Team Rankings

I have practice in like 30 minutes, but I'll scribble down the thoughts I have on the team rankings real quick before I go

1- O'Hara
2- Henderson ... Not changing til after Briarwood then maybe we can talk
3- NA- Really showed off their depth, and those young guys are going to come on strong, I feel like they may be lead by 3 sophomores and districts. They are going to be a sick pack this year.
4- Pennsbury- Defeated the defending champs and CRN the last two weeks. Harriman is a legit state title contender and their pack has developed fairly nicely to this point. If they don't burn out they are going to be a very solid D1 team.
5- Lower Dauphin- obviously the top 2 guys are pretty sick, but they seem to have developed a lot more of  a pack than I thought they would. They are a young team in their own right. High on Groh and Nissley this year.
6- LaSalle- they haven't raced yet but the rumors make it look like they won't be racing impressively any time soon. Missing 3 guys from your top 5 hurts badly. Especially when you have to beat O'Hara to get a bid to states.
7- North Penn- they are the defending state champs and yeah they lost but they actually kind of impressed me in the loss. Some guys look like they are ready to step up and become legit contibutors. They are always good when it counts so I'm not too phased by the loss.
8- Mount Lebanon- Still not completely sold on these guys, but that was a very nice opening win. They have a solid pack and are developing some front runners.
9- Fox Chapel- They look dangerous and they had a nice piece in the JV race that should move up to Varsity and contribute. Martin is the real deal out front.
10- Cumberland Valley- I see much more potential here than what they showed. Despite an off day they were still very close to Lower Dauphin
10.5- West Chester East- I copped out here. They had a very nice race and I didn't have the heart to put them in the top 10, but I thought they deserved some love. That was a solid win and hopefully they continue to improve. I know CRN and GV will.

Also major props to Hershey! Did not see that coming at all! Nice opener for them.

XC Rankings 9/9

Alrighty folks here is a little ranking flavor for ya. Here's the deal, I'm going to be straight with you, the rankings this week were extremely difficult. It's hard to balance my expectations for the future with the evidence in front of me right now to determine ideal rankings. But the fact of the matter is something has to be done because all the top ranked guys lost convincingly. Coyle has some injury issues and I heard Shearn was having some problems with the flu. But these are my right now rankings, not my predictions for who is going to be state champions. So here are my new right now rankings-prepare to be stunned.

1. Rico Galassi
2. Brent Kennedy
3. Connor Harriman
4. Tom Coyle
5. Dan Savage
6. Sam Williams
7. Dominic Deluca
8. Dan Jaskowak
9. Ethan Martin
10. Conner Quinn
11. Brendan Shearn
12. Jeff Groh
13. Jack Macauley
14. Vinny Todaro
15. Austin Pondel
16. Ean DiSilvio
17. Curt Jewett
18. Ryan Smathers
19. Tony Russell
20. Luke Jones
21. Mac Emery
22. Ben Ritz
23. Ryan Archer
24. Ernie Pitone
25. Jack Huemmler
26. Cole Nissley
27. Aaron Valerosa
28. Lyle Wistar
29. Alec Kunzweiler
30. Hunter Johnston
31. Ryan McGuire
32. Bobby Rimkis
33. Alec Brand
34. Ross Wilson
35. Caleb Wakeley
36. Seamus Roddy
37. Sam Webb
38. Ken Leidal
39. Jon Colwell
40. Sami Aziz
41. Will Cather
42. Steve Yannacone
43. Ryan Hertzog
44. Chris Pastore
45. Dan Klinik
46. Nate Hamilton
47. Zach Brehm
48. Jacob Fetterman
49. Matt Kazanjan
50. Chris Kazanjan
Just Missing:
Jordan Crawford
Liam Corcoran
Christian Kardish
Reiny Barchet
AJ Chaborek
Josh Zemet

And many more ....

Team Rankings to come ...

Weekend Results

If you have any results from this weekend's action, post them up here as comments when you hear about them. Also dual meets and things from throughout the week are interesting to know. I know North Penn beat UD in a dual at UD. Macauley bested Ferruzzi for the 1-2 punch and I think NP took 3rd and then UD 4th? Someone would have to confirm the UD 4th think but I thought Steven Williamson for UD was up there pretty well.

