Well folks it may be my birthday today, but that does not mean I'm taking the day off. It appeared from my recent research that some people want to know my thoughts more specifically about the events this indoor season. So let's see what I can do.
Purely by best outdoor 3200m PR these are the top returners:
1. Dustin Wilson 9:02
2. Andrew Kuchta 9:16
3. Quinn Devlin 9:20
4. Sam Hibbs 9:22
5. Brendan Shearn 9:23
6. Connor Strynkowski 9:24
7. Logan Steiner 9:24
8. Ned Willig 9:28
9. Jeff Groh 9:30
10. Barrett Kemp 9:33
Also for the 3200m/3000m, XC season is definitely a good indicator of how fast you can run. For as long as I can remember the state champion in the 3200m went on to run under 9:20 in the 3200m if they stayed healthy. So here is a reminder of my top 10 rankings for the end of the XC season:
1. Dustin Wilson
2. Conner Quinn
3. Dan Jaskowak
4. Drew Magaha
5. Brendan Shearn
6. Logan Steiner
7. Brett Kelly
8. Luke Jones
9. Dan Savage
10. Tom Coyle
And also an important factor worth noting, not all the best guys outdoor are fit indoors, so here are the top 10 returning 3k times from an indoor season ago.
1. Dustin Wilson 8:52
2. Aaron Wilkinson 8:57
3. Logan Steiner 8:58
4. Ned Willig 9:00
5. Brett Kelly 9:01
6. Conner Quinn 9:03
7. Sami Aziz 9:04
8. Owen Glatts 9:05
9. Brian Shields 9:05
10. George Kelly 9:06
There's a boatload of returners in the 9:05-9:10 range which will make this very interesting.
So here's what I got for you preview wise folks.
Dustin Wilson is definitely the class of the field just as he was the class of the state a year. Running Footlocker will certainly hinder his training, but enough to put him down enough pegs to lose against what I see as his competition.
However, if Willig or Magaha were to move up and run the 3k fresh I think either of them could beat Wilson head to head. Wilson has more strength but if the race is at all tactical the kickers could take home the gold. That being said, I'm assuming Willig is going DMR, maybe the mile too, but definitely not the 3k, and if Magaha chooses to try a double (and I think there's not much of a point to not doubling back) he will go mile-8.
Conner Quinn is the defending state champ and has a nice 9:03 on his resume from a year ago, so its hard to count the guy out of being in the mix out front.
Aaron Wilkinson is the top returner from indoor states. Yes, you heard me right. Not a big name, but he is a very talented runner and was ready to go indoors a season ago. Hopefully he is ready to match that this year.
The AA guys and the guys like Jaskowak are tough to predict because quite frankly, I don't think a lot of them will have indoor seasons. Its just what I think. That being said, the talent is there to really make something happen.
Brett Kelly had one of the best last three races in the state in XC and he is always good indoors. Maybe too good indoors so that his outdoors suffers, but very good indoors. Kelly doesn't have a team and relays to weigh him down this season so if he chooses to go for the 3k I wouldn't be suprised if he runs in the 8:40s.
And now we get to the trickiest part of the program, the current Jrs and where they fall in to place in the whole 3k scene. Quinn, as mentioned before, should be very good. MacCauley is going to be in the mix as well as far as I see it. Outside chance he is like Sam Bernitt a year ago and snags all state and runs in the 8:50-8:40 range. Savage of course is talented as well. O'Hara does a lot of work with relays, and they have a good team, so Savage may be hindered by that. Ultimately though, it seems like he will make it to states and compete with the guys for a medal.
I really like Max Norris for this indoor season, I'm high on him after a great XC season with the exception of one (admittedly, the most important) race at states. Norris has got great speed of a 4:19 mile and if he choses to move up to the 3k and stay away from Willig and Magaha, he could do some damage. Really Norris could damage in either race.
Harriman, Ferruzzi, Coyle (think he will run the mile if anything), Kunzweiler (another 800-mile type), Emery could all be factors in this race as well.
And believe it or not I haven't touched on half the talent pool in the state. Out west Steiner and Kuchta are the class of the field, but Kennedy and Runco could both surprise with very fast times. Heck, George Kelly is a top 10 returner, what's to say he won't be under 9 minutes and surprise some people. I think Runco will probably opt for the mile, but he proved he's a force this past XC season, so it wouldn't surprise me if he dropped a fast 3k.
Plus we got the pair of Altoona guys who can mix it up indoors. They both skipped out on Footlockers to get a head start on training and Altoona has a pretty good resume of running fast indoors (see Endress, Wade or Gehret, Brady or the DMR in general).
And yes I'm sure some people are misssing from the list of names here but cmon people there's only so much I can do.
Finally, I figured its only right to do some rankings, I'm going to make only a top 10 list and yes some very good, talented runners will be left off. I'm only going to put runners who I think will focus on the 3k on this list so guys like Runco, Norris, Willig, Magaha are all out for right now. Also left off the guys who I don't think are running indoors like Shearn, Jaskowak, Strynkowski, etc. Therefore, here's what I got:
1. Wilson
2. Steiner
3. Kelly
4. Quinn
5. Hibbs
6. Wilkinson
7. Kuchta
8. MacCauley
9. Savage
10. Mountain
worth noting: Devlin? not sure if he's running indoors yet, so just opted to leave him off. Definitely think the kid can compete for the win/well earned second if Wilson is in prime time, if he's healthy, but that's kind of a big if.
Footlocker Northeast
Yes, I was there. I was there to support my good friend Francis Ferruzzi who did a great job redeeming his disappointing, sickness influenced finish at states (and also my girlfriend lives 5 minutes from the course so that was kind of convenient). But I'm not hear to talk about my girlfriend (I know 2 references in the last 3 posts, you don't care) or my buddy Francis Ferruzzi (32nd at the meet, with just 35 minutes to warm up after a 2.5 car ride, props, that's all I'm gonna say).
First off congrats to the girls. I didn't see their race, but they did an awesome job representing PA. Angel is a women on a mission this season, and will try to dive into Neely Spence territory out in CA.
But on to what I know: the men. So some of our boys went out a little too hard. Guys like Brendan Shearn and a kid from Upper Dublin whose name I said I wouldn't mention, sat back in about last place for 400m and let the other guys burn themselves out and it paid off. Meanwhile, Hibbs, Quinn, and Jaskowak really got eaten up by the hills. Hibbs really died hard, it was a tough end to his season, but he may just be burnt out from all the training. It would explain a lot. Hopefully he rests up and is ready for track.
As for Quinn he was up in the mix, and as the PA state champ you can't blame him for trying, but it just wasn't his day. Even Pondel ended up coming back to eat him up for a medal at the end of the race (nice race by Austin, very nice stretch run to his season which he spent in Jaskowak's shadow).
Speaking of Jaskowak, he really went for it out front, but unfortunately you don't make the trip to nationals for being in the top 10 2k into the race, but he held on fairly nicely and finished 18th in the region. That's truly fantastic for this kid. He had a great season in a league the same as Jacob Kildoo who was a pretty darn good runner in his own right. Jaskowak really proved me wrong over the course of this season and I give him a lot of credit.
Solid race for Shearn. Not amazing, but he ran smart and it paid of in a top 20 finish the region. He will be one of the top returns next year along with big Dan, and this experience on the course should come in handy. Great season for Shearn, mixing it up with the top AAA guys at the region.
How about Brett Kelly? I was knocking on him kind of hard after his slow start (not as hard as some people but he definitely dropped like a rock), and by the time the big meets rolled around he was on a completely different level. The top PIAA finisher at the meet. Wow. Great job, great hill runner.
And lastly, gotta talk about my boy Dustin Wilson. He ran the race very smart, hanging back moving up the ranks and being in posistion at the right times. He was in 2nd place when I saw him with 800 to go, and although he did get dropped at the end in the sprint to the finish, he showed a lot of heart, grit and determination which will pay off at Nats. He can mix it up with anybody in the Northeast region based off this race .... besides Ed Cheserek of course.
Privelged to be able to have seen that kid run. The easiest 15:20 you might ever see on Sunken Meadow. Unless Bekele goes there often for long runs. Cheserek is very, very good, not that I needed to see him in person to know that, but it is much cooler to see it.
I'll say it now, he's winning Nationals and he's gonna scare the course record in the 14:30s. He's not afraid of anyone or any time. He just runs fast and runs to win.
-train
First off congrats to the girls. I didn't see their race, but they did an awesome job representing PA. Angel is a women on a mission this season, and will try to dive into Neely Spence territory out in CA.
But on to what I know: the men. So some of our boys went out a little too hard. Guys like Brendan Shearn and a kid from Upper Dublin whose name I said I wouldn't mention, sat back in about last place for 400m and let the other guys burn themselves out and it paid off. Meanwhile, Hibbs, Quinn, and Jaskowak really got eaten up by the hills. Hibbs really died hard, it was a tough end to his season, but he may just be burnt out from all the training. It would explain a lot. Hopefully he rests up and is ready for track.
As for Quinn he was up in the mix, and as the PA state champ you can't blame him for trying, but it just wasn't his day. Even Pondel ended up coming back to eat him up for a medal at the end of the race (nice race by Austin, very nice stretch run to his season which he spent in Jaskowak's shadow).
Speaking of Jaskowak, he really went for it out front, but unfortunately you don't make the trip to nationals for being in the top 10 2k into the race, but he held on fairly nicely and finished 18th in the region. That's truly fantastic for this kid. He had a great season in a league the same as Jacob Kildoo who was a pretty darn good runner in his own right. Jaskowak really proved me wrong over the course of this season and I give him a lot of credit.
Solid race for Shearn. Not amazing, but he ran smart and it paid of in a top 20 finish the region. He will be one of the top returns next year along with big Dan, and this experience on the course should come in handy. Great season for Shearn, mixing it up with the top AAA guys at the region.
How about Brett Kelly? I was knocking on him kind of hard after his slow start (not as hard as some people but he definitely dropped like a rock), and by the time the big meets rolled around he was on a completely different level. The top PIAA finisher at the meet. Wow. Great job, great hill runner.
And lastly, gotta talk about my boy Dustin Wilson. He ran the race very smart, hanging back moving up the ranks and being in posistion at the right times. He was in 2nd place when I saw him with 800 to go, and although he did get dropped at the end in the sprint to the finish, he showed a lot of heart, grit and determination which will pay off at Nats. He can mix it up with anybody in the Northeast region based off this race .... besides Ed Cheserek of course.
Privelged to be able to have seen that kid run. The easiest 15:20 you might ever see on Sunken Meadow. Unless Bekele goes there often for long runs. Cheserek is very, very good, not that I needed to see him in person to know that, but it is much cooler to see it.
I'll say it now, he's winning Nationals and he's gonna scare the course record in the 14:30s. He's not afraid of anyone or any time. He just runs fast and runs to win.
-train
11 Questions
Etrain11. 11 questions. Works for me. I figured I'd offer up a few questions I'm eager to get answered in this indoor track season. So here we go.
1. What can we expect from Alex Moran?
The guy was a straight stud last year, didn't perform as high as I thought he might at indoor states but he ran very quick times from cross through to outdoors, and even put a bit of a scare in Ryan Gil at the Baldwin Invite. But Moran took a bit of a step back this XC season. That isn't always negative (see Mike Palmisano), but it isn't always postive (see Vince McNally)
2. How much do Abington and CB West have left after their record setting winter last year?
Abington loses all their big guns, as does CB West with guys like Moran, Manley, Bee, McGarvey, Taylor, Watson and Smith all moving on to the big leagues at college. BUT most top relays end up surprising the next year even when they have nothing left, how about CB South who stayed competitive even after losing every piece of their relay not named Mallon. Abington tends to find new kids to emerge as studs in the 4 and the 8 every year, and I anticipate a similar thing again this season.
3. How do the AA guys factor into indoors?
Most years these schools don't have a big impact. They just don't have big enough programs and budgets to have successful indoor seasons. But this year the AA talent is especially deep, so they could make things interesting if they find their way to Penn State in March.
4. How will Sam Hibbs and Conner Quinn respond to their XC seasons?
One guys stock is way up, the other is way down. Hmmm. Ironically I got their stock flipping back come indoors. Quinn has always been more of a cross guy than track (check last years results for confirmation). Hibbs hasn't had a real indoor season yet in his career, but he's got talent and the end of his XC season certainly didn't show his potential.
5. Will any PA guys make Millrose?
Moran, Willig, Wilson, and of course Magaha are all in the mix to make it to the big dance in New York. It may not be on the cool Madison Square Garden track anymore, but that doesn't mean its not a big deal to make it to this meet. Magaha may get in with an autobid, and Willig definitely has a shot if he goes for it.
6. How fast can Dustin Wilson run without the relays?
Last year he went for the DMR. Nice gesture, but it ended up costing him possibly state gold and definitely state hardware. This year he's not tied down by anything except for his trip to San Diego. He could go for the mile and the 3k which would be interesting, but my bet is he goes for the 3k and hammers out something pretty quick. 5k is his real event so at NBN, that's where stuff will go down.
7. How will the state XC champs do in track?
Yeah I almost started writing this about like 5 other teams before I remember that it was North Penn that was state champs in the fall. I know, we are all still surprised by this, but they are always good at track and they return a lot of pieces from a very solid 4x8 a year ago. Trimble is one of the big picks for a break out track season and look at the history of North Penn 800 runners for proof.
8. Who is Brad Rivera?
I'll tell you who he is, he's a 1:53 800 runner from district's last year. Remember the name.
9. Who will be a big sleeper out West?
How about another Penn Hills 800 runner? They usually do pretty well and Will Baily has been doing pretty well since last spring. He's a very fast 1:53 split kind of guy with big potential to run fast like Rumble and Anderson.
10. How will the PCL fair indoors?
There are always a lot of solid PCL performances indoor, O'Hara is obviously a very good team, but lets face it this question centers around Tom Coyle and LaSalle. Coyle seems to have taken the next step this year as a top runner. He was leading a lot of the states race and is unafraid of the big moment. LaSalle has had their share of big DMR moments in the past as well (see Dan Lowry, current all american) and Andrew Stone is a stud along side Coyle. PCL doesn't play.
11. Megaha?
There have been a lot of knocks on this guy and heck most of the time I've thrown the first stone, but he proved a lot of doubters wrong this past fall with a big XC season. I will be the first one to say I was wrong. Last indoors was kind of a big letdown. He didn't perform the way I thought he would and I was big on his stock. But like XC, I think he will turn things around and prove some doubters wrong. Magaha should in theory run close to the state records in the 800, mile, and maybe even the 3k. It's a matter of what Ned Willig does really. But I heard Ned Willig is going DMR again. So .... will Magaha really run all that fast all by himself out front? Hey I just ask the questions, I don't have the answers ....
1. What can we expect from Alex Moran?
The guy was a straight stud last year, didn't perform as high as I thought he might at indoor states but he ran very quick times from cross through to outdoors, and even put a bit of a scare in Ryan Gil at the Baldwin Invite. But Moran took a bit of a step back this XC season. That isn't always negative (see Mike Palmisano), but it isn't always postive (see Vince McNally)
2. How much do Abington and CB West have left after their record setting winter last year?
Abington loses all their big guns, as does CB West with guys like Moran, Manley, Bee, McGarvey, Taylor, Watson and Smith all moving on to the big leagues at college. BUT most top relays end up surprising the next year even when they have nothing left, how about CB South who stayed competitive even after losing every piece of their relay not named Mallon. Abington tends to find new kids to emerge as studs in the 4 and the 8 every year, and I anticipate a similar thing again this season.
3. How do the AA guys factor into indoors?
Most years these schools don't have a big impact. They just don't have big enough programs and budgets to have successful indoor seasons. But this year the AA talent is especially deep, so they could make things interesting if they find their way to Penn State in March.
4. How will Sam Hibbs and Conner Quinn respond to their XC seasons?
One guys stock is way up, the other is way down. Hmmm. Ironically I got their stock flipping back come indoors. Quinn has always been more of a cross guy than track (check last years results for confirmation). Hibbs hasn't had a real indoor season yet in his career, but he's got talent and the end of his XC season certainly didn't show his potential.
5. Will any PA guys make Millrose?
Moran, Willig, Wilson, and of course Magaha are all in the mix to make it to the big dance in New York. It may not be on the cool Madison Square Garden track anymore, but that doesn't mean its not a big deal to make it to this meet. Magaha may get in with an autobid, and Willig definitely has a shot if he goes for it.
6. How fast can Dustin Wilson run without the relays?
Last year he went for the DMR. Nice gesture, but it ended up costing him possibly state gold and definitely state hardware. This year he's not tied down by anything except for his trip to San Diego. He could go for the mile and the 3k which would be interesting, but my bet is he goes for the 3k and hammers out something pretty quick. 5k is his real event so at NBN, that's where stuff will go down.
7. How will the state XC champs do in track?
Yeah I almost started writing this about like 5 other teams before I remember that it was North Penn that was state champs in the fall. I know, we are all still surprised by this, but they are always good at track and they return a lot of pieces from a very solid 4x8 a year ago. Trimble is one of the big picks for a break out track season and look at the history of North Penn 800 runners for proof.
8. Who is Brad Rivera?
I'll tell you who he is, he's a 1:53 800 runner from district's last year. Remember the name.
9. Who will be a big sleeper out West?
How about another Penn Hills 800 runner? They usually do pretty well and Will Baily has been doing pretty well since last spring. He's a very fast 1:53 split kind of guy with big potential to run fast like Rumble and Anderson.
10. How will the PCL fair indoors?
There are always a lot of solid PCL performances indoor, O'Hara is obviously a very good team, but lets face it this question centers around Tom Coyle and LaSalle. Coyle seems to have taken the next step this year as a top runner. He was leading a lot of the states race and is unafraid of the big moment. LaSalle has had their share of big DMR moments in the past as well (see Dan Lowry, current all american) and Andrew Stone is a stud along side Coyle. PCL doesn't play.
11. Megaha?
There have been a lot of knocks on this guy and heck most of the time I've thrown the first stone, but he proved a lot of doubters wrong this past fall with a big XC season. I will be the first one to say I was wrong. Last indoors was kind of a big letdown. He didn't perform the way I thought he would and I was big on his stock. But like XC, I think he will turn things around and prove some doubters wrong. Magaha should in theory run close to the state records in the 800, mile, and maybe even the 3k. It's a matter of what Ned Willig does really. But I heard Ned Willig is going DMR again. So .... will Magaha really run all that fast all by himself out front? Hey I just ask the questions, I don't have the answers ....
So Here's the Deal
Well readers, I would love to sit here and say that over the past few weeks I have been extremely busy, or there has been nothing to talk about, or things have not been exciting if your a blogger of Pennsylvania High School cross country and track and field, but that is sadly not the case. I do not have a large amount of school work (a fact which I have bragged to my girlfriend about on many occasions) and there is plenty to talk about in the world of PA running (Dustin Wilson, the girls ... I mean admittedly I don't talk about girls very much but hey they did awesome).
No, unfortunately the sad truth is I lost a lot of my dedication this past month when some sad news struck me. My google adsense account, which allows me to make money just for blogging has been shut down due to suspected invalid click activity. As much as I would like to fight this and stand up and claim that this is an outrage and things like that, the fact of the matter is its true. I violated my contract with google, and I am now paying the price. A price of approximately 120 dollars so it could be worse I suppose.
As much as I hate to admit it the fact that blogging was not a job anymore but merely a hobby got to me and it slowed this site down to a complete stand still. A barren wasteland that formerly was hub of talk and hits.
