Buckley Rankings

Courtesy Armorytrack.com

The Buckley Rankings (Post Mortem edition)

1. St.Anthony's...congrats; true meaning of team performance; would never have expected such a low team score given the overall quality of the runners in the field; Coach Toro can be proud of this bunch; good luck at the Feds

2. Chaminade...almost; never really got everything together all year, but did peak at the right time; no disgrace to lose this one

3. Fordham Prep...Febles must have had the team memorize every inch of the back hills; remarkable jump from early season lull; their speed actually intimidated other runners they were passing; humble pie on the menu for yours truly

4 . Monsignor Farrell...kudos to Dan Lewis; you just kinda knew that the lack of depth would be their ruination

5. St.Peter's...got to the States; didn't fold their tent when a lot of their opponents did just that

6. St.John the Baptist... always said they were consistent, but team average of 14:01 was by far their best; Cougars have always run well in this meet

7. Kellenberg Memorial...crash & burn; does a fine season go down the drain with one ugly performance???; there were many fine young men on many different teams that bombed out last Saturday; let's not have them all pilloried

8. St.Francis Prep...see #7 (Kellenberg Memorial); sometimes you eat the bear (Sectionals) and sometimes the bear eats you (Cities)

9. Monsignor McClancy...got three men in ahead of St.John's, KM, and St.Francis'

first; good team on the horizon; you've earned everybody's respect

10.St.Joseph by the Sea...Recce wa s great; the rest are fine young men, too

Item 1: regarding the proposal to drop the 1600relay trials and only run finals for the Indoor Champs: sorry for the blatant sexism, but this not a girls' meet; all the drama would be taken out of the last event; should we just give Lenny the team title each year (it's his proposal/)? this is traditional trials/finals event (see State meet)

Item 2: I guess everybody will get to go to Atlantic City on Memorial Day weekend;

this was the traditional day for the Cities; with everything scrunched back, Louckes &

Hartford become fond memories & the St.Anthony's Meet becomes a Public School event for the younger runners; I don't care if your kids don't want to be there that weekend or that you don't want to be there that weekend; what do you now have...37 days to the State Meet at Neverland (the North Pole)

The Buckley Rankings (City Champs Edition)

Using a Byzantine system, I attempted to rank all CHSAA runners form 1 to 75, placing them where I thought they would finish. I combined best times at various courses, plus "Tully" speed ratings, with my interpretive skills of who would finish where. This is not a straight crunching of numbers. There is an art to this form of handicapping (notice how I try to increase my own significance). The end result was not pre-determined. Anyway, races are run on the course over 2 1/2 miles and not on an 8" by 11" sheet of paper. I have now just put a bulls-eye on myself, my coaches and my team. Good luck to all the teams.

1. Chaminade (#4 last week)(Las Vegas odds 5-2)(76 pts.)...the talent has always been there;

coming on at the right time; can afford no mistakes

2. St.Anthony's (#2)(5-2)(79 pts.)...very balanced; can Russ keep improving, will Fleming bounce back; can certainly win it all

3. Monsignor Farrell (#1)(6-5)(92 pts.)...Lewis the race favorite at 1-2; it all comes down to overcoming the 5th man; tough pressure on some nice kids; if Kellenberg doesn't pull an upset, I'm rooting for you; can't pull for arch-enemies on Long Island, unless it's the State Meet

4. Kellenberg Memorial (#3)(10-1)(120 pts.)...#3 man ("the evil twin") with fractured arm (NFL has him listed on injury report as "doubtful;") everyone else in fine fettle; could still pull an upset???; maybe the first team to get five scorers in

5. St.Francis Prep (#7)(25-1)(137 pts.)...people forget the Terriers have 4 quality scorers; all healthy at one time

6. Fordham Prep (#5)(15-1)(158 pts.)...(this is the way the positions came out; I know you've been improving and usually step up at this meet; please do not vandalize any of the Kellenberg vehicles (this is not the Armory)

