Eh I have like 10 minutes to kill before class so I will try and scramble to get this up. Not a whole lot of explanation going into this one, I feel most are pretty self explanatory.
1. O'Hara- Didn't race this weekend, thus still the #1 team until proven otherwise
2. Henderson- Raced this weekend at a low key meet, didn't blow me away with their performances, clear cut top 2 team in the state, we don't need to get too much into this again ...
3. North Allegheny- NA produces great teams consistently, they haven't raced yet but I expect big things in November from this team even if the fast times don't show up until October
4. LaSalle- Recent news that Coyle has had some injury problems makes me worried about this team, they need their front runner to contend
5. Cumberland Valley- Pretty solid group of guys, good team, hasn't raced yet at a big invite but will have a big chance to prove themselves at PTXC
6. North Penn- No race from these guys yet, but they return a bunch and are defending state champs so I have to give the benefit of the doubt
7. CR North- Rough opening weekend, but I still have high hopes for this team, they are better than what we just saw out of them
8. Pennsbury- Killed the Viking race, they string together a few more like that and they are a top 5 team in the state
9. Kiski Area- Solid team, no race yet, will be interesting to see what there relative no name guys can do to help them compete with the WPIALs best
10. Great Valley- No Willig, but still a bunch of young talent, hopefully the guys can show what they have got in an invitational in the near future
I'm feelin' Pennsbury. I think they should be above CRN at this point, they absolutely crushed them (70 points). If next week CRN bounces back then they should get back, but as of now, I'm thinking Pennsbury > CRN.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming all of these teams will be racing next week? Keep an eye on West Chester East. Their team is coming together nicely and their top two are sick. Abington Inv is when we should see a lot of solid teams/individuals race.
-RTJ
Who are their top two? Rogers is a decent runner but after that i can only think of that red headed kid and i dont even know his name
DeleteI think Trama last season is a great example of West Chester East's poor coaching, running 9:29 in March and then not making states. Also they were ranked top ten in the beginning of last year and failed to do anything.
DeleteHey now- lets not be bashing coaches. Trama was a very good runner that had the right race at the right meet. On to the topic of their other runners, Jesse Rodgers, Eric Diestelow (I'm pretty sure I just ruined his last name), Trey Crump and a good bunch of guy all in the 17 mid range. The "red head" your talking about is Chris Cummings. A guy who I believe has had some injury issues? I dont know the full story but I've heard he's going to be very good. WCE is a team to watch. They'll be very good.
DeleteI scrimmaged WCE the other day and they had three guys that showed a lot of potential. I'm not aware of this coaching problem of which you speak.
DeleteWCE always talks alot of trash and then doesn't show up when it counts(except in 2005). DTW is probably the 2nd best team in the Ches-Mont. We'll see next Wednesday when those teams race Henderson at Rustin. BTW is anyway else sick of the ridiculous humidity.
DeleteWhoa whoa whoa. Stop. Im friends with a lot of guys at East. They are great guys who always set great goals for themselves and push each other to do their best. Dont say that about them unless you know them and can give proof to that. Most likely our comments will be deleted but just be careful of what you say.
DeleteIn reference to the comment two above at the dual meet, I wouldn't be surprised if Henderson doesn't run a varsity considering Briarwood is that week too. Should be an interesting race though
DeleteOhara and lasalle were supposed to race today at a Pcl meet but it got canceled
ReplyDeleteOhara does not normally run their varsity at those meets so we wouldn't have found out much anyway
DeleteDoes anyone have knowledge of the extent of Tom Coyle's injury?
ReplyDeleteKiski is overrated and Lebo's returning talent is better than Kiski's squad. They'll have Brent Kennedy out front but Lebo is deep and has a ridiculous spread.