But I remember something. I didn't start this blog for the money, I didn't even start worrying about the money until I actually started making some. And I can't fake views. I can fake clicks but the views were there by the boat loads. A lot more fans had been coming to this site. I was getting feedback from all over, and heck, it felt great. And that is payment enough. It just took me sometime to remember all this I suppose. Gotta thank Will Lowery, a kid from Vermont who for some reason continues to check my blog. If he is noticing the thing isn't being updated than gosh, this is bad.
So I promise you folks, I turn 20 tomorrow and I have no intention of letting my next year of life begin as a washed up has been of blogging. I'm still etrain, and I am back baby. Get ready for a blog explosion.
-train
No, unfortunately the sad truth is I lost a lot of my dedication this past month when some sad news struck me. My google adsense account, which allows me to make money just for blogging has been shut down due to suspected invalid click activity. As much as I would like to fight this and stand up and claim that this is an outrage and things like that, the fact of the matter is its true. I violated my contract with google, and I am now paying the price. A price of approximately 120 dollars so it could be worse I suppose.
As much as I hate to admit it the fact that blogging was not a job anymore but merely a hobby got to me and it slowed this site down to a complete stand still. A barren wasteland that formerly was hub of talk and hits.
But I remember something. I didn't start this blog for the money, I didn't even start worrying about the money until I actually started making some. And I can't fake views. I can fake clicks but the views were there by the boat loads. A lot more fans had been coming to this site. I was getting feedback from all over, and heck, it felt great. And that is payment enough. It just took me sometime to remember all this I suppose. Gotta thank Will Lowery, a kid from Vermont who for some reason continues to check my blog. If he is noticing the thing isn't being updated than gosh, this is bad.
So I promise you folks, I turn 20 tomorrow and I have no intention of letting my next year of life begin as a washed up has been of blogging. I'm still etrain, and I am back baby. Get ready for a blog explosion.
-train
Final Top 50 Rankings 11/14
So here are my final top 50 rankings, mostly just in order of finish at states with a few slight variations. States is the ultimate trump card at the end of the day. The number in parantheses next to the rank indicates the rank I can had for this individual on my first rankings over the summer.
1. (1) Dustin Wilson, Sr Chesnut Hill Academy (Ind) Footlocker
2. (13) Conner Quinn, Jr Hatboro Horsham (1) Footlocker?
3. (31) Dan Jaskowak, Jr Grove City (10) Footlocker?
4. (15) Drew Magaha, Sr Upper Moreland (1) Done?
5. (12) Brendan Shearn, Jr North Skuykill (11 AA) Footlocker
6. (5) Logan Steiner, Sr North Allegheny (7) Footlocker?
7. (8) Brett Kelly, Sr Boyertown (1) Footlocker?
8. (27) Luke Jones, Jr Elk Lake (2 AA)
9. (34) Dan Savage, Jr O'Hara (12) NXN?
10. (N/A) Tom Coyle, Jr LaSalle (12) Footlocker?
11. (N/A) Brent Kennedy, So Kiski Area (7)
12. (6) Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley (1) Done?
13. (32) Connor Harriman, Jr Pennsbury (1)
14. (N/A) Sean Burke, Sr Abington Heights (2)
15. (44) Dylan Mountain, Sr Altoona (6) Done
16. (40) Mike Billotta, Sr O'Hara (12) NXN?
17. (2) Sam Hibbs, Sr Hatboro Horsham (1)
18. (3) Alex Moran, Sr Mt. Lebanon (1)
19. (11) Aaron Wilkinson, Sr Valley View (2) Footlocker
20. (17) Korey Replogle, Sr Altoona (6) Done
21. (N/A) Rico Galassi, Jr Holy Cross (2 AA)
22. (N/A) Alec Kunzweler, Jr Cumberland Valley (3)
23. (N/A) Mike Runco, Sr Pittsburg Central Catholic (7)
24. (23) Sam Williams, Jr Northeast Bradford (4 AA)
25. (10) Ryan Smathers, Jr North East (10 AA)
26. (43) Barrett Kemp, Jr Oswayo Valley (9 AA)
27. (N/A) Zach Israel, Sr Holy Ghost Prep (1)
28. (14) Jack MacCauley, Jr North Penn (1)
29. (19) Jeff Groh, So Lower Dauphin (3)
30. (18) Max Norris, Jr Harriton (1)
31. (30) Curt Jewett, Jr Northeast Bradford (4 AA)
32. (N/A) Chris Culley, Jr Moon Area (7)
33. (21) Nate Tallada, Sr Saegertown (10 AA)
34. (N/A) Ean DiSilvio, Jr Allderdice (8)
35. (48) Tim Appman, Sr North Allegheny (7)
36. (N/A) Austin Pondel, Jr Corry Area (10)
37. (N/A) Caleb Wakeley, So Shaler Area (7)
38. (N/A) Tony Russel, So West Chester Henderson (1)
39. (N/A) Vinny Todaro, Jr Big Spring (3)
40. (9) Andrew Kuchta, Sr Baldwin (7)
41. (39) Lawtin Tellin, Sr Mt Lebanon (7)
42. (N/A) Josef Dipietrantonio, Sr Beaver Area (7 AA)
43. (N/A) Aaron Valerosa, Jr Towanda (4 AA)
44. (38) Dan Davis, Sr North Penn (1)
45. (N/A) Ryan Hertzog, Jr Southwestern (3)
46. (N/A) John Felts, Sr Red Land (3)
47. (N/A) Jordan Jackson, Jr Wellsboro Area (4 AA)
48. (N/A) Ernie Pitone, Jr O'Hara (12)
49. (N/A) Ross Wilson, So CR North (1)
50. (42) Chris Trimble, Sr North Penn (1)
1. (1) Dustin Wilson, Sr Chesnut Hill Academy (Ind) Footlocker
2. (13) Conner Quinn, Jr Hatboro Horsham (1) Footlocker?
3. (31) Dan Jaskowak, Jr Grove City (10) Footlocker?
4. (15) Drew Magaha, Sr Upper Moreland (1) Done?
5. (12) Brendan Shearn, Jr North Skuykill (11 AA) Footlocker
6. (5) Logan Steiner, Sr North Allegheny (7) Footlocker?
7. (8) Brett Kelly, Sr Boyertown (1) Footlocker?
8. (27) Luke Jones, Jr Elk Lake (2 AA)
9. (34) Dan Savage, Jr O'Hara (12) NXN?
10. (N/A) Tom Coyle, Jr LaSalle (12) Footlocker?
11. (N/A) Brent Kennedy, So Kiski Area (7)
12. (6) Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley (1) Done?
13. (32) Connor Harriman, Jr Pennsbury (1)
14. (N/A) Sean Burke, Sr Abington Heights (2)
15. (44) Dylan Mountain, Sr Altoona (6) Done
16. (40) Mike Billotta, Sr O'Hara (12) NXN?
17. (2) Sam Hibbs, Sr Hatboro Horsham (1)
18. (3) Alex Moran, Sr Mt. Lebanon (1)
19. (11) Aaron Wilkinson, Sr Valley View (2) Footlocker
20. (17) Korey Replogle, Sr Altoona (6) Done
21. (N/A) Rico Galassi, Jr Holy Cross (2 AA)
22. (N/A) Alec Kunzweler, Jr Cumberland Valley (3)
23. (N/A) Mike Runco, Sr Pittsburg Central Catholic (7)
24. (23) Sam Williams, Jr Northeast Bradford (4 AA)
25. (10) Ryan Smathers, Jr North East (10 AA)
26. (43) Barrett Kemp, Jr Oswayo Valley (9 AA)
27. (N/A) Zach Israel, Sr Holy Ghost Prep (1)
28. (14) Jack MacCauley, Jr North Penn (1)
29. (19) Jeff Groh, So Lower Dauphin (3)
30. (18) Max Norris, Jr Harriton (1)
31. (30) Curt Jewett, Jr Northeast Bradford (4 AA)
32. (N/A) Chris Culley, Jr Moon Area (7)
33. (21) Nate Tallada, Sr Saegertown (10 AA)
34. (N/A) Ean DiSilvio, Jr Allderdice (8)
35. (48) Tim Appman, Sr North Allegheny (7)
36. (N/A) Austin Pondel, Jr Corry Area (10)
37. (N/A) Caleb Wakeley, So Shaler Area (7)
38. (N/A) Tony Russel, So West Chester Henderson (1)
39. (N/A) Vinny Todaro, Jr Big Spring (3)
40. (9) Andrew Kuchta, Sr Baldwin (7)
41. (39) Lawtin Tellin, Sr Mt Lebanon (7)
42. (N/A) Josef Dipietrantonio, Sr Beaver Area (7 AA)
43. (N/A) Aaron Valerosa, Jr Towanda (4 AA)
44. (38) Dan Davis, Sr North Penn (1)
45. (N/A) Ryan Hertzog, Jr Southwestern (3)
46. (N/A) John Felts, Sr Red Land (3)
47. (N/A) Jordan Jackson, Jr Wellsboro Area (4 AA)
48. (N/A) Ernie Pitone, Jr O'Hara (12)
49. (N/A) Ross Wilson, So CR North (1)
50. (42) Chris Trimble, Sr North Penn (1)
etrain quotes
Want to see where I was right and wrong all season? Well I was kind of curious so I went back and looked at some of my old posts and came up with some things that I thought summed up my accuracy on the season. There is no way I can say with any sort of confidence that I was dead on at any point this season. It was extremely unpredictable throughout and the wild ride ended in probably the most fitting way with a huge suprise by North Penn and Conner Quinn.
etrain's quotes: September
"First off I would like to give my sincere congrats to Mt. Lebanon on earning the top spot on Penntrack's team rankings this week. They completely deserve this honor and have had some very nice early season races.
That being said, here's my stat:
North Allegheny hasn't lost at WPIALs since 2004"
"Conner Quinn may be ranked too high at this point in the season."
etrain's quotes: October
"5. North Penn- MacCauley, Trimble, Davis
So North Penn. Finished where at Carlisle last year? Finished where at Districts? Sure their 4-5 hasn't shown me much but I know their top three were all in the top 30 or so at Districts and the school is frickin huge, they can burn a few guys at top mileage to get a solid set of 4-5 runners. They peak at the right time and I can drop a huge load of stats on you about how awesome they have been at Districts the past few years even when people expect them to do squat (see 2010 District One Championships). And no one expected them to do squat this year. They were my pick to win Districts and I am really having a hard time letting go of that (they are still my pick to win by the way, I don't back out of things I say very easily, I'm just stubborn like that) Jacky Mac was the talk of the town in the spring. Don't forget about the kid people, he's still going to be good. Dan Davis has been solid as well, another potential state medalist wearing the baby blue."
1. Cardinal O'Hara
"Only thing I can find that concerns me is that if a guy gets hurt in their top 5 they don't have much of a 6/7 that I have seen to come save the day. We will see, but definitely the #1 team."
"District 3 Championships 10/26
AAA: The top 9 runners from a season ago have graduated, leaving the race wide open for a new face to make a name for himself. That new face looks to be Connor Strynkowski at this point in the season, after a terrific track season last spring, a hot streak of solid races in the past month, including a great run at Gettysburg and a win at Mid Penns."
"Burke has also been to the big meets and has shown a lot of potential for a breakout performance at this meet. Burke was 31 seconds back from Wilkinson a year ago, this year things should be much tighter."
"I've always been a Jack MacCauley fan. I think he will be top 5 at districts."
"3. North Allegheny
I have a lot of confidence is this program, they look to be on the rise after a great day at TSTCA especially for Steiner who got a huge win and looks to really be rounding into shape. Unfortunately I just don't see how they can beat Lebo at this stage. Appman can definitely run a bit faster, maybe Bojarski too, but Lebo has the same kind of ifs and buts."
District One Sleepers
"Pete Downs (finally showing the potential I thought he would show at Viking. Trad etrain being way to early on people), Jack Huemmler (maybe I'm making too much out of DELCOs, but I hope not), Ian Yankuso (who? Exactly, they are killed sleepers for a reason people), Sam Webb (if Kevin Kelly thinks the guy is gonna have a big race, how can I not think so), and Joesph O'Such (great at Paul Short, not so much anywhere else, lucky for him, Districts is a lot like Paul Short)."
"Quinn bombed last year at Districts so let's hope this stage isn't too scary for him again."
"So I've got Drew, depending on course conditions and how the race plays out he can scare 15:20. Hibbs for second, we shall see how it ends up because he has been throwing up lots of red flags as of late, but I trust his experience and gamerness to pull it out."
"Can't sleep on Brett Kelly. He's a state medalist last year, top 10 at Districts the past two years, and oh yeah he goes to the same school that Jason Weller and Mark Dennin went to. Put away your pillows boys."
"Like I said Israel is my big sleeper this year so I'm high on him for this race." (one week early)
"etrain not picking Magaha"
"1. Brendan Shearn
2. Nate Tallada
3. Barrett Kemp
4. Sam Williams
5. Ryan Smathers
6. Curt Jewett
7. Luke Jones
8. Jared Schatz
9. Shawn Wolfe
10. Rico Golassi"
"1. Logan Steiner
2. Drew Magaha
3. Conner Quinn
4. Max Norris
5. Dan Jaskowak
6. Brent Kennedy
7. Mike Runco
8. Brett Kelly
9. Alex Moran
10. Sean Burke
11. Ned Willig
12. Tom Coyle
13. Sam Hibbs
14. Aaron Wilkinson
15. Connor Strynkowski
16. Connor Harriman
17. Korey Replogle
18. Dan Savage
19. Dylan Mountain
20. Dan Davis
21. Ean DiSilvio
22. Francis Ferruzzi
23. Jeff Groh
24. Mike Billotta
25. Jack MaCauley"
etrain quotes: November
"The other guy who reminds me of that pair of Micikas and Ayers is Dominic Deluca the sophomore from Dallas, definitely worth a flyer."
"I'm still on the North Penn bandwagon folks! Yeah not quite as a team but the individuals out front I like a lot. How about Jack MacCauley for a big bounce back race? Definitely could happen, not extremely confident about it, but it may happen. I'm more pumped to see what Dan Davis can do. People forget he was 29th or so a year ago. He had a much better stretch run this year than last year so states could be very interesting. Its hard to imagine North Penn without a medalist at states for the second straight year. Oh and in deeper leagues Chris Trimble isn't a bad pick, kids talented."
"Some deeper sleepers
The NA pack
Kevin Tramlgini
Ryan Boccabella
Ross Wilson
Chris Muldoon
Matt Craft
Nate Kreider"
"Hate (kind of a strong word, its just a form of expression people don't mean it like that)
Andrew Kutcha- Baldwin always runs well at WPIALs but they have struggled to find success on the states course (see Bishop, Cecala, Logan, Adley, Hobart ...)
The district 6 guys- Its gonna be a problem having raced on Monday rather than Saturday, it effects your training enough to slip you a couple spots
Alex Moran- hasn't had a legit big race all season, it's tough to imagine the tables turing all of a sudden
Dan Jaskowak- I think he hasn't raced anyone in too long and honestly, no offfense, I don't see how he can win this race regardless of how it plays out. Maybe I just don't know the courses well enough, but I can't see how so many people are as high as they are on him."
"Love
Brett Kelly- Always great on the state course
Connor Harriman- Haven't forgotten that 2nd place finish at pre states over quinn, magaha etc.
Connor Strynkowski- I can't help but feel the guy is going to bounce back in a big way"
"Here's some guys I'm nervous about going into the state championships:
Jeff Groh- Ran awesome at the District 3 Championships but historically District 3 Champions on the AAA side have struggled to stay on top the next week at States. It is very tough running the Hershey course two weeks in a row. Look at names like Alex Galli, Kyle Hurston, Vince McNally, they all had some struggles the next weekend. Groh's also a young guy who is in the championship mix for the first time in his career.
The Henderson guys. So yes Coach Kelly and the Henderson system always do very well at states, and always peak at the right time. However, I'm not sure I see a Will Kellar out of this mix of Henderson guys this year. Kellar finished 17th at States as a Sophomore, but he had a solid run at Hershey under his belt already and was traiining with Senior leader Chris Aldrich. Now these sophomores have the pressure of leading their team as they try to get on the podium and, although they almost all have run the states course before, they did not have a huge amount of success. I'm nervous the pressure on this big stage along with perhaps too fast of a first mile could end up really biting these Henderson guys like Russell, Haugh and Collins if you buy too high.
Sam Hibbs. I think the kid is going to go very high in drafts because he has the huge upside of being clutch and showing up and competing for the win, just like Ryan Gil a year ago. However, Hibbs has not shown any flashes of brilliance the past two weeks and its not because he is injured/recovering from injury (I think anyway) which already makes this a different situation than Gil. Also there is reason to believe Gil was saving his best for states (its the only race he ran legitimately well at all year, so I think he was holding back at Districts). For Hibbs the upside is he gets you 1st overall in an amazing day. The downside, however, is huge and arguably much more likely. That is he finishes outside the top 10 and maybe even outside the top 20 if he continues this downhill climb. I don't think its worth taking that big of a chance on a top 3-5 pick in the draft. I'm much higher on his teammate Conner Quinn, who i would definitely draft before Hibbs"
"North Penn and Great Valley are both high on my list of teams I'm confident in so they could surprise but I just don't think they are as good as these other teams so as much as I like them, I don't see them really finishing higher than 5-8 ish"
"I'm worried about Henderson. They are so young out front and so inexperienced on this kind of stage with this kind of pressure. They came through at districts but states is a different animal. Great coaching and a great system, so they can easily prove me wrong, but it doesn't mean I'm not scared"
"I'm not seeing a huge day from Savage or their freshman James, but I do think the other guys will run well, especially Billotta. I think that should seal their state championship hopes."
Believe it or not I said all of that, you can go back and it look it up. Not too bad but definitely some huge blemishes on the resume. That's why its fun to play the game I suppose.
etrain's quotes: September
"First off I would like to give my sincere congrats to Mt. Lebanon on earning the top spot on Penntrack's team rankings this week. They completely deserve this honor and have had some very nice early season races.
That being said, here's my stat:
North Allegheny hasn't lost at WPIALs since 2004"
"Conner Quinn may be ranked too high at this point in the season."
etrain's quotes: October
"5. North Penn- MacCauley, Trimble, Davis
So North Penn. Finished where at Carlisle last year? Finished where at Districts? Sure their 4-5 hasn't shown me much but I know their top three were all in the top 30 or so at Districts and the school is frickin huge, they can burn a few guys at top mileage to get a solid set of 4-5 runners. They peak at the right time and I can drop a huge load of stats on you about how awesome they have been at Districts the past few years even when people expect them to do squat (see 2010 District One Championships). And no one expected them to do squat this year. They were my pick to win Districts and I am really having a hard time letting go of that (they are still my pick to win by the way, I don't back out of things I say very easily, I'm just stubborn like that) Jacky Mac was the talk of the town in the spring. Don't forget about the kid people, he's still going to be good. Dan Davis has been solid as well, another potential state medalist wearing the baby blue."
1. Cardinal O'Hara
"Only thing I can find that concerns me is that if a guy gets hurt in their top 5 they don't have much of a 6/7 that I have seen to come save the day. We will see, but definitely the #1 team."
"District 3 Championships 10/26
AAA: The top 9 runners from a season ago have graduated, leaving the race wide open for a new face to make a name for himself. That new face looks to be Connor Strynkowski at this point in the season, after a terrific track season last spring, a hot streak of solid races in the past month, including a great run at Gettysburg and a win at Mid Penns."
"Burke has also been to the big meets and has shown a lot of potential for a breakout performance at this meet. Burke was 31 seconds back from Wilkinson a year ago, this year things should be much tighter."