7. St.Peter's (#6)(35-1)...(163 pts.)I will never be allowed to drive through Staten Island again, let alone visit friends (what friends) or dine

8. McClancy (#8)(99-1)...(174 pts.) heck of job getting here; definitely, most improved

9. St.Joseph by the Sea (#9)(189 pts.)...another island school heard from

10.Iona Prep (#12)(99-1)...(210 pts.)...the youngsters will try to step up; Jan is determined

to show that the Gaels are better than this

N.B. Coaches Wood, Dormer & Medina are also not inviting me over for dinner

maybe the first team to get five scorers in

The Buckley Rankings (week of Oct. 31)

1. Monsignor Farrell...in honor of the Breeders' Cup, Dan, Vito & Jeff hit the trifecta at the NY Sectionals (1st, 2nd & 3rd finishers) in leading the Lions to victory; 4th man OK; 5th man better, but still problematic in the large field Cities

2. St.Anthony's...the emergence of Russ is huge; edged Kellenberg & Chaminade at Sunken Meadow 3.1 by a 39-41-49 tally; Cities not on their home turf is a disadvantage, but how much?

3. Kellenberg Memorial...lagged early at NSCHSAA, rallied boldly through Cardiac, and appeared to be the winners with 800 to go; faltered in final furlong (220 yds.); solid effort, but fell short

4. Chaminade...saw race leader McDermott go down while leading; other runners stepping up late; maybe can vindicate their early season ranking; would have won Nassau-Suffolk with any racing luck; (question...which Long Island team is best at Van Cortland? and can they beat Farrell anyway?

5. Fordham Prep...2nd to Farrell at NY Sectionals; just as we figured, here comes the late season charge by the half-miler types; can the Rams challenge the top four? can they hang on for a State berth

6. St. Peter's...drop a notch; 6 pts. behind the Feblesians; is a rebound in order?

7. St.Francis Prep...BQ Sectional winners did what they had to do, but the times are not indicative of their best efforts; never thought that the Terriers would be languishing in 7th overall at this juncture; still a major threat

8. Monsignor McClancy...where the hey did that come from? big time jump; John Reilly as individual race winner by a whole bunch

9. St.Joseph by the Sea...appeared shorthanded at Sectionals; hanging around; individuals for State Fed; lonshot for Big Blue Team

10.St.John the Baptist...not a good day at Sunken Meadow for the Boys (the Girls did win, however); still, their conversion times to Van Cortland hold sway over the other double-digit teams

11.Xavier...must show more

12.Iona Prep...6th at Sectionals is not a true indicator; will use 9th graders at Cities making them a viable threat to jump 4 or 5 places (the fledglings' times are real good...see Westchester Champs)

13.Regis...overall team average gets them here; tough to see in top ten at Cities

14.Archbishop Molloy...are performing better, but gets difficult when no one's under 14:00

15. Bishop Ford...went south at Sectionals; just when you think you're getting it together...right in the ashcan

The Buckley Rankings (10/25)

1. Monsignor Farrell...captured Staten Island Champs; Lewis in course record performance; 5th man seen in Bayonne

2. St.Anthony's...24-31 dual meet victory over Chaminade solidifies #2 spot; race was closer, however, than the score indicated

3. Kellenberg Memorial...Eli Manning leads come form behind victory over Broncos; maybe he can be someone's 5th man; NSCHSAA Dual Meet Champions (it is a step above division 4 LI Youth Soccer Champion, but not that much above)

3a. Smithtown...OK, OK you're better than I gave you credit (or discredit) for; your division win at Bob Pratt Meet at Sunken Meadow would have beaten Chaminade by 1 point in dual meet scoring format

4. Chaminade...another Bob Pratt division winner; are we seeing some life from last year's junior class; League Champs on Sunday at 3.1 will decide which LI team is really #1; of course, Sunken Meadow is a different ballgame than the Van Cortland speedway

