Rankings: The Southern Section's Top 25 Teams

GIRLS SOUTHERN SECTION - TOP 25 


The depth of Great Oak's girls, on display in the Team Sweepstakes victory at Mt. SAC, include (from right) Aubrie Nex, Kelli Gaffney, Audrey Dang and Aishling Fabian. (Credit: Raymond Tran)

1) Great Oak (Div. 1) -- They continue to steamroll the competition in capturing the Team Sweeps at Mt. SAC, despite resting two varsity girls.  When one girl is off, another one simply steps up as was the case in Arianna Griffiths!  She is back to make them much stronger than they were a month ago.  
2) Newbury Park (Div. 2) -- Rested most of the varsity squad.   Their regular no. 6-7 runners, crossed in 18:29 and 18:40 respectively at the Riverside Invite.  They are prepared to hold off a strong group of Division 2 foes next month!  
3) Saugus (Div. 1) -- Respectable effort at the Mt. SAC Invite with runner-up finish in the Team Sweeps. Recorded a 93:29 team time while patiently allowing their top returner from last year to develop her fitness for November.    
4) Vista Murrieta (Div. 1) -- They have run their varsity squad together in only one race but when you synergize everybody together, it warrants their move up our rankings.  The back end of their line-up continues to improve as well while they only ran three of their top six (with one at tempo pace) last week at the Riverside Invite.  
5) El Toro (Div. 2) -- Rested varsity squad after a huge victory to capture the Orange County Championships two weeks ago.  And that was without Grace Griffin who is rebounding from injury for a strong November.  Tons of improvement from several key scorers in 2019.  
6) Claremont (Div. 2) --  Rested out their top seven, while their junior varsity impressed in averaging 20:18 in very dry conditions at Mt. SAC.  Those times would have competing for third place in JV National Championship race.  
7) Brea Olinda (Div. 3) -- Rested out their entire squad after coming off a dominating performance at the Orange County Championships (they placed second in the overall merge).  This was a week after their coming out party at Clovis!   Whitney Valenti and Mia Douge has been impressive to say the least.
8) Canyon, Anaheim (Div. 2) -- Rested out their no. 2 at Mt. SAC but still finished fifth in the Team Sweeps.  A week earlier, they placed third at the Orange County Championships.  As they continue to build depth, a healthy no. 2 will pay huge dividends in November.   Emma Hadley continues to roll as one of the section's best.  
9) Mira Costa (Div. 1) --  As they sat out Dalia Frias last weekend, this squad continues to puzzle us in who their top five are!  Ten different girls have finished in their top five this season
10) Serrano (Div. 2) -- As they ran very well at Clovis, they had some hiccups in repeating that same effort in the team Sweeps.  With no depth to spare, their no. 2, Maribel Aguilar, was 69 seconds off of their front-running Tiani Goeson (At Clovis, she was only 25 seconds behind).   
11) Ayala (Div. 1) -- Their varsity stayed disciplined and used the Riverside Invite as a threshold workout last weekend.  Don't be fooled by their times as their strength was on display a week earlier in placing fourth in Oregon.  
12) San Clemente (Div. 1) --  While Hana Catsimanes was running with the 33-second victory in the Individual Sweeps, the rest of her squad were busy impressing us at the Riverside Invite.  Adding Hana into the mix with the rest of the Tritons, they would have been the fastest team there last weekend.  
13) Beckman (Div. 1) -- After a sub-par effort at the Orange County Championships, the Patriots came out firing to capture the Riverside Invite last weekend.  Their eye-popping 13-second scoring spread is what stood out most as they boast a relatively young squad with two freshmen and two sophomores in their scoring five.  They ran a 93:20 on the Riverside Course.  
14) Simi Valley (Div. 2) -- Our biggest climber up the charts placed a surprising third in the Team Sweepstakes at Mt. SAC last weekend.  With Jill Walker crossing in 17:39, the squad blew the doors in relation to their times at Clovis two weeks earlier!  
15) Quartz Hill (Div. 1) -- As this group catapulted into the State Meet conversation after their performance at Clovis, they backed it up with their runner-up finish at the Riverside Invite last weekend.  Freshman Brianne Smith rolled to a 17:38 on her first time on the championship course.  
16) Tesoro (Div. 1) -- Perhaps overlooked until last weekend, Clara Meade led her squad to a 93:46 team time at the Riverside Invite.  A trio of freshmen have stepped in to elevate this squad to one that can contend for one of those seven State Meet spots in Division 1.  
17) Yucaipa (Div. 1) -- The Thunderbirds took last weekend off and have been selective in their competition schedule.  Last time out, they shined at the Temecula Twilight Invite.   
18) Ventura (Div. 2) -- They took last weekend off but captured the Ventura County Championships the week prior.   Madeleine Locher continues to roll forward with her 46-second victory two weeks ago.  
19) Palos Verdes (Div. 3) -- They took last weekend off.   One of the strongest 1-2 punches in the section, but they have their work cut out for them in competing with Brea Olinda for that Division 3 crown next month.  
20) Aliso Niguel (Div. 1) --  With her strong showing at the Orange County Championships, Emily Richards backed it up with her 18:02 performance at Mt. SAC.  The gap between their no. 3 and no. 4 does cause some worry, as they need to close that gap to get into the State Meet picture.  
20t) Foothill (Div. 2) --  Due to transportation issues, this group had to compete later (in warmer conditions) at the Riverside Invite and dominated their level with a 95:20 team time.   A 42-second scoring gap backed up their strong performance the week prior at the Orange County Championships.  
22) Dana Hills (Div. 2) --  Freshman Allura Markow continues to shine with her 17:46 effort at the Riverside Invite last weekend.   They sat out the majority of their varsity squad.  
23) La Serna (Div. 1) --  95:40 at the Riverside Invite keeps them hovering around the top ten in Division 1.   Maddie Franco leads the group with her 18:13 at Clovis, coming back with an 18:24 last weekend.
24) Orange Lutheran (Div. 4) -- They took last weekend off.   Great effort (97:27 team time) at Clovis keeps them in our Top 25.   
25) Capistrano Valley (Div. 2) --  With Carly Corsinita away on a recruiting trip last weekend, the rest of the squad competed at Mt. SAC.  A week earlier, they finished just ahead of Woodbridge at the Orange County Championships.
Others: Burbank, Chino Hills, Crescenta Valley, Foothill Tech, Los Alamitos, Mayfield, Northwood, Trabuco Hills, Woodbridge, Yorba Linda