Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

Poll time

Real quick listing of my vote in this week's AP football poll:

4A

1, Skyline. 2, Bothell. 3, Auburn. 4, Jackson. 5, Gonzaga Prep. 6, Ferris. 7, Central Valley. 8, Wenatchee. 9, Curtis. 10, South Kitsap.

Comment Only team to drop was CV, which lost to Post Falls, a good but not great Idaho team.

3A

1, Lakes. 2, Union. 3, Bellevue. 4, Liberty (Renton). 5, O'Dea. 6, Timberline. 7, Mount Spokane. 8, Meadowdale. 9, Juanita. 10, Camas.

Comment Ten teams. Nine wins. One bye.

2A

1, Ellensburg. 2, Archbishop Murphy. 3, Lynden. 4, Othello. 5, Burlington-Edison. 6, Interlake. 7, W.F. West (Chehalis). 8, Selah. 9, Prosser. 10, West Valley (Spokane).

Comment How much to ding Interlake (lost to Juanita) and Prosser (lost to Ellensburg)? That was the question. Dropped Interlake two spots and Prosser three. That was the answer.

1A

1, Connell. 2, Montesano. 3, Cascade Christian. 4, Cashmere. 5, Zillah. 6, Royal. 7, Cascade (Leavenworth). 8, Orting. 9, Onalaska. 10, River View.

Comment As quickly as I put Goldendale-Klickitat in my rankings, the Timberwolves drop out (16-0 loss to Naches Valley) in favor of SCAC brethren River View, which I still think is the fourth-best team in the league. We'll see if the Panthers are No. 3 this week when they host Royal.

2B

1, Colfax. 2, Asotin. 3, La Salle. 4, Adna. 5, Tacoma Baptist. 6, Waitsburg-Prescott. 7, Napavine. 8, Naselle. 9, Willapa Valley. 10, South Bend.

Comment Some shakeup at the bottom, but my top six remain rock solid.

Now comes my obligatory mention of the other coaches rankings out there ...

Not a lot of changes in this week's cross country poll, although I see the Hanford girls dropped out of the 3A rankings.

I ceded my cross country guru status on the staff to Kevin Anthony a couple years ago, so unfortunately I will miss one of the best sporting events of the year -- the regional cross country meet. It will be interesting to see the battle for second (behind Ferris) in the 4A boys meet, with Kamiakin relying on its two stars (Anthony Armstrong and Evan Fiske) and Southridge on its pack strength. The Richland girls also will rely on its pack to uphold its No. 4 ranking -- it did the Bombers well at Saturday's Richland Invitational.

Then there's the state volleyball coaches rankings, which has some changes thanks to Saturday's Crossover Classic as well as the results of several regular-season matches:

4A

1, Mead. 2, Graham-Kapowsin. 3, Olympia. 4, Skyview. 5, Richland. 6, Monroe. 7, Curtis. 8, Kamiakin. 9, Southridge. 10, Gig Harbor.

Comment Apparently, the coaches gave more credence to Richland's higher finish over Kamiakin at the Crossover and less to the Braves' five-set victory over the Bombers.

3A

1, Bishop Blanchet. 2, Eastside Catholic. 3, Mount Spokane. 4, Auburn Mountainview. 5, North Kitsap. 6, Timberline. 7, Bonney Lake. 8, Mount Si. 9, Prairie. 10, Kennedy.

Comment I still say watch out for West Valley (Yakima), which could be a sleeper team at state -- if it can survive the Eastern Regional.

2A

1, Burlington-Edison. 2, Selah. 3, Tumwater. 4, Black Hills. 5, Archbishop Murphy. 6, Fife. 7, Pullman. 8, Grandview. 9, West Valley (Spokane). 10, Mark Morris.

1A

1, King's. 2, Lynden Christian. 3, Onalaska. 4, Annie Wright. 5, Castle Rock. 6, Royal. 7, Chelan. 8, Bellevue Christian. 9, Cascade (Leavenworth). 10, Granger.

2B

1, LaConner. 2, Riverside Christian. 3, Kittitas. 4, La Salle. 5, Tekoa-Oakesdale. 6, Toutle Lake. 7, Adna. 8, Ocosta. 9, Christian Faith. 10, Lind-Ritzville.

1B

1, Northport. 2, Neah Bay. 3, Thorp. 4, Wilson Creek. 5, St. John-Endicott. 6, LaCrosse-Washtucna. 7, Colton. 8, Moses Lake Christian. 9, North Sound Christian. 10, Crescent.

Comment Tri-Cities Prep is in the others to watch, which means four of the six Southeast teams receive recognition from the coaches -- and three berths to state. Prep has beaten SJE (a good sign) and has yet to play L-W.

Til next time ...