5. St. Peter's...2nd, ahead of St. Joe's on Staten Island

6. St. Joseph by the Sea...3rd on Staten Island

7. St. Francis Prep...rewinding

8.Fordham Prep...won Bronx Champs in midweek romp; Bradley, the inidividual race winner, posted a fine time; looming in the background

9. St. John the Baptist...another 2nd ; always a bridesmaid, and never a bride

10.Bishop Ford... captured Brooklyn CHSAA Champs during the week; something to build on

11.Iona Prep...3rd behind North Rockland and Scarsdale in Section I Meet

12. Monsignor McClancy

13. Xavier

14. Regis

15. Holy Trinity...3rd to Massapequa & Mepham at Nassau Coaches (this was the Bethpage Meet that was postponed last weekend so they could run in the rain this weekend)

The Buckley Rankings (10/17)

1. Monsignor Farrell...hanging on a precipice; 7th at Championship Easterns is not what they really wanted; State Ranking is still legit (they can beat the teams behind them)

2. St.Anthony's...5th in Brown Championship enough to leap-frog the CHSAA pack; still, a big gap to 4th place Collegiate

3. Kellenberg Memorial...Conor Shelley ran big at Easterns, but, otherwise not a good performance to finish 8th

4. Chaminade...drop down by not racing; Bethpage Meet cancelled (wet grounds???); come on Nassau County (were you afraid some "concerned" parents might call, or was it fear of a lawsuit or were you afraid of some runner venturing onto Bethpage "Black" and disturbing a future U.S. Open???

5. St.Peter's...much ado about nothing; by default; everyone else was a.w.f.u.l. (spell out all the letters)

6. St.Joseph by the Sea...also known as "St.Joseph by the Default;" 14th in Easterns Championship; at least gave it a shot against the best; some OK times: Recce was good

7. St.Francis Prep...dreadful effort at Easterns, but the Terriers could easily rebound

8. Fordham Prep...hey Febles, when is your whole team gonna run on the same day; 6th in Easterns "B" is not the answer

9. St.John the Baptist...nice 2nd in classified race at Brown, but didn't face too much opposition; consistency is the Cougars game; maybe a breakthrough or two can catch the supposed contenders napping

10.Bishop Ford...2nd in "D" at Easterns; you can throw a blanket over the Falcons and the remaining cast

11.Iona Prep...two steps forward, three steps back from Florida excursion; need to find a warm weather site; jet lag from South to North???

12.Monsignor McClancy...4th at classified Brown is a good improvement; seem to be coming on

13.Xavier...I know you were in the "C" and not the "D" at Easterns, but I just didn't ;see enough to warrant you higher; please do not take it out on my family

14.Regis...close up to Xavier at Easterns; Coach Donodeo climbed Mt.Kilamanjaro this summer; he needed to spend more time recruiting (see Mick Byrne)

15.Archbishop Molloy...will have to improve and quickly

16.Smithtown...sorry, this is your real State Ranking; apologies to Peter Byrne who ran for me in the halcyon days

The Buckley Rankings (10/10)

1A. Collegiate...shutout performance at Disney bolstered by some terrific times...wait...they're not a Catholic school (Dutch Reformed, I guess); we're having a "Reformation" in Cross-Country

1. Monsignor Farrell...clinging desperately to #1; Lewis a quality 3rd at Manhattan; how can you tell anything from this weekend with kids taking the SAT, SAT II's, LSATS, MCATS, MRI's

and amniocentesis???; next weekends Easterns, Brown and Ridgewood should sort things out

2. Kellenberg Memorial...5th at Manhattan with split squad (how dopey was that?); maybe more important lesons were learned about pacing?; defeated Chaminade in dual meet at Sunken Meadow 23-32