I'm a UD alumn for those of you who don't know and this is off memory and one phone call.

So yeah comment away with the latest news from a great weekend of XC action!

District 2

District 2 is probably one of the most under appreciated districts in the PIAA and this past weekend they put up some great numbers to open up the weekend. In the past few years we have seen Bobby Micikas, Reece Ayers, Victor Costello, Sean Burke, Chris Eheret, AJ Lomingelli, Aaron Wilkinson and much more (I'm sure I'm missing like 50 AA guys) drop some great times on the trials and the course before they graduated. Now the new era is reigning supreme and a lot of these guys have already achieved greatness equal to or superior to these graduates. I'm still not quite sure which teams are AA and which are A and even which are AAA but I wanted to give a bit of a shout out to some of the names to watch in District 2.

In AA (last year anyway) Holy Redeemer returns their top 3 runners from the competitive D2 championships. Mitchell Ford and his two teammates took the 3-4-5 spots at Districts behind the big names of Luke Jones (1st) and Rico Galassi (2nd). Jones and Galassi have quickly risen to become the glass of the new A title race. Galassi, after a break out track season that included a 9:19 3200m, won his opening race of the season over his rival Jones (3rd). Jones, who broke out on the track in his own right, was 2nd at XC states, finishing closely behind Brendan Shearn. Galassi and Jones were 3rd and 2nd at XC states last year so they have the ability to run the Hershey course quite well.

On the AAA side (which is rapidly becoming the AA side), Dominic Deluca (AA this year) opened his season with an impressive second place over 3 of the best guys in AA last year: Curt Jewett, Sam Williams and Luke Jones. Now a junior, Deluca looks poised for a break out season. He leads a young Dallas team with no Seniors in their top 7 from the opening meet. They were a close 2nd behind Scranton Prep. Deluca was 3rd at Districts last year behind eventual medalists Wilkinson and Burke. Yours truly named him the big sleeper of his 2011 states predictions. Didn't work out. But hopefully I was just one year too early. North Pocono, 2nd at AAA District 2 Champions, returns their entire top 7.

Top 10 Team Rankings

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

etrain Stock Exchange

Offer still stands on the etrain Stock Exchange proposal. You can go back and check the post if you forget what I am talking about. It's a great way to show you know the sleepers in the PA XC world and a cool way to show me your opinions on which guys need to move up. Here is the link to the post with details:

http://www.etrain11.blogspot.com/2012/07/etrain-stock-exchange.html

I made a facebook group already, so if anyone is interested in joining just let me know on here or on facebook. I'm Jarrett Felix.

Stay classy.

Rankings 9/2

The bolded names are guys that were affected in rank by this past weekend's events. Some guys impressed me a lot, others I think took a step in an expected direction. It is still super early but I think we saw some up and coming studs with wins from Colwell, Pondel, Martin and Todaro ... A solid debut from Brehm and Pennsbury was a monster in their opener. Deluca of course has been on my radar for a while and took a big step in his first race. Sam Webb kind of a similar situation. Barchet may need a bit of time to get back to his old self and the CRN boys have some work to do. Smathers, Williams, Jewett and Jones now know there is plenty of depth in single A and Galassi looks very sharp. Pondel in AA is a scary thought as well. There is much more I can say about these races when pressed, just comment about what you would like to know. Next weekend should really be fun.

