Next Year: Never too soon is it?

It will be very interesting to see Tony Russell try to defend his title in a year's time with teammate Reiny Barchet another threat for the title. Almost a Gottesfield-Williams eque duo has the potential to appear in 2013 on the XC courses. However, the top 3 guys return from District 1 and 3 of the top 5 guys in the state return including the top two finishers in the WPIAL. This is the second straight year that 3 of the top 5 finishers at the state meet have been Juniors, including the top two individual finishers. However, last year's top three returners each finished lower than they had the previous year with Savage finishing 10th, Jaskowak finishing 3rd in AA, and Quinn finishing 13th. The #4 returner Tom Coyle had to battle through injuries and also finished behind his place in 2011, finishing in 11th after being 8th the year before. So being a top returner far from guarantees success the next season.

However, Russell looked very dominant all season long with the exception of a poor race at Carlisle. Assuming he carries this momentum he will be a NXN individual qualifier if his team does not make the cut. This would put Russell up a few points on Quinn, who didn't qualify for the Footlocker Finals last fall and finished behind Jaskowak at the big race as well as Shearn and Pondel (not postive on that but I'm pretty sure). That's a good sign for Russell moving forward.

Ironically one of the more recent Junior year state champions came from Henderson, Ian Gottesfield, who finished 2nd as a senior after a very solid XC campaign. Craig Miller, the sophomore from Manheim Township, began his dynasty with his victory over Gottesfield in a sprint finish, the first of 3 straight titles for Miller. Perhaps the heir to the Craig Miller throne is Jake Brophy of CB East who had the highest finish of a freshman at the state meet since Vince McNally. He is a certainly a name to remember as time goes on, probably not anyone's pick to win states next year, but he has a lot of potential to turn heads if he keeps up this progression.

A Junior has won states each of the last two years, so what is to stop one from doing it again? Both Sam Webb and Colin Abert capped off their seasons nicely with 14th and 12th place finishes respectively. Abert led the race from way out front, probably not the best tactic on this kind of course. If he changes up his strategy, he may be able to compete for the win in a year's time. And Sam Webb probably picked up a lot of tips racing with Connor Harriman, who was essentially able to match his District finish at states each of the past two years (both on the trails and on the track in the 3200m). And perhaps the best sophomore this year was Kevin James from Cardinal O'Hara who pushed with guys like Savage and Pitone all season and just ran out of gas on a difficult state meet course.

Or maybe it will be someone who we has been off the radar for the past couple weeks. Caleb Wakeley was 25th as a sophomore and was running with Ethan Martin for all of 2011 but a rough 2012 set him back a bit. Maybe he can step it up and run with Martin and compete for a title with healthy legs and a determined spirit. Or perhaps Jeff Groh will be ready to break through whatever hardships he has faced at the end of this XC season and finish off those powerful starts on the home stretch. He proved he can run well on the state course when he won Districts as a sophomore.

And of course there are obvious choices for the victory besides Russell. Ross Wilson had a break out year and learned a lot about the state course and leading big races. Brent Kennedy was a consistent top finisher in every race this season and has a great kick as well. Plus Ethan Martin proved he is a clutch big meet racer and will have a great training partner all year long in brother Colin Martin who was 16th. All those guys are already looking ahead, planning to unseat the champion.

The team title talk seems less up for debate. Henderson returns a crud load of guys, 5 guys who were in the top 50 this year at states, just losing medalist Rimkis and returning big dogs Russell and Barchet. Plus, they have enough depth that many of their JV guys could step up in the summer and end up pushing for a state medal. The healthier Haugh gets the scarier the front pack gets as well.

But NA is just waiting in the wings with McGoey, Seel, Luoco and Love all returning with experience and hunger. Those boys didn't show their true ability as a young team at states this year and they and Henderson should compete hard for the top ranked spot, even if Henderson is the clear cut favorite at this point. Looking further down, Great Valley and West Chester East each return some nice pieces and Lower Dauphin returns their entire front group. A deep sleeper team may be the young squad over at Freedom in District 11 who may surprise a few people this time next year or perhaps this time in 2 years.

But really, you never know what is going to happen and that is what makes this sport so fun. Get your popcorn ready.

-train