3. Chaminade...5th, while shorthanded, at Manhattan; traditional dual meet on Wednesday vs. St. Anthony's

4. St.Anthony's...stayed dry on Saturday (I think); better than some teams in the top 10 of State Rankings

5. St.Francis Prep...Jim May and Jan Mitchell stayed in the "Tower of Terror" hotel for the Disney Meet; Hayden as individual race winner in fine time (Tullyrunners gave him a fine speed rating; I am more familiar with the Beyer figures at Belmont and Saratoga; interesting concept, but needs a track variant for weather conditions); left some runners home in the rain

6. St. Peter's...also got 5th place shirts; a half-miler was sighted

7. Fordham Prep...many missing faces; "status quo ante Manhattan"

8. St. Joseph by the Sea...felt at home in the miserable conditions, which resembled the average "Big Blue" outdoor meet

9. Iona Prep...used #50 sun screen to jump up in the rankings; solid 3rd, with decent times;

Boulat won their race

10. St.John the Baptist...didn't do anything wrong, yet dropped down; apologies to West Islip and its environs

11. Xavier...stayed dry; at least there is some consolation

12. Bishop Ford

13. Archbishop Molloy

14. McClancy

The Buckley Rankings (week of 10/3)

1. Monsignor Farrell...took the weekend off to re-group; passed on Mayor's Cup; congrats to Collegiate and Coach George Calano for their "Cup" victory (they are genuinely one of the State's top teams and the most under appreciated)

2. Kellenberg Memorial...defeated St. Anthony's 24-31 in dual meet in which both teams were actually trying; passed on the weekend for "Open House;" another dual meet showdown versus Chaminade on Wednesday; In good conscience, I can't rank the Firebirds lower

3. St. Anthony's...can't fault the Friars for winning their own meet at Sunken Meadow; quality top scorer and excellent balance throughout

4. Chaminade...OK , but not so close, 2nd to "Shen" in Schenectady; will be loaded for bear when facing Marianist rival Kellenberg in dual meet

5. St. Francis Prep...kind of missed the boat on the Terriers last week; seem to have a couple of potential 5th scorers not too far on the horizon; quality 2nd to a quality Collegiate; real dangerous down the road, but no margin for error

6. St. Peter's...3rd in "Mayor's Cup;" on the cusp of State Qualifier

7. Fordham Prep...decent 5th at McQuaid, but should have been closer to Burnt Hills in 2nd; top two were superb, but major dropoff after that; (I'd dropoff too if I had to ride to Rochester)

8. St. Joseph by the Sea...4th at "Cup," edging out the "Peglegs;" Gedeon and Recce were excellent and Sexton fair, but need more than 14:40's from back two; "Big Blue" is starting to get interesting

9. St. John the Baptist...bring home minor team awards every week; the Cougars just won't go away, but their teeth don't actually instill fear

10. Xavier...winner in tight finish of classified race at McQuaid; they've surfaced, but still have a long way to go

11.Iona

12. Bishop Ford

13. McClancy...missed noticing them at Xavier Meet

The Buckley Rankings (week of 9/26)

1. Monsignor Farrell...OK 9th in large field in Great American "ROC" (Race of Champions, for the unitiated); 3 real good scorers, 1 OK, but lacked a solid 5th

2. St.Anthony's...scored a perfect 15 at the Suffolk Coaches Meet (wow); competition was suspect (not just the usual suspects, but suspect)

3. Chaminade...passed the week for a Van Cortland Practice, so you lose your spot by being idle (hey, if Cuffe can move Kellenberg from 11th to 16th by not racing, I can arbitrarily do the same thing to any team I please)("it's good to be the king")

4. Kellenberg...practiced at Van Cortland and was severely punished in the process; where is the "quid pro quo" from Cuffe (look at all the good things I have done for Farrell over the years, and this is how I am repaid)

5. Fordham Prep... the "Prep" defeated some "preppy" Westchester schools; were Hillary and Martha Stewart at the meet???

6. St. Peter's...looked visually impressive at Xavier Meet; I have to guess without the exact times; all levels seem to be working on all cylinders; maybe the Eagles have flown in runners from Bayonne or the Amboys

