You want reality, Monrovia’s 28-25 victory over South Hills means the Huskies could finish 1-9, maybe 2-8 or 3-7 at best. They would have trouble with the best in the Hacienda, so imagine what awaits in the Sierra, not to mention another non-leaguer against Los Osos. Truth is, they’re not the bad, they’re still better than most teams in the Valley, but clearly not among the area’s elite. They can score, but they give up a lot of points too, a trend that could continue with a youthful defense and unforgiving schedule. Also, Monrovia is pretty darn good, it won’t surprise me at all if they go unbeaten the rest of the way and win the Mid-Valley title. They took a 28-17 lead into the fourth quarter after blowing a 21-point fourth-quarter lead last week to San Dimas. That means gut-check time, and they showed their guts. After South Hills scored and made the conversion to cut it to 28-25 with four minutes left, the Cat’s faced a fourth-and-inches at their own 29 with just over two minutes left. They didn’t punt, they let their offense win it, getting a game-clinching first down. That was a way of saying, what happened last week won’t happen again. M-Town, this is what you needed, watch how it paves the way for better things to come.

The Inland Insider providing postgame highlights and video interviews.

With the Valle Vista, Hacienda and Montview league’s beginning this week, here are my new predictions on how it will unfold.

Hacienda League: Have grown to love the new league because the parity is great across the board with the exception of Los Altos, who in future years will be right there too. But we’re talking about the present, and no way am I not going with West Covina (3-1), fresh off three straight wins over Venice, South Hills and Glendora, all upper-divisional foes. I’m going with Rowland (3-1) and Michael Ball to edge out Bonita (4-1) for second and third respectively. That leaves a fourth-place guaranteed spot, which I’m giving to Diamond Bar (4-0), who will edge out Diamond Ranch and Walnut for that final spot. There is one at-large berth in the Division, and given the fact five teams are ranked in this week’s top ten poll, it’s not a stretch that five teams could make it to the playoff party.

Valle Vista: The only guarantee thus far is that San Dimas (2-2) will do enough to win the league title, though going undefeated will be difficult. Covina (3-1), with its win over West Covina still fresh in the memory banks and with perhaps the best offense, will finish second, thus earning a precious playoff berth, (only two playoff spots are guaranteed in each league in the Mid-Valley Division with four at-large berths overall). Baldwin Park, because it started 0-4, could be in playoff trouble. The Braves need to finish second to guarantee a spot, but absolutely have to finish no worse than third to have any kind of a chance at a playoff spot, which won’t be easy with Wilson (2-1) and Pomona (3-1) much improved. But I still like the Braves to finish third, then I can’t wait for the playoff pairings. Lets say the Braves go 4-2 in the VVL and finish 4-6 overall. Do they get in over a fourth or fifth place Pomona or Wilson, who potentially could have a better overall record? I can’t wait to watch how CIF handles this, because regardless of who finishes third, the VVL should garner at least one of the at-large berths. But the reality is, scheduling easy pays off more than scheduling up.

Montview League: Azusa (3-0) should build on their back-to-back titles and bring a 12-game league winning streak into the Montview, which could very well stretch to 18 come November. Yes, the Aztecs will finish first with La Puente (3-1) a close second over Sierra Vista (3-0). But here’s the real story: Will the Montview get an at-large berth? Assuming Sierra Vista loses to Azusa, La Puente and beats everyone else, they would finish 8-2, and maybe 7-3 at the very worst. Is that good enough for an at-large? Or look at it this way, who does CIF take first, an 8-2 Sierra Vista or a 4-6 Baldwin Park, assuming both finish third in league. Interesting thought, isn’t it? As of now, the Dons are No. 7 and the Braves aren’t anywhere to be found in the Mid-Valley polls.

Here’s the deal, I wanted to send Mike “The Cousin” Robledo to Bishop Amat at Cathedral, but I was told by the Athletic Director there is no press box, and that the stadium only holds 2,500, which means just 1,250 on the visiting side, so Amat fans better arrive early. The AD was concerned with the overflow crowd, he said when he made the deal with Bishop Amat, he was told the Lancers only had 1,500 to 2,000 traveling fans. The game will be shown on tape delay on IBN sports on Saturday morning and Mike will provide Amat updates when available, but please, if you’re at the game with a workable cell phone, join Mike and send your updates. But hey, Diamond Ranch and Diamond Bar is something special regardless, so follow all the action along with updates from other games with Mike.