"I've always been a Jack MacCauley fan. I think he will be top 5 at districts."
"3. North Allegheny
I have a lot of confidence is this program, they look to be on the rise after a great day at TSTCA especially for Steiner who got a huge win and looks to really be rounding into shape. Unfortunately I just don't see how they can beat Lebo at this stage. Appman can definitely run a bit faster, maybe Bojarski too, but Lebo has the same kind of ifs and buts."
District One Sleepers
"Pete Downs (finally showing the potential I thought he would show at Viking. Trad etrain being way to early on people), Jack Huemmler (maybe I'm making too much out of DELCOs, but I hope not), Ian Yankuso (who? Exactly, they are killed sleepers for a reason people), Sam Webb (if Kevin Kelly thinks the guy is gonna have a big race, how can I not think so), and Joesph O'Such (great at Paul Short, not so much anywhere else, lucky for him, Districts is a lot like Paul Short)."
"Quinn bombed last year at Districts so let's hope this stage isn't too scary for him again."
"So I've got Drew, depending on course conditions and how the race plays out he can scare 15:20. Hibbs for second, we shall see how it ends up because he has been throwing up lots of red flags as of late, but I trust his experience and gamerness to pull it out."
"Can't sleep on Brett Kelly. He's a state medalist last year, top 10 at Districts the past two years, and oh yeah he goes to the same school that Jason Weller and Mark Dennin went to. Put away your pillows boys."
"Like I said Israel is my big sleeper this year so I'm high on him for this race." (one week early)
"etrain not picking Magaha"
"1. Brendan Shearn
2. Nate Tallada
3. Barrett Kemp
4. Sam Williams
5. Ryan Smathers
6. Curt Jewett
7. Luke Jones
8. Jared Schatz
9. Shawn Wolfe
10. Rico Golassi"
"1. Logan Steiner
2. Drew Magaha
3. Conner Quinn
4. Max Norris
5. Dan Jaskowak
6. Brent Kennedy
7. Mike Runco
8. Brett Kelly
9. Alex Moran
10. Sean Burke
11. Ned Willig
12. Tom Coyle
13. Sam Hibbs
14. Aaron Wilkinson
15. Connor Strynkowski
16. Connor Harriman
17. Korey Replogle
18. Dan Savage
19. Dylan Mountain
20. Dan Davis
21. Ean DiSilvio
22. Francis Ferruzzi
23. Jeff Groh
24. Mike Billotta
25. Jack MaCauley"
etrain quotes: November
"The other guy who reminds me of that pair of Micikas and Ayers is Dominic Deluca the sophomore from Dallas, definitely worth a flyer."
"I'm still on the North Penn bandwagon folks! Yeah not quite as a team but the individuals out front I like a lot. How about Jack MacCauley for a big bounce back race? Definitely could happen, not extremely confident about it, but it may happen. I'm more pumped to see what Dan Davis can do. People forget he was 29th or so a year ago. He had a much better stretch run this year than last year so states could be very interesting. Its hard to imagine North Penn without a medalist at states for the second straight year. Oh and in deeper leagues Chris Trimble isn't a bad pick, kids talented."
"Some deeper sleepers
The NA pack
Kevin Tramlgini
Ryan Boccabella
Ross Wilson
Chris Muldoon
Matt Craft
Nate Kreider"
"Hate (kind of a strong word, its just a form of expression people don't mean it like that)
Andrew Kutcha- Baldwin always runs well at WPIALs but they have struggled to find success on the states course (see Bishop, Cecala, Logan, Adley, Hobart ...)
The district 6 guys- Its gonna be a problem having raced on Monday rather than Saturday, it effects your training enough to slip you a couple spots
Alex Moran- hasn't had a legit big race all season, it's tough to imagine the tables turing all of a sudden
Dan Jaskowak- I think he hasn't raced anyone in too long and honestly, no offfense, I don't see how he can win this race regardless of how it plays out. Maybe I just don't know the courses well enough, but I can't see how so many people are as high as they are on him."
"Love
Brett Kelly- Always great on the state course
Connor Harriman- Haven't forgotten that 2nd place finish at pre states over quinn, magaha etc.
Connor Strynkowski- I can't help but feel the guy is going to bounce back in a big way"
"Here's some guys I'm nervous about going into the state championships:
Jeff Groh- Ran awesome at the District 3 Championships but historically District 3 Champions on the AAA side have struggled to stay on top the next week at States. It is very tough running the Hershey course two weeks in a row. Look at names like Alex Galli, Kyle Hurston, Vince McNally, they all had some struggles the next weekend. Groh's also a young guy who is in the championship mix for the first time in his career.
The Henderson guys. So yes Coach Kelly and the Henderson system always do very well at states, and always peak at the right time. However, I'm not sure I see a Will Kellar out of this mix of Henderson guys this year. Kellar finished 17th at States as a Sophomore, but he had a solid run at Hershey under his belt already and was traiining with Senior leader Chris Aldrich. Now these sophomores have the pressure of leading their team as they try to get on the podium and, although they almost all have run the states course before, they did not have a huge amount of success. I'm nervous the pressure on this big stage along with perhaps too fast of a first mile could end up really biting these Henderson guys like Russell, Haugh and Collins if you buy too high.
Sam Hibbs. I think the kid is going to go very high in drafts because he has the huge upside of being clutch and showing up and competing for the win, just like Ryan Gil a year ago. However, Hibbs has not shown any flashes of brilliance the past two weeks and its not because he is injured/recovering from injury (I think anyway) which already makes this a different situation than Gil. Also there is reason to believe Gil was saving his best for states (its the only race he ran legitimately well at all year, so I think he was holding back at Districts). For Hibbs the upside is he gets you 1st overall in an amazing day. The downside, however, is huge and arguably much more likely. That is he finishes outside the top 10 and maybe even outside the top 20 if he continues this downhill climb. I don't think its worth taking that big of a chance on a top 3-5 pick in the draft. I'm much higher on his teammate Conner Quinn, who i would definitely draft before Hibbs"
"North Penn and Great Valley are both high on my list of teams I'm confident in so they could surprise but I just don't think they are as good as these other teams so as much as I like them, I don't see them really finishing higher than 5-8 ish"
"I'm worried about Henderson. They are so young out front and so inexperienced on this kind of stage with this kind of pressure. They came through at districts but states is a different animal. Great coaching and a great system, so they can easily prove me wrong, but it doesn't mean I'm not scared"
"I'm not seeing a huge day from Savage or their freshman James, but I do think the other guys will run well, especially Billotta. I think that should seal their state championship hopes."
Believe it or not I said all of that, you can go back and it look it up. Not too bad but definitely some huge blemishes on the resume. That's why its fun to play the game I suppose.
JV Studs
So I said I would go over some of the top JV guys in the state, and I haven't been following things too closely in terms of JV performances, but I'll just throw out some names/times/performances that have impressed me to get some other names out there.
In my day, I was a JV runner for 3 years at Upper Dublin and didn't get on Varsity until my senior year. As a team we won a couple JV meets and a few of my friends won individual JV titles or came very close (Ian McGrath got 2nd a boat load). It was a lot of fun running with those guys, and I really improved a lot from running with them.
In addition, a lot of my favorite races to watch were the JV races. It is where you see the most time drops often times, and it really where you see a lot of dedication and hard work pay off. It's where 19 minute guys become 17 minute guys. So props to all the JV runners out there. Keep working hard and it will pay off.
Here's a few names to check out. First going out west.
At the Tri State JV race, the course was pretty much a huge mess, but it didn't stop the Mt. Lebo boys from sweeping the top 5, and taking 6 of the top 7 spots.
1 1 Tony Consiglio, Jr 17:39 5:41 Mt. Lebanon
2 2 Jack Walsh, Jr 17:47 5:44 Mt. Lebanon
3 3 Bradley Pollock, Jr 17:57 5:47 Mt. Lebanon
4 4 Ian Baun, Fr 18:04 5:50 Mt. Lebanon
5 5 Evan Hatton, So 18:05 5:50 Mt. Lebanon
6 6 Stan Szafranski, So 18:13 5:52 Pine Richland
7 7 Steele Eckenrode, Fr 18:18 5:54 Mt. Lebanon
Of course this race was slightly different the JV race on race day at Tristates, which featured not only the stud group of Mt Lebo guys, but also a killer group of North Allegheny runners. North Allegheny consistently has one of the best JV squads in the state, and they showed it at this meet. Lebo's Pollock took first, but after him it was the NA show.
1 1 Bradley Pollock, Jr 5:38 5:59 18:19 5:54 Mt. Lebanon
2 2 Kolbe Short, So 5:39 6:02 18:20 5:55 North Allegheny
3 3 Sam Rutan, So 5:35 6:03 18:22 5:55 North Allegheny
4 4 Dan Meehan, Fr 5:47 6:05 18:37 6:00 North Allegheny
5 5 Ian Baun, Fr 5:44 6:06 18:43 6:02 Mt. Lebanon
6 6 Dan Whitehurst, Sr 5:43 6:14 18:45 6:03 North Allegheny
7 7 Benjamin Goehring, Fr 5:46 6:11 18:46 6:03 North Allegheny
8 8 Jake Perri, Sr 5:55 6:14 18:46 6:03 Seneca Valley
9 9 Hunter Wharrey, Fr 5:49 6:12 18:50 6:04 North Allegheny
10 10 Alec McGovern, So 5:55 6:09 18:57 6:06 North Allegheny
Plenty of talented Frosh and Sophs in this race.
On the District One side, North Penn and Henderson were two top teams at Districts on states, and their JV squads followed suit. At Chestmonts Henderson took 5 of the top 8 spots to roll on the rest of the league.
1 1 Joshua McGonagle Sr West Chester Henderson 17:21 5:35
2 2 Gordy Barchet Fr West Chester Henderson 17:22 5:36
3 3 Alex Hughes Jr West Chester East 17:36 5:40
4 4 Ricky Waltz So West Chester Henderson 17:43 5:43
5 5 Sean Cleary Jr Avon Grove 17:49 5:44
6 6 Alex Drap Fr West Chester Henderson 17:53 5:46
7 7 Keelan O'Reilly Fr Downingtown East 17:53 5:46
8 8 Kevin Moy So West Chester Henderson 17:59 5:48
Meanwhile at Suburban Ones, North Penn had the individual JV champion, a kid by the name of Hunter Hill ironically. But CR North actually took down the JV team title with a better spread.
1 1 Hunter Hill, Jr 17:11 5:32 North Penn High Schoo
2 2 Liam Oconnell, So 17:29 5:38 Pennsbury, Boys
3 3 P J. Succi, Jr 17:31 5:39 William Tennent Hs Bo
4 4 Stephen Algeo, Jr 17:33 5:40 Pennsbury, Boys
5 5 Jack Felt, Sr 17:35 5:40 Council Rock North
6 6 Ryan McCann, Sr 17:36 5:40 Council Rock North
7 7 Alex Hiznay, Sr 17:38 5:41 Cb East - M
8 8 Matt Carter, Jr 17:41 5:42 William Tennent Hs Bo
9 9 Dan Chrzanowski, Sr 17:42 5:42 Pennsbury, Boys
10 10 Mark Biedlingmaier, Sr 17:46 5:44 North Penn High Schoo
Pennsbury also had a couple of nice performances. They return a solid chunk of their varsity including stud freshman Webb and 10th place finisher at states Connor Harriman.
At the District One JV race (a race which featured about 900 people when I ran in it my Junior year), West Chester Henderson continued their dominance with a new front runner at the helm, Eric Stratman. Another one of the teams fantasic set of Sophs to go with Barchet, Russell, Haugh and Collins.
1 1 Eric Stratman, So 5:11 16:53 5:27 West Chester Henderso
2 2 Josh McGonagle, Sr 5:14 17:00 5:29 West Chester Henderso
3 3 Gordy Barchet, Fr 5:14 17:01 5:29 West Chester Henderso
4 4 Alex Hiznay, Sr 5:12 17:10 5:32 Central Bucks East
5 5 Ricky Waltz, So 5:14 17:12 5:33 West Chester Henderso
6 6 Kevin Molloy, Jr 5:12 17:18 5:35 Pennsbury
7 7 Hunter Hill, Jr 5:15 17:20 5:35 North Penn
8 8 Thomas Doran, So 5:31 17:21 5:36 Great Valley
9 9 Mark Biedlingmaier, Sr 5:22 17:23 5:36 North Penn
10 10 Peter Flanagan, So 5:27 17:23 5:36 Great Valley
11 11 Zak Khattabi, Fr 5:20 17:26 5:37 West Chester Henderso
12 12 Ben Kloss, Sr 5:22 17:28 5:38 North Penn
13 13 Alex Drap, Fr 5:20 17:29 5:38 West Chester Henderso
14 14 Dan Chrzanowski, Sr 5:18 17:29 5:38 Pennsbury
15 15 Matt Carter, Jr 5:18 17:33 5:40 William Tennent
Shout out to Evan Hatton for this great idea for a post, hope this got some names out there that normally don't get out there.
-train
In my day, I was a JV runner for 3 years at Upper Dublin and didn't get on Varsity until my senior year. As a team we won a couple JV meets and a few of my friends won individual JV titles or came very close (Ian McGrath got 2nd a boat load). It was a lot of fun running with those guys, and I really improved a lot from running with them.
In addition, a lot of my favorite races to watch were the JV races. It is where you see the most time drops often times, and it really where you see a lot of dedication and hard work pay off. It's where 19 minute guys become 17 minute guys. So props to all the JV runners out there. Keep working hard and it will pay off.
Here's a few names to check out. First going out west.
At the Tri State JV race, the course was pretty much a huge mess, but it didn't stop the Mt. Lebo boys from sweeping the top 5, and taking 6 of the top 7 spots.
1 1 Tony Consiglio, Jr 17:39 5:41 Mt. Lebanon
2 2 Jack Walsh, Jr 17:47 5:44 Mt. Lebanon
3 3 Bradley Pollock, Jr 17:57 5:47 Mt. Lebanon
4 4 Ian Baun, Fr 18:04 5:50 Mt. Lebanon
5 5 Evan Hatton, So 18:05 5:50 Mt. Lebanon
6 6 Stan Szafranski, So 18:13 5:52 Pine Richland
7 7 Steele Eckenrode, Fr 18:18 5:54 Mt. Lebanon
Of course this race was slightly different the JV race on race day at Tristates, which featured not only the stud group of Mt Lebo guys, but also a killer group of North Allegheny runners. North Allegheny consistently has one of the best JV squads in the state, and they showed it at this meet. Lebo's Pollock took first, but after him it was the NA show.
1 1 Bradley Pollock, Jr 5:38 5:59 18:19 5:54 Mt. Lebanon
2 2 Kolbe Short, So 5:39 6:02 18:20 5:55 North Allegheny
3 3 Sam Rutan, So 5:35 6:03 18:22 5:55 North Allegheny
4 4 Dan Meehan, Fr 5:47 6:05 18:37 6:00 North Allegheny
5 5 Ian Baun, Fr 5:44 6:06 18:43 6:02 Mt. Lebanon
6 6 Dan Whitehurst, Sr 5:43 6:14 18:45 6:03 North Allegheny
7 7 Benjamin Goehring, Fr 5:46 6:11 18:46 6:03 North Allegheny
8 8 Jake Perri, Sr 5:55 6:14 18:46 6:03 Seneca Valley
9 9 Hunter Wharrey, Fr 5:49 6:12 18:50 6:04 North Allegheny
10 10 Alec McGovern, So 5:55 6:09 18:57 6:06 North Allegheny
Plenty of talented Frosh and Sophs in this race.
On the District One side, North Penn and Henderson were two top teams at Districts on states, and their JV squads followed suit. At Chestmonts Henderson took 5 of the top 8 spots to roll on the rest of the league.
1 1 Joshua McGonagle Sr West Chester Henderson 17:21 5:35
2 2 Gordy Barchet Fr West Chester Henderson 17:22 5:36
3 3 Alex Hughes Jr West Chester East 17:36 5:40
4 4 Ricky Waltz So West Chester Henderson 17:43 5:43
5 5 Sean Cleary Jr Avon Grove 17:49 5:44
6 6 Alex Drap Fr West Chester Henderson 17:53 5:46
7 7 Keelan O'Reilly Fr Downingtown East 17:53 5:46
8 8 Kevin Moy So West Chester Henderson 17:59 5:48
Meanwhile at Suburban Ones, North Penn had the individual JV champion, a kid by the name of Hunter Hill ironically. But CR North actually took down the JV team title with a better spread.
1 1 Hunter Hill, Jr 17:11 5:32 North Penn High Schoo
2 2 Liam Oconnell, So 17:29 5:38 Pennsbury, Boys
3 3 P J. Succi, Jr 17:31 5:39 William Tennent Hs Bo
4 4 Stephen Algeo, Jr 17:33 5:40 Pennsbury, Boys
5 5 Jack Felt, Sr 17:35 5:40 Council Rock North
6 6 Ryan McCann, Sr 17:36 5:40 Council Rock North
7 7 Alex Hiznay, Sr 17:38 5:41 Cb East - M
8 8 Matt Carter, Jr 17:41 5:42 William Tennent Hs Bo
9 9 Dan Chrzanowski, Sr 17:42 5:42 Pennsbury, Boys
10 10 Mark Biedlingmaier, Sr 17:46 5:44 North Penn High Schoo
Pennsbury also had a couple of nice performances. They return a solid chunk of their varsity including stud freshman Webb and 10th place finisher at states Connor Harriman.
At the District One JV race (a race which featured about 900 people when I ran in it my Junior year), West Chester Henderson continued their dominance with a new front runner at the helm, Eric Stratman. Another one of the teams fantasic set of Sophs to go with Barchet, Russell, Haugh and Collins.
1 1 Eric Stratman, So 5:11 16:53 5:27 West Chester Henderso
2 2 Josh McGonagle, Sr 5:14 17:00 5:29 West Chester Henderso
3 3 Gordy Barchet, Fr 5:14 17:01 5:29 West Chester Henderso
4 4 Alex Hiznay, Sr 5:12 17:10 5:32 Central Bucks East
5 5 Ricky Waltz, So 5:14 17:12 5:33 West Chester Henderso
6 6 Kevin Molloy, Jr 5:12 17:18 5:35 Pennsbury
7 7 Hunter Hill, Jr 5:15 17:20 5:35 North Penn
8 8 Thomas Doran, So 5:31 17:21 5:36 Great Valley
9 9 Mark Biedlingmaier, Sr 5:22 17:23 5:36 North Penn
10 10 Peter Flanagan, So 5:27 17:23 5:36 Great Valley
11 11 Zak Khattabi, Fr 5:20 17:26 5:37 West Chester Henderso
12 12 Ben Kloss, Sr 5:22 17:28 5:38 North Penn
13 13 Alex Drap, Fr 5:20 17:29 5:38 West Chester Henderso
14 14 Dan Chrzanowski, Sr 5:18 17:29 5:38 Pennsbury
15 15 Matt Carter, Jr 5:18 17:33 5:40 William Tennent
Shout out to Evan Hatton for this great idea for a post, hope this got some names out there that normally don't get out there.
-train
Coming Soon
First off let me apologize to everybody who has been checking the blog recently and hasn't really seen any updates. I didn't have to do very much work at all to get all these awesome states stories up, those were essentially all written by the runners themselves, and each did a great job. I hope that all of the readers enjoyed them just as much as I did and learned what I did from them.
But folks, I think it is time that I step back up to the plate and get this blog back going again to its former glory right around states time. The season may have just ended, but that doesn't mean there is nothing left to talk about.
