Final StanCo Team Rankings

Selecting/ranking the teams was far easier than picking the top individuals. Let's begin with the ladies:

Photo by Greg Beliera

1. RIVERBANK--led by Mikayla Florez the Bruin weren't deep but their top five of Florez, Sabrina Garcia, Haley Richardson, Kimberly Ruvalcaba, and Joslyn Beliera went undefeated in TVL, won the D4 section title, qualified for State, and easily were the top StanCo team this year.

photo by John Souza

2. GREGORI--led by the trio of Mya Torres, Torrey Maravilla, and Brianna Fillpot the Jaguars swept through the MMC, but their lack of depth proved insurmountable when their leader Mya Torres went down with an injury at Sub-sections.

photo by Anwaar Bhatti

3. MODESTO--led by Soph Savannah Mendoza they were hot on Gregori's heels throughout the MMC season--coming within a point at MMC 3. Perhaps the youngest elite team in the county, their future years look very bright.

photo by John Souza

4. DOWNEY--led by Haylee Osgood, Rory Jiminez, and Arielle Names, the Knights were a step off the front of the MMC all season, but easily finished 3rd in all meets. They have some very good talent returning for next year but will also graduate half their varsity squad.

5. TURLOCK--led by Makenzie Salyer the Bulldogs won the CCC this year. They will return all but one of their top seven for next year.


For the boys I did a comparison of Section meet result about a week ago. Those results played strongly in the compiling of this portion of the list.

1. GREGORI--led by the unassuming Mario Medina this team was very DEEP. They placed 9 runners in the top 13 in the MMC championship meet. In the section meet they had the fasted combine team time and would have beaten the other StanCo team using a dual-meet or invitational scoring method. Although they will lose a couple of runners to graduation, there is more than enough talent left to contend with the rest of the MMC for next year.

2. MODESTO--led by Marc Alania, like the MoHi girls, the boys were chasing Gregori all season. They gain momentum as the season progressed and saved their best for last, finishing 6th in the D1 Section Meet and beating all the StanCo teams (except Gregori). They lose significant talent for next year, but I am sure will reload.

Photo by Greg Beliera

3. RIVERBANK--led by Luis Figueroa the Bruin easily ran through the TVL, won the D4 Section title and qualified for State. However a late season injury to key runner Adrian Salazar causes them to slip in the rankings. Four of their top five will graduate and will be very difficult to replace.

Photo by Samantha Brooks

4. HUGHSON--led by section champion Zach Morrett the Huskies chased Riverbank all season in the TVL. The won the SubSection meet, but finished 3rd at Sections one spot from qualifying for State. Like Riverbank, Hughson will graduate the upper tier of their team.

5. TURLOCK--led by Rex Doo the Bulldogs placed 2nd in the CCC but will lose 3 of their top 7 to graduation