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This article is contributed content courtesy of Mike Carroll.
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The most recent league championships in the Sac-Joaquin Section showed which teams were trending and those that continue to be affected by injuries and sickness. Many teams have struggled to maintain a dependable top-5 and others have had undesirable gaps back to their fourth and fifth runners. Going into the SJS subsections this weekend we finally get to see the best that the section has to offer.
Below we take a deep look at the three largest divisions in the SJS with a focus on top team and individual competitors.
BOYS TEAMS
Division 1
The subsection meet in Angels Camp, might give us a better glimpse of Division 1's 3-4-5 runners rather than how the top runners compete against each other. The 10 teams qualify for the section finals in Folsom the following week, so many of the deeper teams will try to run as a pack. All the top teams have struggled to find their last scoring runners at the beginning of the season, but Jesuit might be the first to solve that problem based on league final results. While their two seniors have lost some time to other team's top runners, their 4-5-6 runners have definitely stepped up to provide some assurance of one of the state meet qualifier berths, if not another section title.
Now that Division 1 boys has three State Meet qualifier slots for teams, this has created some excitement for teams that don't normally factor into the postseason.
Davis lost its No. 2 returning runner Connor Cougevan due to injury but Lucas Tam, Jay Doctor and Jefferson Wright have superbly helped out all season with reliable scoring in the 2-3-4 positions. Their main issue is the big time gap back to their No. 5 runners, which have been different runners this year.
Folsom is in the same situation as Davis as one of their top scoring runners was missing from league finals, and although he is listed in the subsection lineup, they will have to get good results from multiple underclassmen to get to state.
Other teams in consideration for a State berth include, McClatchy, which was the only team to have four runners under 10:00 at the HOKA Postal Invitational, and Lincoln-Stockton, which had fast times at Woodbridge Invitational. While they both struggle to find their fifth runner, they will also need to step-up on the hilly courses that go with SJS XC postseason.
Boys Individuals
Division 1
Amazingly the two best boys in the section have never met this season and they are both in Division 1. Davis senior Ryan Mitchell and Folsom senior Nathan Short were supposed to meet at the Josh Ruff Invitational but after the course was changed from a 5K to a shorter distance, Davis opted to travel down south to compete in 5K at the Kim Duyst Invitational.
The subsection meet will give a glimpse of the race tactics they use, before they face again next week at the section finals in Folsom.
Mitchell has been setting course records all season and other than his fifth place in the Clovis XC Invitational Championship race he has been undefeated. Short has also been on a win streak with notable wins at the XL Division Race at Clovis and William Jessup Invitational in Rocklin. His only loss happened at his first meet of the season, when he lost to league rival Devin Pereira of Rocklin. Pereira has had a break-out season with solid wins at the Sierra and Oakmont Invitationals, and has finished second to Short in most of the other races.
Folsom has the strongest 1-2 runners in the section, and Short's senior teammate Ethan Smith might be the wild card for the SJS title based on his league final results.
Other individuals to keep an eye out for individual state qualifier berths include Jesuit senior Brandon Moreno, Oak Ridge senior Troy Esparza, Lincoln-Stockton senior Jeffrey Overgaard, McClatchy senior Alec Redmond, Pleasant Grove junior John Funderburg.
Boys Teams
Division 2
Whitney has the best team in the section, not just the division, and have multiple wins against Jesuit and Folsom this season to prove this. If there was a lock for a section title, then Whitney would have that honor.
In 2022, Whitney returns a deep and talented team led by seniors Mateo Delgadillo and Nick Herrmann. They have been ranked as high as sixth in the division. Whitney often demonstrates a timing gap for their 1-5 runners of less than 30 seconds, and they possibly could have three runners going under 16 minutes at the State Meet.
Coach Jerry Dodge's patient approach to training mileage and racing tactics have been demonstrated year after year. In the long cross country season, high volume running too early commonly leads to injury prior to postseason, when the meets really matter. Whitney uses a mileage formula that usually gives results at the right time, and they commonly run negative splits in the second half of their races.
Last season's section champion was Vacaville, which is currently the closest team to Whitney, led by Donovan Cheruiyot who had an impressive victory in the Large Schools Division at Clovis. Vacaville scored a perfect 15 points in their league meet but need to tighten up their 1-5 scoring gap if they are going to return to the State Meet.
Whitney might place their 1-5 runners ahead of all the other schools' runners in this division, but that won't make it any less exciting for those competing for the last qualifying spot.
Woodcreek has a new coach and a young team, and defeated Bella Vista at the CVC league finals. Bella Vista's postseason might rest on Kellen Kirby, who was injured earlier in the season, didn't compete at league finals, but is scheduled to run this Saturday. Hopefully he is injury-free and ready to lead the Broncos.
Vista del Lago had inconsistent results from their scoring runners earlier in the season, but as the Eagles usually do, they peaked in the postseason, and handily defeated Rio Americano for the Capital Athletic League championship. Without a strong front-runner though, they will have to rely upon their depth to defeat the previously mentioned teams.