I have a list of things I hope to accomplish in the upcoming couple days/weeks to keep this blog updated and people talking about PA running. I'll list them off here, and hopefully I can get to all of them.
Final Top 50 Rankings. These will be a bit of a challenge, its going to be tough for them to not look virtually the same as the state championship results with Dutin Wilson at the top, but hey, I will try my best to not be too biased. Overall, the state meet is the most important meet of the season, so you run well there it really helps out your cause.
Final Top 50 v. Original Top 50
So this should be a bit of fun. Seeing where everyone went on the list from the Summer or maybe my September rankings, to where they ended up at the end. See who surprised me and see who I thought would run better. Everyone can make fun of how wrong I was on some guys (Drew Magaha) and I will have no complaints about it.
States Recap
Yeah, this is going to be way late, but I was letting other people tell their stories first and reading up and studying up because I was not actually at the state meet to see this myself, but basically I'll just give a breakdown of some things I noticed. Also I'm going to look back and pick things out of previous posts I made as prove to where I was right or wrong.
Final Top 10 Teams
Going to look a real lot like the State Championship results and like I said above it will be slightly biased. We will see how it goes.
JV Runners
Just going to list off some of the top JV guys, some names you may want to remember for the future. I promised one of my loyal readers I would do this and I haven't forgetten! So I will be doing this!
College Running
Remember when I said I was going to talk about this? Well hopefully I get a chance to say some things, but I have a great piece from my buddy Andrew Gourlay that I think will be very interesting about running at college even if you are not on a team. Also we can maybe get in some D1 nats talk, or Lukas Verzbicas talk. All should be interesting.
Footlocker/NXN
I may even go a little National high school running on everyone.
Track Preview
Maybe. If I find time I will.
I've been doing a lot of work preparing for my rap battle against the Muhlenberg freshman and also writing a lot of bios for the Felixbowl, my big event back home over Thanksgiving break, so you will have to pardon my lateness on any of these posts above. Don't worry track will be back on the blog.
-train
But folks, I think it is time that I step back up to the plate and get this blog back going again to its former glory right around states time. The season may have just ended, but that doesn't mean there is nothing left to talk about.
I have a list of things I hope to accomplish in the upcoming couple days/weeks to keep this blog updated and people talking about PA running. I'll list them off here, and hopefully I can get to all of them.
Final Top 50 Rankings. These will be a bit of a challenge, its going to be tough for them to not look virtually the same as the state championship results with Dutin Wilson at the top, but hey, I will try my best to not be too biased. Overall, the state meet is the most important meet of the season, so you run well there it really helps out your cause.
Final Top 50 v. Original Top 50
So this should be a bit of fun. Seeing where everyone went on the list from the Summer or maybe my September rankings, to where they ended up at the end. See who surprised me and see who I thought would run better. Everyone can make fun of how wrong I was on some guys (Drew Magaha) and I will have no complaints about it.
States Recap
Yeah, this is going to be way late, but I was letting other people tell their stories first and reading up and studying up because I was not actually at the state meet to see this myself, but basically I'll just give a breakdown of some things I noticed. Also I'm going to look back and pick things out of previous posts I made as prove to where I was right or wrong.
Final Top 10 Teams
Going to look a real lot like the State Championship results and like I said above it will be slightly biased. We will see how it goes.
JV Runners
Just going to list off some of the top JV guys, some names you may want to remember for the future. I promised one of my loyal readers I would do this and I haven't forgetten! So I will be doing this!
College Running
Remember when I said I was going to talk about this? Well hopefully I get a chance to say some things, but I have a great piece from my buddy Andrew Gourlay that I think will be very interesting about running at college even if you are not on a team. Also we can maybe get in some D1 nats talk, or Lukas Verzbicas talk. All should be interesting.
Footlocker/NXN
I may even go a little National high school running on everyone.
Track Preview
Maybe. If I find time I will.
I've been doing a lot of work preparing for my rap battle against the Muhlenberg freshman and also writing a lot of bios for the Felixbowl, my big event back home over Thanksgiving break, so you will have to pardon my lateness on any of these posts above. Don't worry track will be back on the blog.
-train
States- Nat Fox
A Tale of Two Races
For me, States was a tale of two races: the team race, and the individual race. Both races were separate entities, but they were inherently connected. They cannot be separated. To be honest, the team race was more important to me, however. My teammates–LJ, Roy, Matt, Rob, Josh, Xavier and Alex– had worked incredibly hard all season. Because of their commitment I was going to do everything in my power to ensure that my teammates had gold medals around their necks by the end of the day on November 5. Not only was I running for my teammates, I was running for my coach. Mr. Noyes has been an excellent mentor for the 4 years I've been in high school, and I have had the fortunate opportunity to run for one of the most dedicated coaches in the state. He wanted the gold as much as I did. We had been so close to winning for 3 years, and we wanted to get the job done this time. With both of these motivating factors, I knew I had to run a solid race.
The team race was out of my hands, however, as soon as the gun went off. I tried to do what I felt was best for my teammates all year long, but after we started, I had to trust my teammates. The most I could do for them was to run my race well. This is where the individual race comes in
I got out extremely fast. Four years of Hershey Parkview has taught me that the energy spent establishing a solid position early on is well worth it. I had a goal of crossing the mile mark at 4:58, and I definitely smiled a little bit when I saw that exact time at 1600 meters. I was in good position, but I knew all the guys in front of me, and I knew what they were capable of, so I had a tough, tough battle for every place. After 2000 meters, the pack had strung out, and I found myself around 15th place. At 2500 meters, I knew that I had very little shot at the top spots, but I still had a nice position to make top ten. On the aloha hills, my strategy was to take the hill normally, but to crush the flats at the top and try to break people at their weakest. I gained a couple of spots this way by the end of the worst hills, and I hovered around 12th place.
I gave up two places between the bottom of the aloha hills and the sewage plant, but I was within striking distance. At the bottom of poop out hill, I started to kick. I always kick at the bottom of the last hill because it catches people by surprise, and I can pick off a couple more spots that way. I managed to get 3 places and end up in 11th place, just out of the top ten.
I'm not disappointed with my race, even though I missed my goal of top ten. First, my time of 16:49 was the fastest ever by a QV runner. Considering the legacy of Quaker Valley runners that have come before me–John Yankello, Omar Hyjek, Chad Kosanovich, Andy Gregor, Andy Kifer, Zach Thomas, the list goes on– I was ecstatic to be able to say that I could be included in that list. Second (and this came after I got to cruise penntrack a little), my time would've been top ten all three previous years, so I knew that this year was especially strong, and being top 15 this year was special.
The most important reason I wasn't disappointed with my race, however, wasn't any of these. It was because I had done my job to help the team win a state championship. I scored just 5 points in the team standings, which was incredibly helpful for the team score. That was my true goal, and I knew I achieved that when they announced us as team champions.
Congratualtions to all of the winners on saturday, team and individual! It is a wonderful feeling to be a state champion, and I want to thank everyone who helped me get here, especially my friends, mentors, and my family.
As a closing statement, I would like to commend every runner I personally raced against on saturday. The guys from D7 (Josef, Alex Archer, Ryan Archer, Ryan Mcguire, and Roy) ran a great race and represented well. To be honest, everyone ran a great race, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to run with and against such outstanding runners. Boys AA definitely was a close group of runners, and you could tell that from the medal stand. Everyone shook everyone else's hand, and the feeling was of mutual respect. This group of runners exemplifies the essence of running: hard work, respect, and fun. I hope to see everyone in track!
-Nat
For me, States was a tale of two races: the team race, and the individual race. Both races were separate entities, but they were inherently connected. They cannot be separated. To be honest, the team race was more important to me, however. My teammates–LJ, Roy, Matt, Rob, Josh, Xavier and Alex– had worked incredibly hard all season. Because of their commitment I was going to do everything in my power to ensure that my teammates had gold medals around their necks by the end of the day on November 5. Not only was I running for my teammates, I was running for my coach. Mr. Noyes has been an excellent mentor for the 4 years I've been in high school, and I have had the fortunate opportunity to run for one of the most dedicated coaches in the state. He wanted the gold as much as I did. We had been so close to winning for 3 years, and we wanted to get the job done this time. With both of these motivating factors, I knew I had to run a solid race.
The team race was out of my hands, however, as soon as the gun went off. I tried to do what I felt was best for my teammates all year long, but after we started, I had to trust my teammates. The most I could do for them was to run my race well. This is where the individual race comes in
I got out extremely fast. Four years of Hershey Parkview has taught me that the energy spent establishing a solid position early on is well worth it. I had a goal of crossing the mile mark at 4:58, and I definitely smiled a little bit when I saw that exact time at 1600 meters. I was in good position, but I knew all the guys in front of me, and I knew what they were capable of, so I had a tough, tough battle for every place. After 2000 meters, the pack had strung out, and I found myself around 15th place. At 2500 meters, I knew that I had very little shot at the top spots, but I still had a nice position to make top ten. On the aloha hills, my strategy was to take the hill normally, but to crush the flats at the top and try to break people at their weakest. I gained a couple of spots this way by the end of the worst hills, and I hovered around 12th place.
I gave up two places between the bottom of the aloha hills and the sewage plant, but I was within striking distance. At the bottom of poop out hill, I started to kick. I always kick at the bottom of the last hill because it catches people by surprise, and I can pick off a couple more spots that way. I managed to get 3 places and end up in 11th place, just out of the top ten.
I'm not disappointed with my race, even though I missed my goal of top ten. First, my time of 16:49 was the fastest ever by a QV runner. Considering the legacy of Quaker Valley runners that have come before me–John Yankello, Omar Hyjek, Chad Kosanovich, Andy Gregor, Andy Kifer, Zach Thomas, the list goes on– I was ecstatic to be able to say that I could be included in that list. Second (and this came after I got to cruise penntrack a little), my time would've been top ten all three previous years, so I knew that this year was especially strong, and being top 15 this year was special.
The most important reason I wasn't disappointed with my race, however, wasn't any of these. It was because I had done my job to help the team win a state championship. I scored just 5 points in the team standings, which was incredibly helpful for the team score. That was my true goal, and I knew I achieved that when they announced us as team champions.
Congratualtions to all of the winners on saturday, team and individual! It is a wonderful feeling to be a state champion, and I want to thank everyone who helped me get here, especially my friends, mentors, and my family.
As a closing statement, I would like to commend every runner I personally raced against on saturday. The guys from D7 (Josef, Alex Archer, Ryan Archer, Ryan Mcguire, and Roy) ran a great race and represented well. To be honest, everyone ran a great race, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to run with and against such outstanding runners. Boys AA definitely was a close group of runners, and you could tell that from the medal stand. Everyone shook everyone else's hand, and the feeling was of mutual respect. This group of runners exemplifies the essence of running: hard work, respect, and fun. I hope to see everyone in track!
-Nat
States- Sean Burke
States turned out to be a much better experience the second time around. The first mile was fast (as it always is) and I hit 4:53. The hills took a toll on me, but i kept solid postioning around 20th going through two miles in around 10:12. The last mile was brutal, as I'm sure it was for everyone, but I was able to muster enough strength to pass 6 or 7 guys on Poop-out Hill and finish 12th in 16:23, improving over last year by 50 seconds and 68 places. I was definitely pleased with my effort throughout the race and with my strong finish. It's always thrilling to compete against such high level competition on a demanding course. As for my post-states plans, I'm racing this Saturday at the Death Valley Distance Carnival at Southern Columbia High School in an attempt to better my 5k PR and run around 15:35. Good luck to all runners competing in post season races!
States- Barrett Kemp
First off, congratulations to Brendan and everybody else for running one hell of a race. States is always an exciting experience, but to go into it knowing many of the top runners in the state as friends made it even more incredible. Running against people you don't know is one thing, wanting to race the hell out of people you love and respect is something else entirely.
This was really my first true State race; a year ago I ran through the season with a leg infection and the year before that I overexerted myself and went into the end-season exhausted. This year I tried to play all of my cards right -- I trained hard, ate well and slept more than enough. Going into the race I was expecting nothing less than top 10, truth be told I had high hopes for first, second, or third. I placed thirteenth. And not to sound conceited, but that performance disappointed me. The experience was still thrilling, but I just didn't run the race I knew I could. You know what that's like.
The first half of the race played out exactly as I planned -- I led on and off through to the Aloha Hills, pacing the race's first mile at ~4:50. But as we hit that first hill, I lost my breath and my chest started to seize in a kind of heartburn-like feeling. Not to make excuses, but my body didn't want me to go on like I was. From that point on it was a fierce battle to keep going, and even though I fell short of my goal I'm still proud of fighting through the course. And thanks to the guy who, as he passed me, said, "C'mon man, you can do this." It's that kind of kindred spirit that makes me love everything about running.
Can't wait to see you guys at track States, I'll be looking for you in the two-mile. You're all beasts.
This was really my first true State race; a year ago I ran through the season with a leg infection and the year before that I overexerted myself and went into the end-season exhausted. This year I tried to play all of my cards right -- I trained hard, ate well and slept more than enough. Going into the race I was expecting nothing less than top 10, truth be told I had high hopes for first, second, or third. I placed thirteenth. And not to sound conceited, but that performance disappointed me. The experience was still thrilling, but I just didn't run the race I knew I could. You know what that's like.
The first half of the race played out exactly as I planned -- I led on and off through to the Aloha Hills, pacing the race's first mile at ~4:50. But as we hit that first hill, I lost my breath and my chest started to seize in a kind of heartburn-like feeling. Not to make excuses, but my body didn't want me to go on like I was. From that point on it was a fierce battle to keep going, and even though I fell short of my goal I'm still proud of fighting through the course. And thanks to the guy who, as he passed me, said, "C'mon man, you can do this." It's that kind of kindred spirit that makes me love everything about running.
Can't wait to see you guys at track States, I'll be looking for you in the two-mile. You're all beasts.
States- Dan Davis
Q: So coming up into the state meet did you still believe you had a chance to win states?
A: In 2009 when Brad Miles won the individual state title for North Penn, Coach Werner told Chris Trimble and I that we have to “want” it and to work to rebuild the team from scratch because we had lost most of our seniors that year. This year, we had rebuilt a solid, full returning varsity from 2010 and had confidence that we could have some impact on the state. As the rankings fluctuated throughout the season we saw how competitive and challenging Cardinal O’Hara, Great Valley, and Henderson were, along with North Allegheny. North Penn was almost never talked about this whole season, and were almost consistently holding fifth place, and dropped to seventh place heading into the state meet. Coach Werner and assistant coach Hertz were having doubts about winning this state meet because of our position and other teams’ rankings and previous performances at bigger meets. Coach Werner told my dad that he hopes to at least pull away with a fourth place win, but turns out we lived up to his dream of North Penn winning states like we had wanted to for the past few years. We had no idea that we even came close to winning the state title, especially since we were racing a younger team against a team that has been ranked number one practically all season (Cardinal O’Hara).
Q: What was it like for you when you found out that you won?
A: A few guys from our JV team drove up to watch the race. Personally I did not place as well as I would’ve liked to, so I was upset because since 2009 I have dreamed of getting my hands on a state medal, that’s all I really wanted. Then as I am walking back to the starting line, the JV guys come running up to me excitedly chanting “NORTH PENN WON STATES!!!” I called them idiots because I did not believe them at first. Then when they showed me the results my heart lifted and my stress just melted away as I thought that North Penn had won states for the third time in five years and I am blessed to be a contribution to that title. I absolutely could not believe it, and as I looked at the scoring sheet, I saw how close of a race it truly was. Coach Werner always said “Every Second Counts” and it truly did, as we had to refer to our sixth man (Hunter Hill [Jr]) to determine the state title. It was the best day of my life thus far.
Q: How did the race unfold for you and your team? Any positives or negatives?
A: The funny thing about that race was it was practically the first time that we actually pulled each other together and worked together as the tight in friendship team that we are. The fact that we worked together throughout this race and fought until that last step on that black matt, made everything that we had gone through, worth every single second. I find no negatives in this race or even in this season, mainly because everyone matured and we grew more like a true team than we ever did last year. Whenever one of us had a bad day, we just walk it off and come fighting the next day. It’s all about the friendship and the chemistry with each other and the fun times that you have because what is cross country without a little bit of goofing around? This season was by far the most built, and respected season I have ever witnessed in my running career.
Q: Any influences or people you would like to thank?
A: Yes, I absolutely have to give a few shout outs on this occasion. The main shout out I want to present is to Coach Mike Werner and assistant Coach Mike Hertz for working hard to accomplish this long term goal. We could not have done this job without them. I also want to thank the North Penn Athletics staff for the work they do for us on a daily basis to keep the programs in shape. I want to also thank all of the alumni for supporting NPXC and influencing us to be the best we possibly can be, and not to worry about what others think. Thank you to all of the parents and JV who supported us throughout and at the end of the season. Well done North Penn, Well done. I am truly proud to be a part of such an awesome school and I couldn’t ask for a better team to run with. Truly was the time of my life.
A: In 2009 when Brad Miles won the individual state title for North Penn, Coach Werner told Chris Trimble and I that we have to “want” it and to work to rebuild the team from scratch because we had lost most of our seniors that year. This year, we had rebuilt a solid, full returning varsity from 2010 and had confidence that we could have some impact on the state. As the rankings fluctuated throughout the season we saw how competitive and challenging Cardinal O’Hara, Great Valley, and Henderson were, along with North Allegheny. North Penn was almost never talked about this whole season, and were almost consistently holding fifth place, and dropped to seventh place heading into the state meet. Coach Werner and assistant coach Hertz were having doubts about winning this state meet because of our position and other teams’ rankings and previous performances at bigger meets. Coach Werner told my dad that he hopes to at least pull away with a fourth place win, but turns out we lived up to his dream of North Penn winning states like we had wanted to for the past few years. We had no idea that we even came close to winning the state title, especially since we were racing a younger team against a team that has been ranked number one practically all season (Cardinal O’Hara).
Q: What was it like for you when you found out that you won?
A: A few guys from our JV team drove up to watch the race. Personally I did not place as well as I would’ve liked to, so I was upset because since 2009 I have dreamed of getting my hands on a state medal, that’s all I really wanted. Then as I am walking back to the starting line, the JV guys come running up to me excitedly chanting “NORTH PENN WON STATES!!!” I called them idiots because I did not believe them at first. Then when they showed me the results my heart lifted and my stress just melted away as I thought that North Penn had won states for the third time in five years and I am blessed to be a contribution to that title. I absolutely could not believe it, and as I looked at the scoring sheet, I saw how close of a race it truly was. Coach Werner always said “Every Second Counts” and it truly did, as we had to refer to our sixth man (Hunter Hill [Jr]) to determine the state title. It was the best day of my life thus far.
Q: How did the race unfold for you and your team? Any positives or negatives?
A: The funny thing about that race was it was practically the first time that we actually pulled each other together and worked together as the tight in friendship team that we are. The fact that we worked together throughout this race and fought until that last step on that black matt, made everything that we had gone through, worth every single second. I find no negatives in this race or even in this season, mainly because everyone matured and we grew more like a true team than we ever did last year. Whenever one of us had a bad day, we just walk it off and come fighting the next day. It’s all about the friendship and the chemistry with each other and the fun times that you have because what is cross country without a little bit of goofing around? This season was by far the most built, and respected season I have ever witnessed in my running career.
Q: Any influences or people you would like to thank?
A: Yes, I absolutely have to give a few shout outs on this occasion. The main shout out I want to present is to Coach Mike Werner and assistant Coach Mike Hertz for working hard to accomplish this long term goal. We could not have done this job without them. I also want to thank the North Penn Athletics staff for the work they do for us on a daily basis to keep the programs in shape. I want to also thank all of the alumni for supporting NPXC and influencing us to be the best we possibly can be, and not to worry about what others think. Thank you to all of the parents and JV who supported us throughout and at the end of the season. Well done North Penn, Well done. I am truly proud to be a part of such an awesome school and I couldn’t ask for a better team to run with. Truly was the time of my life.
