DIVISION IV BOYS
TIER 1
Cathedral - The Phatoms return most of their crew from their 2017 State and Divisional champion squad. Junior Tyriq Granillo returns as one of the division's best, rolling to a 15:35 last postseason. He is coming off an impressive 9:36 track season but Andrew Cantu truly impressed on the track, improving down to a 9:32. Alberto Lopez also returns with a postseason best of 15:38 along with David Salazar's 16:03. Andrew Matas, Gabriel Galaz and Bryce Granillo will also be key factors in Cathedral's bid to repeat. Glancing at stats from this past track season, we see missing names compared to several of the other top squads, which can be disconcerting. But, no other squad left last season with as much as success and depth as Cathedral. They will have their hands full but they get the nod as the preseason favorite as this will be their fifth straight trip to the state meet.
JSerra - Anthony Grover and Peter Herold are two of the best in the Southern Section, regardless of 
divisions. Both are coming off of monster track seasons as Grover was one of the fastest sophomores in the nation with his 4:13/9:14 efforts this past spring. Herold didn't exactly sit in his shadow with his own 4:18/9:17 season on the oval. Meanwhile, Matthew Burkhardt improved down to 4:25/9:47 bests and why he is projected to also finish amongst the top ten at the divisional finals. Luc Bragdon had a 4:29 track season while Kennie Arriola was one of the best freshmen in the division, recording 4:37 and 10:11. On paper, Cathedral gets the nod from past accomplishments on the cross country course, but after this track season, JSerra will right there fighting with them to the end. This will be the Running Lions sixth straight trip to the state meet and eighth in the past nine seasons.
Laguna Beach - Laguna Beach is right there with our other two squads but depth is the relative concern as they graduated three from last year's 2nd place squad from a year ago. Up front, the Breakers are loaded with talent, as we project their trio to finish in the top 15. Seniors Ryan Smithers, Sebastian Fisher and Zachary Falkowski all broke 4:26 this past track season while Smithers' stock increased with his 9:24 showing at the divisional finals. Moving into the large schools-dominated Sunset League, they were placed in the less competitive Wave division and should advance as the top seed in November. Mateo Bianchi (4:41/10:07) is coming off a solid freshman track season while this crew will have enough to easily advance back to the state meet. If so, it will be an 11th trip in the past 16 seasons.
TIER 2
South Pasadena - Making the move over from Division III, this made Division IV much more competitive this season. The Tigers will have to overcome the graduation of Oliver Chang, but possess enough returning depth to compete with some of the division's best. Sam Clark and Alex Grijalva give them two strong frontrunners. Meanwhile, Kai Dettman and Nicolo Porcu are coming off of impressive track seasons. Michael Xiong provides with another that can potentially break 16 minutes this postseason. They could use more depth at the back end of the varsity group, but they possess five that should be enough for a trip to Fresno. They took 8th place in Division III a year ago, but this could be their first time in school history that they advance a team onto the state meet.
Big Bear - Big Bear is looking to qualify a team to the state meet for the first time since 2012. Taking 13th last year, they return their main core and also welcome back their top runner who was injured last November. Raul Rodriguez is looking to shine at his best this November and lead his squad as he improved to a 9:53 in the 3200 this past spring. Gianni Roberts, Fletcher Little, Gabe Rivera, Alex Rodriguez and Alex Spink progressed well this track season as well. Rivera and Roberts both ran in the mid-16's on the Riverside Championship course last November, while we project Rodriguez as a top ten finisher at the divisional finals. Big Bear is done finishing between 9th and 13th the past five seasons and this crew has the talent to punch a ticket to Fresno.
TIER 3
Ocean View - Moving over from Division III, the Seahawks placed 7th last year and secured a spot to the state meet. They only graduated two of their top six. Edwin Montes has been a catalyst for this surge from Ocean View as this will be their fourth straight trip to the divisional finals. He is coming off a 4:24/9:53 track season while Jason St. Pierre also stepped it up with 4:30/9:57 stats to his resume. Miguel Flores also returns from last year's squad while Parker Walpole was also on the 2017 squad as a freshman.
