1. Dustin Wilson
2. Andrew Kutcha
3. Sam Hibbs
4. Quinn Devlin
5. Dan Jaskowak
6. Ned Willig
7. Brendan Shearn
8. Conner Quinn
9. Alex Moran
10. Logan Steiner
11. LJ Westwood
12. Connor Harriman
13. Max Norris
14. Tom Coyle
15. Drew Magaha
16. Sam Williams
17. Ryan Smathers
18. Aaron Wilkinson
19. Korey Replogle
20. Curt Jewett
21. Luke Jones
22. Brent Kennedy
23. Mike Runco
24. Dan Savage
25. Ean DiSilvio
26. Sean Burke
27. Dan Davis
28. Mac Emery
29. Jack MaCauley
30. Jeff Seelaus
31. Francis Ferruzzi
32. Lawtin Tellin
33. Alex Kane
34. Mike Billotta
35. Connor Strynkowski
36. Brett Kelly
37. Nate Kreider
38. Dylan Mountain
39. Tim Appman
40. John Ausel
41. Jeff Groh
42. Zach Israel
43. Kenny Leidel
44. Matt Croft
45. Chris Muldoon
46. Adam Catora
47. Evan Williams
48. Zach Moon
49. Jake Seigel
50. Ben Robinson
To be honest, I'm biased, but I don't see why Evan Williams shouldn't be higher on the list. He beat Groh(41) at PTXC and Kelly(36) at the PIAA Foundation Race, as well as being right behind Alex Kane (33) so why is he only 47th?
ReplyDeleteJG,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't worry too much about bias. Often times bias just means you know a guys potential better than everyone else and you end up reaping the benefits for believing in him.
I agree that Evan could be higher on this list, unfortunately that is the nature of the beast. The guys just ahead of him on the list are all right around his ability.
As for why he is not right behind/ahead of the names you mentioned here is what I have to say. Brett Kelly was a state medalist last year and in the 20s a sophomore. He has a habit of peakinga at the right time and so he gets a bit of a longer leash than some of these other guys, even if his racing this season has been less than special.
Meanwhile, Kane was in the 30s last year at states, had a modest track season and has had a modest XC season so far. He has proven himself on the trials more than Williams has this year (not by much this year) and perhaps more importantly, last year down the stretch. He gets a bit of a nod due to that fact. And oh yeah I'm biased too he's a D1 guy so I know his name and stats better than most.
As for Groh he's the biggest question mark right now for me. No reason to think, based on this XC season, he has any right to be on this list. That being said he had a great track season and solid XC season for a freshman last year and the truth is a sophomore will medal at states come November and he's the guy I'm putting my stock in. Is it the right guy? Maybe not, but he's the name I know best right now so he gets a bit of a pass and ends up being on the rankings.
As for Williams, he has run very solid XC races this season at a couple big invites so he got on my radar when he started the season virtually off it (I knew the name mostly because he trained with Logan Mohn). He didn't put up any really noteworthy performances last XC season compared to the other guys around him and his track season wasn't anything to jump up and down about either.
He's the kind of guy who has potential to really move up the rankings in the coming weeks if he stays consistently with the guys he has been running with (kind of like how I feel about Jaskowak except for about 40 spots down the list).
Hope this answers your question at least in part.
-train
Yes, thank you, that makes a lot of sense. I realize that he didn't prove himself last season or on the track the way some of these guys have, but so far this season he's been an animal. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
ReplyDelete