As with any rankings, there is a certain amount of controversy. I personally attended at least 12 different cluster meets, invitationals, and championships this season. I have seen some upsets, some incredible performances, and the anguish of season ending injuries. I have poured over results. I have gone through piles of scratch paper comparing performances and times. In a perfect world, runner A beat runner B and therefore runner A would be ranked ahead of runner B. Unfortunately the next week, runner B would beat runner A and they would both lose to runners C and D. Especially in the individual boys' rankings the final selections were tough, as 15 or so runners vied for those ten spots (in my mind anyway). So there will be dissension and disagreement (as I have spent hours arguing with myself). I can only testify that I have done my best to recognize the ten runners who had the best over-all total seasons. As always I welcome your comments. screaminscott64@yahoo.com . Thank you for supporting this blog. Thank you for supporting our local runners.
2014 FINAL STANCO TEAM RANKINGS
VARSITY GIRLS
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| 2nd place in D4 Lady bruins of Riverbank |
Led by Kim Ruvalcaba, Haley Richardson and Sabrina Garcia veteran performances the Bruins won the TVL (again) and qualified for State (again). Although they never raced head to head against the Downey Knights--they did beat them on total time in the Sub-section and Section meets.
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| the MMC Champion Lady Knights |
The Knights vault into the upper tier of the larger section teams using a combination of veteran leadership (Haylee Osgood and Arielle Names) and talented newcomers (Esmeralda Aguayo and Makaelyn Bickel). Downey swept through the MMC and into the section meet for the first time in 22 years. Oh did I mention that 9 of their top ten runners return next year.
3. TURLOCK
Led by super Frosh Arianna Lara Chavez and anchored by Senior Makenzie Salyer the Lady Dogs had high expectations heading into the season. They struggled to gel and and overcome strong Atwater and Merced teams in CCC competition. Cassie Derdivanis came on strong at Subs, hinting at her strong future with this team. The Bulldogs return much of their team for next year.
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| the Ladies of MoHi |
At the start of the season I thought this team led by Savannah Mendoza would be challenging Riverbank for the top county spot. They never found that solid fifth runner, and Kerry Young suffered a season ending stress fracture. The top runners all return for next season.
5. GREGORI
Riddled by injury and bad luck, the Gregori ladies struggled this season. Ultimately they finished third in the MMC championship meet to earn this spot. Led by two of the best runners in the county, Mya Torres and Torey Maravilla (who both return), they have the nucleus for a strong program for next season.
VARSITY BOYS
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| The Modesto Panthers |
The MoHi team has DEPTH, TALENT, and GRIT. On paper (to me) it looked like Gregori would easily beat Modesto this season...not to be as MoHi beat the Jaguars head to head 6 straight times this season. Led by Marc Alania, Andrew Williams, Orlando Cardenas, James DeLaO, and Isaiah Avila-DeLaCruz they swept through the MMC. Mixing returning all-MMC performers with last year's top sophomore performers seems to be a recipe that Coach Heese has perfected. This year's product placed 7th in the D1 Section Meet. The Panthers return some strong runners and easily will top the preseason list next year.
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| the Gregori boys early in the season |
2. GREGORI
Gregori returned most of the team that won the MMC last season. Top performers Mario Medina, Anthony Arauza, and newcomer/transfer Jeremy Hart appeared to be the ingredients for another MMC title. The supporting senior runners seemed a step slower than years past and Modesto seemed a step quicker at every turn. Take nothing away from this Gregori team that placed a very impressive 8th in the super-strong D1 Section Meet. Gregori graduates almost everyone except Hart.
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| TVL champion Bruins |
The Bruins won the TVL and placed 2nd in the D4 Section meet to qualify for State. Led by the amazing twins, Adan and Emmanuel Chavez, Riverbank was short on depth but showed resiliency through injury and illness. The Chavez brothers graduate and will be difficult to replace.
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| 4 of the top five Huskies |
Hughson placed 6th in the D4 Section and 2nd in the TVL. Their trademark performance this season was a win over the Bruins in TVL 2. Daniel Yanez led the way all season, and fortunately for Coach Bernard he returns next year and will anchor another strong team.
5. DOWNEY
The Knights surpassed the strong programs of Enochs and Turlock over the final meets. They moved Inteus Schiavo up to varsity giving them a top-tier performer to add to Justin Goering. This duo led them to the Section meet for the first time in ten years, where they finished 9th in D2. Goering graduates but the rest all return.
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