SGV Rankings: Arcadia & Walnut on Top – Neiderhaus & Weiss take New Individual Leads

The past week brought great conditions and strong competition, and the excellent results contributed to a considerable shakeup in the San Gabriel Valley team rankings.  This list is based on the number of athletes and relays in the 2014 SGV Track & Field Rankings through 3/29.

1. 30 - Arcadia (Last Week – 1)
2. 30 - Walnut (2)
3. 27 - Damien* (4)
4. 19 - Monrovia (6)
5. 18 - South Pasadena (NR)
6. 15 - Glendora (5)
7. 14 - St. Francis* (7)
8. 13 - California (3), La Salle (9)
9. 12 - Bonita (NR), Santa Fe (8)

*Single gender schools.  We are using their actual number x 1.8.  Because math.  Update: One result from the Bell Gardens meet moves California from =9th to =8th.  Update 2: Walnut had a few athletes compete in the Beach Cities Invite, and those results added one more top ten for the Mustangs, bring them level with Arcadia.

Arcadia is joined at the top by Walnut with the Apaches best with ranking in 23 of the 32 events, and with 8 event leaders – G 400, B/G 1600 & 3200, G 4×400, B Shot & B Discus.  Walnut follows closely in the “complete team” race, with rankings in 21 events and 5 event leaders.  Monrovia also leads the SGV in five events.

Individually, there were two new event leaders in the SGV, while eight other leaders improved their seasonal bests.

The Pasadena Games also produced the only two new SGV Event Leaders for this week.  In the 400m, St. Francis junior Ross Niederhaus dropped a huge 48.67 pr while finishing 4th.  Not to be outdone, Barrett Weiss (Flintridge Prep/Jr) jumped 14’1-1/2″ to win the pole vault.

SGV leaders Damien, Monrovia, & South Pasadena also competed at PCC.  Wildcat senior Cravon Gillespe confirmed his SGV 200m lead with a big 21.70 pr to win the event, and the Monrovia girls 4×100 time of 47.72 extended their SGV lead.  2012 State Champ Claire Kieffer-Wright jumped a seasonal best 5’10” to win the high jump.  Muir senior Tierra Adams match an earlier season best of 43’7″ to win the shot and maintain the top spot in the SGV.

The Arcadia and Walnut travelled to the Mt Carmel Invitational, where Mustang soph Kayla Richardson confirmed her SGV sprints leadership with a pair of second places in seasonal bests of 11.90 & 24.40.  Her senior teammate Kyle King took the SGV High Jump lead with a 6’5″ effort to finish 4th.  Apache seniors Kyra White and Veronica Yamane improved their SGV leading marks in the 400 (58.07/4th) and 3200 (11:05/5th) respectively.

Elsewhere among the SGV leaders, Bonita made their big meet debut along with Santa Fe at the Covina Invitational, while Div. IV power La Salle went south to the Calvin Christian Small Schools Invite.  Glendora and California were idle.