2024 California HS XC CIF

Sadie Engelhardt 16:24

Meanwhile, in Northern California… Trey Caldwell just broke the previous Crystal Springs course record of 14:28 by running 14:27.9!

For anyone unaware, Crystal Springs is one of the most storied courses in California, if not the United States. Here is a 177-page book about the course - more than 100,000 high school athletes have run a course that has been unchanged since 1973, also the year the (now former) course record of 14:28 was set.

Totenson won the Boys Championship race with 14:41. However, I’m suprised by Griffin Kushen (Tesoro)- only two seconds behind Totenson and beat Kitchen. Not only that but Beckman and Jesuit (CA) beat Crater in the championship race. Beckman 1st, Jesuit (CA) 2nd, Crater 3rd. Always love seeing the Sac Joaquin show up. Also Tyler Dailiak with a 14:53- definitely deserved a spot in the Championship race.

While California boys teams may not be as strong as years before. Individually, California is looking like the strongest region in the country and definitely the strongest the states ever been. With around ~10 CA guys running 15min or faster at Clovis (in all races) and Caldwell and Fitchen-Young running fast at Crystal Springs today, there are about 2 teams worth of individuals with all-American potential.

if you want to claim that california has the best individuals in the country, then you should be able to put atleast 3-4 guys ahead of kitchen or tostenson. In this race, there was only 1 individual, griffin kushen, that was able to place in front of kitchen and below tostenson. Northwest defintely has the best individuals in the country right now.

I did not say California has the best individuals in the country, I just said that California is the strongest it’s ever been individually

Well, then you should have worded this differently:

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Individually, California is looking like the strongest region in the country and definitely the strongest the states ever been.

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I disagree with both statements. I doubt California will have best results of individuals at NXN (assuming you disregard teams, just treat everyone as individuals), and as far as "best ever for California", we will never beat 2021, where 5 of the top 8 ranked Speed Ratings were from California. It doesn't matter than 4 were on the same team, they still also count as individuals.

1 Colin Sahlman 12 Newbury Park (SS) 203

2 Leo Young 11 Newbury Park (SS) 202

3 Lex Young 11 Newbury Park (SS) 202

4 Riley Hough 12 Hartland 201.20 201

5 Zane Bergen 12 Niwot 200.70 201

6 Kenan Pala 12 Francis Parker (SD) 200.07 200

7 Gavin Sherry 12 Conard High 200.07 200

8 Aaron Sahlman 11 Newbury Park (SS) 199.21 199

That #8 kid ran pretty well at the following year nxn.

This massive! The record was from 1973!! Legend Mitch Kingery held it.

Actually, tied the CR as all Crystal Springs times are rounded up to the nearest second, as was Kingrey's 14:28 from 1973.

Note: Kingery also ran a 2:23:47 marathon in 1973 . . . as a sophomore . . . at the time the hs record.

Jay Marden ran 14:28.4 in 1980 which is rounded up to 14:29.

Thus, we now have three boys under 14:30 on this historic 2.95 mile course -- which is arguably the most challenging xc course in the nation given it's steep hills and uphill climb to the finish while offering only one 200 - 300 meter stretch of flat dirt surface to "recover" from climbing up the big hill.

Personally elated to see Crystal Springs back in the news, this time for good reasons. Unfortunate what almost happened four years ago when some locals tried to shut the place down.

For those interested in some Crystal Springs history, the "prehistoric" course was laid out in 1969 and ran all the way down past what is now I-280, then back up to the top of the start/finish hill. That course had to be abandoned after only one year due to construction of the interstate in 1970.

The current course configuration was laid out in 1971. However, slight modifications made at the bottom of the hill following the 1971 season may or may not have changed the distance. Thus, for record keeping purposes, the current 2.95 mile configuration opened in 1972 and has remained unchanged since. (Results from 1969 and 1971 races have been lost to time.)

Regarding the big picture, xc became popular in the US at the hs and college level in the late 1930s -- the first NCAA meet being held in 1938. The sport was primarily popular back then on the East Coast and Midwest.

Bring this up because, somewhere east of the Mississippi, there probably exists cross country venues that have been in use before 1970. (Van Cortland Park/NYC? Franklin Park/Boston? Detweiller Park/Peoria?) However, very much doubt there exists today a cross country course of 2.0 miles on up that has not changed one iota since then and has course records tabulated to its beginnings.

So, what Trey Caldwell did today is remarkable, accomplished on a remarkable course that -- in the somewhat insular world of US xc running -- should be enshrined as a national treasure.

Turns out it wasn't Crater+4 Cal teams, but Crater+12 Cal teams (including an exact 15:50).

I will say the weather helped. I don't remember it being this cool at recent races, plus no real wind. Sadie's record also alludes to favorable conditions. Even given that, the results were way better than I expected, with many teams finally putting together a full 5 man team effort.

1 Arnold O. Beckman 15:24
2 Jesuit 15:29
3 Crater 15:20
4 ML King 15:34
5 Glendora 15:38
6 Crescenta Valley 15:46
7 Buchanan 15:45
8 Ayala 15:46
9 Great Oak 15:47
10 Matilda Torres 15:47
11 Saugus 15:48
12 JSerra Catholic 15:50 (1:19:08 )
13 Clovis North 15:50 (1:19:10)

Interesting that JSerra made it. Pre-season looked like they had a Big 3, but not enough else to be a top team. Their "other 3" ran quite well, including being the #1 and #2 runners.
15:34
15:48
15:59

Morales didn't run, and the other Big 2 were subpar. Depending on Morales's situation, they could still be a top 5 team.

On a similar note, Clovis East had the same pre-season issue. A great front 3, but a big drop off after that. But their #1 runner today was the soph Ethan Hickey, who ran 15:43, a massive improvement. He ran 19:19 last year, and only had PRs of 4:35/10:48 in track. They are a dark horse team to break into the top 5.

Also worth noting that Ayala at #8 didn't get any points from their 2 fastest returning 3200m runners (Torres 9:36, Velarde 9:49), so they might be even stronger than this indicates..

Clovis East does have some potential. The guy who got last in the championship race has been in their top 3 regularly for the last couple of years. Their top 6 is set, and they have a bunch of freshmen fighting for the 7th spot. They have a good freshman class.

Ayala’s Velarde ran a 17:09 yesterday, and Torres didn’t race. Anyways, they have an impressive freshman class, with 2 of those guys leading the team. Definitely a team to watch for the next few years

Tully Speed Ratings From Clovis

Beckman Average - 179.99

Jesuit Average - 178.56

Beckman slides into a tie with Austin Vandegrift for 5th and Jesuit is just ahead of South Lake Carroll in 7th. Amazing team performances by these two programs really demonstrating how California is not to be taken lightly. Will be fun to see where they can go from here.

Word is Morales tweaked his ankle at Firman and sat out and their #1 runner Arrey was sick at Clovis. Everybody has their "what if's"....

Hart 4th at Manhattan

more california teams should try to go out to this next year. It's real xc and prepares you well for nxn. Parra went there with his team last year and did quite well at nxn.