SAN DIEGO SECTION PRESEASON TOP 10 TEAM RANKINGS
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The San Diego Section's expansion to three divisions for track and field last spring during the COVID-impacted season will remain in place for the 2022 outdoor season. As athletes in CA's southern-most section get set to take the line, we offer big-picture subjective rankings of the top teams in the section by gender, regardless of division.
BOYS
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1. Rancho Bernardo -- Although the Broncos do not have a section favorite, they look to score in as many as 10 events.
2. Cathedral Catholic -- With speedy Bryce Brock returning in both sprints (10.56 and 21.49), the Dons are solid with a quality 4x100 relay team, too.
3. Mission Hills -- Lamar Smith, a member of the "state" 4x100 gold medal team, is looking for a big season with lots of help.
4. San Marcos -- With distance aces Quinn Harder (1:55.17) and Levi Taylor (1:55.24) back, the Knights should be tough to beat.
5. Helix -- Adren Parker (48.05) came oh, so close, to breaking 48 seconds as a sophomore. Tibyasa Matovu (22-10 1/4) is a quality jumper.
5. Eastlake -- High jumper Justin Cardoza (6-8) is No. 2 in the state and triple jumper Brandon Buu (45-4) is very consistent.
7. Poway -- Big losses to graduation but the Titans are solid in most events, particularly the pole vault with Nathan Richards (14-3).
8. Lincoln -- Football standouts Jahlil Florence (10.77 100) and Jalil Tucker (11.04) give the Hornets a solid start to a 4x100 relay team.
9. Steele Canyon -- Leon Gillis jumps around a lot--6-3 in the high jump and 43-11 1/2 in the triple jump.
10. El Capitan -- No one on top but plenty of potential points from the likes of Xavier Peace (50.03) and Alex Fa'aea (48-1 shot and 141 discus).