Underrated Boys Teams:
Thousand Oaks
A few of my fellow writers were higher on this team going into the season, but I decided to be more cautious. Looks like a mistake: TO finished third in the Sweeps race at Woodbridge (defeating West Ranch, Long Beach Poly, and a pair of strong Texas teams). The Lancers finished 10th this past weekend in Clovis, which is pretty much where I would have expected coming into the season, but now that feels more like a bit of an off-day. Let's just say that I can see the high potential for this team, and I'm looking forward to more races.
Ridgeview
I knew this was a talented squad coming into the season, but I wanted to see them against top competition before moving them up the list. Well, after their 8th-place finish in Clovis this past weekend pushed them up to the same spot in the state-wide rankings, I'm sold. This is the best team in the Central Section right now, and the Wolfpack are legit contenders in Division 3.
Bellarmine
After losing more talent to graduation than pretty much anyone else in California, I put Bellarmine in the Honorable Mention section. I knew they would be better than their returning rankings, as this is a deep and storied program, but I didn't anticipate them improving this much. The Bells finished 5th against strong competition at Stanford, then beat Granada to win at Crystal Springs this past weekend. This squad will be back in contention again when championship meets roll around, and that in itself is remarkable.
West Ranch
This year's most surprising team, the Wildcats currently rank 2nd in the state in the team 5K rankings and 6th in the 3 Mile lists. Take that first number with a grain of salt, because the Master's College course is either lightning fast or a bit short - but on the other hand, West Ranch finished 4th at Woodbridge and 3rd in Clovis, which makes them absolutely legit. I hope they're not racing too much in the first half of the season, but this program has a strong tradition and I expect them to be right back in the thick of the title hunt in November. That represents astonishing progress for a team I had in the Honorable Mention category. Oops.
