Boys Coundown to XC Day 26: Thousand Oaks

The Lancers finished 5th in the Southern Section and 7th in the Division 2 state meet in 2018, but they did it with four since-graduated seniors on the squad. That might be a sign of a step back in 2019, but Thousand Oaks seems to have enough talent to run it back. The Lancers rank 6th among returning CIF-SS D2 teams, and they had strong team results on the track that indicate solid improvement. Michael Cooper, who seemed to struggle at the end of the fall season, had an excellent spring, clocking 4:23 and 9:33 and showing that he is ready to pair with returning #1 runner Michael Mireles up front. Mireles, for his part, ran 9:07, leading four total runners under 10 minutes. Depth is a concern, both in returning XC ranking and in team track rankings, but if that is addressed this team could repeat last year's success. What makes Thousand Oaks even more interesting to me is the local rivalry developing in the valleys northwest of Los Angeles, where three strong teams will all be vying for position within the section and spots in the state meet. More on that in the next few days...