Which teams will lead this year's pack? Photo by Alan Versaw.
I know that the New Mexico coaches do their own polls on the coaches forum--and I've often checked my bearings against those polls--but, as someone without a horse in the race, I thought I'd try to set out a set of rankings. We'll cover each of the five classifications over the next several days. If I'm feeling like I'm getting a good read on the teams, I may do this again at the beginning of October.
1A Girls
1. Jemez Valley - Valene Madalena and most of her teammates return. Nobody matches up against the depth of Jemez Valley.
2. Cimarron - Cimarron finished second last year and appears to have the second-best returning depth in 1A
3. Desert Academy - Taylor Bacon may have moved to top runner in the classification, but DA will need some others to step up.
At this point, it looks like any complete teams that take the course this fall will have a very legitimate shot at a top-five finish.
1A Boys
1. Cimarron - The Rams manhandled the competition last fall, and they should be every bit as strong this fall. There could be a budding dynasty here.
2. To'Hajiilee - On paper, the Warriors are clearly the biggest threat to Cimarron. Track season provided more clues about Cimarron's standing, however, so To'Hajiilee opens the season at #2 and we wait to see what the season holds. Worth noting is that To'Hajiilee seems to have been short a couple of their better runners at last year's state meet.
3. Jemez Valley - Clearly, something good is going on with the school in green and gold. Both teams are solid.
4. Coronado - Last year's fifth-place team keeps enough of its guys around to look to move up a notch this year.