1.       Dan Jaskowak

2.       Brendan Shearn

3.       Conner Quinn

4.       Tom Coyle

5.       Rico Galassi

6.       Brent Kennedy

7.       Dan Savage

8.       Connor Harriman

9.   Sami Aziz

10.   Jack Macauley

11.   Alec Kunzweiler

12.   Vinny Todaro
13.   Luke Jones

14.   Ethan Martin
15.       Ryan Smathers
16.   Tony Russell
17.   Austin Pondel

18.   Jack Huemmler

19.   Jeff Groh

20.   Ben Ritz
21.   Sam Williams
22.   Curt Jewett
23.   Dominic Deluca
24.   Ean DiSilvio

25.  Lyle Wistar

26.   Mac Emery

27.   Ernie Pitone

28. Reiny Barchet

29.   Cole Nissley

30. Steve Yannacone

31.   Chris Culley

32.   Caleb Wakeley

33.   Ross Wilson

34.   Sam Webb

35.   Ken Leidal

36.   Jon Colwell

37.   Jon Faye

38.   Aaron Valerosa

39.   Ryan Hertzog

40.   Chris Pastore

41.   Alec Brand

42.   Will Cather

43.   Matt Kazanjan

44.   James Zingarini

45.   Danny Klinik
46.   Barrett Kemp

47.   Zach Brehm

48.   Liam Corcoran

49.   Chris Berry

50.   Christian Kardish

Just Missing: Monroe, Jackson, Haugh, Steadman, McGuire, Yousif and More 

Commenting

So there have been a lot of issues with this coming up as of late. I love the enthusiasm and I like discussion, but some things seem to be getting out of hand. Personal attacks have been handed out in more frequent fashion than usual I'd say. When people were merely throwing around names at me it wasn't a big deal, I'm a big college man I can take a few one liners from anonymous people, but I don't want youngsters in HS getting completely bashed without a chance to defend themselves. Comments are coming in too fast for me to possibly police everything which means I may have to shut down commenting completely on the blog. I left a poll up for everyone to decide what they think is best for the future of the blog. If you have any suggestions for improvements please let me know. I can be stricter with deleting if necessary, but I would prefer if we were all adult enough to handle this with a little more class. Ultimately, when all is said and done this is for fun. If you don't think you can read what I have to say and not get fired up about it, then I take no offense from people not reading my blog anymore. I am not worried about appealing to the masses or going national or getting paid or anything. I do this for fun, and I hope that we can all have fun through this blog.

I am admittedly writing this at 1 am so if this isn't worded fantastic and doesn't completely make my point my mistake, I'm a little tired and so is my good buddy Kenny who is overseeing my work.

Overall, the point of this post is, vote on the poll on the side of this page to tell me if you thing commenting has gotten out of control enough for me to disable it from the blog.

I will be going through the most recent post and hiding any comments that I deem as argumentative and off topic. Sorry in advance.

My Thoughts on PTXC Rankings

Alright so I enjoy the PTXC rankings and I like seeing the opinion of a team of guys who follow the sport at least fairly closely (hard to say how closely they follow it in comparison to me, but that is besides the point). Last year when I looked at the rankings my immediate criticism (which I expressed in a post as my alter ego etrain69 last year, can't prove it because the account got deleted, but again besides the point) was that the boys over at North Penn were ranked too low. The potential, at the least in the preseason, for this team to win a state championship was clear.

This year out front can't disagree with their 1-2 punch. At Briarwood, Henderson has the chance to unseat the big dogs, but until then there is no reason to rank them higher than O'Hara. I may get some backlash from all the Henderson fans for saying that, but hey, the title is not won in the rankings. This isn't college football.

After that things get a little fuzzier. Now I am aware that I made some team rankings earlier in the summer, but honestly I have gone back on a lot of those after looking more stats over and such and a bunch of my team opinions have kind of been altered. So bare with me if it seems I am contradicting myself (because I kind of am).

Honestly don't think LaSalle deserves the 3 spot here. Yes Coyle is very good and like I have said to many people, he could have had XC gold if he raced a little bit more strategically at Hershey last fall. He should give them a score around 1 or 2 out front. However, after that they have Magee and Stone, both solid track seasons and solid XC seasons, but far from proven XC talents. They are well coached and have some nice pieces to round out their top 5, but how they managed to snag more votes than CRN is beyond me.

CRN's top 3 is superior to LaSalle's and although I don't agree with these arguments, I'm sure there are people out there that believe Mac Emery will be better than Coyle this year on the trails. After that I think it is hard to deny Wilson and Zingarini's superiority to Stone and Magee (as of right now) based on their proven ability over 5000m. CRN is very well coached in their own right, and I would be very surprised if they didn't have a 4-5 punch that was solid.

