Boys Freshmen All-State “Dream Team” – The 50 best 9th graders in California!
December 22, 2013 · 1 Comments
PrepCalTrack.com's 2013 Cross Country
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| Christian Ricketts (Arroyo Grande) | Dillon Beckum (Bonita) |
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| Cooper Teare (St. Joseph Notre Dame) | Hugo Novoa (Long Beach Poly) |
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Note: Anyone having rights to use good action photos of Miguel Villar, Erik Gonzalez or Michael Ochoa are asked to please email them to us for posting on this page. Photos above by Rich Gonzalez. |
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Villar, Ricketts share state's top billing for '13
By Rich Gonzalez
Editor, PrepCalTrack.com
(December 21, 2013) – While the legendary Freshmen Boys Cross Country Class of '16 became recognized as the "Terrific Trio" in Golden State annals with Phillip Rocha, Austin Tamagno and Jacob Ogden leading the way, the Class of '17 will go down in history with its own deserved catchy nickname: "The Fab Five".
Last year's trio stormed the Woodward Park all-time list
with incredible showings that ranked second-, fourth- and
seventh-fastest ever among California 9th graders. But this year's
collection is the first frosh class to have five go faster
than 16:03 on the state meet course — where they now rank 5th, 9th ,
11th, 12th, and 22nd in California history on the venerable
5,000-meter course.
Ah yes, the Golden State's talent pool is only getting better and better.
At first glance, we thought that Madera South's Miguel Villar
would take the crown as the state's "fastest frosh" in decent margin.
As it turns out, the final statistical matchup is closer than
one might have imagined between he and Arroyo Grande's Christian Ricketts.
Villar gets a nod based on
his pair of 15:36 clockings on the state meet course (though he ran
a little slower at the state meet), but Ricketts — even more
consistent and also with a quality showing at Woodward Park under
tougher conditions at the Clovis Invitational — forces a tie for the top
spot with a sensational season-ending performance at the
FootLocker West Regional meet. Statisically (especially when taking into
consideration the Clovis conditions), the matchup between those two
is just about a deadlock. Villar arguably has the two best
showings (by the slimmest of margins) while Ricketts boasts six
performances rated better than Villar's third-best performance. Both are
great talents.
Not far behind, Bonita's Dillon Beckum
also put himself in the discussion after two great showings on the Mt.
SAC layout and then being the second-fastest frosh at the state meet. Long Beach Poly's Hugo Novoa
was putting the heat on as well, although late-season injury robbed him
of some momentum in his bid for the top spot. Then there's Rubidoux's Erik Gonzalez,
who led the program's longed-for return to the state meet scenery
before capturing an individual national title in December action at
the USATF Junior Olympics in San Antonio.
The first three clearly were the
cream of the talent crop, that despite paths that never really crossed
during the season. Oh sure, Villar and Beckum did meet up once at the
Clovis Invitational, but neither ever went against Ricketts head-on in
the same race.
We may see all three finally collide at the Arcadia Invitational on April 12th, where the trio will be granted unprecedented early automatic entry into the "Rising Stars Mile",
a race reserved for the very top freshmen and sophmores only. It
could be the only time during the 2013-14 school year that we see
them square off… once and for all.
With more than 5,000 freshmen
suiting up for races within the state of California this year, the
50 athletes named below literally comprise the "Top 1 percent" of talent
for the 2013 California cross country campaign.
Congratulations on your excellence during the just-concluded season!
Freshmen All-State "Dream Team"
Miguel Villar (Madera South, Madera-CE)
— Often the #2 scorer for a powerful Stallions team that placed 16th @
nationals, Miguel had three of the four fastest freshmen times
of 2013 @ Woodward Park (including 15:36 twice) and was the
fastest ninth grader @ the state meet.
Christian Ricketts (Arroyo Grande-SS)
— Ultra-consistent performer who saved the best for last as the top
Golden State 9th grader at the FootLocker West Regional meet. Also ran
15:51 in the mid-day heat at Clovis and clocked 15:19, 15:23 and 15:24 @
the Mt. SAC course. Despite strong season, did not qualify for state as
an individual from very tough Southern Section Division 2 lineup.
Dillon Beckum (Bonita, La Verne-SS)
— Signature performance came at the Mt. SAC Invitational, when he
ripped a 15:19 to move onto course's all-time class list. Later ran
15:26 for Division 3 @ the CIF-SS Finals to go along with 15:50 @ state
meet and 15:58 @ Clovis.