Mid-Valley Division
1. Whittier Christian (Olympic) 4-0, 2. Azusa (Montview) 3-0, 3. Arroyo (Mission Valley) 3-1, 4. San Dimas (Valle Vista) 2-2, 5. Monrovia (Rio Hondo) 1-2, 6. Village Christian (Olympic) 3-1, 7. Sierra Vista (Montview) 3-0, 8. San Marino (Rio Hondo) 2-1, 9. Covina (Valle Vista) 3-1, 10. South Pasadena (Rio Hondo) 3-0
Robledo’s thoughts: Assuming that Whittier Christian and Azusa go undefeated, and probably will, they will finish No. 1 and 2. When I look at the top five, I’m looking at teams that could run the table in league, meaning there might not be much change for several weeks. The problem here is that strength of schedule means squat, obviously going unbeaten, regardless of who you face, matters most.
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
1. West Covina (Hacienda) 3-1, 2. Burbank (Pacific) 2-1, 3. Bonita (Hacienda) 4-0, 4. Rowland (Hacienda) 3-1, 5. Norwalk (Suburban) 2-2, 6. La Serna (Del Rio) 3-1, 7. Muir (Pacific) 1-2 , 8. Diamond Bar (Hacienda) 4-0, 9. Diamond Ranch (Hacienda) 1-3, 10. Santa Fe (Del Rio) 1-2
Robledo’s thoughts: The pollsters are listening to us, the Bulldogs exactly where they belong. Bonita should be No. 2, but give it up to the Hacienda, five teams in the top ten, including 1-3 Diamond Ranch, the biggest surprise of all. Here’s what I don’t get, strength of schedule obviously matters here, but not in the Mid-Valley? What gives.
PAC-5 DIVISION
1. Mission Viejo (South Coast) 4-0, 2. Servite (Trinity) 4-0 , 3. Lakewood (Moore) 4-0, 4. Bishop Amat (Serra) 4-0, 5. Newport Harbor (Sunset) 3-0, 6. Alemany (Serra) 4-0 , 7. Edison (Sunset) 3-1, 8. Los Alamitos (Sunset) 3-1, 9. Santa Margarita (Trinity) 3-1, 10. Long Beach Poly (Moore) 2-2
Robledo’s thoughts: I don’t know if Bishop Amat is this good, or should be ranked this high, but I do know they’re getting better, and when you add Brock Booth and Wallace Gonzalez to the arsenal, I wouldn’t be surprised with Cathedral and Venice next, they don’t get to No. 2 or 3 after what should be a 6-0 start.
INLAND DIVISION
1. Vista Murrieta (Southwestern) 3-0, 2. Centennial/Corona (Big VIII) 3-0, 3. Norco (Big VIII) 3-0, 4. Redlands East Valley (Citrus Belt) 3-0, 5. Chino Hills (Sierra) 3-1, 6. Rancho Cucamonga (Baseline) 4-0, 7. Upland (Baseline) 3-1, 8. Redlands (Citrus Belt) 3-0-1, 9. Roosevelt (Big VIII) 3-0. 10. Ayala (Sierra) 4-0
Robledo’s thoughts: The Sierra League or Baseline hasn’t started, yet there is no Charter Oak, Glendora, South Hills or Damien. Again, strength of schedule no consideration, look at Ayala, who has beaten four nobody’s compared to Glendora, who has a 3-1 schedule and has played nothing but solid competition. I blame myself, because I had Ayala No. 5 with Glendora No. 6 in our poll, which in hindsight, I should have reserved. I’ll take one for the team on this.

Since I was playing golf on the hottest day in history Monday, I sat these drills out; listen to Miguel Melendez and Aram break down South Hills-Monrovia on Thursday, and Andrew Campa and Aram talk Charter Oak and Santa Fe on Friday.

Girls Volleyball Top 10
1. St. Lucy’s (9-5) — The Regents took on some of the best teams in the country and after going 4-4 during last weekend, broke even in Las Vegas. Who can do the same?
2. Chino Hills (10-1) — The Huskies have three victories over teams who have been ranked in our Top 10 this season. They get St. Lucy’s next week.
3. Bonita (10-2) — The Bearcats showed heart in beat Los Altos in four games on Tuesday. The tandem of Katie Kirby and Ashley Maxfeldt might be one of the best in the area.
4. Los Altos (7-2) — The Conquerors rebounded from a poor start by winning six of seven at the Mayfair Tournament.
5. South Hills (6-2) — The Huskies are expected to challenge St. Lucy’s and Chino Hills in a rugged Sierra League. St. Lucy’s is up first, next Tuesday.
6. Glendora (3-0) — The Tartans took the week off, but got back to work with a nonleague match against Ayala before facing Baseline League power Los Osos next week.
7. San Dimas (9-4) — The Saints are expected to roll in the Valle Vista.
8. Diamond Bar (11-6) — The Brahmas, who lost in four to Bonita last week, rebounded with a solid showing at the Whittier Tournament.
9. Ayala (5-2) — Most view the Bulldogs as the No. 4 team in the Sierra. That only demonstrates how rugged that league is.
10. La Puente (3-3) — The Warriors, ranked No. 6 in Division 4-A, opened Montview League play on a winning note.

Rankings: Check out this link, ranks top boys and girls cross country runners in the San Gabriel Valley

For more SGV cross country news and updates, visit SGVtrackandfield.net. It’s a tremendous site for local cross country and track news. Today there is a nice feature on Rowland High School’s Nick Rivera

2010 Cross Country Calendar

Chino Hills Tom reports from Tuesday’s Sierra League opening cross country meet at Bonelli Park, where Ayala and Claremont are the top contenders, check it out.

Top Ten Boys Marks
1. Paul Ross, Claremont, 14:36, Woodbridge
2. Henry Falotico, Claremont, 14:51, Woodbridge
3. Anthony Castro, Glendora, 14:52, Woodbridge
4. Colin Domonoske, Claremont, 15:04, Woodbridge
5. Alfredo Metoyer, Claremont, 15:05, Woodbridge
6. Timmy Reed, Ayala, 15:15, Woodbridge
7. Kenny Tanner, Ayala, 15:33, Woodbridge
8. Kunal Sampat, Ayala, 15:36, Woodbridge
9. Alfredo Contreras, Ayala, 15:39, Woodbridge
10. Austin Mendoza, Glendora, 15:43, Tartan Top Ten

Top Ten Girls Marks
1. Lauren Justus, Glendora, 17:04, Woodbridge
2. Taylor Khan, Ayala, 17:27, Woodbridge
3. Marissa Scott, Bonita, 17:59, Woodbridge
4. Lexie Jackson, Bonita, 18:17, Woodbridge
5. Jaclyn Gonzalez, Ayala, 18:18, Woodbridge
6. Mikayla Flores, Bonita, 18:21, Woodbridge
7. Chandler Colquitt, Ayala, 18:30, Woodbridge
8. Victoria Chen, Ayala, 18:45, Woodbridge
9. Arecly Rojas-Garcia, Chino Hills, 18:46, Woodbridge
10. Merin Arft, Claremont, 18:52, Woodbridge