Also CRN is essentially a lock to go to states and right now LaSalle is practically a lock not to go. Unfortunate circumstances and probably shouldn't play a role in the rankings, but just thought I'd mention it.

After that I'm sorry Mt. Lebo fans, you guys probably your 3 best runners and I don't see a whole lot that points to a top 5 season this year. Definitely can't see them beating North Allegheny and I have a soft spot for Kiski this year. I feel Lebo is ranked too high as well.

As a result, that makes me feel NA is too low. They are always very good and if I'm a betting man, I'd say they will win the WPIALs this year and be top 5 in the state without even looking at their roster at all. Having seen their roster, they will be a little young, but its hard to say they don't return enough talent to compete late in the season. If they had had a better day from their youngsters last November they would have been state champs (but you could make that argument for a lot of teams, that's the way the cookie crumbles often times).

Great Valley lost their most important piece last year in Ned Willig. They have some solid pieces like the younger Willig, but I am not sure how this team ended up ranked ahead of North Penn. North Penn was the state champs last year! They return a solid group of guys from that team and their most important piece, Jack Macauley, had his best track season thus far compared to his classmates. North Penn has some solid senior leadership and Great Valley has a bunch of younger guys who may still be a year away from being talented enough to help this team compete at the top level. Great Valley has also underwhelmed on the challenging state course the past couple years. Maybe they are going to surprise me (Demetrius may come on and drop the stat hammer) but to rank Great Valley without Willig above the defending champs? Hard for me to wrap my head around.

I'm happy with Cumby and Kiski pretty much. Both I think are better than Lebo, but I think both deserve to be on this list and both are solid teams who I can't see winning a state title but could possibly sneak into the top 5 teams in the state if they have their day at the right time. Cumby especially has potential. CV hasn't won Districts in a while (I think, didn't check the stat but I don't think they have since at least like 2007, maybe not since Fuller in like 04, Idk what Manheim looked like, but again, besides the point) and they are due for a title. Kiski is still kind of young, but Kennedy doesn't run like a youngster. It won't hurt your team score at WPIALs if you have the individual champ.

A and AA

So I won't pretend I have consistently or thoroughly crunched the numbers for either classification. Penntrack has a bit of a preview up so if you want more in depth stuff feel free to go there. But I'll give you my two senses on the subject right now.

A
The A race is pretty stacked out front despite being such a small group of schools.  Luke Jones is definitely the favorite after a good spring and a great states race last fall, however, Ryan Smathers looks poised to take a leap towards next level XC running. The guy really got going on the track and was definitely in the same league as Huemmler and Coyle, perhaps even better than those guys (I personally see a strong argument for it). Then you throw in Rico Galassi who was just off the front group at states last year and exploded as a big name runner after his spring campaign. Those two guys have all the momentum right now and although Jones's strength is the trails, he has his hands full with these two guys.

And that isn't even counting guys like Sam Williams and Curt Jewett who also had fantastic springs. Williams has always performed well at the state course, while Jewett has struggled immensley at Hershey. If he can find the magic at the states' course this year, he could snag a state title. I feel strongly that any of the runners I just mentioned could win state gold if they have their day at the state meet. That's what makes this field so excited.

Also worth noting are guys like Jordan Jackson, the Archer twins, Hunter Johnson, and Kelby Mullen who have all had their fair share of top performances in AA competition.

The big sleeper here is Barrett Kemp. I had very high hopes for Kemp last season at states, he seemed on the verge of a break out race. He may not have had quite as good of a finish to his year as projected, but considering how little competition he faces year round in district 9 AA, with the right training and race strategies this year he could really surprise and become a big name in the state. Kemp ran 15:30 for 3 miles last year, beating Jewett, Smathers and Williams in the process, at the McQuaid invite.

