Southern Section Top 25 Team Rankings


Newbury Park's Archana Mohandas (2286) and Fiona Hawkins (2284) ran with Great Oak's Tori Gaitan during the 39th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at the SilverLakes Sports Complex. (Credit: Raymond Tran)

--

TOP 25 GIRLS SQUADS

1) Great Oak (Div. 1) -- With some new faces, this group could be as good as any of the past State Championship squads!  Being humbled at Woodbridge, despite their 17:14 average per runner will be a key motivator these next two months!  Three of their five were freshmen (all under 17:25) last weekend while they anticipate a major scorer - Arianna Griffiths -- back for the postseason.  
2) Newbury Park (Div. 2) -- If you read our 2019 season preview, you noticed how we had Newbury Park very much in the mix with the section's best, so we are not surprised whatsoever.  But, with that -- we did not anticipate THIS!  An 86:35 monster effort at Woodbridge led by junior Fiona Hawkins' 18th-place finish (16:53.7). And keep in mind, they were not at full strength. 
3) Saugus (Div. 1) -- Patient approach to the season, while shining with a limited lineup at Cool Breeze and the BYU Invite in Utah; top returner, Julia Pearson, opens her season this weekend along with another top scorer.  
4) Anaheim Canyon (Div. 2) -- 88:26 team time at Woodbridge as Bella Frisone works her way back from a limited summer.  The squad proved why they are one of the best in the section and performed as expected with Emma Hadley up front (15th, 16:49.9).  (Hadley is bib 8506 in Patrick Corsinita photo below.)
5) El Toro (Div. 2) -- Solid improvement from Darla Medina while Alexis Neuville is working way back into the top three.  Dangerous squad that has positioned themselves well for another successful run at the State Meet. 
6) Mira Costa (Div. 1) -- 89:39 team time at Woodbridge led by Dalia Frias' 16:34 performance.  We can see this group continue to move up our list as the season moves on.  
7) Chino Hills (Div. 1) -- Sophomore Jacqueline Duarte has some nice support behind her now as evidenced by their 90:09 team effort at Woodbridge.  A freshman is one of the reasons for their success but the Huskies are still achieving higher than we projected a month ago.  
8) Claremont (Div. 2) -- One of the best trios in the section up front (Maddie Coles, Azalea Segura-Mora, Angie Gushuebut still needing to shore up the gap beyond that group to break into the top five.  Solid showing in Illinois last weekend (third place among 66 teams on their state meet course).  

9) Serrano (Div. 2) -- Installing a new approach in 2019 by staying away from the big So Cal races early on.   They were slightly overwhelmed by some of the nation's best at Bob Firman last weekend and a 1:48 scoring gap.  
10) Ayala (Div. 1) -- 91:43 (91:05??) at Woodbridge despite but results are still missing from Emily Garcia (18:14) from that meet.  Shaina Berk and Megan Oh continue to develop well to lead this crew.   Some very impressive improvement in the post-Mikaela Ramirez era.    (Due to this timing malfunction, we've moved them from 12th up to 10th)  

11) Yucaipa (Div. 1) -- 91:18 at Woodbridge; Dani Gee has found a solid unit of support, finishing the whole group crossing less than a minute later.
12) San Clemente (Div. 1) -- With Hana Catsimanes competing in the Girls Sweepstakes race, the rest of the squad shined on their own in showcasing a solid summer of training. 90:42 team time at Woodbridge and one of the big movers on this list. (Catsimanes is bib 3027 in Patrick Corsinita photo.)

13) Vista Murrieta (Div. 1) -- Missing two of the top returners from 2018 where they ended up at California's top representative at NXN. This group only focuses on the last few races of the season, so we're not letting them drop too far here.  94:24 at Woodbridge
14) Simi Valley (Div. 2) -- Pleasant surprise with their 90:54 team time at Woodbridge; Jill Walker has found a solid support network to throw the Pioneers back into the State Meet conversation.  
15) Palos Verdes (Div. 3) -- 90:12 team time at Woodbridge reveals a squad stronger than we had projected; 2:35 was by far, the largest of all of our top squads from Woodbridge though.  
16) 
16) Trabuco Hills (Div. 1) -- Another squad that surprised us with their 91:46 team time on Friday night at Woodbridge. Solid track season has transferred over to cross country! 
17) Aliso Niguel (Div. 1) -- Competed well at Mt. Carmel as Carly Schuerger leads this group while the improved Emily Richards joining her toward the front.  
18) Ventura (Div. 2) -- Madeleine Locher continues to be one the section's best while the team produced a solid effort at their league meet last week and even better at Friday afternoon's Raider Invite (which moved them up from #21 to #18 upon further research!)
19) Beckman (Div. 1) -- A squad that has been on the cusp of breaking into the top groups in Division 1 since last year; 92:20 at Woodbridge but their 25-second scoring gap is what is most impressive
20) Burbank (Div. 1) - 92:08 at Woodbridge has them knocking on the door for breaking into the top 10 squads in Division 1. 
21) West Ranch (Div. 1) -- Difficult to read thus far; while front running Alexis Fernandez is on campus, she is not competing for the team at this point.  
22) Orange Lutheran (Div. 4) -- Solid performance at Woodbridge in bringing home 92:11 team time.  
23) Quartz Hill (Div. 1) -- Like their boys, this crew has been a nice surprise early on; 92:21 team time at Woodbridge.
24) Mission Viejo (Div. 2) -- Despite graduating six of their top seven, the Diablos are back!  Inserting one of the top freshmen in Orange County to keep Ashley Johnson company up front helps as they ran to a 92:26 team time at Woodbridge. 
25) Brea Olinda (Div. 3) -- 92:51 team time from the Friday night session at Woodbridge.

On the cusp -- Capistrano Valley, Dana Hills, El Segundo, Foothill, Foothill Tech, Glendora, Harvard/Westlake, Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Northwood, Santiago.


ADDED BONUS!!!
Orange County Girls - Top 10 Teams
1) Canyon, Anaheim
2) El Toro
3) San Clemente
4) Trabuco Hills
5t) Beckman
5t) Aliso Niguel
7) Orange Lutheran
8) Mission Viejo
9t) Brea Olinda
9t) Laguna Beach
On the cusp: Capistrano Valley, Dana Hills, Foothill, Los Alamitos, Northwood, Woodbridge, Yorba Linda 

Orange County Boys - Top 10 Teams
1) Dana Hills
2) El Toro
3) Beckman
4) San Clemente
5) Godinez
6) Capistrano Valley
7) Trabuco Hills
8) Woodbridge
9) Brea Olinda (missing Manara @ Woodbridge)
10) Santa Ana
On the cusp: Aliso Niguel, Canyon, Esperanza, Foothill, JSerra, Mission Viejo

- - -

Mark Gardner is the Southern Section editor for MileSplitCA.