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With everybody now lined up for Saturday, here are the Team Title projections going into the four CIF-SS Divisional Finals!
With several top athletes not moving forward to the postseason along with others opting to focus elsewhere, these are our rankings going into the final weekend. The projected scores are to the right of each squad and as you can see, we have some tight battles on hand! These rankings have been forever fluid over this past month, but however frustrated we are with no Masters Meet or State Meet - we have much more of a postseason than we did in 2020!
The post-season in the CIF-SS this spring is broken into four division-specific championship meets this Saturday. Each of the four division prelims and finals meets will be held at separate sites this year, as a result of safeguards in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MILESPLIT-CA SUBJECTIVE RANKINGS BY DIVISION
BOYS
DIVISION 1
(Finals at Trabuco Hills HS)1) Long Beach Poly - 49
2) Great Oak - 48
3) Long Beach Wilson - 46
4) Upland - 41
5) Cajon - 39
6) Rancho Cucamonga - 37
7) Vista Murrieta - 34
8) Murrieta Mesa - 22
9) Beckman - 20
10) ML King - 18
Others: Downey, Loyola, Westlake, Los Alamitos
Division 1 Boys Breakdown: With Upland losing Delaney Crawford to a hamstring injury at prelims, the barn door is now wide open for Long Beach Poly, Great Oak, and Long Beach Wilson. Upland is STILL in the fight as one mistake here and there from those three other squads will make a huge impact. While Upland looks to dominate the 110 Hurdles, Wilson looks to come back and dominate the 400. With that, Great Oak seeks huge points in the 800 meters and Triple Jump. The 2019 defending champion, LB Poly, has the most opportunities to score all around and with everybody stepping up a notch, could create a more secure gap before going into that last 4x400 relay, where Wilson is heavily favored. It's been quite some time that we've seen so many squads in play for the Divisional title as EVERY event will have some impact on the team title picture! Great Oak won four titles between 2013 and 2018 while this would be Poly's 11th overall title. Long Beach Wilson captured their only title in 1992 while Upland earned the runner-up plaque in 2018 and 2019.
DIVISION 2
(Finals at Moorpark HS)
1) Thousand Oaks - 67
2) Mater Dei - 39
3) Golden Valley - 35
4) Royal - 32
5) Canyon (CC) - 30
6) Dana Hills - 28
7) Redlands East Valley - 26
8) Edison - 25
9) Irvine - 23
10) West Ranch - 22
10) Canyon (Anaheim) - 22
Others: Culver City, Moorpark, Walnut
Division 2 Boys Breakdown: With Golden Valley losing Elijah Ellis in the jumps, it only increased the gap between Thousand Oaks and everybody else. Led by Daniel Sarisky, the Lancers present enough firepower in the sprints, relays, and hurdles to run away with this one while they also look for some additional points in the 1600 meters. The battle for the runner-up plaque should come down to the final relay as Royal looks to earn all their points in the distances. This would be Thousand Oaks' second team title with their only one coming way back in 1991. Mater Dei earned the runner-up plaque in 2019 while capturing the title in 2014.
DIVISION 3
(Finals at Estancia HS)1) South Pasadena - 93
2) St. John Bosco - 66
3) Cathedral - 59
3) Servite - 59
5) Harvard Westlake - 55
6) Notre Dame (SO) - 43
7) St. Francis (LC) - 21
8) Laguna Beach - 20
9) Chaminade - 19
9) Lompoc - 19
Others: Esperanza, Monrovia, Palos Verdes, Santa Margarita
Division 3 Boys Breakdown: South Pasadena has been the runaway favorite the past several weeks and with the improvement in the throws, continues to be so despite St. John Bosco improving. South Pasadena's strength lies in the distances where they are projected to earn over 40 points. Meanwhile, some nice lifetime bests turned in last weekend now project their throwers to score 24 more in a well-balanced attack. A nice battle for the runner-up plaque could very well come down to the 4x400 relay. The closest South Pasadena has even been to a CIF Divisional Championship was a runner-up was in ... 1943! (Back then, San Diego County schools were also part of Southern California and there were three divisions)
DIVISION 4
(Finals at Carpinteria HS)1) Oaks Christian - 86
2) Ontario Christian - 54
3) Fillmore - 52
4) Maranatha - 37
5) Serra - 35
6) St. Genevieve - 32
7) Carpinteria - 31
7) Crean Lutheran - 31
9) La Salle - 28
10) Foothill Tech - 22
Others: Big Bear, Brentwood, Heritage Christian, Silver Valley
Division 4 Boys Breakdown: Oaks Christian should run away with the fifth consecutive team title and sixth in the past seven postseasons! They are slated to score in 14 events and project to grab 38 points in the sprints and relays with an additional 31 in the jumps and Pole Vault. Fillmore's throwers (three advanced in both throws) and distance runners stepped it up and now fight for second place with Ontario Christian. OC's scoring more spread out and expects to score all around except for the jumps. The throwing events should determine second place, but up top, this will all be Oaks Christian - again!