7. St. Francis Prep...ran OK at Xavier, but just seem to be operating short-handed

8. St. John the Baptist...good 2nd to St. Anthony's at Sunken Meadow; still have to see more

9. St. Joseph by the Sea...ventured from their lovely island paradise to visit the Long Island Sound; Recce finished 2nd in the non-St. Anthony's race; although team placed 4th, 5 man average was 1 second faster the St. John the Baptist

10. Iona Prep...2nd in 3.1 Public School Race at Van Cortland, but lost to Stuyvesant ( I think they are still called the "Peglegs" after their Dutch Royal Governor; ) you can't lose to a team of "Peglegs"; let's see, "Braves" & "Seminoles" are politically incorrect, but "Peglegs" is OK

11. Xavier...still under the radar

12. Bishop Ford...they did something, but my mind was focused on something else; sorry..

The Buckley Rankings (week of Sept. 19)

1. Monsignor Farrell...Lewis under 13:00 at VCP; fortunately for the CHSAA, Morris Hills is in another state; assume the top ranking (for now)

2. Chaminade...a not so impressive 4th, albeit in the Championship race, at Briarwood; need the younger kids to step up, but it's still early

3. St. Anthony's...Fleming, the underrated, leads the Friars to a nice win at Suffern Meet; didn't beat too much; plenty of JV support to challenge "A" team; the Toro's were "bullish" at Bear Mountain (ouch); "blackshirts" are curious as to why they are behind the Firebirds in State rankings; show down next Wednesday with Kellenberg at Sunken Meadow; (by the way, their 5 man average bettered Shaker from the other division)

4. Kellenberg Memorial...lost badly when 2nd to the Canadians (eh?) Thousand Islands at Guilderland; the "Salad Dressings" were tough (I know, I used that last year, but Henri Bergson says that humor is often found in the repetitive); they're really called the Pirates ( on Lake Ontario)(???); Firebirds defeated pre-season state-ranked teams in Guilderland, Burnt Hills, Collegiate & Niskayuna; all of us here at Kellenberg thank Tom Cuffe for his confidence in us

5. Fordham Prep...did they sneak out of state; I don't know

6. St.Francis Prep...decent effort in Jim Smith Meet at Sunken Meadow; the same old story;

"my kingdom for a fifth scorer"

7. St. Peter's...solid team looking for a head-to-head match-up to move ahead in the rankings..

8. St. John the Baptist...the best of the rest

9. St. Joseph by the Sea... in dire need of back scorers to help some talented front men

10.Xavier...they must have more than they have shown

11.Bishop Ford...OK team score at CW Post Meet, but how many Valley Stream teams do you get to run against

The Buckley Rankings (week of 9/11)

1. Chaminade...Flyers open their invitational season chasing cheesesteaks at Briarwood/Belmont Plateau in Philly

2.Monsignor Farrell...Lewis, Carbonella and Cannavo hit the trifecta in dominating the Wagner College Meet; other scorers not as impressive

3. Fordham Prep...did not scare anyone at the CHSAA Practice Meet despite Bradley and Egan finishing one-two; looks like the Rams will have their usual slower start and, hopefully, faster finish

4. St. Anthony's...looks like the Friars approached the CHSAA Practice Meet like a practice meet; large groupings of black-shirts monks running together

5. Kellenberg Memorial...looked impressive, with good times, in capturing the Wizard in Washingtonville over host school; field was not very deep; ("In the land of the blind, the one -eyed man is king")

6. St. Francis Prep...see what you get for not running your team too early...you lose a spot

7. St. Peter's...very good 2nd to Farrell on Staten Island as they split Farrell scorers; at least we know that some athletes did their summer running

8. Xavier...former Bruins are still hibernating

9. St. John the Baptist...4th at Wagner, but ahead of "Sea;" dual meet vs. Kellenberg on Wednesdya, 9/14

10.St. Joseph by the Sea...Recce was excellent and Sexton OK at Wagner, but didn't show much more

Pre-Season (9/01)