States- Aaron Wilkinson
As far as Saturday is concerned, I can't say I'm entirely pleased with my end performance, however I don't regret anything I did in the race. I don't want to say I had a bad race because I don't want to take anything away from the other runners, but coming in 19th was not something I was anticipating. I went into the race with the goal of anything in the top 10. I went out hard and was in 4th for the majority of the race until about 1000m to go. I then dropped back to 8th. Once I reached the final hill by the finish, my legs filled with lead and I struggled to cross the line 150m away. Unfortunately, that was where I was passed by 11 people. The cause of this finish could have been a variety of things, but I don't want to try and justify my loss with excuses. I'm willing to just accept what happened, be thankful for my 3rd xc state medal, and look forward to footlocker. There, as the 5th returner in the race, my goal is to qualify for nationals. I'm aware that's it's a lofty goal and footlocker is always a crapshoot, but it's something to aim for and that I believe (on the right given day) I could accomplish.
States- Shawn Wolfe
not sound self centered and egotistical but, Annville-Cleona will be a team to watch next year. they had 2 guys medal (AA) and won their district. they have no seniors and only juniors and freshman. their number 3 was injured and ran very badly. the experienced freshys are just now learning to run a full 5k.
-Shawn Wolfe
-Shawn Wolfe
States- Brendan Shearn
ok, well first off I have to thank all the people that supported me, all of my coaches and my former coaches were there and that really meant a lot. Also my entire team had made shirts and painted up for me and it was really special having them all there supporting me seeing them at the brigde flipping out cheering for me really helped me a lot. But to my race strategy, the race played out exactly how i had imagined it going, the first mile went out very fast i think like 4:50, then after that i kinda pushed a little up that hill to see who could respond. when basically everyone did i kinda just stayed where i was, and wait, i actually ended up leading up the first of the aloha hills, and i just tryed to stay as comfortable as possible. Curt ended up leading after that hill and pretty much threw himself into that surge. I ended up catching him up the second hill and then again at the top of the hill he surged and was really pushing down the hill. as soon as we hit the bottom of the hill it was about 1000 to go and that was where i wanted to make my move so i pushed as hard as i could and broke away a little and just kept hammering. when i reached my dad right before i went down to poop out hill he was cheering and i knew i couldnt dissapoint them so i kept pushing. when i crossed the road I counted 3 of my footsteps and i heard his so i knew he was really close, I through myself into the last hill and just kept pushing. In the final 5 meters when I knew I had won I just was so excited i could barely believe it. Another thing I'd like to mention is that all of the AA guys really ran great and I wanted to win but i wouldev been just as happy if any of my other friends had won. and up on the medal stand all of the AA guys put there arms around each other. and it was a pretty cool the whole experience was amazing and i still cant believe it.
States- Meghan McGovern
Hi everyone!
My name is Meghan McGovern and I am a senior at North Penn High School. I am a huge etrain fan so I am excited to write this recap for his blog!
This year’s states was a crazy year for North Penn! To see the boys win on a tie breaker was amazing and a testament to all their hard work. I am so happy for them and they deserve it! One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing all the support both the boys and girls teams received from past NPXC runners. NPXC is truly a family and I feel blessed to be a part of it.
The race at states played out perfectly for me. I was able to get out to a good start and remain in the lead pack throughout the race. With a little less than a mile to go, Hannah Grossman began to pull away and we battled to an all out sprint at the end. Congratulations to Hannah and everyone else for awesome races and seasons!
Sharing the states experience with my team was great. I am so proud of everyone. At the beginning of the season our goals were to win our conference and qualify for states. Although the path we took to get there had a few bumps in it, it was an awesome season.
Overall, I could not have asked for a better way to end my senior cross country season. Saturday still seems so unreal to me! Congrats again to everyone and see you in indoor!
PS. shout out to my sister Colleen for being the best teammate!
My name is Meghan McGovern and I am a senior at North Penn High School. I am a huge etrain fan so I am excited to write this recap for his blog!
This year’s states was a crazy year for North Penn! To see the boys win on a tie breaker was amazing and a testament to all their hard work. I am so happy for them and they deserve it! One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing all the support both the boys and girls teams received from past NPXC runners. NPXC is truly a family and I feel blessed to be a part of it.
The race at states played out perfectly for me. I was able to get out to a good start and remain in the lead pack throughout the race. With a little less than a mile to go, Hannah Grossman began to pull away and we battled to an all out sprint at the end. Congratulations to Hannah and everyone else for awesome races and seasons!
Sharing the states experience with my team was great. I am so proud of everyone. At the beginning of the season our goals were to win our conference and qualify for states. Although the path we took to get there had a few bumps in it, it was an awesome season.
Overall, I could not have asked for a better way to end my senior cross country season. Saturday still seems so unreal to me! Congrats again to everyone and see you in indoor!
PS. shout out to my sister Colleen for being the best teammate!
States- Sam Williams
This season has been a completely new experience for me. With two seniors gone off a team with only seven kids, it was a very empty feeling stepping to the line without them there, especially after the heartbreak of last year, losing states on a disqualification. Seeing as there were no seniors on our team this year, Curtis and myself had big shoes to fill as the oldest runners. Not all that much was expected to come of this year. Having two front-runners at meets was helpful, but usually not good enough to win. The weather this year certainly did not help either. It is extremely hard to gauge yourself against years past when conditions are so poor. But that's not to say that this year wasn't rewarding. I won my first cross-country race ever at the foundation invite and was rewarded with another invite win several weeks later. But the one race on the season that gets me is states. Good old states. At the half way point of the race it was perfect. The seven favorites running in a tight front pack. I felt good, even great, but the aloha hills took their toll. Not on the way up, rather the way down, as I just couldn't hang on to the lead pace on those rocketing decents. They gapped me and Ryan and we just never could make it up. It certainly wasn't the best race I have ever run, I'm not sure I would even call it a good race, but as I crossed the line in 4th and fell to the ground dry heaving and ready to pass out, I knew I had given the best effort I could on that day.
-Sam Williams
-Sam Williams
States- Austin Pondel
Hey,
My name's Austin Pondel. Im a junior from Corry ( District 10) and finished 23rd in the AAA state meet. With the State XC meet completed it was deffinitaly what I expected with being up front. For me I have come along way and have made huge leaps and gains from year to year. My freshman pr for XC was 18:02, my soph year I ran 17:20 and got 103rd at the AAA state race and this year I droppped 49 secs off my state time from last year with a 16:31.
My name's Austin Pondel. Im a junior from Corry ( District 10) and finished 23rd in the AAA state meet. With the State XC meet completed it was deffinitaly what I expected with being up front. For me I have come along way and have made huge leaps and gains from year to year. My freshman pr for XC was 18:02, my soph year I ran 17:20 and got 103rd at the AAA state race and this year I droppped 49 secs off my state time from last year with a 16:31.
States- Alec Kunzweiler
First of all I would like to congratulate all of the state runners and it's awesome to see my junior class come out with some top spots this year.
This year has been such a change for me. As some people may know I spent my freshman and sophomore year playing soccer instead of running cross and to come out with a state medal this year was beyond my greatest expectations. Looking back it is amazing to see my own progressions as well as the progression of the team. We went from losing our first two dual meets to being 11th in the team standings at states with four first year runners as well as losing three major contributors to last years team. I am optimistic for next year because we are returning our entire varsity squad and it's going to be fun taking on the top teams in the state.
I look forward to competing in track this year as my cross season is now over, and I hope to see many familiar names as well as some new ones dropping some fast times.
-Alec Kunzweiler
This year has been such a change for me. As some people may know I spent my freshman and sophomore year playing soccer instead of running cross and to come out with a state medal this year was beyond my greatest expectations. Looking back it is amazing to see my own progressions as well as the progression of the team. We went from losing our first two dual meets to being 11th in the team standings at states with four first year runners as well as losing three major contributors to last years team. I am optimistic for next year because we are returning our entire varsity squad and it's going to be fun taking on the top teams in the state.
I look forward to competing in track this year as my cross season is now over, and I hope to see many familiar names as well as some new ones dropping some fast times.
-Alec Kunzweiler
States- Ned Wilig
I would first like to start by congratulating Conner Quinn, Brendan Shearn, Meghan McGovern and Angel Piccirillo on their victories. They are all great kids and are very deserving of a state title.
For me, the thrill of cross-country has always been team-oriented. Any success I had personally is a result of the team and my coaches. Our team had a great season. While there were many ups and downs, we meshed together to have strong championship performances. Our best race by far was Districts last week. We struggled on the Hershey course and did not have our best performance. We did better than last year, and I am sure the team will do even better next year. It was a fun season and a nice way to finish off high school cross-country. I am very proud of the Great Valley team and want to thank them for being so supportive these past four years.
While I am very happy that I finished in the top 10 at States, it was not my smartest race. I was nearly in dead last at the first turn (300 meters in). Somehow I managed to make my way up to 64th by the first mile. I worked the hills and made it into the top 30 by mile two. I was in the top 20 with 800 to go and passed the remaining 11 guys in the last 400 meters. My whole team got out too slow and Matt had to pause to fix his shoe so we didn’t have our best day.
There are many complaints I have about the course, especially with regards to safety and maneuverability, but it would really be beating a dead horse. My advice to runners who qualify for States and are subjected to run the Hershey course is this: If you want any chance at placing high, you HAVE to sprint the first 400 meters. By the time there is room to really catch people it is too late. It took me four years running the course to learn that. I sincerely hope the PIAA changes the location of the State Championships, because Hershey Park is far from the ideal place to host a high-caliber cross-country race.
States was my last race for high school cross-country and I am extremely proud to have medalled. It was a great way to finish up my four years of cross country.
My indoor track season is going to revolve around the Distance Medley Relay. Our team has high expectations for the season, and I believe we have the potential to be really competitive at States.
Good luck to everyone competing at Footlockers and NXN!
-Ned Willig
For me, the thrill of cross-country has always been team-oriented. Any success I had personally is a result of the team and my coaches. Our team had a great season. While there were many ups and downs, we meshed together to have strong championship performances. Our best race by far was Districts last week. We struggled on the Hershey course and did not have our best performance. We did better than last year, and I am sure the team will do even better next year. It was a fun season and a nice way to finish off high school cross-country. I am very proud of the Great Valley team and want to thank them for being so supportive these past four years.
While I am very happy that I finished in the top 10 at States, it was not my smartest race. I was nearly in dead last at the first turn (300 meters in). Somehow I managed to make my way up to 64th by the first mile. I worked the hills and made it into the top 30 by mile two. I was in the top 20 with 800 to go and passed the remaining 11 guys in the last 400 meters. My whole team got out too slow and Matt had to pause to fix his shoe so we didn’t have our best day.
There are many complaints I have about the course, especially with regards to safety and maneuverability, but it would really be beating a dead horse. My advice to runners who qualify for States and are subjected to run the Hershey course is this: If you want any chance at placing high, you HAVE to sprint the first 400 meters. By the time there is room to really catch people it is too late. It took me four years running the course to learn that. I sincerely hope the PIAA changes the location of the State Championships, because Hershey Park is far from the ideal place to host a high-caliber cross-country race.
States was my last race for high school cross-country and I am extremely proud to have medalled. It was a great way to finish up my four years of cross country.
My indoor track season is going to revolve around the Distance Medley Relay. Our team has high expectations for the season, and I believe we have the potential to be really competitive at States.
Good luck to everyone competing at Footlockers and NXN!
-Ned Willig
States- The Altoona Boys
Trainstation, this is the first in hopefully a series of race summaries about this past Saturday's state meet. I've been in contact with a lot of people so far and I have already gotten some great feedback. Anyone else who wants to contribute their opinion/experience please let me know. Any additions will really help improve the blog and help future runners learn how to run a difficult state meet and course.
Now on to our first summary. Altoona was a top 5 team in the state a year ago, and had a very nice showing at the NXN regional meet, including a national qualifying performance from state meet runner up Wade Endress. Although Wade grabbed a lot of headlines last fall, he continually mentioned his young teammates and how they would be state contenders the following fall. Korey Replogle and Dylan Mountain certainly lived up to that hype this season. Korey,the 25th place finisher from 2010, and Dylan, the 115th finisher from 2010, both had impressive finishes at various invitationals this year. Dylan had some early season invite golds before sickness struck him at Carlisle and Korey began his climb back up the rankings finishing well at both Carlisle and Paul Short. At Tri States and Districts Mountain and Replogle traded top finishes, and both came into states confident.
Unfortunately, snow was not in the plans of most district meet organizers and the District 6 meet was not on its normal day (Saturday) but instead was held on Monday. 2 less days of rest for two top 10 caliber runners. 2 less days to fine tune their training and prepare for the biggest meet of the season.
But the Altoona boys were not men of excuses. Korey came into the race, a rough pre meet night complete with a soar throat and lack of sleep behind him, staying confident in the pre race warm up. Within the race, however, a lot of the negative factors he was facing added up. "I just never made a move it felt like the same race as last year for me. I didn't make any moves to push myself which sucks because I know I could have done a lot better than what I showed but I guess I just have to move on and make the best of it now." Korey said about his race. He still managed a 24th place finish and his second state medal, an achievement few can boast about. He managed to dig down deep and pass two runners on the finishing straightaway to guarentee his spot on the medal podium.
For Dylan, the race was all about redemption from a year ago. The confidence he gained from running extremely well at the Tri State meet and the determination he had to perform above expectations motivated him during his pre race warm up at Hershey. It was a hard experience last year, even when Dylan felt like he was moving quickly, he was still getting passed. So this year had to be different. Dylan ran a tough race, finding himself closing in on his goal coming down the steep downhill towards the finish at Hershey he was sitting in 9th place. But just like Korey, things caught up to Dylan and a large group chased him down and went by, pinning him in the back of a pack he would not be able to fight back through.
Even in his most painful moments of the race, Dylan pushed onward, remembering his race a year ago. Ultimately his perserverance paid off in a 21st place finish and his first state medal. A memory which he says he will remember forever.
Both Dylan and Korey are considering running the Footlocker Regional meet as a form of redemption for their slightly disappointing finishes at the state championship. The duo of Joe Kush and Juris Silienks comes to mind when thinking of these two runners and their similar quest for redemption.
There are certainly big things in these two runners future, not only if these chose to run the Footlocker Regional meet, but also on the track, where each runner feels they can run much faster than ever before.
Now on to our first summary. Altoona was a top 5 team in the state a year ago, and had a very nice showing at the NXN regional meet, including a national qualifying performance from state meet runner up Wade Endress. Although Wade grabbed a lot of headlines last fall, he continually mentioned his young teammates and how they would be state contenders the following fall. Korey Replogle and Dylan Mountain certainly lived up to that hype this season. Korey,the 25th place finisher from 2010, and Dylan, the 115th finisher from 2010, both had impressive finishes at various invitationals this year. Dylan had some early season invite golds before sickness struck him at Carlisle and Korey began his climb back up the rankings finishing well at both Carlisle and Paul Short. At Tri States and Districts Mountain and Replogle traded top finishes, and both came into states confident.
Unfortunately, snow was not in the plans of most district meet organizers and the District 6 meet was not on its normal day (Saturday) but instead was held on Monday. 2 less days of rest for two top 10 caliber runners. 2 less days to fine tune their training and prepare for the biggest meet of the season.
But the Altoona boys were not men of excuses. Korey came into the race, a rough pre meet night complete with a soar throat and lack of sleep behind him, staying confident in the pre race warm up. Within the race, however, a lot of the negative factors he was facing added up. "I just never made a move it felt like the same race as last year for me. I didn't make any moves to push myself which sucks because I know I could have done a lot better than what I showed but I guess I just have to move on and make the best of it now." Korey said about his race. He still managed a 24th place finish and his second state medal, an achievement few can boast about. He managed to dig down deep and pass two runners on the finishing straightaway to guarentee his spot on the medal podium.
For Dylan, the race was all about redemption from a year ago. The confidence he gained from running extremely well at the Tri State meet and the determination he had to perform above expectations motivated him during his pre race warm up at Hershey. It was a hard experience last year, even when Dylan felt like he was moving quickly, he was still getting passed. So this year had to be different. Dylan ran a tough race, finding himself closing in on his goal coming down the steep downhill towards the finish at Hershey he was sitting in 9th place. But just like Korey, things caught up to Dylan and a large group chased him down and went by, pinning him in the back of a pack he would not be able to fight back through.
Even in his most painful moments of the race, Dylan pushed onward, remembering his race a year ago. Ultimately his perserverance paid off in a 21st place finish and his first state medal. A memory which he says he will remember forever.
Both Dylan and Korey are considering running the Footlocker Regional meet as a form of redemption for their slightly disappointing finishes at the state championship. The duo of Joe Kush and Juris Silienks comes to mind when thinking of these two runners and their similar quest for redemption.
There are certainly big things in these two runners future, not only if these chose to run the Footlocker Regional meet, but also on the track, where each runner feels they can run much faster than ever before.
Never Too Soon Is It
So first of all, I just wanted to let everyone know that I facebook messaged just about every state medalist I could find and asked them if they would like to share anything about their states experience for the blog. Some stories from these responses will be coming out soon. If you would like to contribute your thoughts on states, even if I haven't contacted you or you weren't a medalist, feel free to message me and I can add your thoughts into the posts I will be making over the next week or so.
I will be breaking down the races in the near future, just giving my opinions on things and looking back at old rankings and predictions and seeing what stands out. I just want to learn a little bit more about the meet (since I was not there unfortunately) beforing going to in depth.
But now that I got that housecleaning out of the way, I want to talk about next year. Yes, this year just ended, but heck, I love talking about speculatory things, rather than pure facts so I will start off my states coverage with what this means for the future.
I'll start off with AA because quite frankly, we are picking up right where we left off. 24 out of the top 30 runners return for next cross country season, and 22 of those returners will be Seniors in 2012. The entire top 5 is back, which includes Brendan Shearn, who has been dominate this season, only losing at Paul Short.
The defending champion has to be the favorite to win the next season. However, Ryan Smathers was the top returner a year ago, coming off an excellent track season, yet he could never put it together this season and finished 5th for the second straight year.
Brendan certainly made a more significant jump than a lot of these runners, Williams and Smathers and Mullen all beat him a year ago at states. Luke Jones also made a pretty sizable jump to the front, taking 2nd place, losing by just 2 seconds, and giving hope for maybe a surprise in 2012.
The boys from Northeast Bradford are both back, and although Jewett seems to race very well all season, the state course has bested him now on 3 occasions. Sam Williams, meanwhile, has excelled on the course, and has potential to surprise people on race day.
And how about Barrett Kemp? He achieved a lot this season as well and although he didn't quite pull through at states, he was still a top 15 finisher (13th) and really made noise all season (a couple of guys had him as an upset pick to win the championship).
Heck, its hard to keep track of everyone coming back so there are going to be names left out, but I'll throw down one more: Hunter Johnston. Really made a lot of great improvements this season and at the beginning/middle of the season he really looked strong. He faded down the stretch, but with an extra season under his belt he could definitely make noise at the state championships.
Defending champs Quaker Valley lose 3 out of their top 4 while North East, Holy Redeemer, Masterman, and Canton return 3-5 out of their top 5, Canton returning all 5. Redeemer doesn't have the front runner North East has which will come in handy. District 3 champs Anville Celona return their entire top 5 including 2 state medalists. A bit off an off day for their normal #3 man really cost their team at staes.