AA
To me AA is interesting because of the Shearn v. Jaskowak battle out front. I'd say Shearn is the front runner right now because he has won essentially every big race on PA soil he has had to run his last few times out. He looks like he is going to challenge himself all season at the big time invitationals which makes him an experienced threat for states and nationals. Cap on a sub 15 minute 5k, and the guy looks very good going into this fall. Jaskowak, however, had a killer track season where he showed he was versatile from 800m through 3200m running a 9:14 in brutal weather with a big kick. He also ran 1:55 for 800m which gives him nice finishing speed on the XC trails. I underestimated him all last season and it turned out to backfire on me. If he wasn't stuck by the curse of non medalists not winning gold last season, he may have been able to take Quinn at Hershey. He just needed a little experience at the top. At Northeast Regionals he beat Shearn and Quinn and showed his potential to be the top XC guy this fall.

But there will be other interesting names to watch in this race. The big names who I can see are guys like Vinny Todaro, a top finisher from District 3 and just off the AAA medal stand in 2011, Dominic Deluca, who was my big sleeper pick from Dallas all last season, I might have just been a year too early, and Christian Kardish who surpassed both Horgan and Israel this past track season and showed he is ready to come into his own for Holy Ghost Prep.

Then there are the returning AA boys to consider like Valerosa,  Stelmack, Alexander, Hadfield, Sauvegaeu (butchered the spelling I'm sorry bud) and Wolfe. All those guys are medalists or near medalists last year and proven XC studs.

A couple deeper sleepers would be guys like Avery Scripture, who dropped a lot of time on the track this past spring and was in the 1:55ish range, Liam Corcoran who ran some very solid 3200m runs, and Ian Yakuso who has been a solid D1 AAA XC guy for a number of years now. Will McDermott from Bonner may also be a name to note in the PCL.

etrain's Top 10 Pre Championship Season Meets

So as the season approaches, I am really excited to see how a lot of things go. So I took a little time in my brief period in between classes to construct a little top 10 list in order of when the meets occur. Here we go:

John Sharp Viking Invitational 8/31

Yeah the course is absurdly short, but it is cool to see guys running times that look really fast and it is cool to start getting excited about racing in August. It doesn't mean much who is extremely fit at this point of the season, however, it can show you who some break out stars are going to be. Scarpello, Magaha, Harriman all had stand out races at this meet in the past before they became XC household names and this year the field is projected to be quite deep. CRNorth has an excellent top 3 rolling in led by Emery who is a big name to watch this year off his 9:11. We will see how it translates to the trials. CB West's Chris Berry is another sleeper to watch in this race off his low 9:20s 3200m. Christian Kardish as well should be fun to watch as HGPrep is usually rolling pretty well in the early season. Throw in guys like Conner Quinn and Connor Harriman this race should be very fun. Deep sleeper pick will be Joey Logue from Pennridge if he can translate that track speed to the trials in any way. He did run a very solid 1600 for a guy most thought was a quarter miler early in his career.

Red White and Blue Invitational 9/8

Speaking of fast times on fast courses ... There is nothing like seeing all the big guns in the WPIAL at one time. I want to see what NA and Lebo have left and if Kiski is going to legitimately challenge for the top spot in the WPIAL. There are lots of young studs in the WPIAL roster. Wakely, Martin, some AA guys, Seel, Luoco, etc. Baldwin's guys hopefully can bounce back as well like George Kelly. The WPIAL has become the clear 2nd best district in the state and we get to see all the big names at one time at this race, which we never see in the other districts. Also Dan Jaskowak should be there to defend his title. That in itself should be  enough to get tickets. 

PTXC 9/8

PTXC this year is quite exciting because it is finally starting to draw top talent to the event. Endress a couple years back helped the cause a bit but a Shearn v. Quinn match up already is enough to make me interested. Its the match up many wanted a year ago at the Hershey course but never got. Shearn is a top ranked runner nationally and is facing his biggest test in his impressive career with Jaskowak looming at the state meet. Let the AA v. AAA conversation begin about who is better after the meet in September. We also may see the likes of Harrison Schettler, Sam Williams and Curt Jewett, Jeff Groh and Cole Nissley, and Alec Kunzweiler and the Cumberland Valley squad. One of these runners may step up and beat Quinn or Shearn and throw themselves into state title contender. All of these runners are on big upswings after their spring/2011 fall.

