D1: It’ll be between Elias Thronson or Mario Montoya (leaning more towards Thronson despite how his soph season ended). If Thronson can stay healthy and injury free during this coming track and xc season, he could very well win the individual title. However it won’t be easy, he has the Redondo Union duo of Montoya and Matteo Sanchez, San Clemente duo of Yohan Anderson and Mattheus Dos Santos, and Ayala star Bryson Caganap to worry about. Team title will be pretty close but I’m giving to San Clemente.
D2: Cooper Stream had the breakout race at state but I’m giving Aidan Antonio the edge due to his times in both xc and track. Will say Stream’s time at Woodward is faster than another Fairfield-Vacaville legend, Luis Grijalva. He’s got potential we just have to see how he performs on the track. Team title I’ll go with Jesuit with the safe pick though it’ll be very close. Woodbridge returns 5/7 of their runners with a low stick in Antonio. Hart returns 5/7 of their runners and have a strong 4 and are always ready to reload. Vacaville also has a solid lineup with Stream as their low stick.
D3: Team title is pretty obvious, Campolindo. They returner 6/7 of their line up (haha 6 7 joke) with Clark Gregory as their lowstick (and the fastest returner in the division). However, if Campolindo wants a shot at making it to NxN they need to be ambitious on the day of the meet (at least take the mile out at low 4:40s or maybe mid 4:30s) or compete in more competitive races (at least go to Woodbridge or Clovis). The individual title will be between Gregory or Michael Scarince (South Pasadena), but leaning towards Scarince. Scarince arguably has more experience in competitive races/settings than Gregory and Campolindo do (I mean South Pas is always at Clovis, Woodbridge, and Mt Sac).
D4: Out there pick but Djali de Chalus (St Mary’s College) for the individual title. Despite Viggo Bortolin (Foothill Tech) being the fastest returner in the division, de Chalus has the times to give him the edge. Plus you can’t deny his race at NCS last season as a sophomore was pretty impressive. Running 9:14 to get the last qualifying spot for the state meet from Jack Rattary and qualifying alongside the DLS duo of Trey Caldwell and Tadgh Murray. Team title goes to Foothill Tech.
D5: The team and individual title is a no brainer. Blake Bay is taking that individual title along with the NxN bid next season and could break Conor Lott’s Central Section Woodward record under the right race conditions. Team title is going to San Francisco University, they return 6/7 of their lineup (ik another a 6 7 reference).
D1: It’ll be between Elias Thronson or Mario Montoya (leaning more towards Thronson despite how his soph season ended). If Thronson can stay healthy and injury free during this coming track and xc season, he could very well win the individual title. However it won’t be easy, he has the Redondo Union duo of Montoya and Matteo Sanchez, San Clemente duo of Yohan Anderson and Mattheus Dos Santos, and Ayala star Bryson Caganap to worry about. Team title will be pretty close but I’m giving to San Clemente.
D2: Cooper Stream had the breakout race at state but I’m giving Aidan Antonio the edge due to his times in both xc and track. Will say Stream’s time at Woodward is faster than another Fairfield-Vacaville legend, Luis Grijalva. He’s got potential we just have to see how he performs on the track. Team title I’ll go with Jesuit with the safe pick though it’ll be very close. Woodbridge returns 5/7 of their runners with a low stick in Antonio. Hart returns 5/7 of their runners and have a strong 4 and are always ready to reload. Vacaville also has a solid lineup with Stream as their low stick.
D3: Team title is pretty obvious, Campolindo. They returner 6/7 of their line up (haha 6 7 joke) with Clark Gregory as their lowstick (and the fastest returner in the division). However, if Campolindo wants a shot at making it to NxN they need to be ambitious on the day of the meet (at least take the mile out at low 4:40s or maybe mid 4:30s) or compete in more competitive races (at least go to Woodbridge or Clovis). The individual title will be between Gregory or Michael Scarince (South Pasadena), but leaning towards Scarince. Scarince arguably has more experience in competitive races/settings than Gregory and Campolindo do (I mean South Pas is always at Clovis, Woodbridge, and Mt Sac).
D4: Out there pick but Djali de Chalus (St Mary’s College) for the individual title. Despite Viggo Bortolin (Foothill Tech) being the fastest returner in the division, de Chalus has the times to give him the edge. Plus you can’t deny his race at NCS last season as a sophomore was pretty impressive. Running 9:14 to get the last qualifying spot for the state meet from Jack Rattary and qualifying alongside the DLS duo of Trey Caldwell and Tadgh Murray. Team title goes to Foothill Tech.
