Newbury Park Picking Up Where It Left Off In 2019: No. 1

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Boys NXR California

Over the past couple of months, the fabric of high school cross country in California has been coming back together one stitch at a time. COVID-19 caused the cancellation of the 2020 fall season and there was a fleeting few weeks in March where teams got in a few meets. The spring held some track meets, enough to get a gauge of who the current peronnel is and what it can do, but there was no state championship. 

Amador Valley coach Jason Oswalt put the state of affairs of his team and countless others into perspective last week when he said: "Honestly, I'm really proud of the work that the group has done over the last few months. It's been tough, but the veterans have re-committed and are not only getting the work done themselves, but are trying to bring our younger runners along. It's not easy to do both things, but it's never been more important for our program than it is right now."

There are more unknowns that usual in California as a result, but of the things that are certain the dominance of Newbury Park under coach Sean Brosnan is not in dispute. The Panthers are an easy choice for No. 1 in California and No. 1 in the United States (stay tuned for those rankings next week). 

Newbury Park won the Nike Cross Nationals title at the end of 2019 with phenom Nico Young leading the way and since then the program has only gotten better. Brosnan took the group to the XC Town Meet of Champions in Indiana for a one-off competition and made the most of the opportunity in a decisive victory. He took his runners into Arizona last, because of its fewer restrictions, and created a three-meet series that gave opportunities to runners all over the West.  

The Panthers welcome back four runners who have already run sub nine minutes for 3,200 meters. The team has three juniors, including Young's twin brothers, who have already run sub 4:15 in the full mile. 

This fall, Newbury Park could do things on courses that nobody has ever seen before in high school cross country. 

"The boys are raising the bar everyday,"Brosnan said. "We are focusing on training smart and picking our battles wisely. They could possibly open up at Woodbridge on September 18th, or we could hold them out until the Clovis Invite on October 9th. We don't know yet."

When they do, the Panthers will have everyone's attention. 

Next in line are Loyola and Great Oak, who seem to be very close at this point for No. 2. Loyola put five guys across the finish line in less than 15 minutes on the three-mile course at the Cerritos Invitationa/Great Cow Run on Sept. 4. Great Oak won the Cool Breeze Invitational and seeks to maintain its high level of performance under new coach Tammy Draughon. 

Hart High of Newhall finished second at the Cool Breeze meet and has demonstrated quality depth through nine runners. 

Bellarmine Prep also returns a strong crew and is the favorite in the Central Coast section.  

1. Newbury Park. It is truly regrettable how many opportunities to compete and memory-making moments have been lost to this group during the span of the pandemic. Even with a few manufactured chances to run, Newbury Park has demonstrated that it is the dominant boys program in the country, taking that mantle from Loudoun Valley VA, and he window remains wide open. Senior Colin Sahlman and junior Lex Young went 1-2 in the Arcadia Invitational boys 3,200 meters last April, both running 8:43. Junior Leo Young was sixth in 8:55 and senior Daniel Appleford was ninth in 8:56. Aaron Cantu, Hector Martinez and Dev Doshi add depth to the mix. Throughout the past year and a half, this group kept working and Brosnan turned lemons into lemonade: "Our athletes at Newbury Park used Covid to improve their training in many ways. We had time to reflect and get stronger on and off the cross country course. When we couldn't meet in person, we made sure to take advantage of learning how to recover and get stronger, both mentally and physically. We didn't look at things as a challenge, but an opportunity to be the best we can be."  

2. Loyola. The Cubs got off to a fast start at Don Knabe-Cerritos Regional Park, scoring 23 points in an 11 -team invitational. Dylan Bissel leads a team with high quality running that goes eight deep and he won the season opener in 14:16.4 (three miles). Richard Moreno, Jake Ratkovich, Harrison Lavery, Nathan Mars, Colin Jacobs, Julian Guinane and Dane Utley comprise a pack that may prove strong enough to earn a nationals berth. Loyola has been to NXN three times (2007, 2008 and 2010). 

3. Great Oak. The architect of the great Wolfpack teams of the past decade, coach Doug Soles, left the program at the end of the season. Great Oak was the program of the 2010s in California and the current occupants want to keep it going. Tammy Draughton, a physics teacher at the school, is taking the reins and will run in her eighth Boston Marathon this fall. Two pairs of twin brothers, seniors Carson and Cameron Smith, and juniors Mark and Ramses Cortes, are at the front of this year's pack. 

4. Hart. This program has seemingly been transformed since 2019 when Hart finished 22nd in the CIF Southern Section finals. A second-place finish behind Great Oak at the Cool Breeze Invitational, led by the third-place of Jaden Wiley, was an attention-grabbing start to the season. Owen Ahten, Paul Mangione and Carson DeSpain all finished in the top 22 of the big early season meet at the Rose Bowl. 

5. Bellarmine Prep. Despite graduating three sub-9 3,200-meter runners, there is still enough young talent in the pipeline to keep the program thriving. Seniors Ryunosuke Yanashita and Tanish Chettiar are the new frontrunners and both ran under 4:18 in the 1,600 in the spring. Vibhu Krishnan, Ben Pinkel and Jack Glanville are also important pieces of the puzzle for the Bells.  

Watchlist - 

West Torrance

Jesuit

Clovis

Mt. Carmel

Davis Senior

Sanger

El Toro

Buchanan

Campolindo

Ayala