Now on to the AAA scene, where things will certainly be a bit harder to digest. A lot of guys still return, especially out front with 3 out of the top 4 guys coming back, including defending state champion Conner Quinn. Quinn didn't get to the top the same way Shearn did, he was a pretty big upset. Now the question becomes will he be a Shawn Cavanaugh and Ian Gottesfield or a Craig Miller.
Quinn will have his handsful next year with probably my break out performer of the year Dan Jaskowak. I will say it now officially on record, this kid is legit. I didn't believe it, I wrote him off all season, but he was 2nd at the state championships over a lot of very talented runners and he will not be afraid of the big stage next year.
You can make a strong argument Jaskowak, not Quinn, will be the favorite in 2012.
Brent Kennedy's 7th place finish at states is the highest finish a sophomore has had at states since Vince McNally in 2005 (3rd). Kennedy becomes the top returner out of the WPIAL, which has produced state champion Ryan Gil and Footlocker Finalists Rad Gunzenhauser and Zach Hebda (along with Gil) over the previous two seasons. I wasn't surprised to see Kennedy up this high, he's been mixing it up with the top guys all season, and eventually things were going to click.
Now how about the PCL guys? The top two finishes by PCL individuals ever at the state championship were turned in by Tom Coyle and Dan Savage. Coyle, who had previously bested Savage twice in a row at Belmont, may have made a tactical error going to the front so early in the race. Meanwhile Savage leaves as one of states biggest surprises, running a very smart race.
This is Coyle's first real season mixing it up in XC. For Savage this also a somewhat new experience, although he was a top runner on a top team a year ago. Certainly these two have not had the previous seasons of work guys like Conner Quinn have had, which should make things interesting in a season.
Still can't count out guys like Jeff Groh and Max Norris who had big District races, but struggled at states. They have a lot of potential to make noise in 2012.
Alec Kunzweiler catapulted into the mix for state champion in a season as well, after a relatively low key season in comparison to the other guys out front, Kunzweiler stayed under the radar until finally popping his 14th place finish at the state championship. He was 9th at the District 3 Championship just over a week earlier.
This is Kunzweiler's first real cross country season where he has been this competitive after a break out track season last spring, similar to the aforementioned Coyle of LaSalle.
North Penn was the surprise state champions in 2011. Surprise probably isn't a strong enough term to describe the upset they pulled over the nationally ranked Cardinal O'Hara squad. However, North Penn got a lot of preseason talk. I said myself I thought they were underrated in the preseaon polls. I thought they would peak at the right time and I thought they would give Henderson a run for their money at Districts. But they didn't quite do that. So I jumped off the bandwagon and I got stunned at States.
But the point is, they didn't come from complete obscurity to take the title. They had three very good runners out front and they built around those guys through to 6 guys. And they returned practically their entire top 7 coming into the season. So yeah we knew they'd be good.
So Cardinal O'Hara, the best team all year besides states (when admittedly it matters most) returning 4-5 of their top 5 (I am fairly convinced Bilotta is a Senior this season and that's a type-o, but he was listed as a Junior at Distrits too so perhaps I missed a memo somewhere) is going to be very good yet again. They should be the favorites next fall for the state title.
However, North Penn will still be good, returning MacCauley and host of youngsters with valuable championship experience. Also their school is huge. They will find guys. I don't think North Penn will even be District champs in a year, but you just can't rule a team like this out at the beginning of the season.
North Allegheny loses A LOT. There young guy Seel got some valuable experience to compete tough next season, but let's be honest here, they are going to struggle to mix it up with top teams in the WPIAL, let alone the stae, on paper. But hey, they are also huge and always good, so who knows what we will be saying after track season.
The team to watch in 2012 will be the West Chester Henderson boys squad. They return their top 3 from districts (all sophomores) and their #3 from states, while they also will get back stud 2010 freshman Reiny Barchet from injury. These young sophomores will now all be experienced juniors, aging in a very good system. Russell and Haugh learned a lot this season. I didn't expect them to have a huge showing at states this year with their lack of experience, but next year they should be very dangerous.
And hey how about CR North? Emery gets sick and has a rough finish to the season but the team still pulls out a 6th place finish at states. They are another very well coached team and they return a lot of weapons including Emery and Ross Wilson and James Zingarini who had very impressive stretch runs and great finishes at states. CR North returns their entire top 5 from states.
Its kind of a similar story down the board, out of the top 10 teams, all but Holy Ghost Prep (10th) return at least 4 guys. CR North returns 5 out of their 5, O'Hara returns 4 to 5 out of their top 5, 11th place finishers Cumberland Valley return their entire top 7, LaSalle and Henderson return their top 3 etc etc. The point is the team title should be very competitve next year after a somewhat down year this season (132 points to win the title is a decent amount in my opinion).
-train
I will be breaking down the races in the near future, just giving my opinions on things and looking back at old rankings and predictions and seeing what stands out. I just want to learn a little bit more about the meet (since I was not there unfortunately) beforing going to in depth.
But now that I got that housecleaning out of the way, I want to talk about next year. Yes, this year just ended, but heck, I love talking about speculatory things, rather than pure facts so I will start off my states coverage with what this means for the future.
I'll start off with AA because quite frankly, we are picking up right where we left off. 24 out of the top 30 runners return for next cross country season, and 22 of those returners will be Seniors in 2012. The entire top 5 is back, which includes Brendan Shearn, who has been dominate this season, only losing at Paul Short.
The defending champion has to be the favorite to win the next season. However, Ryan Smathers was the top returner a year ago, coming off an excellent track season, yet he could never put it together this season and finished 5th for the second straight year.
Brendan certainly made a more significant jump than a lot of these runners, Williams and Smathers and Mullen all beat him a year ago at states. Luke Jones also made a pretty sizable jump to the front, taking 2nd place, losing by just 2 seconds, and giving hope for maybe a surprise in 2012.
The boys from Northeast Bradford are both back, and although Jewett seems to race very well all season, the state course has bested him now on 3 occasions. Sam Williams, meanwhile, has excelled on the course, and has potential to surprise people on race day.
And how about Barrett Kemp? He achieved a lot this season as well and although he didn't quite pull through at states, he was still a top 15 finisher (13th) and really made noise all season (a couple of guys had him as an upset pick to win the championship).
Heck, its hard to keep track of everyone coming back so there are going to be names left out, but I'll throw down one more: Hunter Johnston. Really made a lot of great improvements this season and at the beginning/middle of the season he really looked strong. He faded down the stretch, but with an extra season under his belt he could definitely make noise at the state championships.
Defending champs Quaker Valley lose 3 out of their top 4 while North East, Holy Redeemer, Masterman, and Canton return 3-5 out of their top 5, Canton returning all 5. Redeemer doesn't have the front runner North East has which will come in handy. District 3 champs Anville Celona return their entire top 5 including 2 state medalists. A bit off an off day for their normal #3 man really cost their team at staes.
Now on to the AAA scene, where things will certainly be a bit harder to digest. A lot of guys still return, especially out front with 3 out of the top 4 guys coming back, including defending state champion Conner Quinn. Quinn didn't get to the top the same way Shearn did, he was a pretty big upset. Now the question becomes will he be a Shawn Cavanaugh and Ian Gottesfield or a Craig Miller.
Quinn will have his handsful next year with probably my break out performer of the year Dan Jaskowak. I will say it now officially on record, this kid is legit. I didn't believe it, I wrote him off all season, but he was 2nd at the state championships over a lot of very talented runners and he will not be afraid of the big stage next year.
You can make a strong argument Jaskowak, not Quinn, will be the favorite in 2012.
Brent Kennedy's 7th place finish at states is the highest finish a sophomore has had at states since Vince McNally in 2005 (3rd). Kennedy becomes the top returner out of the WPIAL, which has produced state champion Ryan Gil and Footlocker Finalists Rad Gunzenhauser and Zach Hebda (along with Gil) over the previous two seasons. I wasn't surprised to see Kennedy up this high, he's been mixing it up with the top guys all season, and eventually things were going to click.
Now how about the PCL guys? The top two finishes by PCL individuals ever at the state championship were turned in by Tom Coyle and Dan Savage. Coyle, who had previously bested Savage twice in a row at Belmont, may have made a tactical error going to the front so early in the race. Meanwhile Savage leaves as one of states biggest surprises, running a very smart race.
This is Coyle's first real season mixing it up in XC. For Savage this also a somewhat new experience, although he was a top runner on a top team a year ago. Certainly these two have not had the previous seasons of work guys like Conner Quinn have had, which should make things interesting in a season.
Still can't count out guys like Jeff Groh and Max Norris who had big District races, but struggled at states. They have a lot of potential to make noise in 2012.
Alec Kunzweiler catapulted into the mix for state champion in a season as well, after a relatively low key season in comparison to the other guys out front, Kunzweiler stayed under the radar until finally popping his 14th place finish at the state championship. He was 9th at the District 3 Championship just over a week earlier.
This is Kunzweiler's first real cross country season where he has been this competitive after a break out track season last spring, similar to the aforementioned Coyle of LaSalle.
North Penn was the surprise state champions in 2011. Surprise probably isn't a strong enough term to describe the upset they pulled over the nationally ranked Cardinal O'Hara squad. However, North Penn got a lot of preseason talk. I said myself I thought they were underrated in the preseaon polls. I thought they would peak at the right time and I thought they would give Henderson a run for their money at Districts. But they didn't quite do that. So I jumped off the bandwagon and I got stunned at States.
But the point is, they didn't come from complete obscurity to take the title. They had three very good runners out front and they built around those guys through to 6 guys. And they returned practically their entire top 7 coming into the season. So yeah we knew they'd be good.
So Cardinal O'Hara, the best team all year besides states (when admittedly it matters most) returning 4-5 of their top 5 (I am fairly convinced Bilotta is a Senior this season and that's a type-o, but he was listed as a Junior at Distrits too so perhaps I missed a memo somewhere) is going to be very good yet again. They should be the favorites next fall for the state title.
However, North Penn will still be good, returning MacCauley and host of youngsters with valuable championship experience. Also their school is huge. They will find guys. I don't think North Penn will even be District champs in a year, but you just can't rule a team like this out at the beginning of the season.
North Allegheny loses A LOT. There young guy Seel got some valuable experience to compete tough next season, but let's be honest here, they are going to struggle to mix it up with top teams in the WPIAL, let alone the stae, on paper. But hey, they are also huge and always good, so who knows what we will be saying after track season.
The team to watch in 2012 will be the West Chester Henderson boys squad. They return their top 3 from districts (all sophomores) and their #3 from states, while they also will get back stud 2010 freshman Reiny Barchet from injury. These young sophomores will now all be experienced juniors, aging in a very good system. Russell and Haugh learned a lot this season. I didn't expect them to have a huge showing at states this year with their lack of experience, but next year they should be very dangerous.
And hey how about CR North? Emery gets sick and has a rough finish to the season but the team still pulls out a 6th place finish at states. They are another very well coached team and they return a lot of weapons including Emery and Ross Wilson and James Zingarini who had very impressive stretch runs and great finishes at states. CR North returns their entire top 5 from states.
Its kind of a similar story down the board, out of the top 10 teams, all but Holy Ghost Prep (10th) return at least 4 guys. CR North returns 5 out of their 5, O'Hara returns 4 to 5 out of their top 5, 11th place finishers Cumberland Valley return their entire top 7, LaSalle and Henderson return their top 3 etc etc. The point is the team title should be very competitve next year after a somewhat down year this season (132 points to win the title is a decent amount in my opinion).
-train
Results of the Prediction Contest
So I had a pretty decent year prediction wise, I was fairly good on some guys and obviously took a huge swing and miss on others, but I guess we can worry about that later on when I analyze these races and let you know what things surprised me and which things I was wrong about, etc (thankfully there were not too many things I was wrong on, but there were plenty). Right now I just want to post up some shout outs to the guys who beat me in the prediction contest here on the blog.
So I got 19/25 medalists on both sides, 38/50 overall so thats not to shabby for me personally. I was pretty happy. On the AA side we had just one entry: "that AA guy" and he nailed it, getting an impressive 20 out of 25 medalists.
Congrats to "that AA guy".
On the AAA side we had much more entries and I apologize if I miscounted anyone's entries, but no one scored any higher than I did for these predictions. A bunch of guys came close, and one poster had the same number as I did, 19. He did not leave his name, but he was the only one to predict his medalists in alphabetical order. So congrats to you sir on a well predicted meet.
Great job by everyone who competed, and thanks again for making this a great state meet. Still lots of coverage on the way from etrain and the blog so stay posted for this upcoming week.
So I got 19/25 medalists on both sides, 38/50 overall so thats not to shabby for me personally. I was pretty happy. On the AA side we had just one entry: "that AA guy" and he nailed it, getting an impressive 20 out of 25 medalists.
Congrats to "that AA guy".
On the AAA side we had much more entries and I apologize if I miscounted anyone's entries, but no one scored any higher than I did for these predictions. A bunch of guys came close, and one poster had the same number as I did, 19. He did not leave his name, but he was the only one to predict his medalists in alphabetical order. So congrats to you sir on a well predicted meet.
Great job by everyone who competed, and thanks again for making this a great state meet. Still lots of coverage on the way from etrain and the blog so stay posted for this upcoming week.
Results of the etrain states fantasy draft
I redeemed myself after a pretty poor showing last year. Great job by all the participants, really fun year, hope we can do it again next year.
2nd Rob (104)
Steiner- 5
Harriman- 10
Savage- 4
Deluca- 48
Hertzog- 37
Rotz
Miller
Collins
9th Jae (205)
Magaha- 6
Ferruzzi- 64
Strynkowski- 45
Felts- 76
Willig
Seel
Kunzweiler- 14
Padgett
4th Brendan (117)
Norris- 32
Mountain- 21
DiSilvio- 22
Israel- 16
Williams
Todaro- 26
Stone
Siegel
6th Quinn (134)
Hibbs- 13
Replogle- 24
MacCauley- 17
Haugh- 46
Wilson- 34
Zatlin
Horgan
Haky
7th Jake (143)
Quinn- 1
Wilkinson- 19
Davis- 30
Kane- 58
Huemmler
Trimble- 35
Linse
Smart
5th Demetrius (122)
Jaskowak- 2
Moran- 15
Russell- 27
Muldoon- 42
Emery
Downs
Zigirani- 36
Nictora
8th Jonah (160)
Runco
Coyle- 8
Kuchta- 29
Lednak
Appman- 20
Pastore- 49
Fisher- 54
Lang
3rd Chris (104)
Willig- 9
Kennedy- 7
Groh
Wakely- 25
Pondel- 23
Martin- 40
Luoco
Bollens
1st Jarrett (93)
Kelly- 3
Burke- 12
Katora- 41
Billotta- 11
Tellin- 28
Ausel- 39
Schettler
Campbell
2nd Rob (104)
Steiner- 5
Harriman- 10
Savage- 4
Deluca- 48
Hertzog- 37
Rotz
Miller
Collins
9th Jae (205)
Magaha- 6
Ferruzzi- 64
Strynkowski- 45
Felts- 76
Willig
Seel
Kunzweiler- 14
Padgett
4th Brendan (117)
Norris- 32
Mountain- 21
DiSilvio- 22
Israel- 16
Williams
Todaro- 26
Stone
Siegel
6th Quinn (134)
Hibbs- 13
Replogle- 24
MacCauley- 17
Haugh- 46
Wilson- 34
Zatlin
Horgan
Haky
7th Jake (143)
Quinn- 1
Wilkinson- 19
Davis- 30
Kane- 58
Huemmler
Trimble- 35
Linse
Smart
5th Demetrius (122)
Jaskowak- 2
Moran- 15
Russell- 27
Muldoon- 42
Emery
Downs
Zigirani- 36
Nictora
8th Jonah (160)
Runco
Coyle- 8
Kuchta- 29
Lednak
Appman- 20
Pastore- 49
Fisher- 54
Lang
3rd Chris (104)
Willig- 9
Kennedy- 7
Groh
Wakely- 25
Pondel- 23
Martin- 40
Luoco
Bollens
1st Jarrett (93)
Kelly- 3
Burke- 12
Katora- 41
Billotta- 11
Tellin- 28
Ausel- 39
Schettler
Campbell
Friday Stat: State Medalists
I figure since this has been the main topic of discussion for everyone trying to put together last minute entries into the contest, a little bit of a stat breakdown of how things have gone in the past won't hurt. I'm sorry AA kids but this next section is going to be exclusively AAA, it's what I know best and I know all the medalists of the last 5 years in order by pure memory so that will speed up the process a tad. First I'm just going to start off listing the medalists by school, in terms of which school is most prevelant. One * means Junior year, two means sophomore year. These are the medalists from the last 5 years:
West Chester Henderson (8)- Aldrich*, Ferry, Jervis, Aldirch, Kellar**, Kellar*, Kellar, Andrews
North Penn (7)- Montijo, Miles**, Hoagland, Miles*, Bernitt*, Miles, Bernitt
Coatesville (7)- Dawson, Panulla, Dawson, Ward, Leonard, Mahoney, Rosato*
North Allegheny (7)- Jacob*, Jacob, Taylor, Gil**, Gil*, Gil, Steiner
North Hills (5)- Kush*, Silienks*, Hebda, Kush, Silienks
Altoona (5)- Endress**, Fischer, Endress*, Endress, Replogle*
Hatboro Horsham (5) - D. Hibbs, Topper, S. Hibbs**, S. Hibbs*, Quinn**
Boyertown (4)- Weller, Dennin*, Dennin, Kelly*
Perkiomen Valley (3)- Tarsnane*, Tarnsnane, Perozze
Unionville (3)- Springer, Burkhardt*, Fischer
Wissahickon (3)- Miller, Crits, Farrell
Seneca Valley (3)- Stauffer*, Cipro, Stauffer
CR North (3)- Wallace, Campbell*, Campbell
Tunkhannock (3)- Ayers**, Ayers*, Ayers
CB West (3)- Jones*, Jones, Scarpello
CB East (3)- J. Izewski*, J. Izewski, A. Izewski
West Chester East (2)- LaColla*, LaColla
Mt. Lebanon (2)- Gunzenhauser, Moran*
Lower Merion (2)- Furcht, Berman
Conestoga Valley (2)- McNally**, McNally
St. Joe's Prep (2)- O'Sullivan*, O'Sullivan
Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2)- VanKooten, Gasior
Whitehall (2)- Kacyon*, Kacyon
Parkland (2)- Stepp, Gillette
LaSalle (2)- O'Kane*, Trainer
Grove City (2)- Kildoo**, Kildoo
Dallastown (2)- Lockwood, Moyer
Meadville (2)- Ross, Steiner**
Bishop Shannahan (2)- Bodary*, Bodary
Carlisle (2)- Hurston, Pope
Strath Haven (1)- Speare
Baldwin (1)- Bishop*
Valley View (1)- Wilkinson*
Central Dauphin (1)- Schrom
O'Hara (1)- Garrity
Father Judge (1)- Kehl
Crestwood (1)- Micikas
Gateway (1)- Krystek
Dubois (1)- Plaszenski
Exeter (1)- Greth
CB South (1)- Gregor
Upper Dublin (1)- Palmisano
Holy Ghost Prep (1)- Pierce
Owen J Roberts (1)- McClimmon
Hazleton Area (1)- Guest
Red Lion (1)- Kareis
Neshaminy (1)- MacDonald
Blue Mountain (1)- Reilly
Cedar Cliff (1)- Johnston
Canon Mac (1)- Gregory
Hempfield (1)- Hull
Governor Mifflin (1)- Mohn*
Indian Valley (1)- Monroe
Gettysburg (1)- Beegle
So now that we got this massive list out of the way, just to prove the point of where most medalists have come from, I'm going to lay down some other stats about these 125 guys. For starters lets look at a Districts breakdown.
