California 2024 T&F Thread

Englehardt repeats

CIF should add the dmr this year to the schedule. The addition of the 4x8 was really nice but an 800 is still relatively short so giving a 1200 and a 1600 leg to the more distance oriented runners and teams would be a nice bone to toss them. I don't think this would tip the dominance field and sprinting has over the actual team performance either.

We absolutely should add the DMR. The thing is, CIF needs to tweak the schedule to enable distance kids to participate. Check out how Florida does it. I think it’s their first event in the schedule, allowing recovery time for mile and 800 prelims

Summary of the top xc teams of 2024 going into the 2024 track season. Hopefully we can keep an eye on how these guys do on the track. Hopefully, there will be performance jumps for some of the teams on this list. (maybe oaks christian can find a 5th runner, or palisades charter and trabuco hills find a 4th and 5th fast runner)

#1 - Great Oak
Westin Brown (11) - 188
Jacob Brown (11) - 183
Jack Paradise (11) - 176
Marco Franco (10) - 171
Christian Gump (11) - 169
Carson Lynch (11) - 160
Ruben Sanchez(10) - 154
Nicolas Ovalle (11) - 154
Jack McMurrin (10) - 151
- One of the top 3 California teams to watch out for next year, this
team already has their top 5 above 169+. I believe this will be the
favorite team coming from California next year. They may be looking for
redemption next year, after their 17th place finish at NXN.
#2 - Jesuit SJ
Isaac Abbott (10) - 177
Matthew Ogilvie (9) - 171
Chase Cressman (11) - 170
Drake Hoferer (10) - 170
Navin Kadel (11) - 162
Brady Blum (11) - 156
Robert Fuentes (11) - 153
Rafael Jopson (9) - 152
Kyle Jackary (10) - 150
Lucas Alberts (9) - 149
Trevor Felix (11) - 149
- Jesuit has the legendary coach, the talent, the depth, everything!
This is the one of the three best california team to watch next year.
They will be insane!
#3 Buchanan
Luke S (11) - 180
Jansen G (10) - 176
Max J(11) - 170
Michael P(10) - 170
Deaglan G(11) 167
Andrew Ray(9) - 161
Antonio Benitez(11) - 155
Amani R(10) - 151
Matthew C(10) - 151
Dylan Rea (9) - 151
Jose Rico (9) - 150
- One of the top 3 California teams to watch next year. I believe this
team has the best 9th-10th graders. These young runners could
potentially make huge jumps next year. Their talent potential is insane.
Watch out for Buchanan!
#4 - ML King
Maximo Zavaleta(10) - 187
Brad Quezado (10) - 177
Brayden Lunetta (11) - 173
Alex Wesołowski (11) - 168
Logan Carlson (10) - 167
Frank Stewart (10) - 156
Zachary Halama (11) - 155
John Sosa(9) - 150
- A new team that has insane talent expect the team to be averaging
175+ at the very start of the season next year. They have 8 solid
runners, after that it’s a drop off.
#5 - Arnold Beckman
Mason Nguyen (11) - 178
Anthony Barrera (11) - 174
Aaron Feaster (11) - 171
Christian Weber (10) - 170
Nolan Barajas (10) - 156
Ryan Barris (9) - 154
- Arnold Beckman is expected to be one of the top California teams for
the next season. They have a solid 1-4, all having run above 170+ speed
rating. They need a 5th runner to step up, and they will be set for the
upcoming season. It is expected that young runners Nolan and Ryan could
have a big improvement the next season to be that 5th runner. Expect
this team to be averaging in the 175+ at the start of the season.
#6 Mira Costa
Isaac Faynsod (11) - 177
Carson Ehman (10) - 171
Ian Hansen (11) - 165
Krish Desai (10) - 165
Carson Ehman (10) - 159
Max Mironowicz (10) - 159
