1 1:50.39 Josiah Bowman - Sage Creek (SD) 2 1:50.45 Wyland Obando - Wilson - Long Beach (SS) 3 1:50.79 Alden Morales - JSerra Catholic (SS) 4 1:51.27 Lucas Alberts - Jesuit (SJ) 5 1:51.47 Hugh Heyer - McClatchy (C.K.) (SJ)
1600M:
1 4:03.32 Conor Lott - Clovis North (CS) 2 4:06.94 Aidan Antonio - Woodbridge (SS) 3 4:07.15 Maximo Zavaleta - ML King (SS) 4 4:08.63 Marcus Salinas - Clovis East (CS) 5 4:08.75 Josiah Bowman - Sage Creek (SD)
3200M: 1 8:57.47 Isaac Abbott - Jesuit (SJ) 2 8:57.63 Maximo Zavaleta - ML King (SS) 3 8:57.90 Noel Huato - Del Oro (CS) 4 8:57.98 Conor Lott - Clovis North (CS) 5 9:00.58 Oliver Hunter - Dana Hills (SS)
Who else is going to surprise us this season? Who made leaps during XC that will carry over to track?
1 2:07.33 Grace Smith - Claremont (SS) 2 2:07.99 Chiara Dailey - La Jolla (SD) 3 2:09.00 Chloe Elbaz - JSerra Catholic (SS) 4 2:09.12 Josie Hill - Technology (NC) 5 2:09.42 Shirayah Lewis-Williams - Wilson - Long Beach (SS)
1600M:
1 4:35.64 Braelyn Combe - Santiago Corona (SS) 2 4:37.08 Chiara Dailey - La Jolla (SD) 3 4:42.00 Jaelyn Williams - Eastlake (SD) 4 4:43.80 Giselle Fernandez - Riverbank (SJ)
5 4:46.83 Charlotte Hopkins - Arcadia (SS)
3200M:
1 9:58.02 Chiara Dailey - La Jolla (SD) 2 10:07.97 Charlotte Hopkins - Arcadia (SS) 3 10:12.15 Jaelyn Williams - Eastlake (SD) 4 10:16.90 Summer Wilson - Irvine (SS) 5 10:20.63 Isabella Ramirez - Bullard (CS)
Notes:
Dailey's incredible 2025 season sets her up as a dominant triple threat.
Williams has made the leap, with podium finishes at both NXN and Brooks and she will be tough to beat in the 3200 and may double in the 1600 and 3200 this year.
No elite runner in the country has improved like 3 mile National Record holder Summer Wilson has. Expect her to go sub 9:50 this year.
Combe ran the 5th fastest 1600M time in State history and her time is the #2 returning time in the country, and top for the Class of 2026. Her 2:06 split anchoring the 4X800 at NON shows she could be in the mix in the 800 also.
Grace Smith was only a freshman last year and is the top 800 returner. She had a tough XC season, but she's an elite 800 talent.
It will be interesting to see how the J Serra freshman girls do this year in track.
Clearly, So Cal (SS and SD) is dominating the state.
The year before there were 7 returning boys faster in the 3200m than the #1 this year. That foretold that XC was not going to have a strong year for individuals in Cal this year.
--Returning 3200M 2024:
1 Evan Noonan 8:43.12 2 Landon Pretre 8:48.11 3 Maximo Zavaleta 8:52.51 4 Trey Caldwell 8:53.69 5 Broen Holman 8:54.21 6 Eyan Turk 8:54.26 7 Eli Fitchen-Young 8:57.13 8 Ben Bouie 8:58.66 9 Arrin Sagiraju 8:58.99 10 Tyler Daillak 8:59.19 11 Miles Cook 9:00.38
--Returning 3200M 2025: 1 8:57.47 Isaac Abbott - Jesuit (SJ) 2 8:57.63 Maximo Zavaleta - ML King (SS) 3 8:57.90 Noel Huato - Del Oro (CS) 4 8:57.98 Conor Lott - Clovis North (CS) 5 9:00.58 Oliver Hunter - Dana Hills (SS)
JSerra returned 3 guys from the 4x800 state championship team, in addition to another 1:55 guy and a couple of more guys just over 2 minutes. JSerra seems to be better at the 800 and 1600 than XC.
Mira Costa returned 3 guys from the 4x800 state team, and also plenty of depth
Jesuit returned 2 guys from last year’s 4x800 state team, and also Bilodeau and plenty of depth
December Distance night was the first big-ish meet of the track season if you want to look through the results. 4:11 mile, 1:56 800, 9:07 2 mile, sub 15 5K as the top times. But there are some college athletes mixed in so not sure where the first high schoolers are.
Also a couple of winter champ qualifiers happened last weekend, but the times there aren't really much since the top guys are just trying to qualify on like tempo efforts.