D1- 19+18+8+8+8 =61
D2- 1+0+2+1+2 =6
D3- 1+3+3+4+2 =13
D6- 0+0+1+3+2 =6
D7- 2+4+4+5+7 =22
D9- 0+0+1+0+0 =1
D10- 1+0+1+1+1 =4
D11- 1+0+3+1+1 =6
D12- 0+0+2+2+2 =6
Clearly District 1 has been slighlty inflated by the first two years (2006 and 2007 where they snagged a large majority of the medalist spots). District 7 is the next most prevelant, coming on strong the past couple years, and District 3 is also ahead of the curve. It is worth noting that the PCL did not join the PIAA until the 2008 season. Assuming they keep up their pace of 2 medalists a year they would be at a total of 10, making them the 4th highest district in terms of medalists.
Now we will check in on the classes of the individuals who recieve medals.
Freshman 0+0+0+0+0 =0
Sophomores 0+2+4+3+1 =10
Juniors 7+5+6+9+6 =33
Seniors 18+18+15+13+18 =82
This one is obvious. Experience and age and developement helps you perform well on the tough states meet course. About 2 sophomores a year meadal at the big dance, and a freshman hasn't done it since McNally. Seniors from the big districts are usually safe bets to pick to medal at states.
Now here's an interesting question: how many returning medalists medal again the next year? Well there were 43 returning medalists over the past 5 years (the 33 Juniors and the 10 sophomores), but 7 of those came from this past season and we do not know how they did this year so they are thrown out leaving 36. (9 sophs and 25 jrs)
2006-1007 7/7 Juniors, 6/7 finished higher than the previous season
2007-2008 4/7 (2/2 Sophs, 2/5 Juniors), 3/7 Finished higher than the previous season
2008-2009 7/10 (3/4 Sophs, 4/6 Juniors), 3/10 Finished higher than the previous season
2009-2010 9/12 (2/3 Sophs, 7/9 Juniors), 8/12 Finished higher than the previous season
So what we can conclude from this is not much definitively. However, we can say that is highly likely that some of the 7 returners from last season will not finish as high as they did the previous season. In addition, a few of them may not even medal. Over the past 4 seasons 20/36 have improved, barely over half of the returnees. That means between Quinn, Hibbs, Steiner, Moran, Wilkinson, Kelly, and Replogle about half of them won't finish as high as they did the previous season. My money would probably be on Hibbs and Moran out of the group, last few are toss ups.
Relating some things back to track, 4 out of the last 5 state champions in the 3200m were medalists the previous fall. Burkhardt is the one exception, and he was a medalist 2 previous falls ago. Therefore, 4 out of the last 5 state champions in the 3200m were medalists their Junior cross country season, before winnining the title their senior season (the one exception here is another Unionville guy, Matt Fischer).
There have been very few true 800 guys that have ever medaled at states, its mostly just milers and 2 milers. From my own opinion the only mainly 800 guys who have medaled at states in the past 5 years are Chris Ferry and Zack Montijo. Endress was the only guy with an 800 PR under 1:52.4 at the time of getting his state medal. The only other guys with PRs even in that ball park over 800m are probably Palmisano and Crits. I may have missed another name in that mix, so I apologize about that if I did. Neither of those guys had 800 PRs that quick when they medaled. Palmisano ran 1:52 as a Junior but failed to medal as a Senior.
A runner who is a primary miler has not won states in the past 5 years. 2 out of the 5 have run very quick over 1600m, but all are mainly 2 milers. The exception is Brad Miles who ran around 4:18 and 9:15 but they don't really compare to the times of the other guys who are all under 9:05. Weller and Gil both are in the 4:12s or so in terms of PR.
Hopefully this gets you thinking about the big dance tomorrow, I'm excited and looking forward to seeing how things play out and memorizing another set of medalists.
-train
West Chester Henderson (8)- Aldrich*, Ferry, Jervis, Aldirch, Kellar**, Kellar*, Kellar, Andrews
North Penn (7)- Montijo, Miles**, Hoagland, Miles*, Bernitt*, Miles, Bernitt
Coatesville (7)- Dawson, Panulla, Dawson, Ward, Leonard, Mahoney, Rosato*
North Allegheny (7)- Jacob*, Jacob, Taylor, Gil**, Gil*, Gil, Steiner
North Hills (5)- Kush*, Silienks*, Hebda, Kush, Silienks
Altoona (5)- Endress**, Fischer, Endress*, Endress, Replogle*
Hatboro Horsham (5) - D. Hibbs, Topper, S. Hibbs**, S. Hibbs*, Quinn**
Boyertown (4)- Weller, Dennin*, Dennin, Kelly*
Perkiomen Valley (3)- Tarsnane*, Tarnsnane, Perozze
Unionville (3)- Springer, Burkhardt*, Fischer
Wissahickon (3)- Miller, Crits, Farrell
Seneca Valley (3)- Stauffer*, Cipro, Stauffer
CR North (3)- Wallace, Campbell*, Campbell
Tunkhannock (3)- Ayers**, Ayers*, Ayers
CB West (3)- Jones*, Jones, Scarpello
CB East (3)- J. Izewski*, J. Izewski, A. Izewski
West Chester East (2)- LaColla*, LaColla
Mt. Lebanon (2)- Gunzenhauser, Moran*
Lower Merion (2)- Furcht, Berman
Conestoga Valley (2)- McNally**, McNally
St. Joe's Prep (2)- O'Sullivan*, O'Sullivan
Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2)- VanKooten, Gasior
Whitehall (2)- Kacyon*, Kacyon
Parkland (2)- Stepp, Gillette
LaSalle (2)- O'Kane*, Trainer
Grove City (2)- Kildoo**, Kildoo
Dallastown (2)- Lockwood, Moyer
Meadville (2)- Ross, Steiner**
Bishop Shannahan (2)- Bodary*, Bodary
Carlisle (2)- Hurston, Pope
Strath Haven (1)- Speare
Baldwin (1)- Bishop*
Valley View (1)- Wilkinson*
Central Dauphin (1)- Schrom
O'Hara (1)- Garrity
Father Judge (1)- Kehl
Crestwood (1)- Micikas
Gateway (1)- Krystek
Dubois (1)- Plaszenski
Exeter (1)- Greth
CB South (1)- Gregor
Upper Dublin (1)- Palmisano
Holy Ghost Prep (1)- Pierce
Owen J Roberts (1)- McClimmon
Hazleton Area (1)- Guest
Red Lion (1)- Kareis
Neshaminy (1)- MacDonald
Blue Mountain (1)- Reilly
Cedar Cliff (1)- Johnston
Canon Mac (1)- Gregory
Hempfield (1)- Hull
Governor Mifflin (1)- Mohn*
Indian Valley (1)- Monroe
Gettysburg (1)- Beegle
So now that we got this massive list out of the way, just to prove the point of where most medalists have come from, I'm going to lay down some other stats about these 125 guys. For starters lets look at a Districts breakdown.
D1- 19+18+8+8+8 =61
D2- 1+0+2+1+2 =6
D3- 1+3+3+4+2 =13
D6- 0+0+1+3+2 =6
D7- 2+4+4+5+7 =22
D9- 0+0+1+0+0 =1
D10- 1+0+1+1+1 =4
D11- 1+0+3+1+1 =6
D12- 0+0+2+2+2 =6
Clearly District 1 has been slighlty inflated by the first two years (2006 and 2007 where they snagged a large majority of the medalist spots). District 7 is the next most prevelant, coming on strong the past couple years, and District 3 is also ahead of the curve. It is worth noting that the PCL did not join the PIAA until the 2008 season. Assuming they keep up their pace of 2 medalists a year they would be at a total of 10, making them the 4th highest district in terms of medalists.
Now we will check in on the classes of the individuals who recieve medals.
Freshman 0+0+0+0+0 =0
Sophomores 0+2+4+3+1 =10
Juniors 7+5+6+9+6 =33
Seniors 18+18+15+13+18 =82
This one is obvious. Experience and age and developement helps you perform well on the tough states meet course. About 2 sophomores a year meadal at the big dance, and a freshman hasn't done it since McNally. Seniors from the big districts are usually safe bets to pick to medal at states.
Now here's an interesting question: how many returning medalists medal again the next year? Well there were 43 returning medalists over the past 5 years (the 33 Juniors and the 10 sophomores), but 7 of those came from this past season and we do not know how they did this year so they are thrown out leaving 36. (9 sophs and 25 jrs)
2006-1007 7/7 Juniors, 6/7 finished higher than the previous season
2007-2008 4/7 (2/2 Sophs, 2/5 Juniors), 3/7 Finished higher than the previous season
2008-2009 7/10 (3/4 Sophs, 4/6 Juniors), 3/10 Finished higher than the previous season
2009-2010 9/12 (2/3 Sophs, 7/9 Juniors), 8/12 Finished higher than the previous season
So what we can conclude from this is not much definitively. However, we can say that is highly likely that some of the 7 returners from last season will not finish as high as they did the previous season. In addition, a few of them may not even medal. Over the past 4 seasons 20/36 have improved, barely over half of the returnees. That means between Quinn, Hibbs, Steiner, Moran, Wilkinson, Kelly, and Replogle about half of them won't finish as high as they did the previous season. My money would probably be on Hibbs and Moran out of the group, last few are toss ups.
Relating some things back to track, 4 out of the last 5 state champions in the 3200m were medalists the previous fall. Burkhardt is the one exception, and he was a medalist 2 previous falls ago. Therefore, 4 out of the last 5 state champions in the 3200m were medalists their Junior cross country season, before winnining the title their senior season (the one exception here is another Unionville guy, Matt Fischer).
There have been very few true 800 guys that have ever medaled at states, its mostly just milers and 2 milers. From my own opinion the only mainly 800 guys who have medaled at states in the past 5 years are Chris Ferry and Zack Montijo. Endress was the only guy with an 800 PR under 1:52.4 at the time of getting his state medal. The only other guys with PRs even in that ball park over 800m are probably Palmisano and Crits. I may have missed another name in that mix, so I apologize about that if I did. Neither of those guys had 800 PRs that quick when they medaled. Palmisano ran 1:52 as a Junior but failed to medal as a Senior.
A runner who is a primary miler has not won states in the past 5 years. 2 out of the 5 have run very quick over 1600m, but all are mainly 2 milers. The exception is Brad Miles who ran around 4:18 and 9:15 but they don't really compare to the times of the other guys who are all under 9:05. Weller and Gil both are in the 4:12s or so in terms of PR.
Hopefully this gets you thinking about the big dance tomorrow, I'm excited and looking forward to seeing how things play out and memorizing another set of medalists.
-train
AAA Boys State Championship Preview
So here's the deal, the folks over at penntrack made their preview unavailable to non subscribers. I'm not a huge fan of them sinking that low that they have to exclude previews, but it is there business decision and let's face it, I'd be nothing without penntrack. But here's the deal, this is a business and if penntrack isn't going to make a preview everyone can see than I will, and hopefully that will increase my business. Sorry Don, you know I love you.
Anyway, down to business. Now I have already outlined my predictions and some specifics about who I like and who I don't like so it's hard to decide exactly what things to throw down in a preview. And since I'm not a professional, nor do I really think or plan what I'm going to say before I say it, this preview will probably seem a little choppy. But basically to help you follow along, I'm just going to outline my thoughts on how I see the race playing out and what to expect and things like that.
So here we go. Just to be different from penntrack I'll go individuals first then teams. The first mile is not tough in the sense of hills, its tough in the sense of getting out hard and holding your posistion. You have to get out smart however because if you go out too fast you will pay for it in the Alohas. The way I see it, things should be fairly tight out front. Magaha will definitely get out, Steiner will be up there, Runco, Kennedy and Kutcha should all get out well. The leaders at the mile will most likely be Quinn and Hibbs, barring some type of fall or unforseen district 4 kid with a lot of balls but not enough talent doing something crazy. Jaskowak may also mix it up and sieze control early, but I feel that strategy may not suit himReally the placing at the mile doesn't matter too much as long as your not in 100th and your willing to wait a bit to make your move. I think Willig and the Great Valley guys will hang back, while the Henderson guys should all be out pretty fast again. I could definitely see Russell going out too hard and falling off or hanging on and running amazing.
There will be more names in that front pack, but I just listed the ones I see making a significant difference on the effect of the race.
After Steiner makes his move at the mile or so (he always makes a huge surge mid race), its going to be a matter of who chooses to follow. Magaha has never raced Steiner before so this should create an interesting twist in the plot. You have a lot of guys who are going to want to follow suit but I think it will all come down to Magaha's decision. I think Magaha does decide to go with him, he's confident and he's in very good shape.
Meanwhile, Willig and Norris and some other guys will probably sit back, which will definitely help them in the long run. hard to predict the behavior of the D2 and D6 guys. I expect the Altoona kids to probably go with the move, Wilkinson and maybe Burke will hang back.
Jaskowak should definitely cover the move, and probably Hibbs and Quinn will also follow suit. But this move will take a lot out of guys that aren't used to running this way. It plays right in to Steiner's hands to run like this. Everyone else is running his race.
The D7 guys have seen this kind of thing play out on numerous occassions, so they shouldn't be too phased. That should be a nice advantage to them. I think Groh may make a big move here too to keep up with Steiner. A young guy with tired legs after his big win about a week ago, probably won't fair well from making this move either.
After the hills I think Steiner will have broken a lot of spirits. I see only Quinn being able to be close, Jaskowak also in the mix, but definitely hurting. I see this as a real breakthrough race for Conner. I don't see Hibbs hanging, but if he does he will be dangerous for the win. I see Magaha dropping back decently far here, but over the last 1000m I see him coming back up.
Magaha may catch Steiner before the finish line, but Steiner has been known to have a little bit more left in the tank by this point and I think he holds off Magaha's late move, giving him the victory. Tough to imagine Magaha outkicked, but hey if I'm picking against him there has to be some situation where I think he'd lose and this is the best I can do. I see guys like Willig really cleaning up the scraps here. Norris too, definitely could have a big finish, and lastly Coyle should take advantage of anyone who went out too fast. Wilkinson may also too.
For a complete list of how I think the race will play out at the finish line, check my top 50 predictions a few posts down.
Now on to the teams. I expect a big bounce back from Mt Lebo. I think they got the wake up call and I am hoping they just didn't react well to the bad course conditions, not that they are burned out or anything like that. North Allegheny though is rounding into classic states form. They used to choke at this meet, now they are running clutch. Steiner out front helps them snag second. Hopefully Seel and Appman and company can pull through a bunch of 40s type places.
I'm worried about Henderson. They are so young out front and so inexperienced on this kind of stage with this kind of pressure. They came through at districts but states is a different animal. Great coaching and a great system, so they can easily prove me wrong, but it doesn't mean I'm not scared.
O'Hara should win unless they choke. I'm not seeing a huge day from Savage or their freshman James, but I do think the other guys will run well, especially Billotta. I think that should seal their state championship hopes. PCL teams have run this course very well and I don't see that changing for either side. LaSalle may surprise with a top 5 finish and mix it up with the other schools.
North Penn and Great Valley are both high on my list of teams I'm confident in so they could surprise but I just don't think they are as good as these other teams so as much as I like them, I don't see them really finishing higher than 5-8 ish.
Other D7 teams may surprise up in the mix and maybe there will be a Tunkhannock this year that sneaks into the top 10. I wish I had a team for you that I could point to to do this (maybe Grove City? but I don't really think so), but its definitely possible.
Hope this covers everyone's fix for a preview that they may not have gotten from penntrack.
-train
Anyway, down to business. Now I have already outlined my predictions and some specifics about who I like and who I don't like so it's hard to decide exactly what things to throw down in a preview. And since I'm not a professional, nor do I really think or plan what I'm going to say before I say it, this preview will probably seem a little choppy. But basically to help you follow along, I'm just going to outline my thoughts on how I see the race playing out and what to expect and things like that.
So here we go. Just to be different from penntrack I'll go individuals first then teams. The first mile is not tough in the sense of hills, its tough in the sense of getting out hard and holding your posistion. You have to get out smart however because if you go out too fast you will pay for it in the Alohas. The way I see it, things should be fairly tight out front. Magaha will definitely get out, Steiner will be up there, Runco, Kennedy and Kutcha should all get out well. The leaders at the mile will most likely be Quinn and Hibbs, barring some type of fall or unforseen district 4 kid with a lot of balls but not enough talent doing something crazy. Jaskowak may also mix it up and sieze control early, but I feel that strategy may not suit himReally the placing at the mile doesn't matter too much as long as your not in 100th and your willing to wait a bit to make your move. I think Willig and the Great Valley guys will hang back, while the Henderson guys should all be out pretty fast again. I could definitely see Russell going out too hard and falling off or hanging on and running amazing.
There will be more names in that front pack, but I just listed the ones I see making a significant difference on the effect of the race.
After Steiner makes his move at the mile or so (he always makes a huge surge mid race), its going to be a matter of who chooses to follow. Magaha has never raced Steiner before so this should create an interesting twist in the plot. You have a lot of guys who are going to want to follow suit but I think it will all come down to Magaha's decision. I think Magaha does decide to go with him, he's confident and he's in very good shape.
Meanwhile, Willig and Norris and some other guys will probably sit back, which will definitely help them in the long run. hard to predict the behavior of the D2 and D6 guys. I expect the Altoona kids to probably go with the move, Wilkinson and maybe Burke will hang back.
Jaskowak should definitely cover the move, and probably Hibbs and Quinn will also follow suit. But this move will take a lot out of guys that aren't used to running this way. It plays right in to Steiner's hands to run like this. Everyone else is running his race.
The D7 guys have seen this kind of thing play out on numerous occassions, so they shouldn't be too phased. That should be a nice advantage to them. I think Groh may make a big move here too to keep up with Steiner. A young guy with tired legs after his big win about a week ago, probably won't fair well from making this move either.
After the hills I think Steiner will have broken a lot of spirits. I see only Quinn being able to be close, Jaskowak also in the mix, but definitely hurting. I see this as a real breakthrough race for Conner. I don't see Hibbs hanging, but if he does he will be dangerous for the win. I see Magaha dropping back decently far here, but over the last 1000m I see him coming back up.
Magaha may catch Steiner before the finish line, but Steiner has been known to have a little bit more left in the tank by this point and I think he holds off Magaha's late move, giving him the victory. Tough to imagine Magaha outkicked, but hey if I'm picking against him there has to be some situation where I think he'd lose and this is the best I can do. I see guys like Willig really cleaning up the scraps here. Norris too, definitely could have a big finish, and lastly Coyle should take advantage of anyone who went out too fast. Wilkinson may also too.
For a complete list of how I think the race will play out at the finish line, check my top 50 predictions a few posts down.
Now on to the teams. I expect a big bounce back from Mt Lebo. I think they got the wake up call and I am hoping they just didn't react well to the bad course conditions, not that they are burned out or anything like that. North Allegheny though is rounding into classic states form. They used to choke at this meet, now they are running clutch. Steiner out front helps them snag second. Hopefully Seel and Appman and company can pull through a bunch of 40s type places.
I'm worried about Henderson. They are so young out front and so inexperienced on this kind of stage with this kind of pressure. They came through at districts but states is a different animal. Great coaching and a great system, so they can easily prove me wrong, but it doesn't mean I'm not scared.