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GIRLS
DIVISION 1
1) Long Beach Poly - 682) Roosevelt - 50
3) Long Beach Wilson - 39
4) Upland - 35
5) Ayala - 26
6) Yucaipa - 25
6) Lakewood - 25
6) Saugus - 25
9) Great Oak - 22
10) Vista Murrieta - 21
10) Redondo Union - 21
Others: Aliso Niguel, Crescenta Valley, Orange Vista
Division 1 Girls Breakdown: Projected to earn an eye-popping 34 points on her own, Jade McDonald is primed to lead her Long Beach Poly squad to their first title since 2017. With both relays and earning additional points in the jumps and Discus, this should be LB Poly's 20th Division 1 Team Title! Team champions in 2019, Roosevelt is in a strong position for the runner-up plaque but Poly will still need to execute in their projected scoring opportunities. There has only been one year (2016) where the Jackrabbits did NOT finish in the top two, ... this CENTURY!
DIVISION 2
1) JW North - 822) Golden Valley - 73
3) Mission Viejo - 45
4) Thousand Oaks - 44
5) Calabasas - 42
6) Mater Dei - 31
7) Dana Hills - 27
8) Peninsula - 25
9) Culver City - 23
10) Glendora - 21
Others: Chino, Moorpark, Ventura, West Ranch
DIVISION 3
1) Harvard Westlake - 1032) Notre Dame (SO) - 77
3) Santa Margarita - 52
4) Orange Lutheran - 48
5) JSerra - 45
6) South Pasadena - 43
7) Corona del Mar - 42
8) La Canada - 37
9) Oak Park - 25
10) North Torrance - 21
Others: Burroughs (Ridgecrest), Monrovia, Palos Verdes, Sonora
Division 3 Girls Breakdown - Losing Alyssa and Gisele Thompson to a CIF soccer match last Saturday initially seemed catastrophic to Harvard Westlake's championship chances. We had projected a 36 point advantage going into the prelims and while the gap is smaller, they are still heavy favorites for the title. They are represented in 14 events and expected to score over 40 in the jumps and Pole Vault alone with another 21 in the hurdles. Notre Dame (SO) will get the majority of their points (55+) in the 200/400 and throws. Harvard-Westlake last earned the Division 3 title in 2014, before Santa Margarita's historic run of five consecutive team titles from 2015-2019! This would be Notre Dame's first plaque earned since placing second as a team in 2007.
DIVISION 4
1) Oaks Christian - 1682) St. Anthony - 63
3) Serra - 53
4) Muir - 40
5) Mayfield - 22
6) Alemany - 21
6) St. Mary's Academy - 21
8) Archer School for the Girls - 16
8) Paraclete - 16
10) Fillmore - 15
Others: Bishop Diego, La Salle, St. Lucy's, St. Margaret's, Thacher
Division 4 Girls Breakdown: This one is a runaway train that has already left the depot! The divisional record for points accumulated is 131 by the Oaks Christian squad of 2015. The all-time record for all divisions is 148, achieved by Long Beach Poly in 2011. They are projected to score 70 points in the sprints and relays alone, with over 35 more from the distances. We should also expect more than 30 in the jumps and Pole Vault as they will score in 14 of the 16 events! Should be their sixth title over the past seven postseasons. The battle for that second-place plaque is intriguing as St. Anthony is slated to earn over 52 points in the hurdles and jumps while Serra counters with a projected 46 points in the sprints and relays.
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Mark Gardner is a teacher, former coach, an active in-demand announcer, and a regular contributor to MileSplitCA while serving as the Southern Section editor.