The year before there were 7 returning boys faster in the 3200m than the #1 this year. That foretold that XC was not going to have a strong year for individuals in Cal this year.
Yeah, as a Cali homer, I was hoping nobody would notice the regression in boys' times.
Girls' times aren't too far off, but they're not as fast as last year. Removing Sadie (since she didn't end up running track, is a factor). The Class of 2025 was clearlly a special one for girls distance running in CA, but there is plenty of National talent and some familiar names who can make a statement, without a dominant runner in the state.
The year before there were 7 returning boys faster in the 3200m than the #1 this year. That foretold that XC was not going to have a strong year for individuals in Cal this year.
Yeah, as a Cali homer, I was hoping nobody would notice the regression in boys' times.
Girls' times aren't too far off, but they're not as fast as last year. Removing Sadie (since she didn't end up running track, is a factor). The Class of 2025 was clearlly a special one for girls distance running in CA, but there is plenty of National talent and some familiar names who can make a statement, without a dominant runner in the state.
1 9:58.02 Chiara Dailey 2 10:07.97 Charlotte Hopkins 3 10:12.15 Jaelyn Williams 4 10:16.90 Summer Wilson 5 10:20.63 Isabella Ramirez
800M:
2025 Returners: Avg 2:05.98 (2:06.61 w/o Sadie)
1 2:03.48 Sadie Engelhardt 2 2:06.11 Andrea Olivarez 3 2:06.45 Makenna Herbst 4 2:06.86 Skye Hanes 5 2:07.01 Keaton Robar
2026 returners: Avg: 2:08.57 1 2:07.33 Grace Smith - Claremont (SS) 2 2:07.99 Chiara Dailey - La Jolla (SD) 3 2:09.00 Chloe Elbaz - JSerra Catholic (SS) 4 2:09.12 Josie Hill - Technology (NC) 5 2:09.42 Shirayah Lewis-Williams - Wilson - Long Beach (SS)
Results from post #5, Delaney Napierala of Oaks Christian ran 4:51.59 for full mile in heat 7. She ran 18:43.9 at Woodward Park in the D4 state meet. She may just surprise many this coming track season.
Also don't leave out Amaya Bhardjawa from Palo Alto and Carol Dye of Santa Margarita. They were 8 and 9 in the 1600 final this past spring and they were much improved this just completed cross country season.
Results from post #5, Delaney Napierala of Oaks Christian ran 4:51.59 for full mile in heat 7. She ran 18:43.9 at Woodward Park in the D4 state meet. She may just surprise many this coming track season.
Also don't leave out Amaya Bhardjawa from Palo Alto and Carol Dye of Santa Margarita. They were 8 and 9 in the 1600 final this past spring and they were much improved this just completed cross country season.
I agree on all of that.
But I was surprised to see someone like Napierala run a 4:52 already. She's clearly still on XC fitness, but it's especially eye-opening that she had never run under 5:00 before, and runs it in Winter of her senior season. Almost makes me question the timing, especially when you see that other top girls in the race, Brynn Davenport and Maleah Johnson also PR'd. Legit or not, that probably should not happen at a night race in December.
JSerra returned 3 guys from the 4x800 state championship team, in addition to another 1:55 guy and a couple of more guys just over 2 minutes. JSerra seems to be better at the 800 and 1600 than XC.
Mira Costa returned 3 guys from the 4x800 state team, and also plenty of depth
Jesuit returned 2 guys from last year’s 4x800 state team, and also Bilodeau and plenty of depth
Don't sleep on LB Wilson; Jserra only returns two from winning State team
Results from post #5, Delaney Napierala of Oaks Christian ran 4:51.59 for full mile in heat 7. She ran 18:43.9 at Woodward Park in the D4 state meet. She may just surprise many this coming track season.
Also don't leave out Amaya Bhardjawa from Palo Alto and Carol Dye of Santa Margarita. They were 8 and 9 in the 1600 final this past spring and they were much improved this just completed cross country season.
I agree on all of that.
But I was surprised to see someone like Napierala run a 4:52 already. She's clearly still on XC fitness, but it's especially eye-opening that she had never run under 5:00 before, and runs it in Winter of her senior season. Almost makes me question the timing, especially when you see that other top girls in the race, Brynn Davenport and Maleah Johnson also PR'd. Legit or not, that probably should not happen at a night race in December.
She stated in her post race interview that her previous PB was 4:57.
It shouldn't come as a surprise when runners run fast at the end of cross country season on the track. They're fit from the cross country season. Look what Jane did two weeks.
Also you can watch the video on PoMan production. Heat 7.
JSerra returned 3 guys from the 4x800 state championship team, in addition to another 1:55 guy and a couple of more guys just over 2 minutes. JSerra seems to be better at the 800 and 1600 than XC.
