bird Invitational, respectively. The boys race appears wide open as individuals from Petaluma, Madera and Los Gatos along with the previously mentioned Surh should make for a great race.

Any predictions on the winners of the boys and girls varsity races? Post them below.

Updated Norcal rankings will be posted early next week following this weekend meets.

Please keep voting in the poll to the right. If you have an idea for another poll, please email it to me at acaru@csus.com

Nike Cross Country Invitational

More California Cross Country Newspaper Coverage

•High school boys cross country preview: Panthers to follow Maldonado's lead
•Death of Esperanza coach brings team together
•Got a Second?
•Mount Shasta cross country looks to continue dominance
•Los Gatos Seniors nail second at Earlybird

Please vote in the poll to the right in regards to your weekly mileage.