Could Dublin be a surprise team to watch in 2016? Team results from spring track season suggest it may be so.
Cross country is right around the corner, and we're celebrating by counting down to the start of the competitive fall season! Each day (except today!) we'll release one boys team and one girls team, counting down from 30 to 1 as we approach the beginning of real XC racing. The rankings were determined using the following information:
- Returning Team 5K & 3 Mile Rankings from 2015 XC: carries the most weight
- Returning Team 1600 and 3200 Rankings from 2015 Outdoor: less weight, but important
- Improvement Rating: a long-term statistical evaluation of how each program improves from season to season. This custom metric compares a team's final team average from each season to their returning team average from the previous season, while also accounting for how highly-ranked the team was. As we continue to improve the depth and quality of our data in California, this measure should get stronger and stronger. Improvement ratings will be the subject of a separate
- Returning team from the 2015 CIF state meet
- A little bit of "gut feeling"
Today we take a look at the handful of teams that just missed making the top 30, the Honorable Mention teams. These teams could very well end up in the top 25 by the end of the season, but appear to have a "weak spot" in the data that kept them out for now.
2016 #CountdownToXC Honorable Mention Boys Teams
Flintridge Prep
Has developed into a perennial power in Division 5, but lost a TON to graduation and will have to rebuild.
Desert Christian Lancaster
Return their top 6 from last year's 3rd-place team in Division 5, and could threaten for the division title this fall.
Palisades Charter
Has a strong enough front 3 to potentially crack the top 10 in Division 1, but has to develop depth.
Dublin
Doesn't score well in returning XC rankings, but had a solid spring in the team 1600 and 3200 that indicates good year-round development.