O'Hara should win unless they choke. I'm not seeing a huge day from Savage or their freshman James, but I do think the other guys will run well, especially Billotta. I think that should seal their state championship hopes. PCL teams have run this course very well and I don't see that changing for either side. LaSalle may surprise with a top 5 finish and mix it up with the other schools.
North Penn and Great Valley are both high on my list of teams I'm confident in so they could surprise but I just don't think they are as good as these other teams so as much as I like them, I don't see them really finishing higher than 5-8 ish.
Other D7 teams may surprise up in the mix and maybe there will be a Tunkhannock this year that sneaks into the top 10. I wish I had a team for you that I could point to to do this (maybe Grove City? but I don't really think so), but its definitely possible.
Hope this covers everyone's fix for a preview that they may not have gotten from penntrack.
-train
State Championship Memories
With states right around the corner, I figure it wouldn't be a bad idea to drop in one the state meets of the past and all their glory and significance in PA history. Most of this will be from memory and word of mouth speculation because I wasn't at quite as many of these as I would have liked to have been. And some of these are from before I even ran track at all so you will have to pardon my gaps in memory. Anyway here's what we got.
2002
West Chester Henderson took the AAA boys title despite Greg William's collapse on the final straightaway. He managed to crawl his way across the line and finish as the team's 4th. The individual victory by Junior Ian Gottesfield got the job done out front to help Henderson defeat D1 rival CR North. Placing 5th at this meet was a young freshman by the name of Craig Miller who started to turn some heads early in his high school career. His twin brother Brad finished 11th in the race. These are two of the highest finishes by a Freshman at states in the past decade. The defending state champion in the mile (and at the time the state meet record holder) Sam Bair, finished 24th.
On the AA side, Junior Chris Spooner took down the individual title beating Ryan Blood and David Mock. Sophomore Jed Christianson was 5th in the race. Scranton Prep squeaked out the team title by 13 points over Harbor Creek.
2003
The sophomore Craig Miller surprised defending champion Ian Gottesfield by sprinting by him in the final stretch to take the victory. Gottesfield, who had led out front with teammate Greg Williams for essentially the entire season, said he was waiting for his teammate Greg to pass him and take the victory as they had agreed they would do before the race. Future state champions Ian Fitzgerald, Jeff Weiss, and Ken King took the next 3 spots in the race. Craig's brother Brad did not match his finish from the year before, the only sophomore to medal was Curtis Bixler (another future state champ) in 24th. Craig's rival all season Brain Fuller faded and finished out of medal contention. Henderson was in 10th place team scoring wise at the mile mark, but at the finish they had sealed their second straight team title, this time winning by just 12 points over North Hills. North Hills took second over Hatboro Horsham by just 1 point.
On the AA side, defending champion Chris Spooner suffered on the final straightaway, falling down, allowing rival David Mock to sprint by and take the victory. Sophomore Jake Walker took 12th place in the race. Spooner's Lewisburg team finished second by just 2 points, as Eisenhower won the title by a score of 109 to 111.
2004
Craig Miller did not fail to retain his title as a Junior as he beat Sam Luff and Amin Garnett amongst other talented foes. His brother Brad had a solid 9th place finish. Familiar names Jason Weller, Kyle Dawson and Paul Springer all took medals finishing 11th, 25th and 23rd respectively. Freshman Vince McNally took 13th place overall. This is the most recent time a AAA freshman has medaled at the state championship. The Dawson twins, who were at Downingtown West, not Coatesville, were not able to give Coatesville the lower score it needed to take down Cedar Cliff as Cedar Cliff defeated their D1 rivals 95 to 100. Miller's Manheim Township squad was 3rd.
Scranton Prep took down yet another state title as they defeated Wyomissing 122 to 146. Jeff Weiss took the gold in the fastest time of the day, 15:45. Weiss had been AAA the season before. Meanwhile Jed Christianson took a hard fought second place finish. He had been a state title contender since his sophomore campaign. Jake Walker took 6th while future state champs Isaac Dunkleburger and Lucas Zarzeczny took 8th and 9th respectively as sophomores.
2005
Craig Miller took down his third straight title, but Kieth Capecci gave him the best run for his money he had seen in a while. Capecci would go on to become a Footlocker finalist. Capecci added his name to a long list of guys who had never medaled before at a state championship, but just missed winning the big one in the fall of their senior campaign. Meanwhile Sophomore Vince McNally surprised with a 3rd place finish (once again the last sophomore to finish in the top 5 at a state championship) and Jason Weller took 4th as a Junior. Dawson and Springer were 7th and 10th respectively. Miller was out the first mile way ahead of his competitors but by mile 2 Capecci had caught back up and challenged for the lead. Miller pulled away at the finish, but it was a solid race all around. Craig did not land the team title, however, as Manheim lost by just one point to surprise champions West Chester East. 105-106. Coatesville's young squad finished off the podium, very disappointed.
Scranton Prep took home yet another title, this time beating Ellwood City. Ellwood City's hourse Jake Walker would set the tone early in the race hammering the first and second mile, Lucas Zarzeczny followed for the first mile before falling off and leaving Walker all alone out front. However, Walker paid for his big move and surprise winner Isaac Dunkleberger, the Junior from Tamaqua caught all the way up to the front pack and took the victory. Walker faded hard over the last stretch and settled for a hard fought 4th. Freshman Joe Beveridge finished 37th.
2006
Coatesville was in the midst of a truly historic season as they crushed their opponents at the state championship running away with the team title and 5 in the top 18 in a very competitive year that featured 0 sophomore medalists. Coatesville's 26 points is the lowest point total ever at a state championship. Henderson finished a solid 2nd place with 86 points. They also had 3 runners in the top 13 at the meet. Out front Dawson and VanKooten destroyed the first mile and led everyone to a very fast race. Ultimately it was Weller who upset Springer for the title in a very fast, hard fought test of guts.
On the AA Zarzeczny redeemed his failure in 2005 and destroyed the field and defending champion Isaac Dunkleberger in the process. West Middlesex took the team title by almost 50 points over Tulpehocken in a high scoring state championship race. The top 10 finishers were all seniors, leaving a pretty wide open field in 2007.
2007
Although recieving very little talk in the offseason, North Penn surprised a lot of people with a huge championship run, capped off with a very impressive state championship race to win over surprise runner up Coatesville who took a page out of the previous year's team to finish second, 17 points out of first and 3 ahead of third place North Allegheny. Meanwhile, Mark Dennin battled with Chris Aldrich and Vince McNally out front until finally he broke away, torching his two competitors over the final mile with a brutal pace throughout that broke McNally (who also was sick at the race) and Aldrich and gave Dennin a 30 second victory over future footlocker finalist, Aldrich. Stud soph Brad Miles took 10th place and helped out a pair of seniors named Zach in the championship quest.
Junior Joe Beveridge stunned the field and took the gold defeating Terrence Lee in the process. 4 out of the top 5 runners were Juniors. John Yankello took top soph honors in 12th. North East took the team title over General McClane with a commanding victory, scoring 83 points to McClane's 150+.
2008
Pre race favorites Ben Furcht and Neal Berman didn't get out well enough over the first mile and paid the price for a huge surge in the 2nd mile. Meanwhile proper pacing and added experience propelled Jimmy Tarsnane to the top of poop out hill in 1st place. Ben Furcht faded hard over the final 100m falling all the way from 3rd to 11th. Will Kellar put on a great kick to take 2nd in the race as a Junior. 4 sophomores took home medals including Reece Ayers (8th) Wade Endress (14th) Jake Kildoo (17th) and Ryan Gil (20th). On the team title race North Allegheny, huge pre race favorites and futre NXN finalists were stunned by North Penn and LaSalle as LaSalle stole second place with a tight spread and North Penn took the victory thanks to some great finishes from Juniors Brad Miles and Sam Bernitt up front in the 7th and 10th.
On the AA side Beveridge successfully defended his title by trashing the field over the final mile and taking home a commanding victory by over 20 seconds over Alfred Santana and Jim Spisak. Quaker Valley finished second in the team scoring by just two points, being defeated by Elk Lake for the Gold. Freshman Nate Tallada took 12th in the race and finished as the #3 returner for the next state championship. Stephen Welsh finished 15th as a Junior. Elk Lake won the meet despite not having a single medalist.
2009
Brad Miles sat back and waited for the right moment to strike before sprinting past Rad Gunzenhauser of Mt. Lebanon to take the state title. Gunzenhauser tossed his name into a group with Furcht and Capecci as guys who almost accomplished the feat of winning after not medaling the year before. Ryan Gil led his North Allegheny team with a 3rd place finish and very well run race. North Allegheny redeemed last year's team with a surprise runner up finish ahead of LaSalle. Henderson took the title behind 6th place finisher Will Kellar. Sickness struck a lot of top runners including Wade Endress and Jacob Kildoo. Of the 4 sophomore medalists from the previous year, only Gil placed higher in 2009 than 2008.
On the AA side York Suburban took its turn at depriving Quaker Valley of the title, as QV took 2nd yet again, despite having the 18th, 19th and 20th place finishers in the race. Stephen Welsh took home gold just edging Brett Kubiak, his district 3 rival, while Alex Beardsley finished a solid 3rd. Aaron Wilkinson (now AAA) finished 4th as a sophomore to be the top returner at the time before making the switch. The new top returner became Alex Woodrow in 6th. Nate Tallada managed 10th as a sophomore after a 12th place finish the year before. Tommy Gruschow finished 41st.
2010
Ryan Gil was the story of the state championship as he not only won individual gold but led his team to the title as well. After hobbling around all season on a broken toe Gil stunned everyone with a fantastic race and first place finish edging out Wade Endress, Zach Hebda, and Chris Campbell who were all district champions and eventual national qualifiers. North Allegheny took down the defending champions Henderson by a score of 124 to 146. O'Hara took third in 160. Sam Hibbs was the top returner in 7th, and Drew Magaha finished well outside medal contention in the 100s. Logan Steiner and Alex Moran placed 13th and 14th.
On the AA side Quaker Valley was again denied the title, finishing 3rd. Elk Lake took back the title edging out District 2 rival Holy Redeemer 102 to 116. Tom Gruschow became the 4th straight District 3 champion to win the AA state championship edging out Redeemer's AJ Lomingelli. 6 sophomores snagged medals including Smathers, Williams, Shearn, and Jewett. Nate Tallada finished a disappointing 19th, his lowest finish ever, even compared to his freshman campaign. The top 4 finishers were all seniors, Smathers and Westwood are the two top returners.
2002
West Chester Henderson took the AAA boys title despite Greg William's collapse on the final straightaway. He managed to crawl his way across the line and finish as the team's 4th. The individual victory by Junior Ian Gottesfield got the job done out front to help Henderson defeat D1 rival CR North. Placing 5th at this meet was a young freshman by the name of Craig Miller who started to turn some heads early in his high school career. His twin brother Brad finished 11th in the race. These are two of the highest finishes by a Freshman at states in the past decade. The defending state champion in the mile (and at the time the state meet record holder) Sam Bair, finished 24th.
On the AA side, Junior Chris Spooner took down the individual title beating Ryan Blood and David Mock. Sophomore Jed Christianson was 5th in the race. Scranton Prep squeaked out the team title by 13 points over Harbor Creek.
2003
The sophomore Craig Miller surprised defending champion Ian Gottesfield by sprinting by him in the final stretch to take the victory. Gottesfield, who had led out front with teammate Greg Williams for essentially the entire season, said he was waiting for his teammate Greg to pass him and take the victory as they had agreed they would do before the race. Future state champions Ian Fitzgerald, Jeff Weiss, and Ken King took the next 3 spots in the race. Craig's brother Brad did not match his finish from the year before, the only sophomore to medal was Curtis Bixler (another future state champ) in 24th. Craig's rival all season Brain Fuller faded and finished out of medal contention. Henderson was in 10th place team scoring wise at the mile mark, but at the finish they had sealed their second straight team title, this time winning by just 12 points over North Hills. North Hills took second over Hatboro Horsham by just 1 point.
On the AA side, defending champion Chris Spooner suffered on the final straightaway, falling down, allowing rival David Mock to sprint by and take the victory. Sophomore Jake Walker took 12th place in the race. Spooner's Lewisburg team finished second by just 2 points, as Eisenhower won the title by a score of 109 to 111.
2004
Craig Miller did not fail to retain his title as a Junior as he beat Sam Luff and Amin Garnett amongst other talented foes. His brother Brad had a solid 9th place finish. Familiar names Jason Weller, Kyle Dawson and Paul Springer all took medals finishing 11th, 25th and 23rd respectively. Freshman Vince McNally took 13th place overall. This is the most recent time a AAA freshman has medaled at the state championship. The Dawson twins, who were at Downingtown West, not Coatesville, were not able to give Coatesville the lower score it needed to take down Cedar Cliff as Cedar Cliff defeated their D1 rivals 95 to 100. Miller's Manheim Township squad was 3rd.
Scranton Prep took down yet another state title as they defeated Wyomissing 122 to 146. Jeff Weiss took the gold in the fastest time of the day, 15:45. Weiss had been AAA the season before. Meanwhile Jed Christianson took a hard fought second place finish. He had been a state title contender since his sophomore campaign. Jake Walker took 6th while future state champs Isaac Dunkleburger and Lucas Zarzeczny took 8th and 9th respectively as sophomores.
2005
Craig Miller took down his third straight title, but Kieth Capecci gave him the best run for his money he had seen in a while. Capecci would go on to become a Footlocker finalist. Capecci added his name to a long list of guys who had never medaled before at a state championship, but just missed winning the big one in the fall of their senior campaign. Meanwhile Sophomore Vince McNally surprised with a 3rd place finish (once again the last sophomore to finish in the top 5 at a state championship) and Jason Weller took 4th as a Junior. Dawson and Springer were 7th and 10th respectively. Miller was out the first mile way ahead of his competitors but by mile 2 Capecci had caught back up and challenged for the lead. Miller pulled away at the finish, but it was a solid race all around. Craig did not land the team title, however, as Manheim lost by just one point to surprise champions West Chester East. 105-106. Coatesville's young squad finished off the podium, very disappointed.
Scranton Prep took home yet another title, this time beating Ellwood City. Ellwood City's hourse Jake Walker would set the tone early in the race hammering the first and second mile, Lucas Zarzeczny followed for the first mile before falling off and leaving Walker all alone out front. However, Walker paid for his big move and surprise winner Isaac Dunkleberger, the Junior from Tamaqua caught all the way up to the front pack and took the victory. Walker faded hard over the last stretch and settled for a hard fought 4th. Freshman Joe Beveridge finished 37th.
2006
Coatesville was in the midst of a truly historic season as they crushed their opponents at the state championship running away with the team title and 5 in the top 18 in a very competitive year that featured 0 sophomore medalists. Coatesville's 26 points is the lowest point total ever at a state championship. Henderson finished a solid 2nd place with 86 points. They also had 3 runners in the top 13 at the meet. Out front Dawson and VanKooten destroyed the first mile and led everyone to a very fast race. Ultimately it was Weller who upset Springer for the title in a very fast, hard fought test of guts.
On the AA Zarzeczny redeemed his failure in 2005 and destroyed the field and defending champion Isaac Dunkleberger in the process. West Middlesex took the team title by almost 50 points over Tulpehocken in a high scoring state championship race. The top 10 finishers were all seniors, leaving a pretty wide open field in 2007.
2007
Although recieving very little talk in the offseason, North Penn surprised a lot of people with a huge championship run, capped off with a very impressive state championship race to win over surprise runner up Coatesville who took a page out of the previous year's team to finish second, 17 points out of first and 3 ahead of third place North Allegheny. Meanwhile, Mark Dennin battled with Chris Aldrich and Vince McNally out front until finally he broke away, torching his two competitors over the final mile with a brutal pace throughout that broke McNally (who also was sick at the race) and Aldrich and gave Dennin a 30 second victory over future footlocker finalist, Aldrich. Stud soph Brad Miles took 10th place and helped out a pair of seniors named Zach in the championship quest.
Junior Joe Beveridge stunned the field and took the gold defeating Terrence Lee in the process. 4 out of the top 5 runners were Juniors. John Yankello took top soph honors in 12th. North East took the team title over General McClane with a commanding victory, scoring 83 points to McClane's 150+.
2008
Pre race favorites Ben Furcht and Neal Berman didn't get out well enough over the first mile and paid the price for a huge surge in the 2nd mile. Meanwhile proper pacing and added experience propelled Jimmy Tarsnane to the top of poop out hill in 1st place. Ben Furcht faded hard over the final 100m falling all the way from 3rd to 11th. Will Kellar put on a great kick to take 2nd in the race as a Junior. 4 sophomores took home medals including Reece Ayers (8th) Wade Endress (14th) Jake Kildoo (17th) and Ryan Gil (20th). On the team title race North Allegheny, huge pre race favorites and futre NXN finalists were stunned by North Penn and LaSalle as LaSalle stole second place with a tight spread and North Penn took the victory thanks to some great finishes from Juniors Brad Miles and Sam Bernitt up front in the 7th and 10th.
On the AA side Beveridge successfully defended his title by trashing the field over the final mile and taking home a commanding victory by over 20 seconds over Alfred Santana and Jim Spisak. Quaker Valley finished second in the team scoring by just two points, being defeated by Elk Lake for the Gold. Freshman Nate Tallada took 12th in the race and finished as the #3 returner for the next state championship. Stephen Welsh finished 15th as a Junior. Elk Lake won the meet despite not having a single medalist.
2009
Brad Miles sat back and waited for the right moment to strike before sprinting past Rad Gunzenhauser of Mt. Lebanon to take the state title. Gunzenhauser tossed his name into a group with Furcht and Capecci as guys who almost accomplished the feat of winning after not medaling the year before. Ryan Gil led his North Allegheny team with a 3rd place finish and very well run race. North Allegheny redeemed last year's team with a surprise runner up finish ahead of LaSalle. Henderson took the title behind 6th place finisher Will Kellar. Sickness struck a lot of top runners including Wade Endress and Jacob Kildoo. Of the 4 sophomore medalists from the previous year, only Gil placed higher in 2009 than 2008.
On the AA side York Suburban took its turn at depriving Quaker Valley of the title, as QV took 2nd yet again, despite having the 18th, 19th and 20th place finishers in the race. Stephen Welsh took home gold just edging Brett Kubiak, his district 3 rival, while Alex Beardsley finished a solid 3rd. Aaron Wilkinson (now AAA) finished 4th as a sophomore to be the top returner at the time before making the switch. The new top returner became Alex Woodrow in 6th. Nate Tallada managed 10th as a sophomore after a 12th place finish the year before. Tommy Gruschow finished 41st.
2010
Ryan Gil was the story of the state championship as he not only won individual gold but led his team to the title as well. After hobbling around all season on a broken toe Gil stunned everyone with a fantastic race and first place finish edging out Wade Endress, Zach Hebda, and Chris Campbell who were all district champions and eventual national qualifiers. North Allegheny took down the defending champions Henderson by a score of 124 to 146. O'Hara took third in 160. Sam Hibbs was the top returner in 7th, and Drew Magaha finished well outside medal contention in the 100s. Logan Steiner and Alex Moran placed 13th and 14th.
On the AA side Quaker Valley was again denied the title, finishing 3rd. Elk Lake took back the title edging out District 2 rival Holy Redeemer 102 to 116. Tom Gruschow became the 4th straight District 3 champion to win the AA state championship edging out Redeemer's AJ Lomingelli. 6 sophomores snagged medals including Smathers, Williams, Shearn, and Jewett. Nate Tallada finished a disappointing 19th, his lowest finish ever, even compared to his freshman campaign. The top 4 finishers were all seniors, Smathers and Westwood are the two top returners.
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