CIF-SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION BOYS

The Team to Beat: Granite Bay

The Sacramento Valley Lacrosse Conference has a clear-cut preseason favorite this season: The Grizzlies. Where it seems most of the competition is simultaneously rebuilding, Granite Bay has an experienced team with 14 seniors ready to roll.

Granite Bay brings back eight starters from its 2009 team, including all three of its starting attackmen, two first-line middies and two starting defensemen. On top of that, the Grizzlies also have a strong junior class that spearheaded the JV team’s perfect 15-0 season last year.

Three returning first-team All-League players will lead this group. They are senior attackman David Haggerty, senior attackman Nick Kempker and senior goalie Cody Sviba. Senior defenseman Adam Angulo, meanwhile, was an honorable-mention All-League selection in 2009.

Contenders: Bella Vista, Sacramento Jesuit, Oak Ridge

Whereas Granite Bay is the consensus preseason No. 1, things get real murky, real quick after that. Bella Vista, defending league champion Sacramento Jesuit and Oak Ridge graduated a combined 41 seniors between the three of them, including several standouts.

The best of the group right now appears to be Bella Vista. The Broncos graduated 14 seniors and have three returning starters, but they seem to have the most coming back. Senior defenseman Alex Hart and senior goalie Ian Dyckes were both first-team All-Conference selections last season, and Bella Vista will get a huge boost from senior attackman Jason Monroy, who saw limited action as a junior for medical reasons.

Sacramento Jesuit lost the most of any team in the league. The Marauders were decimated by graduation. On top of losing 13 seniors, Sacramento Jesuit also graduated five first-team All-Conference players and the Sacramento Valley Lacrosse Conference’s Player of the Year. Left to pick up the pieces will be the squad’s lone remaining All-Conference player, junior middie Adam Parietti.

Oak Ridge is in a similar situation. The Trojans lost 14 players to graduation, including all four of their first-team All-Conference selections. Oak Ridge will be led by junior defenseman Miles Maxwell.

Sleeper: St. Mary’s-Stockton

The Rams are in their second season as a varsity program, and they weren’t very competitive during their first. However, with a valuable year of experience behind them, and a school full of athletes from which to draw, St. Mary’s has unlimited potential. The football team went 11-1 in the fall and averaged 51 points a game, so there are clearly a few people on campus who know a thing or two about scoring.

Top Players: Adam Angulo, Def., Granite Bay; Andrew Cabrera, MF, Sacramento Jesuit; Nick Carmona, MF, Oak Ridge; Sean Chacon, Att., Sacramento Jesuit; Ian Dyckes, G, Bella Vista; David Haggerty, Att., Granite Bay (Arizona State); Alex Hart, Def., Bella Vista; Caleb Keller, Def., Sacramento Jesuit; Nick Kempker, Att., Granite Bay; Tom Lynch, Att., Oak Ridge; Miles Maxwell, Def., Oak Ridge; Jason Monroy, Att., Bella Vista; Ryan Nakano, MF, Oak Ridge; Adam Parietti, MF, Sacramento Jesuit; Mario Prato, Att.-MF, St. Mary’s-Stockton; David Reyersbach, Att., Bella Vista; Alex Sacco, Att., Oak Ridge; Cody Sviba, G, Granite Bay.

Preseason Top 6: 1. Granite Bay, 2. Bella Vista, 3. Sacramento Jesuit, 4. Oak Ridge, 5. St. Mary’s-Stockton, 6. Foothill-Sacramento.

Notes: Former Sacramento Jesuit head coach Pete Winn has stepped down and taken over at Pacific Grove in the Central Coast Section. Former assistant coach Steve McLaughlin has been promoted to head coach....Foothill-Sacramento’s 7-5 victory over St. Mary’s-Stockton on April 27, 2009 snapped an almost two-year losing streak. The Mustangs most recent previous victory came on May 5, 2007 when they beat Mira Loma, 14-0. Last season’s win was Foothill-Sacramento’s first and only victory in the two seasons since the school has been a CIF-sanctioned program. The 2008 team went winless and scored four goals in 12 games.