4 by eight wrote:
Which team has the best 4x800?
According to athletic.net,
Great Oak returns 1:52, 1:53, 1:56, 1:57. I think they will be hungry after being screwed over at the XC state meet.
JSerra looks better though. They return 1:49, 1:55 (transfer), another 1:55, 1:56, 1:57, 1:59. It’s crazy that 4 of them are only juniors now.
Jesuit returns 6 under 2 minutes
Great Oak has had injury problems season after season over the last few years. Also, Doug Soles is still sowing discord on the GO team from Utah (telling people to skip practice, do their own workouts, ect) so theres gonna be some BS happening on that team this year.
I like JSerra's chances if Morales doesn't go down again, but I have the most confidence in Jesuit. All of their guys had amazing XC seasons, huge steps up from the year before, and Walt Lange is one of the best coaches, if not the best coach in California.
Additional teams to watch out for, ranked by my opinion.
1. Glendora: Made NXN. Their slowest returner ran 2:03 last year, but comes into the season having gone from 15:45 to 15:04. on Woodward. The 1:54 returner, Kevin Sandoval, went from 16:37 to 15:20 on Woodward. The 2:01 returner, Dylan Flores, went from 15:21 to 14:59 on Woodward.
2. Monache: Returns 4 at 2:01 or faster, which isn't particularly impressive but man... you gotta see the XC seasons those guys had. If they stay healthy, they are gonna go crazy.
3. Loyola: Returns 4 under 2 mins with huge upside on two of the guys, who are 4x800 runners. Another one of their runners went from 16:42 to 15:27 over 5k this XC season.
4. Menlo: Made NXN. They return all of their top 4, with each having leveled up this XC season considerably. their #5, freshman Oliver Olbekson, is a monster in track. The only thing that holds them back is that Landon Pretre will almost certainly pursue the 3200 instead of the 4x800 during the postseason.
5. Matilda Torres: Returns 4 at 2:02 or faster, all of whom had great XC seasons.
6. Mountain View: Very deep squad with enormous improvement in like, all of their top 10 guys. Returns a very young, very fast group eager to make a name for themselves on the track.
7. Bellarmine: Returns 4 at 2:02 or faster, all of whom had great XC seasons. Questionable periodization. Sorry, said what I said.
Speaking of the 4x800, it's placement between the 3200 and 4x400 is still an abomination. I appreciate you getting the 4x800 added CoachB, but why did it have to be there 😭🙏??