It is getting to be a regular thing that either the Mountain or Valley divisions of the East Bay Athletic League is an absolute beast throughout the season, no matter the sport.

In the spring season that is again the case, but perhaps none more so than boys’ volleyball.

The Valley division, including Foothill, Dublin, Amador Valley, Granada, and Livermore, is absolute chaos when it comes to playing amongst each other.

Foothill heads into the week of March 27 at 5-1, with Granada, Amador and Dublin at 4-2. Livermore sits at 2-4, but last week knocked off De La Salle – the top team in the Mountain – by a 3-2 thriller.

Let’s look at how the first half of the EBAL season played out. It is indeed unpredictable.

*Foothill got knocked off 3-1 by Amador last week but has beaten the other four teams in the division.

*Amador Valley beat Foothill, Granada, and Livermore, but was beaten 3-1 by Dublin.

*Dublin has beaten Amador and Livermore but lost to Granada and Foothill.

*Granada has beaten Dublin and Livermore but lost to Amador Valley and Foothill.

Then look at De La Salle, the top ranked team in the Mountain and they lost to Foothill, Dublin, and Livermore. They did beat Granada this weekend, but it was a shortened tournament format.

That means half way through the EBAL season it is still a wide open race in the Valley. It should also mean a potent group that the league will be sending to the North Coast Section playoffs.

Track and Field

The last two weeks have brought about some nice runs by EBAL athletes competing in local events.

In the Dublin Distance Fiesta held March 17-18 at Dublin High, one of the top high school distance meets in the United States, a pair of Monte Vista runners grabbed titles.

On the girls’ side Cate Peters, the wonder runner from Monte Vista that is headed to Stanford next year, claimed the 800-title with a time of 2:11.04. It is a time that was over five seconds faster than second place, and is the 7th best time in California this year.

Ethan Miller of Monte Vista took the title of the 3,200 with a 9:00.73.

This past weekend in the Bay Area Relay’s at Foothill, EBAL athletes captured several titles.

On the boys’ side, Brennan DeCoite of Foothill got the ball rolling by winning the Mile with a 4:41.39.

De La Salle took the title of 4x100 a 42.45, with Foothill winning the 4x800 with an 8:12.

In the Distance Medley (1,200x400x800x1,600) the Granada team of Roland Ruckmann-Barnes, Matthew Ladner, Erik Bromley, and Dheeraj Gurusamy not only won the race with a 10:23.57, but the time was the fastest in the state this year.

In field events, Riven Borromeo of Dougherty Valley won the high jump (6-3); Derek Lo of San Ramon Valley took the pole vault (14-0); Patrick Lee of Cal won the long jump (30-9.75), and Landen Meonske of Foothill took the triple jump (41-10.5).

On the girls’ side Alyssa Turns of Monte Vista won the mile with a 5:29.64.

In the 4x800 relay Granada won the event with a 9:48.16 time. 18 seconds ahead of the season best time.

The Matadors also won the distance medley with a 12:26.01, 10 seconds faster than second place.

Erin Brown of Amador won the shot put at 34-08, with Elise Doyle of San Ramon Valley winning the pole vault clearing 11-feet.

The other field winner was Brianna Meredith of Carondelet who won the long jump (16-10.25) and the triple jump (36-05.50).

In California rankings, the Monte Vista girls have a pair of top five rankings in relays.

The quartet of Cate Miller, Isabella Moriyama, Natalie McGowan, and Cate Peters make up both relay teams.

In the 4x400 relay they have the fifth-fastest time in California with a 3:54.31. Wilson of Long Beach boasts the top mark with a 3:50.18.

In the sprint medley that is made up of 100x100x200x400, the Mustangs currently have the No. 2 mark with a 1:47.55. The top time of 1:45.55 belongs to an unattached team, which means it’s likely an all-star team not all from one school.