Crean Lutheran - This will be their seventh time qualifying for the divisional finals in the past eight seasons. This year's crew has enough up front to put them back in contention for making the state meet, like they did in 2016. Garrett Miller is one of the division's best owning a 15:28 best on the Riverside Championship course. Couple him up with Dylan Kochan (15:58), they are solid up front. Jacob Sutherland impressed this past track season with 4:37/10:03 bests. THE huge concern here is their lack of depth. While they stack up well through four returning scorers, they sorely need a No. 5 scorer to secure a spot to the state meet.
Foothill Tech - No squad graduated as much as the Dragons did last year. On paper, one could make an 
argument that they belong in the lower tier. But, we already witnessed some improvement this past track season and as most know from the last three decades, NEVER underestimate a Ken Reeves-coached squad. Henry Pick is their lone scorer returning from their 3rd place squad in 2017 and coming off of a great track season that yielded him 4:23/9:23 personal bests. This will be an up-hill battle to make it to a 5th straight state meet but with the depth of this program, along with Jason Messner (1:59/4:38) along with sophomores Oliver Pick (4:37/9:59) and Finn Blacker (10:04), they'll be right there in the mix come November.
TIER 4
Bishop Amat - Taking 5th place last year, they will need to replace the loss of two graduates if they plan to make it a fourth trip in the past five seasons to the state meet. They will also want to replicate their condensed 44-second gap between their scoring five as well. James Leon and Isaiah Hernandez are their top two returners, but coming back with state meet experience. Leon is coming off a 4:46/10:01 track season. They are right on the cusp on that third tier and with solid improvement, we would not be surprised to see competing for a state meet spot once again.
Granite Hills - Moving over from Division III, they were a divisional finalist with a 23rd place finish. They return all of their squad but still need more improvement to break into that third tier. Mannie Esplin is their top returner, just dipping under 16 minutes on the Riverside Championship course last year. He improved to 4:26/9:39 splits and should compete to finish in the top ten in November. They do return five others that went under 4:55 this past Spring but will need to close that gap on frontrunner Esplin to finish in the top 10.
Fillmore - This should be the eighth time in last nine seasons qualifying for the divisional finals. On paper, they should have one of the tightest scoring packs in the division. Nick Villela in their top returner from last postseason with a 16:45 time. But their No. 5 scorer's best is 17:03. They are also young as we project three sophomores in their scoring five. As a freshman, Fabian Del Villar had the best track season, leaving with 4:37/9:47 bests. If their crew can stay within range of Del Villar, the Flashes could surprise as we project them possibly finishing amongst the top ten in November.
Pioneer - A very young crew that still may be a year away. The Titans' roster will be dominated by juniors. Nathaniel Estrada and Sergio Martin ran 16:01 and 16:20 last postseason as sophomores. Estrada improved down to a 4:29 this past track season. Marcelo Martinez also demonstrated some improvement this past track season. If they can close that gap on their front two, Pioneer will finish much higher than their 21st place finish a year ago and perhaps, transform themselves into a state meet team for 2019.
Cabrillo - Fading back to 22nd place a year ago, they return their entire squad. Osvaldo Espinoza is their top returner from last postseason. Eddie Trejo, Nathan Schatz, and Jacob Brown all ran almost identical 16:51s last November. With steady improvement, the Conquistadors could move up to a top ten finish, which would be their first time since 2014.
Harvard Westlake - This will should be their 13th consecutive trip to the divisional finals. That streak has yielded them seven trips to the state meet but with a close 8th place finish in 2017. They return one of the division's best, Andrew Shibuya, who is coming off a 4:33/9:29 track season. But showing great improvement, Keon Mazdisnian created his own impressive 4:28/9:40 resume as well. For the Wolverines to rise to the top of this tier, they will need to develop their depth as they already have two of the division's best up front for them.