I tried to take into account the year on the whole, but the obvious emphasis was on championship season, most importantly the state championship. Some guys got jipped just because their state race didn't go so hot and I am sorry to those folks, but this is the best I can do with the information I have.
Also just for fun I decided to put the ranking that each of these guys had over the summer in parentheses next to their final ranking. Anyone without a number wasn't ranked over the summer. Sam Ritz and Colin Abert are the first guys on my list who were not ranked over the summer. Josh Zemet is the first guy on the list who really came out of nowhere for me personally this year.
1. (18) Tony Russell, Jr West Chester Henderson
2. (17) Vinny Todaro, Sr Big Spring
3. (6) Brent Kennedy, Jr Kiski Area
4. (8) Rico Galassi, Sr Holy Cross
5. (33) Austin Pondel, Sr Corry Area
6. (2) Brendan Shearn, Sr North Schyukill
7. (1) Dan Jaskowak, Sr Grove City
8. (10) Luke Jones, Sr Elk Lake
9. (42) Max Norris, Sr Harriton
10. (9) Sami Aziz, Sr Germantown Friend's
11. (27) Ethan Martin, Jr Fox Chapel
12. (25) Ross Wilson, Jr Council Rock North
13. (13) Jack Macauley, Sr North Penn
14. (14) Sam Williams, Sr Northeast Bradford
15. (16) Curt Jewett, Sr Northeast Bradford
16. (11) Connor Harriman, Sr Pennsbury
17. (7) Dan Savage, Sr O'Hara
18. (4) Tom Coyle, Sr LaSalle
19. (28) Ernie Pitone, Sr O'Hara
20. Sam Ritz, So Germantown Academy
21. Colin Abert, So Easton
22. (3) Conner Quinn, Sr Hatboro Horsham
23. (15) Alec Kunzweiler, Sr Cumberland Valley
24. (44) Sam Webb, So Pennsbury
25. Josh Zemet, Sr North Allegheny
26. Colin Martin, Jr Fox Chapel
27. (24) Reiny Barchet, Jr West Chester Henderson
28. (40) Aaron Valorosa, Sr Towanda
29. Kieran Sutton, Sr Lake Lehman
30. Jacob Fetterman, Sr Hazelton Area
31. (36) Ean DiSilvio, Sr Allerdice
32. (21) Ben Ritz, Sr Germantown Academy
33. Jeremy Parsons, Jr Maplewood
34. Kevin James, So O'Hara
35. (26) James Zingarini, Sr Council Rock North
36. (12) Mac Emery, Sr Council Rock North
37. Chris Kazanjian, Jr Penncrest
38. Patrick Reilly, Jr Dallastown
39. (22) Lyle Wistar, Sr Germantown Friend's
40. Bobby Rimkis, Sr West Chester Henderson
41. Etienne Dumas, Penn Charter
42. (5) Ryan Smathers, Sr North East
43. (31) Barrett Kemp, Sr Oswayo Valley
44. (45) Andrew Stone, Sr LaSalle
45. Brian Shields, Sr Hampton
46. (30) Cole Nissley, Jr Lower Dauphin
47. (43) Francis Ferruzzi, Sr Upper Dublin
48. Evan Williams, Sr Governor Mifflin
49. (46) Ryan Hertzog, Sr South Western
50. Griffin Molino, So South Williamsport
Just Missing (Too Many to list them all really)
Aaron Gebhart, So New Oxford
Matt Willig, Jr Great Valley
(50) Ryan Archer, Sr Vincentian Academy
Joey Steadman, Sr Downingtown West
Jake Brophy, Fr CB East
Shawn Wolfe, Sr Anville Celona
(29) Liam Corcoran, Sr James Buchanon
(39) Dominic Deluca, Jr Dallas
Well, Russell & Barchet didn’t follow my aggressive game plan, but they managed to win it anyway (ha ha). Henderson made me look good, even if I can't pick a race strategy
ReplyDeleteRussell to win was an easy pick (easy to say now, of course). 15:41 on his first time on Belmont bested Coyle & Savage’s PR’s on their home course by about 15 seconds. In Manhattan he beat all of CBA’s varsity, finished 4th behind the #1 & #2 ranked runners in the country. He then cruised at Districts. I know he said he wasn’t going for the win at States if it jeopardized the team win, but obviously a first place finish helps the team. He ran smart, making sure he was through the tough part of the course before making a big move.
Henderson was a tougher pick but I’ve believed in them from the beginning, even though after Briarwood it was obvious they had some work to do. They certainly did it.
I feel for the O’hara boys. 69 points and no state championship is almost beyond belief. To miss out on a tie breaker two years in row has really got to hurt. Except for the winner, a runner’s post race instinct is almost always to think ‘if I could have just passed one more guy’. They may be second guessing themselves for a while but they shouldn’t, they ran outstanding. Championships are hard to win and the competition is tough. Unfortunately for every champion team in every sport, there’s at least one team left disappointed and wondering what could have been. Hopefully they hold their heads up high, put it behind them and focus on a strong race at Regional’s.
-RJJL
http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/249724-Flotrack-High-School-Elite-50-2012-XC-Season/article/15275-Elite-50-Recap-The-Pennsylvania-State-Meet
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