Quad XC Invitational 9/8

This is a little known meet, but it is one of my favorite races to participate in (mostly because the prizes are absurdly nice). The interesting thing about this meet is we could potentially see Henderson and LaSalle competing in the relay races. You rarely see relay races like this at the XC level and it speaks a lot to the depth of teams (cue the Henderson comments), but it certainly will show what kind of pieces each team has. LaSalle's stacked front 4 relay could win the title if Henderson spreads out their pieces. It should be a good test. GA may be back again this season which means we could see the Ritz boys and we also may see the GFS squad which features Wistar and Aziz. Both independent groups have high expectations this year. Lastly, I want to see how my UD boys do in one of their first races. Sorry, I'm biased.

Briarwood Invitational 9/15

Lots of hype around the Briarwood meet, at this very tough course, which should feature O'Hara, one of the state title favorites, at their "home course" of sorts. Also the defending state champions North Penn should be in the race again and be competing for a top spot. North Penn lost by 45 points to O'Hara last year. Also on the radar are rumors that Brendan Shearn will be making the trip for this race. He would add a nice individual touch out front with Savage, Macauley, Emery and possibly Coyle and Quinn (Horsham often times doesn't enter the championship race). That is a star studded field of guys with a lot of hardware. CR North will look to prove they can run with O'Hara out front and be state title contenders. Wilson, Zingarini and Berry (from CB West) are also factors in this race, as are the rest of O'Hara's top 5 with guys like James, Pitone, Pastore and Smart. 

Pre States 9/22

Watching O'Hara on the states course should be plenty of fun. Plus we may see the defending state Champion Conner Quinn in action on a course where he has had a lot of success. Connor Harriman ran very well at this meet last year and may contend for the title. The Northeast Bradford boys headline a group of very solid AA and A guys projected to be in the race, including Ryan Smathers in his first big meet. If Lebo comes back they will be an interesting team to watch. And anytime you can see guys on the states course it is fun stuff.

Paul Short 9/28

Assuming the weather is nice, fast times should come in bunches. It is great to see guys just fly on this course. It will be interesting to see who opts for Paul Short over Carlisle because guys like Shearn ran both last year. But we should see the Ritz's back again, maybe the Great Valley boys and the Cumberland Valley boys as well. That includes Alec Kunzweiler, potential D3 champion. The environment at this kind of meet is electric and it is a must see almost regardless of the field.

Carlisle 9/29

Carlisle in the past has produced some unbelievably deep fields. Last year they didn't quite as much and with Paul Short the same weekend it is going to be interesting to see who goes where. Guys like Tom Coyle and Kunzweiler went to both places, same with Shearn. I hope Carlisle stacks the field as North Penn and North Allegheny should both be there and they are both top teams in the state. Horsham has gone to this meet in the past as well so we could be having another Quinn v. Shearn conversation. Also Grove City has attended this meet before which could mean the ultimate showdown of Coyle, Quinn, Shearn and Jaskowak. Mark your calendars.

Salesianum Invitational 10/6

In Delaware it should be interesting to see if North Penn can begin to round into form on a hilly, state like, course. Quinn should be there as well to match up with Macauley and we may also see the Holy Ghost Prep guys like Kardish in the mix. Not my favorite of the 10 meets I listed, but still something to keep an eye on against out of state competition. We may also catch a glimpse of Brehm in XC from Carlisle.

Manhattan Invitational 10/13

I always like seeing what we have on a national level. Any PA guys who hop in this meet and run well are national qualifier contenders. The guy that comes to mind immeaditely is Coyle, but Quinn may be in this meet again, Horsham has come here in year's past. So too has North Penn, the defending state champs. It is a bit of a wild card meet as to who will actually be in attendance, but we can learn a lot about PA's national contenders on October 13th.

