Boys Coundown to XC Day 24: Simi Valley

I was delighted to find this cluster of teams rated closely in our countdown, all scattered around various sides of the same range of mountains and within about 10 geographic miles of a central point: Thousand Oaks, Agoura, and now Simi Valley. The Pioneers have the best returning rankings of the three schools, although they don't quite match the track rankings of their close rivals. Simi finished 6th in the Southern Section Division 2 finals, then ended up 13th at the state meet - and they graduated three seniors from that group. However, there is enough returning talent for their top 5 to be considered very formidable. Ian Gerth had a strong spring, matching returning #1 runner Nicholas Williams with a 4:25 1600 (and Bradley Williams was right behind them). The only thing keeping this team from being higher in the rankings right now is their depth - there is a solid gap between their returning 3 & 4 runners, and another from 5 to 6 (having a full fall season from Andrew Ahn would help there). If the Pioneers can develop a solid 4-7 group to go with a very strong front three, this team could be well up in the top 10 in Division 2 come November.