JT Kaplan (10) - 155
Ryan Burger (10) - 154
Jack Barrera (11) - 151
- One of the best California squads for next year. The team already has
4 really good runners and tons of talented sophomores. This team can be
huge next year. Very dangerous team next year.
#7 Trabuco Hills
Dylan Jubak (11) - 179
Carsten Williams (11) - 178
Ziyad Adballah (11) - 176
James Kuhn (11) - 152
Lucan Clemons (9) - 152
- Trabuco had insane depth last year and was one of the most talented
California teams going into the 2023 season. They had the similar talent
levels as ventura did. However, unlike Ventura, Trabuco Hills managed
to pull through in the end, coming 5th in the merge, despite their
lackluster early season. Losing a huge stack of seniors, Trabuco hills
still has one of the best 1-2-3 in California. Hopefully their 4-5 can
move up, making them a better team than they were last year, a 77:50 at
the California State meet.
#8 Woodbridge
Aidan Antonio (9) - 177
Aiden Zavala (10) - 176
Inban Kathiravan (10) - 172
Iniyan Kathiravan (10) - 158
Thomas Yohn (9) - 156
- Woodbridge has never been good until recently. Hopefully this fine
group of young freshman and sophomores can put together something
special. They already have 3 runners above 170s+. This team doesn’t have
much depth past their 5th.
#9 Tesoro
Griffin Kushen (11) - 187
Ryan McNamara (11) - 168
Chase Manning (10) - 164
Mateo Allen-Aguirree(11) - 162
Parker Wolfe (11) - 161
Gabriel Raco (10) - 151
Ezra Bryden (11) - 150
-Tesora has 1 very good runner and insane depth. If they can get 4 more
runners consistently above 170+ next year, they can be a powerhouse.
#10 Redondo Union
Adam Divinity (11) - 183
Alexander Barbarie (11) - 168
Matthew Walter (11) - 162
Joshua Thomas (11) - 159
Kristopher Jarmillo (11) - 159
- The California team with 1 solid runner and 4 more decent runners
around 160+. Redondo Union has lots of depths below 155. This team has
more depth than Tesora does.
#11 Glendora
Dylan Flores (11) - 182
Mathias Oliveros (11) - 175
Diago Garcia (11) - 169
Kevin Sandoval (11) - 168
Andrew Carlson (11) - 149
Jeremiah Shahbaz(11) - 144
Eamon Wright(11) - 143
- Glendora is in a similar position as Oaks Christian. Their 1-4 is
very fast! All of them have technically gone above 168+, with a solid
number 1, Dylan Flores, expected be one of the better runners in the
country next year. Hopefully they can find that 5th man that can mix it
up with them.
#12 Matilda Torres
Benjamin Fernandez (10) - 178
Hunter Hannah (10) - 176
Noah Felix (11) - 165
Alfonso Del Toro (10) - 158
Buffalo Soito (11) - 151
Angel Ramirez (10) - 147
- Matilda Torres very young team that has a strong 1-2 punch of
sophomores. Lacks depth but has a solid 6 assuming they improve. Most of
the team has been running since middle school.
#13 Oaks Christian
Christian Yoder (11) - 178
Cooper McNee (11) - 178
Josh Mitchell (11) - 167
Vin Krueger (11) - 166
- Oaks Christian has a very strong top 4 runners but they need to find that 5th runner.
#14 Palisades Charter
Blake Sigworth (10) - 178
Zachary Cohen (10) - 174
Owen Lewicky (11) - 174
Andrew Razo (10) - 155
Ben Barnett (11) - 139
Roland Beckling (10) - 133
- One of the biggest surprises this year. Palisades was 6th in the
merge, having come out of nowhere. Many people think this team will do
big things next year because most of their squad is young. However, this
team lost 2 crucial scorers. This is a very small team and has no depth
or talent past their top 4. Hopefully ,they can find a 5th next year
and be big

