Division 4 Girls
Teams to Watch
Amador won this division in 2014, and the Buffalos have enough talent back to repeat, having lost only 2 seniors (one from the top 5). But it wasn't easy last year, and it won't be this year, either: Union Mine looks poised to move up from 3rd and challenge for the team title, especially when you look at 5K team rankings. Last year's runner-up, Riverbank, graduated 2 of their top 3 runners from the section finals meet, but they still have enough depth to be considered contenders. Depending on how summer training went for these three teams, and how the season breaks for each of them, this could develop into the most interesting team battle in the section. Watch out for a Dixon squad that returns all 7 runners from 2014, too.
Returning Team 5K Rankings
Individuals to Watch
Cassie Land (Sonora) won the battle of two freshmen last year, and in so doing she also won the Division 4 section title. She defeated fellow Class of 2018 standout Kaela Dishion (Bret Harte) in November, and then Land went on to post a stellar 10:54 for 3200 in the spring, second only to Fiona O'Keeffe among returning SJS girls. That kind of time indicates the potential to go well under 18 minutes this year, so it will be interesting to see how she builds on her big improvement during track season. Iris Carillo (Weston Ranch) moves down from D3 with a sub-19 time, and that should put her in contention with Dishion at a minimum. It's not all underclass runners in the division, either: rising senior Kim Ruvalcaba (Riverbank) should be able to hang with the lead pack at the section finals after placing 4th last year.