ReplyDeleteI disagree I think Lebo is overated they have a nice spread but not tht impressive of a team they lost their top 3 lastyear so they aren't tht impressive
ReplyDeleteI think both are slightly over-rated. No offense to these guys but these teams aren't super deep. Solid up-front runners in Kiski but nothing to back them up. Mount Lebanon has a couple decent guys all around a nice time but they wont be nearly as effective as last year. I'm not saying these teams wont be competitive-because they will. I just don't think they'll be where they are at now come later on in the season. However, if out of those two teams, I think Kiski deserves it over Leb.
DeleteHere's my question though-
How did NA go from being unranked to the 3rd best team in the state without racing? A little lost on that one. They have a pretty nice squad this year and history to back it up. Yet, like other teams (Henderson, Great Valley, Kiski), they are younger and will need a tad more experience to get them there. Your thoughts on that Etrain?
I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure how NA was left off my original rankings, it was definitely a mistake that I made. NA is definitely young, but I am projecting big drops from their squad as time goes on. And of course the fact that NA has pulled out so many guys out of nowhere over the years I just can't imagine them not being a top 5 team. And until I find the other 2 teams that I think will beat them, I have ranked them up quite high (possibly too high) but LaSalle doesn't really impress me and I and CV and NP didn't race yet to prove themselves as better than the NA dynasty.
DeleteWe shall see. This team rankings will definitely be improved by another big weekend of racing.
Many good points. Looking forward to this weekend
DeleteEtrain, I'm concerned you put too much emphasis on the program and not the athletes.
DeleteSo what NA won two year ago. They lost 4 of their top 5! Even with big drops, a number 3 ranking? really? I wouldn't even put them top 7 in D1.
How can LaSalle not impress you but CR North does? Maybe at year end you'll be correct but as of right now, no way.
After week one CRN has no business being in the top 10, let alone ahead of Pennsbury. Based on potential and tradition?
I know it's early but rankings should always be based more on performance than potential. Pennsbury performed, convincingly, and they deserve a little more....in my opinion.
NA returns more than people give them credit for. Their squad was young and inexperienced at states. They had their best race a week early at WPIALs and ran amazing there. They had a string of guys right next to Moran at WPIALs. They had six guys in the top 20 at WPIALs last year! And they return 3 of those guys, including a freshman and a sophomore who beat Appman (finished 20th at states the next weekend). Then look at any race they ran their JV squad in.
DeleteThey have plenty of firepower, and they are young, but that doesn't mean they can't be a top 5 team in the state.
LaSalle has Coyle out front and no one else who has ever placed in the top 50 at states. CR North at 2 guys in the top 40 and their best runner was behind those two guys. The potential is there, they are clearly just training hard. It's still way to early to start making drastic changes in the rankings.
If my rankings were based off performances only during one week the top individuals would be Galassi, Harriman, Pondel and Deluca. Smathers would probably be like 30th on the rankings.
We can't over react to every little event that happens, there are teams that historically and statistically are always good. It doesn't mean other teams can't be good.
NA has won the WPIAL every year for as long as I can remember, Henderson goes to states, CRN goes to states, NP goes to states. There are some exceptions but if any of those teams don't go this year I'll be stunned. I don't need to look at their roster, it's just the way the system works. You have a big school and good coaching so good things happen.
I don't know, Pennsbury was 30 seconds better per man. Their 6th guy was in before CRN's 4th. I'd put them ahead of CRN. But...that's why your're Etrain and I'm not.
DeleteHey etrain throw us single a and double a teams a bone. Who you got?
ReplyDeleteCRN has no business in the top ten they have a solid top 3 but no 4-7
ReplyDelete1- Zach Trama is a very good friend of mine and he had injury problems, which is why he ran his PR early, don't bash him until you know what you're talking about.
ReplyDelete2- The kid from WCE is Chris Cummings. He got hurt for the last two XC seasons so he couldn't run. He was only a 10:01 3200 guy, but I was at the scrimmage at Great Valley and he dropped a 16:40 something on a relatively tough course and a very hot day (maybe 90). Jesse Rodgers was their number two guy at like 17:00 high or 17:10 low.