Boys Individuals
Division 2
If you factor out the strong individuals from Whitney and Vacaville, the opportunity for individual runners to advance to State is wide-open. Rio Americano's Cyrus Justinian had a disappointing race on the Willow Hills course during CAL finals, where he went out aggressively and ran out of steam just before the finish line. He won't make that mistake twice though and should take his first trip to the State Meet. River Valley's Eddie Jensen used a late race surge at the CVC finals and was a surprise winner over Eragon Tijerina and Alexander Vigil of Roseville. The rest of the individual contenders will show up at subsections in Angels Camp, but during the section finals in Folsom, they will have to finish in the top 14, which might include 5-7 Whitney runners and 3-4 Vacaville runners.
Boys Teams
Division 3
Oakdale has been state-ranked No. 1 in boys Division 3 most of the season and with their depth and top-end talent, it would be an upset for them not to win the section title or even the State title. Led by seniors Dax Daley, Caleb Cavanaugh and junior Jackson Oliveira they have only been tested by larger schools this season, and it will be interesting to see what tactics they employ in the SJS playoffs to keep their runners healthy before state.
After Oakdale, there are two other State Meet qualifying spots that are very much up for grabs. Ponderosa, which won the FVL title last week , is led by FVL Individual MVP Joshua Chu with an impressive time of 14:34 on the 3-mile course at Maidu Park. This was a significant victory over Placer who are led by Julian Doak (14:51 same course) but will have to improve on the No. 4 and No. 5 positions to make it to state.
Sierra Valley Conference champions, El Dorado, dominated their league meet led by senior, Benjamin Sallee, and junior, Braidon Campora and were six points ahead of Placer in the small schools division at the Tom Laythe Invitational. Beyer does not travel to Sacramento very often but finished quite a ways back from Placer and El Dorado at the Tom Laythe Invitational.
Beyer senior, Nathaniel Olsen had a good time on the hilly Willow Hills course, but with a 2-minute time gap back to their No. 5 runners will have to tighten this up to be competitive. The location of these schools lend well to their hill-climbing ability and this will play an important factor on the Frogtown and Willow Hills courses and who moves on to state.
Boys Individuals
Division 3
This will be a fun race to watch in Folsom as there are many talented runners on dominant teams. The Willow Hills course tends to favor the patient runner who doesn't go out too aggressively on the first time of the Oak Tree loop. Joshua Chu has to be the favorite to take the section title, with a stunning 15:48 race on the same course. Only Ryan Mitchell, favorite for the Division 1 individual title, has gone under 16:00 this season at Willow Hills and Joshua was only eight seconds behind him. The only thing that might prevent him achieving the same time would be someone to push him. Other individuals who are good bets for State individual berths are Oakdale's Dax Daley, Caleb Cavanaugh, Beyer's Nathanael Olsen, Roseville's Eragon Tijerina and Alexander Vigil, Placer's Julian Doak, Lincoln's Jaden Trujillo and Del Oro's Jack Sindt.
Girls Teams
Division 1
Oak Ridge has been the dominant team in the section for the last couple of years, and if not for the pandemic they might have pulled off a 3-peat of their D1 section title. The Division 1 in the SJS lost a State qualifying spot this year, and although down to two, the Oak Ridge girls should have no problem returning to Fresno.
Oak Ridge returns a strong varsity squad, including a deep set of fast frosh/soph runners that have been giving their upper-class teammates a challenge. Not a bad problem to have. They have been battling with Granite Bay and St Francis all season at various invitationals, but Granite Bay had the last laugh after they secured the Sierra Foothill League title last weekend.
Oak Ridge has had a few recent injuries but gratefully they have a few weeks before they face the best that SoCal has to offer.
The biggest question for Girls Division 1 is who will join Oak Ridge. Davis and Franklin - Elk Grove both have a strong No. 1 runner with top five 5k times in the division, but whoever gets the smallest time gap between their 1-5 runners will probably end up with the second State qualifying spot. Davis did beat Franklin by 15 points at the Delta League finals.
Girls Individuals
Division 1
Norah Dulaney of Davis claimed the individual title at the Delta League finals last week and had the fastest Division 1 time of the day at William Jessup University, just ahead of Brooke Butler of Oak Ridge, who just missed breaking 18 minutes on the hilly course. Louisa McNatt is following in her sister's footsteps and claimed the Metro League individual title, which followed an impressive victory on a Willow Hills course in 19 minutes at the Tom Laythe Invitational.
Some other top runners that we should see in the front pack of the race are any number of Oak Ridge team members, depending on their health, including frosh Adriana Ingargiola, sophomore Fiona Gordon and senior Quinn Walker. Alana Farve of Sheldon (CA) and Jenna Calvert of Franklin - Elk Grove had top-5 finishes at Delta League finals. Freshman Allie Harmon of Rocklin and senior Tessa Vasquez of Folsom had solid efforts at SFL finals and their recent improvements look promising as individual state qualifying spots are earned.