Hugo Novoa (Poly, Long Beach-SS)
— Steady force for the Jackrabbits ran 16:42 on the 5k course @
FootLocker West and ran 15:47 at the Clovis Invitational. Also 15:31 @
CIF-SS Finals @ Mt. SAC but affected by injury down
the stretch.
Erik Gonzalez (Rubidoux, Riverside-SS)
— Best races of the year came at CIF-SS Finals (15:33 @ Mt. SAC) and at
the USATF Junior Olympics, where he emerged as national champion for
his age group. Also ran 16:02 at the state meet.
Michael Ochoa (Madera South, Madera-CE)
— Best race might have been his 16:18 effort at Woodward Park in the
Central Section Finals, but also ran 16:19 there at state and 16:26
there for the Clovis Invitational.
Cooper Teare (St. Joseph Notre Dame, Alameda-NC)
— Developed as the vital key for the Pilots in their successful
bid to defend their state title. Best race came at the Mt. SAC
Invitational, where he clocked 15:52 in helping slam the door on any
team challengers. That set the tone for the team's season-ending hot
streak.
Freshmen All-State Second Team "Dream Team"
Donald Brown (El Rancho, Pico Rivera-SS)
Callum Bolger (San Luis Obispo-SS)
Jose Castellon (Rubidoux, Riverside-SS)
Alex Martinez (Clovis-CE)
Andrew Mitchell (Quartz Hill, Lancaster-SS)
Charlie Sherman (Loyola, Los Angeles-SS)
Simeon Paul (Mt. Carmel, San Diego-SD)
Freshmen All-State Third Team "Dream Team"
Christopher DePetro (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad-SD)
Luis Pina (Steele Canyon-SD)
Trent Robinett (Oaks Christian, Westlake Village-SS)
Dylan Majerus (Agoura, Agoura Hills-SS)
Stewart Fernandez (Buchanan, Clovis-CE)
Tanner Dutchover (Yucaipa-SS)
Ethan Finkel (Crossroads, Santa Monica-SS)
"Best Of The Rest" (#22-53, listed alphabetically)
- Drew Arguelles (Woodbridge, Irvine-SS)
- Joseph Biehl (Desert Christian, Lancaster-SS)
- Neil Braganza (Dougherty Valley, San Ramon-NCS)
- Solomon Fountain (Great Oak, Temecula-SS)
- Daniel Gomez (Camarillo-SS)
- Leif Hellgren (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach-SS)
- Luis Huerta (Bishop Amat, La Puente-SS)
- Matthew Hunt (Foothill, Santa Ana-SS)
- Zeke Isbell (Burbank-SS)
- Brendan Jones (Jesuit, Carmichael-SJ)
- Steven Khan (Ayala, Chino Hills-SS)
- Wyatt Kirchner (San Pedro-LAC)
- Tre Lockwood (Granite Bay-SJ)
- Kevin Mauge (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach-SS)
- Teegan McNair (Clovis-CE)
- Cory Megna (Rancho Cucamonga-SS)
- Jesus Moreno (Valencia, Placentia-SS)
- Jordan Morris (Clovis-CE)
- Caleb Myers (Woodbridge, Irvine-SS)
- Chad Nathanson (Casa Grande, Petaluma-NCS)
- Jordan Olsen (Ventura-SS)
- David Pacheco (Valencia, Placentia-SS)
- Antonio Perezchica (McFarland-CE)
- Dawson Reckers (Athenian, Danville-NCS)
- Justin Reynolds (Woodcrest Christian, Riverside-SS)
- Joseph Del Valle Rutherford (Etiwanda-SS)
- Luis Sanchez (Arroyo, El Monte-SS)
- Brian Schulz (El Molino, Forestville-NCS)
- Spencer Sheen (University, Irvine-SS)
- Ryuya Souther (Woodbridge, Irvine-SS)
- Dalton Tanner (Canyon, Anaheim-SS)
- Noah Wallace (Rio Americano, Sacramento-SJ)
- Jared Yabu (Campolindo, Moraga-NCS)
"Freshman of the Year", by CIF Section
Central Section: Miguel Villar (Madera South)
Southern Section: Christian Ricketts (Arroyo Grande)
North Coast Section: Cooper Teare (St. Joseph Notre Dame)
San Diego Section: Simeon Paul (Mt. Carmel)
Sac-Joaquin Section: Tre Lockwood (Granite Bay)
Los Angeles City Section: Wyatt Kircher (San Pedro)
Central Coast Section: Eric Coyle (Archbishop Mitty)
Northern Section: Noah Bland (Shasta)
Oakland Section: Jonathan Maier (Oakland Tech)
San Francisco Section: Isia Flores (Mission)