D5: The team and individual title is a no brainer. Blake Bay is taking that individual title along with the NxN bid next season and could break Conor Lott’s Central Section Woodward record under the right race conditions. Team title is going to San Francisco University, they return 6/7 of their lineup (ik another a 6 7 reference).
Will come back to this after track
I still don't quite get how Campolindo going to Clovis helps them run a faster race at state. The D3 race at state is not as deep and competitive as D1 and D2, so I don't see how going to some big invite is going to help them run fast on the day of. It would stand to reason they should actually go to another less-competitive meet at Woodward so they can truly do a time trial.
Same thing with the individual title. How does Scarince getting pulled along by a dozen people at Clovis make him better at dueling Gregory 1-on-1 at state? It's a hard path for small-sized schools to make it to NXN out of California. Menlo hit it just perfectly but that seems to be the exception, not the norm these days.
If Campolindo races at Clovis and beats an eventual NXN autoqualifier, it will give Campolindo a better chance at an at-large if they happen to get 3rd at the state meet merge.
In 2025, in my opinion, the reason why 2 CA boys teams got an at large, is not only because teams that finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the merge (Redondo Union, San Clemente, and Mira Costa) were close, but these teams all have beaten each other multiple times during the season. A win against an autoqualifying team helps.
Same thing with the individual title. How does Scarince getting pulled along by a dozen people at Clovis make him better at dueling Gregory 1-on-1 at state? It's a hard path for small-sized schools to make it to NXN out of California. Menlo hit it just perfectly but that seems to be the exception, not the norm these days.
2024 was a down year for California boys teams and Menlo did a good job taking advantage of that.
If Campolindo races at Clovis and beats an eventual NXN autoqualifier, it will give Campolindo a better chance at an at-large if they happen to get 3rd at the state meet merge.
In 2025, in my opinion, the reason why 2 CA boys teams got an at large, is not only because teams that finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the merge (Redondo Union, San Clemente, and Mira Costa) were close, but these teams all have beaten each other multiple times during the season. A win against an autoqualifying team helps.
And in 2024, Glendora was chosen as an at-large for NXN because they beat Menlo (autoqualifier) at Clovis
Scarince’s more competitive opportunities = more opportunities for faster times throughout the season. Not saying that this doesn’t make Gregory any better or worse but throughout the season, Scarince can have the edge in rankings and all the jazz just cause Campolindo doesn’t go to very competitive meets so obviously they won’t see or know where Gregory would measure up until the state meet.
^ also isn’t Aaron Cantu from Saugus, which is way outside of Ventura County. Isn’t Christian Simone from LA, running at Chaminade but yet was still at Great Oak and Newberry Park while still residing in LA. Or Jayden Hernandez being from Santa Ana but somehow ended up at Dana Hills. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again public schools aren’t any different but ik none of y’all aren’t ready for that conversation
You never know what Redondo Union will do. They lost 4 varsity seniors last year and they reloaded and took second in the merge today
Their 3rd 4th and 5th returners are 16:30+ in the 5k. In comparison, their returners from 2024 were 14:57, 15:04, 15:04, 15:22, and 15:33 in the 3 mile - which I think is significantly better. Still, it is wild that they went from this to winning D1 and getting the auto qual to NXN. Maybe they can do it again.
Scarince’s more competitive opportunities = more opportunities for faster times throughout the season. Not saying that this doesn’t make Gregory any better or worse but throughout the season, Scarince can have the edge in rankings and all the jazz just cause Campolindo doesn’t go to very competitive meets so obviously they won’t see or know where Gregory would measure up until the state meet.
And this too? Just think a bit logical here, South Pas is always at the big meets in the state so obviously Scarince may be ranked potentially higher prior to the state meet. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again, Campolindo has to be more competitive besides the state meet and rough rider
You never know what Redondo Union will do. They lost 4 varsity seniors last year and they reloaded and took second in the merge today
Their 3rd 4th and 5th returners are 16:30+ in the 5k. In comparison, their returners from 2024 were 14:57, 15:04, 15:04, 15:22, and 15:33 in the 3 mile - which I think is significantly better. Still, it is wild that they went from this to winning D1 and getting the auto qual to NXN. Maybe they can do it again.
I will be more curious to see how Redondo Union will do in fall 2027. They already have a really good 1-2 set for that year. The question is will they have at least 3 more really good runners for 2027. They have some freshmen this year that can step up.
It seems that almost all top CA boys teams in 2026 will be senior heavy