Battle of the Henderson Boys: Tony Russell v Reiny Barchet

Alright so I just want to throw this out there again, I feel that these comments are great, I enjoy reading everyone's opinions on the subjects at hand. However, I think the best way to stimulate conversations is through a forum rather than these comments. I think tracktalk and even penntrack may be better ways to hash out these issues. I'll read up on either of those sources over the next two weeks and feel free to link up the posts to the forums. You can comment also on here still if you disagree with me. I have no problem with that but it is a little tougher for me to moderate certain things because unfortunately during camp week at Muhlenberg this week I'm not going to have a lot of time.

That also means I probably won't do this argument great justice, but I'll give it my best shot.

I'm also a tiny bit nervous because I know Tony reads the blog, at least a little bit ...

We will start in 2010 because, unfortunately for Barchet, that is the last time both boys were on the XC course together. Barchet as a freshman was one of the key contributors on Henderson's runner up squad with a 16:05 D1 performance and finished 63rd at states. It was a very impressive performance for a freshman. At District One freshman rarely finish in the top 20 and excluding Ned Willig's freshman year where the times were absurdly fast, freshman rarely run as fast as Barchet did. These facts alone show a ton of potential down the line.

In 2010 Barchet was 29 seconds ahead of Russell at the District meet (Russell won the JV race in one of the fastest JV race times I've ever seen 16:34).

But Russell took the momentum of winning the JV race and carried it all the way through into a healthy 2011 XC season that Barchet, unfortunately couldn't match. Russell dropped a 15:43 and just missed a middle at his first big time individual states race. He was one of the top sophomores in the race and the difference between sophomore medalists and junior medalists is usually the largest class difference medal wise. If Russell didn't snag a medal in the 2012 season I'd be very surprised.

Barchet normally would scare me with an injury like that. Think Brad Miles junior year, he finished a modest 7th at states, not as I had projected early in the season, 2nd place. I even thought a healthy Miles would have won that year. After seeing his Senior season I don't think that statement is out of bounds.

That being said Barchet did something Miles didn't do until late in his senior year, he broke 9:30 in the 3200m. Barchet's 9:28, almost out of nowhere, as just a sophomore. There are not many sophomore's who can boast a time like that at such an age. He seemed to be just rounding back into top form in time for his spring season to come to an end. Barchet should be in excellent shape this fall and I imagine that 9:28 is just the start of something big.

But Russell didn't have a bad spring either dropping into the 4:18s and running 9:31 in a race that had a field that underwhelmed. The dude is clearly holding his own. He has more speed than Barchet does and thus his strength will be Lehigh more so than Barchet. Admittedly, neither guy has given me a mind blowing performance at the most important course, Hershey. Both guys were fairly underwhelming there compared to the previous week.

The knock on Henderson will always end up being the state course. I'm sorry, I know they are probably sick of hearing that by now. But hopefully those guys use my words as motivation in practice everyday. That'd be pretty cool actually if Coach Kelly quoted me in practice. I'd be honored. So yeah do that.

But ultimately, I digress. It is a close battle, but I go Barchet at Hershey and Russell at Lehigh. Barchet has a crap ton of potential and I like the 3200m guys rather than the speed guys when I'm picking XC place winners so I see Barchet pulling it out. Both will be potential top 10 guys this year in the somewhat weaker AAA states race.

And of course both will potential have state gold around their neck .....

But we have talked plenty about that.

The Big Question: Henderson v. O'Hara

Look its obvious now that I'm not gonna have a consistent post flow at this point in the year, but once the season starts up and there are actually races and more data to digest I imagine that the posts will begin to flow in the same way they had in the past seasons. If you don't want to believe in that I don't blame you, its been a rough month for posts.

But for now, although I don't have too much new to stay, I can at least try and fuel the fire which has been keeping this blog going. I'm going to throw out my thoughts on the O'Hara v. Henderson debate.

The only reason O'Hara isn't defending champions is depth. They didn't have a 6th man to step up and fill in when misfortune struck on course at which misfortune almost always strikes. So therefore the key in 2012 will be improving depth. The group peaked at the right time, knew how to run the states course and had plenty of talent. Those were not factors in the upset at states in 2012 and I'm sorry to say I strongly disagree with anyone who wants to argue that point.