Girls Teams
Division 2
The toughest division, boys or girls, in the section is D2 girls and the teams in the division are awarded four spots to State, based on how they have done in previous years. The section title will be between Granite Bay and St Francis again, and they have battled all season with St. Francis beating Oak Ridge and Granite Bay at the Oakmont Invitational.
In the Clovis Invitational Championship race Granite Bay edged St. Francis in a race that is a better example of what they will face at the State Championships and not SJS finals. The best evidence is from their respective league championships that were on the same course at William Jessup University. St. Francis won the Delta League title and Granite Bay won the Sierra Foothill League title but Granite Bay placed three runners under 18:15, who were all in front of St. Francis No. 1 runner. This will be hard for St Francis to beat at section finals unless they can get their 5-7 runners ahead of Granite Bay's fifth, who was two minutes back from their No. 1.
One of the two remaining spots should surely go to Whitney, which has been state-ranked in the top 10 and led by SFL champion Katie Kopec, followed by two teammates who went below 19 minutes and were the only Division 2 girls team to have five runners under 20 minutes. After these teams cross the finish line it might take a while to figure out who the fourth team is that gets the final qualifying spot for the State Meet. This doesn't mean it won't be exciting as River Valley, Lodi and Woodcreek have strong mid-pack runners who will want to mark each other.
Girls Individuals
Division 2
There are some amazing girls in this division and it seems cruel that individuals have to be in the top 16 to advance as an individual to State. Without the Woodbridge Invitational, which is the fastest 3-mile course in the state, Whitney, Granite Bay and St Francis have the 14 fastest times for 3 miles in Division 2. Also most of these times were on a hilly course at William Jessup.
Individual contenders for high section placing include Whitney's senior Katie Kopec, sophomore Ava Kopec and freshman Jane Landon, St Francis's seniors Daphne Witherell and Paige Quigley, Granite Bay senior Carly Foster, junior Emily Allison, sophomores Grace Baxter and Lizzy Hansen.
Other individuals in contention include Kiah Aitken of Lodi was the TCAL League champion, Kate Kimball of Rodriguez was the MEL League champion, Jacqueline Sanchez of Buhach Colony was the CCC League champion while Vista del Lago's frosh Brenna Mannion showed some grit on the Willow Hills course to claim the CAL league title over Kianna Larson of Rio Americano. Vista del Lago has had plenty of past success with talented girls, including D-II State champ Alex Klos, so looking forward to seeing Mannion's future develop.
Girls Teams
Division 3
The contending teams in a division don't usually change within a single year, but with repeat Division 3 State champion Riley Chamberlain's departure to BYU and her sister Karissa Chamberlain's decision to pursue club running, Del Oro is not the favorite to claim the section title. Instead Ponderosa is the incoming favorite after a decisive victory over Placer at the FVL Finals. FVL Individual champion Anna Soares of Placer was followed closely behind by four Ponderosa runners, led by senior Addie Payne and sophomore Samantha Scholz. Ponderosa has had strong efforts all season against Division 1 and 2 teams and with a strong coaching staff they should be prepared for a top 10 result at the State Championships.
Soares from Placer is supported by a couple of underclassmen in Elise Bergqvist and Olivia Passafiume who have both run 19:20 for 5K. While they have a good chance to make it to State this year, they have some scary potential in the next few years to come. Oakdale is led by senior Kassidy Fmura and will benefit from some low-scoring upfront but will need someone in their top five to have a stellar race to secure the last spot. Roseville is in the same situation as front-running sophomore Grace Williams, fresh off a second-place finish at CVC league finals, should finish in the top-10, but will need someone else to step up to challenge Oakdale.
Girls Individuals
Division 3
While only a few teams are in contention for a trip to State, the field for individual tickets to the CIF Championships is wide open. Anna Soares has had a couple of strong wins this season, including an impressive mid-season win on the Willow Hills course at the Tom Laythe Invitational Small Schools race. It was the second fastest local time after Louisa McNatt of McClatchy.
After the departure of many girls from Del Oro, junior Angeline Gutierrez stuck around and is having a solid season, and is fresh off a top-10 finish at the very deep Sierra Foothill League championships. Unique Hartke, younger sister of Alize Hartke, finished strong at the FVL finals and will look to be one of the top five individuals at section finals. Sophomores Sydney Topping and Alix LeBlanc of Del Campo placed fourth and fifth at CAL League Finals and went 20:30, also on the Willow Hills course.
Other individual contenders are Roseville's Grace Williams and Melissa Peterson, Oakdale's Kassidy Fmura, Ponderosa's Addie Payne and Samantha Scholz and Nevada Union's Eleni Keriotis and Chloe Metz-Thompson.
Photos by Dan Tyree
It takes a village to cover a state as large as CA and we appreciate Mr. Carroll's contribution to helping us to recognize and promote the athletes and teams in the SJS.
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This article is contributed content courtesy of Mike Carroll.