StanCo PreSeason Girl's Team Rankings

There are at least 24 high schools in Stanislaus County; unfortunately, there are only a handful of quality XC teams in the area. Maybe, in part, a lack of publicity stifles interest in the sport. It, XC, of course is not an easy or glamorous sport. Long, hot, sweaty, dusty miles of training followed by 3 miles of racing---I should stop sugar-coating it--LOL. But honestly the media doesn't give these kids the credit they deserve. Every day in the Bee recently there has been an article about a local football team/player, but nothing about any other sport...this blog can't solve all the disproportionality of HS sports' media coverage, but I am attempting to make a small dent.

Last night I covered the boys and tonight it is the girl's turn. I will attempt a pre-season team ranking. As always I welcome your comments. I am not "all-knowing." Please enlighten me if I am off base or have missed something. Much more so than with the boy's teams, Frosh/rookie runners have a huge impact with the girl's programs, making team predictions more difficult. Every year there is at least one female Frosh(sometimes even around ten) who greatly impacts that school's varsity XC team, and therefore the league as a whole. Last year Downey was blessed with at least 4 hugely talented Frosh runners, who had a major impact on both the XC and track outcomes. With that said I can only rank teams based on returning (known) runners.

Names leads the Knights

1. DOWNEY--the Knights finished last season as the number 2 team. They returned everyone. Their younger nucleus only got stronger over the track season. They will again be led by Arielle Names (2:24) and Haylee Osgood (5:38), followed closely by Esmeralda Aguayo. Aguayo is beginning her Sophomore year and has the talent (12:11/5:55) be the front runner giving them a very strong threesome up front. The rest of the team is talented and deep. Meghann Lofling (2:30), Makaelin Bickel (5th MMC), Erika Martinez (8th MMC), and Megan Matas provide the fire power.

Mendoza leads the Panthers

2. MODESTO--The Panthers finished 4th in last year's final standings, and they return their entire top seven. They should be led by Savannah Mendoza and supported by the improving Hilda Perez. Sonia Perez and Kerry Young are very tough competitors. Given the size of Modesto HS and the size of their XC team, MoHi could certainly have one (or more) of those sleeper Freshmen. A couple top Freshmen could make the Downey/Modesto races very interesting.

Ruvalcaba leads the Bruins

3. RIVERBANK--The Bruins lost their #2 and #3 runners to graduation. There is no doubt that it will be difficult to replace them. That said, Kim Ruvalcaba will lead the way as the top StanCo runner. Stephanie Bernal continues to improve move toward that upper tier of competitors. Joslyn Beliera has huge talent and competitive drive. Her team will need all of it to repeat in the TVL.

Lara leads the Bulldogs

4. TURLOCK--The Bulldogs graduated their leader but still have a solid group that could ultimately land them much higher on this list. Soph Adrianna Lara will pace the team as she did last year. Cassie Derdivanis had an incredible SubSection meet last year. She will need to perform at that level the whole season to keep Turlock in the hunt. Maria Varela is a solid team member at 5:48 in track.

Maravilla leads the Jaguars

5. GREGORI--The Jags finished in the 5 spot last year. Their top two runners have the potential to be amazing. Mya Torres and Victoreya Maravilla were injured for much of last season. If they are healthy, Gregori has a foundation. Obviously they will need a lot of help and could use some sleeper Freshmen.

Garcia leads the Pride

5. PITMAN--The Pride are building. Sophs Bianca Garcia (2:31/5:54) and Priscilla Bazan (5:49) provide some stability and talent to grow on.