Thursday, August 27, 2015

Pre-Season 2015 WA/OR Combined Team Preview

One last preview before I start posting about meet results…

 

Here is a look at the Washington/Oregon pre-season combined rankings! I’m only going to list the top 17 teams (because that is where there seems to be the best split when considering both genders).

 

A reminder, just like I mentioned in the All-Classification rankings, these rankings are in no way guaranteed to be the same order as they were for either the State Classification or All-State rankings – it’s an even more elite field which means front runners matter even more in the scoring. One notable difference that you’ll see is in the girls rankings, where Sunset OR overtakes Jesuit OR, in contrast to my controversial Oregon All-State and 6A Classification rankings. This is a case that emphasizes the importance of having front runners in a regional or national caliber field, as Sunset has 3 girls included in these projections that are faster than Jesuit’s #1 – a small difference when there are only a handful of other team scorers in the way, but when you double (or more) the number of front runners in the meet that difference suddenly becomes much more important. As a side note, Sunset’s first meet results are already posted and given how fast their new freshman is, they are probably the #2 team in the region behind Camas, unless Summit or Bozeman (or possibly Jesuit) also have an impact freshman.

 

I would include Idaho and Montana teams as well, but that’s a lot more work to include just a handful of teams. For the boys, I would imagine Bozeman MT, Rocky Mountain ID, Mountain View ID, Laramie WY and maybe another team or two to be among this group, though none from Hawai’i or Alaska look like they are at this level.

 

Boys Washington/Oregon Pre-Season Rankings:

1.       North Central WA

2.       Tahoma WA

3.       Crater OR

4.       Summit OR

5.       Issaquah WA

6.       Bellarmine Prep WA

7.       South Eugene OR

8.       Eastlake WA

9.       Kamiakin WA

10.   Jesuit OR

11.   Central Catholic OR

12.   Arlington WA

13.   Lincoln OR

14.   Skyview WA

15.   Marist OR

16.   Inglemoor WA

17.   University WA

 

Honorable Mention: Camas WA, Central Kitsap WA, Grant OR, Hermiston OR, Interlake WA, Lewis & Clark WA, Sehome WA, Sequim WA

 

On the girls side, I would imagine non-Washington/Oregon teams would include Bozeman MT, Eagle ID, Timberlake (Boise) ID and Jackson Hole WY, though there are probably some others (maybe the second tier of Montana teams and/or Campbell County WY?) I am neglecting as well.

 

Girls Washington/Oregon Pre-Season Rankings:

1.       Camas WA

2.       Summit OR

3.       Sunset OR

4.       Jesuit OR

5.       Central Valley WA

6.       Mountlake Terrace WA

7.       Bellarmine Prep WA

8.       Glacier Peak WA

9.       St. Mary’s Academy OR

10.   Bellevue WA

11.   South Eugene OR

12.   Skyline WA

13.   Holy Names Academy WA

14.   Mountain View OR

15.   Mount Si WA

16.   Sehome WA

17.   Lewis & Clark WA

 

Honorable Mention: Eastlake WA, Grant OR, Issaquah WA, Kamiak WA, Liberty-Issaquah WA, Lynnwood WA, Mercer Island WA, Olympia WA, Tahoma WA, University WA

2 comments:

  1. I am thinking Inglemoor might be a real wildcard. They have 2 front runners, and a solid 3 kid. Then they have the 4A state champion 400 meter runner. Of course sprinters are normally very questionable xc runners, but I see they ran a 1 mile time trial. Rhoads time was not bad. 5th position 5:20. And there was a newbie ahead of him. I doubt they will be state champs, but they look like a team to watch.

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    1. They remind me of the Issaquah boys last year: proven up front and strong enough through 3, but big questions at #4/5. Pre-season outlooks are going to be more generous to teams in that situation, because there is still more room for potential improvement (they have had a time trial, but we haven't seen if that is all they have and haven't seen them in a race against anyone else). If they can prove that they won't have a big gap back to #4, they could definitely be a wildcard and surprise people this fall.

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