LA City XC Rankings #2

10/9/11

Boys:

1. Palisades Charter: Top 3 looked super at Clovis yesterday.  #4 runner should be back next week to give them additional depth.  Would be first title since storied team of 1977.

2. Birmingham: No Alexander yesterday at Central Park, but with him they have been running well. Depth is questionable but top 2 have looked very good.

3. Santee: Top 2 are tough, very similar team to Birmingham as of right now.  Will need push from back end to have shot at top.

4. San Pedro: South Bay Cup performance shows potential, but pack needs to drop another 30 seconds to have shot at top 2.

5. Granada Hills: Nice job last week at Weisenberger, we’ll be curious to see how West Valley League dual meets go for them.  Mrgudic has looked great early in the season.

6. Marshall: Haven’t seen them against many of the top city teams yet, will see them at Bell Gardens next weekend. No sign of Cuellar yet, with him, they might be able to contend for top 2 spot.

7. Monroe: Have not been at full strength yet this year, hopefully at Mt Sac, we will get an idea of how good they can be.

8. Venice: Looking ok, meet against Palisades this week.  Big question is when will Ahmed run, with him they could contend for a spot on the podium.

9. Reseda:  Decent through #4 spot, but if #5 doesn’t move up, they could have problems qualifying for City Finals.

10. Eagle Rock: Eagles get the nod this week with no news from Taft yet.  Sosa is strong at #1 and then over a minute to the pack. Gap needs to drop to at least 45 seconds to have shot at City Finals.

Individuals: Stromberg (Pali) continues to look great as does his teammate Hammer.  Correa (SP) ran great at Woodbridge and South Bay, while Ramirez (Verdugo Hills) may be the find of the season, and Amador (Fairfax) will have his hands full in the tough Western League.

Girls:

1. San Pedro: Another great run at South Bay for the Pirates keeps them atop the rankings. Didn’t look as good at Clovis, but  Gonzalez  continues to look like the favorite for the individual title.

2. Birmingham: Nice runs at Weisenberger and Central Park yesterday, but lack of depth at top right now. Macon didn’t look good yesterday and didn’t run at Weisenberger.

3. Palisades Charter: Freshman Williams looks great and Bamberger is starting to come around, and 4 others under 21:00 at Pierce last week shows their depth.

4. El Camino Real: Top 2 lead them, but more depth necessary to get them to state.  Will be interesting to see them against Birmingham in West Valley duals.

5.  Marshall: 3 under 20:00 at Elysian gives them up front power, but depth seems to be a concern for them if they want o be on the podium at city.

6. Monroe: Nice depth, but again, a dearth of talent up front could spell be a major problem in a month.

7. Miguel Contreras: Ran at Clovis yesterday but wasn’t impressive. We’ll need more information on them as the season progresses.

8. Granada Hills:  Melville leads them and they had nice run at Weisenberger last week.  Duals in West Valley will test their mettle.

9. Santee: Duo of Morales and Balderas give them a shot at city finals, but unless depth grows over next month, team could be watching from sidelines at city.

10. Taft: Haven’t seen much from them, but seen enough to know that by league finals they could be in the hunt for a berth in city finals.

Individuals: Gonzalez (SP) has done super, including a victory at the South Bay Cup in 17:16, with teammates Garcia and Carrera not far behind.  Morales (Santee) had nice victory yesterday at Central Park while frosh Wiiliams (Palisades) had a stellar debut at Woodbridge, with Cline (ECR) not far behind.