SGV Girls Team Rankings: Bonita by a Bit

This is why we run the races.  Arcadia came out blazing, running an amazing 89:20 at Woodbridge, outpacing SGV rivals Bonita by nearly four minutes.  But a month later on the hills of Mt.SAC at Saturday’s SGV One on One Challenge, the Bearcats had turned the tables and bested the now short-handed Apache’s by 30 seconds.  Meanwhile, Glendora had the SGV’s best performance at the Clovis Invite, their 98:54 converting to just in between Bonita’s and Arcadia’s efforts from Saturday, and so that’s how we’ll rank them going into this week’s Mt.SAC Invitational.

The quality of the girls teams in the SGV is not quite as deep as the boys, and this means more schools from the lower divisions have a spot in our rankings.  Also, the move from flat courses to Mt.SAC can be difficult for some teams, so this weekend’s races will tell us a lot.

1. Bonita (Div. III – Hacienda League) – the Bearcats were CIF finalists in ’10 and have been highly ranked all season.  Division winners at Woodbridge and twice League winners, they turned in their best performance at last week at Mt.SAC in winning the SGV Challenge in 97:02
2. Glendora (Div. II – Baseline League) – the Tartans, who feature six sophs and one frosh in their seven, ran well at Clovis and in their opening win at the Bronco meet, but their best performances have been their two wins in the Baseline League meets.  Their  heat at Mt.SAC is loaded, so we’ll get to see how they stack up.
3. Arcadia (Div. I – Pacific League) – As noted above, the Apaches had an amazing opener at Woodbridge, but as the season progressed they’re been missing at least one key athlete and lost twice last week to Crescenta Valley in the Pacific League and to Bonita at Mt.SAC.  They’ll have a chance to turn things around in the Sweeps race Saturday morning.
4. Mayfield (Div. IV – Prep League) – the Cubs have made huge strides this year, starting with a dominating win at Rosemead, and then a divisional win at Clovis, where their top four improved by an average of 78 seconds per person from last year.  They’ll be very strong in their own division, but by finishing just seconds behind Glendora at Clovis, they showed they can compete with anyone in the SGV
5. La Ca̱ada (Div. III РRio Hondo League) РWinners at the Bell-Jeff meet, the Spartans have been on a tear, winning their division on the hilly Staub-Barnes course, and then defeating South Pasadena on that same course last week in the second Rio Hondo cluster meet.
6. South Hills (Div. III – Sierra League) – the Huskies ran well at Bronco and Woodbridge and were winners at their own Super XC Classic.  They stumbled a bit in the extreme heat of the second Sierra League meet but generally have run their best on hilly courses, which bodes well for them.
7. South Pasadena (Div. III – Rio Hondo) – like Arcadia, the Tigers started with a bang at Woodbridge, but didn’t run quite as well at Clovis.  Friday’s Div. III sweeps at Mt.SAC will show if their loss to La Cañada was more about their slipping back or the Spartans moving up.
8. Claremont (Div. II – Sierra League) – this young team made CIF finals in ’10 for the first time in a number of years and has been a bit inconsistent this year.  Their best efforts have come at Clovis and the second Sierra League meet, so they’re a team that can run tough courses.
9. Flintridge Sacred Heart (Div. IV – Mission League) – the Tologs have run in some big meets, starting well at Fastback and Woodbridge, and showing well at Stanford.  They’ve rested or run incomplete teams in recent weeks, and it appears they’ll keep things low-key on Friday, waiting for Finals and CIF to showcase their team.
10. El Rancho (Div. I РDel Rio League) Рthe Dons (Do̱as?) have run very well at their two league meets and followed up good early performances at Bosco Tech and Woodbridge with a solid effort at Clovis.

With the exception of La Cañada, all of these teams will be competing Friday or Saturday at Mt.SAC.