Well here we are again with another cross country season interrupted by fires.
Many meets were cancelled again, and will not be made up, but at least it looks like we can still have a semi normal post season.
One thing this year that I like is that all four local league finals will all be at the Spring Lake course, all different dates, which allows for some fun comparisons. Weather forecast is good with days in the 70’s and no rain in sight.
Since the Coastal Mountain Conference determines everything in their finals it will be a great start to the post season action for the Redwood Empire.
Team wise look for Middletown and Sonoma Academy to have a lot of runners near the front in both races.
In the girls St Helena’s Harper McClain is not only the best runner in our area but could very well be our next state champion as she has run races only the elite of the elite around here have ever done.
The boys race could be one of the most exciting battles the CMC has had in a long time as a number of runners have had impressive races this year.
Middletown’s Isaac Rascon, Cloverdale’s Paden Collard, Sonoma Acdemy’s Jonas Crean, and Victory Christian Academy’s Jude DeVries are all in the hunt this year.
The Vine Valley Athletic League will still have all their meets since they postponed their final Center meet to Wednesday November 6th.
Their finals will be on Saturday November 16th. The Casa Grande boys team and the Vintage girls both have shown they are heads and heals above the rest.
Individually Casa’s Nolan Hosbein won both of the first two center meets but if he doesn’t take it he has other teammates ready to take the crown.
For the girls the favorite is probably Vintage’s Mary Deeik who won the 2nd center meet over Casa’s Emma Baswell by 32 seconds.
The North Bay League Oak Division Championship will be on Friday November 8th.
Because these three dual meets, Maria Carrillo vs Healdsburg, Ukiah vs Santa Rosa and Montgomery vs Piner, did not happen their dual meet points will be determined by their placings at the league finals.
Not much mystery here though as Maria Carrillo is loaded in all four divisions and could medal at the state meet in both of their races.
In the boys race Puma’s Colton Swinth and Rory Smail have both turned in amazing races this year and will take an amazing run to break them up.
In the girls race Maria Carrillo’s Nicole Morris and Montgomery’s Mariah Briceno have traded off some wins this year but others could surprise.
The North Bay League Redwood Division Championship will be on Saturday November 9th.
The Redwood division also had their final date of meets cancelled and it sounds like they will score those meets the same as the Oak division.
But it is a bigger factor here because the Analy vs Windsor dual would have pitted the two undefeated teams at 4-0, and now it all comes down to the finals.
In the boys both teams had similar scores against third place El Molino in their duals.
Analy 19, El Molino 44
Windsor 19, El Molino 55, Cardinal Newman 64, the dual score was Windsor 17, El Molino 46.
Each team has a top runner, Analy’s Joey Thompson and Windsor’s Hunter Larson, who could vie for the individual title with Elsie Allen’s Harim Perez as a dark horse in the race.
In the Girls Windsor may have the edge as they both easily defeated third place Rancho Cotate in their duals.
Windsor 15, Rancho Cotate 45
Analy 20, Rancho Cotate 39
Individually Windsor’s Lilja Chung, Analy’s Carolina Dawson and Rancho Cotate’s Madison Monroe all look like they have a chance of hitting the finish line tape first.
All teams automatically qualify one varsity team to the North Coast Section Meet of Champions at Hayward High School on Saturday November 23rd.
Depending on the school size they will compete in one of five divisions with varied qualifiers per division moving on to the State meet the following Saturday in Fresno.
NBL STANDINGS
Varsity Boys Oak
4-0 Maria Carrillo
3-1 Santa Rosa
2-2 Piner
2-2 Ukiah
1-3 Montgomery
0-4 Healdsburg
October 23, 2019
Santa Rosa 24, Piner 31
Maria Carrillo 15, Ukiah 50
Montgomery 24, Healdsburg 33
October 16, 2019
Maria Carrillo 20, Santa Rosa 37, Montgomery 85
Santa Rosa 18, Healdsburg 45
Maria Carrillo 15, Piner 47
Ukiah 26, Montgomery 29
October 9, 2019
Piner 20, Ukiah 54, Healdsburg 59
Varsity Boys Redwood
4-0 Windsor
4-0 Analy
2-2 El Molino
1-3 Cardinal Newman
1-3 Elsie Allen
0-4 Rancho Cotate
October 23, 2019
Windsor 16, Rancho Cotate 55
Analy 19, El Molino 44
Cardinal Newman 20, Elsie Allen 37
October 16, 2019
El Molino 22, Rancho Cotate 39
Windsor 17, Elsie Allen 46
Analy 20, Cardinal Newman 41
October 8/9, 2019
Analy 20, Elsie Allen 55, Rancho Cotate 62
Windsor 19, El Molino 55, Cardinal Newman 64
Varsity Girls Oak
4-0 Maria Carrillo
3-1 Piner
2-2 Santa Rosa
2-2 Montgomery
1-3 Ukiah
0-4 Healdsburg
October 23, 2019
Piner 22, Santa Rosa 35
Maria Carrillo 15, Ukiah 50
Montgomery 15, Healdsburg Inc.
October 16, 2019
Maria Carrillo 22, Santa Rosa 53, Montgomery 67
Santa Rosa 15, Healdsburg Inc.
Maria Carrillo 15, Piner 50
Montgomery 18, Ukiah 45
October 9, 2019
Piner 15, Ukiah 44, Healdsburg Inc.
Varsity Girls Redwood
4-0 Windsor
4-0 Analy
2-2 Rancho Cotate
0-4 Cardinal Newman
0-4 Elsie Allen
0-4 El Molino
October 23, 2019
Windsor 15, Rancho Cotate 45
Analy 19, El Molino incomplete
Both Cardinal Newman & Elsie Allen Inc
October 16, 2019
Rancho Cotate 27, El Molino Inc.
Windsor 15, Elsie Allen Inc.
Analy 15, Cardinal Newman Inc.
October 8/9, 2019
Analy 20, Rancho Cotate 39, Elsie Allen Inc.
Windsor 15, Both El Molino & Cardinal Newman Inc.
Remaining schedule
NOV. 6, 2019, Wednesday
3rd VVAL Center Meet at Tolay Ranch Regional – Casa Grande Hosts 3pm
NOV. 8, 2019, Friday
NBL Oak Championship Meet at Spring Lake jv boys 2:00, jv girls 2:35, Var boys 3:15, Var girls 3:45
NOV. 9, 2019, Saturday
NBL Redwood Championship Meet at Spring Lake, Analy Hosts 9am
NOV. 13, 2019, Wednesday
CMC Championship Meet at Spring Lake, hosted by Tech JV BOYS 1:00, VAR GIRLS 1:45, VAR BOYS 2:30
NOV. 16, 2019, Saturday
VVAL Championship Meet at Spring Lake Park – Casa Grande Hosts
NOV. 23, 2019, Saturday
NCS Meet of Champions at Hayward HS
NOV. 30, 2019, Saturday
State Meet at Woodward Park, Fresno