If it weren't for two very important pieces of information, I would say that the 2018 La Costa Canyon boys team has great potential but serious depth issues. The Mavericks do return 5 of their top 7 from last fall's 2nd-place team in Division 3, and those runners' times would be enough to get them consideration for the top 25. The first piece of information is their Improvement Rating, which is better for the 5K than every other California team except one. That indicates great year-round progress, which is also supported by solid track season numbers. Garrett and Jacob Stanford are developing into state-wide stars, both clocking 4:13 in the 1600 and 9:21 for 3200 this spring while Andy Peuschel continued to run well and James Miramontes showed he may be ready to break into the top 7. The other piece of information that improves La Costa Canyon's status in the countdown? That would be the transfer of Caleb Niednagel, who comes over from Dana Hills with PR's of 4:17, 9:14, and 15:26. Niednagel finished 10th in the Division 1 race last fall, and that time would have placed him 4th in D3 - right ahead of the Stanford brothers. His addition gives the Mavericks arguably the best 1-2-3 combination in the state, and it helps ease the team's depth concerns - instead of needing to develop 2-3 top 7 runners, they really only need 1 more capable of pushing the top 5 to reach their full potential as title contenders after a move up to Division 2 this fall.
| RANK | TIME | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATEPLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15:31.50 | 2019 | ||
| 2 | 15:33.00 | 2019 | ||
| 3 | 16:29.30 | 2020 | ||
| 4 | 16:50.85 | 2020 | ||
| 5 | 17:14.00 | 2019 | ||
| 6 | 18:28.15 | 2021 | ||
| 7 | 19:10.02 | 2020 |
Team Statistics:
- 5K Improvement Rating: 2nd
- 5K Returning Rankings: 20th
- 3200 Returning Rankings: 23rd
- 1600 Returning Rankings: 28th