NEW CRAZY TEAM IN CALI?!?!?

I sure hope they are a thread California needs some good teams next year. This year teams are senior heavy

Yes, Palisades Charter is one to watch for sure. 6th in the merge with only 2 seniors and 1 junior on varsity.

Another one to watch is Jesuit CA. 14th in the merge but they only have 2 seniors. They have a great coach too.

Great Oak will probably be #1 next year if W Brown returns

please be good next year. rep california well

Jesuit gonna be good. Having a freshman break 16 and having one if the best sophomore duos in the state is the making of a good team. Should win D2 next year pretty easily.

I hate to be a downer, but at the moment they don't look like a threat for next year in terms of a NXN Cal team. They can't replace the guys they lost. Right now they have a nice big 3, a 4th that needs to improve, and nothing on the roster remotely close to a 5th man needed to be that good. So to be a threat (as defined as a top 5 Cal team next year), they will need either a really good transfer, a freshman who turns into one of the best freshman in the state, or a great athlete from another sport. Could happen, but it is a long shot.

There are several teams that already have 5 really good runners returning. Great Oak, Martin Luther King, Buchanan, Glendora, Matilda Torres and Beckman all have a team average speed rating of their returning top 5 near 170 or above. I wish Palisades the best, but to break into that top 6 is going to be tough.

Not sure about Buchanan boys team going to NXN this year. They took 18th in the merge. They return everyone but I saw some posts in other threads that some of their runners do worse a year later than the current year.

Hopefully this work out for them next year though. They will have 3 seniors scoring

Not sure about Buchanan boys team going to NXN next year* not this year.

This year they aren’t at that level yet

I looked more into the team. This team really is crazy. They came out of nowhere and are technically now the #23 best team in the country (based on average regional speed ratings).

They were pretty average early on and were getting wrecked all season long. 4 runners randomly made a huge jump at the very last race (state championships).

This is also a team in the LA section. Fast runners / teams in the LA section is unheard of. This is most likely because it would be dangerous to run around in LA (lots of gang violence). Not exactly a great place for a top tier distance program to florish.

If they can pull this stunt again next year where they have random runners come out of nowhere, I could see them being one of the best teams in the country.

They just need that 5th runner.

Funny thing is their 7th runner is actually a 19:15 5k runner. It's their top 5 that are very good. 6th is solid. after that huge drop off for the entire team. Also not a single freshman on this team.

So Palisades top 3 returners all went under 15:45 for 5k at the state meet.

Their 4th returner (Razo) ran a 15:39 3-mile (12 seconds behind their 3rd nonsenior) at the Great Cow run.

So far, that’s good through 4. Now, they just need a 5th.

They have 2 more returners who ran a 16:42 and 16:50 for 3-miles at Bell Gardens 36th Annual XC Invitational 2023.

They actually do have 4 freshman boys on the roster. Their top freshman (Holt) ran three 3-mile races in 17:27, 17:42, and 17:34.

A transfer will help a lot though. If they become 5-deep they will need to make sure that their top 5 are healthy.

Seems like this year, they are in a similar situation (in terms of the returning group) that Oakdale was in last year. They return 3 studs with a 4th not so far back and just need a 5th.

Also, look at this. In the top 12 on the team (for 3 mile PRs), there were only 2 juniors and 2 seniors.

ca.milesplit.com

California High School Boys Rankings | Cross Country 2023Three Mile Run

Link:ca.milesplit.com/rankings/events/high-...

20 boys on the roster. Very good team for this size, although Oakdale’s roster was smaller last year.

Oakdale had a transfer to mix in with their top 5. Hopefully this team can find someone fast to join the party for next year.

Have you ever seen Pacific Palisades?

$$$ big bucks to live in the PP.

Palisades has sophomore Brian Welsh who ran a 16:01 3-mile last year as a freshman but no where to be found this season. Anyone know what happened to him?
He could be a good 5th man next year

Next year, it is very unlikely that CA will send a boys at-large team to NXN

Any California team that wants to do well at NXN will need to practice in the mud, or compete in a regular season meet where the conditions are like at NXN

I was shocked to see them 4th/6th merge. Came out of nowhere with a predominantly sophmore team! Good talents. Why all the downvotes?