Three Orange County teams are No. 1 in their CIF-Southern Section rankings. Of course, two of the divisions, the Southwest and Southern, are exclusively Orange County divisions so an O.C. team will be No. 1. St. Margaret’s is No. 1 in the East Valley Division, a smaller-schools division that covers a large geographic area.
It is interesting that Santa Margarita is ranked ahead of Mater Dei in the Pac-5 Division. Our O.C. top 25 had Mater Dei at No. 1, Santa Margarita at No. 3. In a preason ranking, the difference between Nos. 1 and 3 is slim.
The CIF-SS polls are created by coaches advisory committees. Here are the rankings for divisions that include Orange County teams. (Whittier Christian, the only county team in the the Northwest Division, was not in that division’s top 10.)
EAST VALLEY DIVISION
1. St. Margaret’s (Academy)
2. Grace Brethren (Frontier)
3. St. Anthony (Santa Fe)
4T. Saddleback Valley Chr (San Joaquin)
4T. St. Genevieve (Santa Fe)
6. Desert (Desert Mountain)
7. Capistrano Valley Chr (San Jaoquin)
8. Brethren Christian (Academy)
9. Calvary Murrieta (South Valley)
10T. St. Monica Catholic (Santa Fe)
10T. Santa Paula (Frontier)
SOUTHERN DIVISION
1. Garden Grove (Garden Grove)
2. Brea Olinda (North Hills)
3. Canyon/A (North Hills)
4. El Modena (North Hills
5. Westminster (Golden West)
6. Calvary Chapel/SA (Orange Coast)
7. Rancho Alamitos (Garden Grove)
8. Los Amigos (Garden Grove)
9. Estancia (Orange Coast)
10. Katella (Orange)
SOUTHWEST DIVISION
1. San Clemente (Sea View)
2. La Habra (Freeway)
3. Trabuco Hills (Sea View)
4. Villa Park (Crestview)
5. Corona del Mar (Pacific Coast)
6. Capistrano Valley (Sea View)
7. Buena Park (Freeway)
8. Foothill (Crestview)
9. Troy (Freeway)
10. Sonora (Freeway)
WEST VALLEY DIVISION
1. Vista Murrieta (Southwestern)
2. Rancho Cucamonga (Baseline)
3. Mission Viejo (South Coast)
4. Great Oak (Southwestern)
5. Tesoro (South Coast)
6. El Toro (South Coast)
7. Upland (Baseline)
8. Los Alamitos (Sunset)
9. Edison (Sunset)
10. Chino Hills (Baseline)
PAC-5 DIVISION
1. Centennial/Corona (Big VIII)
2. St John Bosco (Trinity)
3. Bishop Amat (Mission)
4. Santa Margarita (Trinity)
5. Mater Dei (Trinity)
6. LB Poly (Moore)
7. Crespi (Mission)
8. Alemany (Mission)
9. Orange Lutheran (Trinity)
10. Servite (Trinity)