3- DTW is the second best team in ches-monts? With the exception of Jenkins and Leidel, I can't imagine their 3-7 guys doing much, no offense. Markle maybe.
-RTJ
What was Trama's injuries? good chance it had to do with over training and peaking way too early
DeleteJenkins graduated......
DeleteI meant Steadman.
DeleteThe reason Etrain can use tradition, is because specific coaches get their teams read and make sure they peak at the right team year after year. If you notice with Penntrack rankings every year CRN is almost never in the top 10 yet finish top 10 at states every year. Early meets like Viking and Abinton tney never show potential because they're putting in big milage and they train though them. I'm sure other top squads like WC, NA, and NP with tradition and great coaching do the same. Not to say other coaches aren't as good or different programs can't work, but these squads have proven they come to play when they need to over and over. That's why focusing on coaching is important. Talent is key, but remember: Hard work beats talent when talent isn't working hard. These teams will be putting in the work to peak at the right time, and many teams peak too early. Meets like this mean almost nothing. September doesn't matter. Look at college with D1 school especially, no races until october. Why, because training is more important. In high school it's a fun sport, and kids want to race as much as possible. The great coaches will train the varsity though these meets even if they do race.
ReplyDeleteWCE ran great at districts last year and just missed states, they're coach did a great job of preparing them.
Pennsbury is a good team with a great coach, i've raced them many times, I think they'll be great this year finishing 3rd at district 1. Not sure what milage they're at, but Harriman and Webb are both tanks, I don't see them slowing down too much. Not sure how the other guys will handle the workload though. Will Johnson will become a stud in my opinion though.
- ForrestCRN
As someone from D7 Ranking NA where he does is fair, every year they are good. They are the team to beat in D7 they've won WPIALS like 7 years in a row. They are the best and every team in the WPIAL strives to beat them. They are the Partiots or Yankees in a sense. You could pick them to win it all every year and they legitly could.
ReplyDeleteI personally think D7 is weak this year. When NA Fox Chapel and Baldwin scrimmaged Ethan Martin won by a good bit against NA kids like Scott seal cordon louco mcgooey and Meehan. The three spot will be a tight race this year. I know etrain has NA, Kiski and I guess Lebo as the 3? Anybody else you think could snag the 3 spot?
ReplyDeleteHow'd Fox Chapel do in the scrimmage? On paper briefly scanning the results, they looked like a team that would make it to states. They were just 10 points back from Kiski last year and they return just as much (more really because Kiski loses Lednak). The way I see it those are the only 4 teams that I could see going unless the young guys for Pitt CC are ready to roll this year or Baldwin has made a ton of progress.
DeleteThere is a 2 mile scrimmage today between Henderson, DWest and Germantown Friends. It should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteIf/when you know results if you could post them up, that'd be awesome
DeleteDo you guys think DWest could make some noise in Chesmonts or maybe even districts
ReplyDeleteBy noice I assume you mean finish 2nd at Chesmonts. It's possible, but they'll need big drops from 3-7. Right now it's probably Henderson, WCE or GV, then Dwest or Unionville.
DeleteAt districts, never say never but they're probably just a top 10 threat.
WCE and GV aren't anywhere near the league of Henderson, the race for second is between WCE, GV, and Dwest. Doubt anything will come out of Unionville.
DeleteI know they're not in Henderson's league, that's why I indicated noice for 2nd, but I should have been more clear.
Delete1) Henderson 2)WCE 3)GV 4)Dwest 5) Unionville
Unionville looked decent at Immaculatta, not as good as Dwest, but the potential is there.
noise* not "noice"
DeleteThat too.
DeleteNA went like 2-6 and Kelly was like 7 or 8. Then FC went 11-13. But Baldwin beat FC at gateway on 9-1 and their 5th guy was in the jv race. But r,w,and blue should be a good preview of D7.
ReplyDeleteColin Martin (Fox Chapel's #2) didn't run at Gateway.
ReplyDeleteKiski didn't run a team at gateway...? Anyone know why?
ReplyDelete