Let's change the event order before we talk about adding more events, as much as I would love the DMR to be added.

I think the NFHS recommended order is nice.

4x800 M Relay
100 M Hurdles
100 M Dash
1600 M Run
4x100 M Relay
400 M Dash
300 M Hurdles
800 M Dash
200 M Dash
3200 M Run
4x400 M Relay

Personally, I would recommend this instead, since we don't the 4x200:

4x800, 100m, 300h, 400m, 1600, 4x100, 100/110h, 800, 200, 3200, 4x400

Either way, having the 4x800, 3200, and 4x400 right next to each other is asinine. Absolutely ridiculous.

Agree…especially since we can spread this order over two days….4x800 on Friday. Since we’re not doing all events, we can stretch the schedule to allow 1600, 800 and 4x4 runners sufficient recovery for their prelims.

I have a little more hope for JSerra than Palisades. They have a very similar top 4, but a much better 5 and 6. They are also more likely to "find" another thru transfers.

Hart and Vacaville are also close and have more depth, so keep an eye on them in track.

Preseason Favorite of the xc season of 2023 - so that you can compare to the 2024 season. Below are the best speed ratings from the 2023 teams during their 2022 xc season (before the 2023 season).

Ventura - 186(11), 181(11), 177(11), 172(11), 168(11), 156(11), 152(9), 150(9)
Trabuco Hills - 179(10), 171(11), 171(10), 171(11), 166(11), 157(11), 156(11), NA(10), NA(11),
San Clemente - 179(11), 175(11), 172(11), 172(11), 165(9)
Dana Hills - 188(10), 179(11), 168(10), 166(11), 162(11), 160(9), 146(11)
Great Oak - 178(11), 172(11), 166(11), 164(10), 160(10), 160(10), 159(11), NA(9),

Here’s how the teams stack up in the post season.
California #1 - San Clemente 15:17 average woodward, #8 NXN, #8 all-time
California #2 - Dana Hills 15:15 average woodward, #10 NXN, #6 all-time
California #3 - Great Oak 15:31 average woodward, #17 NXN, #18 all-time
California #4 - Oakdale 15:28 average woodward, #15 all-time
California #5 - Trabuco Hills 15:34 average woodward, #24 all-time
California #6 - Palisades Charter 15:38 average woodward, #46 all-time
California #7 - Santa Barbara 15:40 average woodward, #52 all-time
California #8 - Mira Costa 15:40 average woodward, #50 all-time
California #9 - Cresenta Valley 15:42 average woodward, #64 all-time
California #10 - Ventura 15:47 average woodward , #62 all-time

The favorites last season placed #1, #2, #3, #5, #10.
This season the favorites that have similar talent levels to last season's Ventura, Trabuco Hills, San Clemente, Dana Hills, Great Oak are

- Great Oak, Jesuit SJ, Buchanan, ML King, Arnold Beckman, Mira Costa,

The dark horse teams are:

- Jserra, Trabuco Hills, Woodbridge, Tesora, Redondo Union, Glendora, Hart, Matilda Torres, Oakes Christian, Palisades Charter, Vacaville

I have been covering mostly Pacific Coast League (Irvine, Beckman, Northwood, Portola) for the past 3 years (PoMan Productions) with my son on TF and XC. Since my son quit this year, I'm not tied to the local schools anymore and is looking to cover the top schools. This is almost like being involved in horse racing scenes!

QUESTION: Besides Arcadia Invite and Stanford Invite, what are the worthwhile Invitationals to cover for the season?

The new PoMan ZipCam version I'm bringing to the 2024 season will be much more sophisticated in that it will use a full frame camera mounted on an electronic gimbal and it can track the runners for the entire length of the track as if you are 12 feet tall camera man running side-by-side with the runners. As this thing takes a few hours to set up, I would like to cover only the high profile invites.

definitely APU meet of champions, a lot of fast times will be ran that day.

Will do. thanks.

Amen

Who are the top runners slated to run at the CA Winter Championships? Is it even worth it for high level runners to do winter track?

Many of the top sprinters will do winter track. Serra was a notable exception last year IIRC.

Poly is always there. Xai Ricks is probably the top runner slated to run there. Not very many top level distance runners usually do winter track but thats been changing in past years.

Winter track is almost always VERY socal centric because of the way the qualifying meets are set up. CCS is about as north as you'll get any athletes from.

Newbury Park did indoor track a couple of years ago

Jaelen Hunter - 49.47 400 as a freshman

ma.milesplit.com

Pre Nationals Tune Up

Link:ma.milesplit.com/meets/585446-pre-nati...

Really talented kid. Going to be fun to watch. Especially since he Rand 48.6 as an 8th grader. Can he keep that progression?

have any of the Poly kids run CA Winter Qualifier meets? is that the only way to gain entry to the Winter Championships next month?

Yes, athletes have to meet a qualifying time at one is the qualifiers to run at the Winter Champs. They have this weekend and next to get a qualifier in.

I’ve seen a few LB Wilson runners at the qualifiers, but I’m not sure about Poly.

Chaparral Winter Qualifier.

Spencer Dodds has the record in the 1500. I wonder if Great Oak guys will be in this