Mira Costa returned 3 guys from the 4x800 state team, and also plenty of depth
Jesuit returned 2 guys from last year’s 4x800 state team, and also Bilodeau and plenty of depth
Don't sleep on LB Wilson; Jserra only returns two from winning State team
They return Morales, Friedl, Burnett from that team
Mentioned it on the CIF thread but Alden Morales ran 15:20 on Woodward, a massive PR and what I believe is his first healthy XC season. If he continues to stay healthy (only been kneecapped by injuries in his career so far) he's gonna be NASTY this season. Remember that he's already run 49.11 in the open. You would be hard pressed to find better range than that any year.
Actually the lineup included Burnett, Newman, Arrey, Morales. So yeah they lose 2 seniors but they still have plenty of talent back
Friedl ran on the teams that ran at Arcadia and Masters. Must have been nice to have that sort of back up as Jserra's slowest guy in open 800 on that State winning team was 1:53.
OP, Wyland Obando ran 1:49.67 last season. He ran that chasing Some kid named Cooper Lutkenhaus who managed to run 1:45.54 and win the race. BTW, Lukas Alberts was a soph last season and was not over-age like some jealous goofs tried to claim.
OP, Wyland Obando ran 1:49.67 last season. He ran that chasing Some kid named Cooper Lutkenhaus who managed to run 1:45.54 and win the race. BTW, Lukas Alberts was a soph last season and was not over-age like some jealous goofs tried to claim.
Yeah, noted this right off, and was going to make almost the exact same note until I saw your post. Obando had a great season, and so did Alberts who is very quick for a soph, just not unearthly like Lutkenhaus.
Hello gentlemen, we meet once again for our annual California high school track talk. (I am the guy who made the 2025 thread under my alt Tyris19)
Anyways, main thing I'm looking out for right now is who'll be breaking 1:50 this year. 1:51 to 1:49 is still a pretty big jump. Obando has done it already, but no one else yet. Morales did once at some random meet in early 2024 and... never got anywhere close since.
SJS is looking pretty deep again this year especially with Jesuit.
Also, don't be forgetting about the sprints, OP!
Top Boys Returners
100M (wind legal only)
1. Jaden Jefferson 10.27 100M champ from last year (not counting his 10.01 because that was mistimed). Arrington is excluded because he is not returning this year.
2. Benjamin Harris 10.31 Servite
3. Demare Dezeurn 10.32 Bishop Alemany
4. Rodney Sermons 10.36 Rancho Cucamonga
5. Chad Works-Wright 10.43 El Cerrito
I'm also curious if Servite is going to replicate their damning 4x100m from last year. First CA team under 40.00?
Hello gentlemen, we meet once again for our annual California high school track talk. (I am the guy who made the 2025 thread under my alt Tyris19)
Anyways, main thing I'm looking out for right now is who'll be breaking 1:50 this year. 1:51 to 1:49 is still a pretty big jump. Obando has done it already, but no one else yet. Morales did once at some random meet in early 2024 and... never got anywhere close since.
SJS is looking pretty deep again this year especially with Jesuit.
Also, don't be forgetting about the sprints, OP!
Top Boys Returners
100M (wind legal only)
1. Jaden Jefferson 10.27 100M champ from last year (not counting his 10.01 because that was mistimed). Arrington is excluded because he is not returning this year.
2. Benjamin Harris 10.31 Servite
3. Demare Dezeurn 10.32 Bishop Alemany
4. Rodney Sermons 10.36 Rancho Cucamonga
5. Chad Works-Wright 10.43 El Cerrito
I'm also curious if Servite is going to replicate their damning 4x100m from last year. First CA team under 40.00?
200M (wind legal only)
1. Prince Najeeb 20.79 St Ignatius
2. Jaden Jefferson 20.86
3. Cy Lugo 20.88
4. Rodney Sermons 20.92
5. Ben Harris 20.96
400M
1. Jaelen Hunter 46.32
2. Noah Smith 46.55
3. Brandon Smith 46.83
4. Kaedyn Burroughs 47.09
5. Keith Lee 47.22
Jaden's time was legit. I know how the timing system at the state meet was set up. It was two completely separate timing systems that give separate times with multiple means of picking up the starting pistol. Both systems caught the exact same time for each runner, and showed zero sign of malfunction, including working the exact same five minutes later for the second heat.
Harris is dangerous, although I saw a picture of him in a boot recently so i'm not sure how training is going? My shot in the dark pick for state champion is Dezeurn. He obviously learned a lot from his freshman year.
The 4x100 will of course, continue to be crazy this year. Poly always fills the gaps, and the servite vs poly battle for the first sub 40 relay in state history will probably come to its conclusion this year. Rancho and El Cerrito will be close behind though!
The 400m will be very very good this year. Very, very good. The top 4 runners are all from perennial programs who know how to develop runners well. I have no doubts we will see yet another sub 46 this year.
By the way, DQ'd state champion Clara Adams transferred to Long Beach Wilson. Watch out!