The main reason Henderson isn't defending state champions is age. A lot of things come with age, not just wisdom and experience but also strength. I'm pretty sure Henderson is a program built on mileage and the older you get the more mileage you can handle and the more mileage you have handled in the past. That will certainly boost Henderson's young squad which still features mostly non seniors. And of course the whole "running poorly at states" thing should hopefully be thrown out the window. Henderson is well coached and they clearly have a bunch of talent. And perhaps their biggest strength is their depth ironically.

They have great depth, but if people try to tell me that their 8-14 guys could make states I'm going to upset. To make states out of District One you need a very, very solid squad. Last year 16:35 average per man got you to states. Henderson had 6 guys under 16:40 last year. I also feel like this is one of the deepest fields D1 has had in a while.

I think O'Hara has improved their depth. It looked like they had a solid amount of young guys in that 10 mile race. It doesn't mean much I know, but it is certainly a good sign. They picked up Smart and they had a freshman last year who broke 16 minutes and ran 17:24 at the states course in September so there is reason to believe their very young guys can be contributors in the 5-7 spot. That was what they were lacking last year. I'm a big Nick Smart fan. I think in the O'Hara system with training partners like he has, he can have a big season. However, he was in the 16:20s last year at Lehigh which would barely put him on the varsity squad for Henderson last year (if Chaborek had a solid day at Districts Smart probably would have been 8th on Henderson's roster).

O'Hara ran the pre-states meet this past year, usually a big no no in my book, but it clearly paid off. Besides James who ran 17:24 as mentioned above, their remaining 6 members of their top 7 dropped 213 seconds from Hershey to the state meet. So a total plus minus of 193 seconds when you count in James. Compare that to Mt. Lebanon, the 2nd place pre states team. 113 points through the 6 guys that ran varsity at both meets. O'Hara took advantage of the hilly courses and their hilly schedule which includes Belmont Plateau. PCL teams have always performed well at the state meet because of this schedule, LaSalle in the past few years has had crazy spreads and beat NA the year they made nationals and of course O'Hara the past two years has done very well as well.

Unfortunately we won't see much of Henderson's cards until later in the season. Their first real race was October 1st in New Jersey. They didn't run against PA competition until championship season.

On the track, I'll be honest, Henderson really dominated. Pitone had a good year, he has come on strong and the other O'Hara returners had solid years. I was pretty impressed with Savage's 3200m at States in brutal weather which is the small exception. Henderson meanwhile had guys showing serious improvements highlighted by Russell and Barchet but also including AJ Chaborek and Rimkis.

But O'Hara had a similar spring in 2011 and they came back better than ever in XC. So good sign for Henderson but not necessarily a bad sign for O'Hara.

So let's get to down to business here. Before the season starts, I'm going to give you my pick right now. In dual meet scoring here is how I see Henderson and O'Hara placing against one another at the end of the season. A lot can (and will) change in my thinking, but just so that my opinion is out there, here it goes.

24-31 O'Hara over Henderson

But I'm just one man. Comment away with your thoughts.

Bill Gallagher 10 Miler

Brutally hot weather combined with about 7.5 miles on the sand doesn't really make a 10 miler all that appealing. However, some PA alumni and some of PA's up and coming talent ran in the 10 miler at Sea Isle City, where I stayed the weekend. Just figured I'd let you know how everyone did. Some early thoughts from me are that the O'Hara boys are working hard. 10 miles in that weather is no joke. Pitone and Pastore ran the whole way together and finished in the two spots ahead of me. Savage ran a good race up front. Dawson and McCandless are both Olympic Trials caliber athletes as a point of reference. McCandless ran very fast at both a half marathon and a full marathon, Dawson is best at the 10k, he's sub 30. Both are PA alumni. So here are those PA times: After about 30 I'm not sure if I missed any PA alumni or not so feel free to comment!

1. Tyler McCandless, Northampton Alum 54:38
2. Kyle Dawon, Coatseville Alum 54:54
4. John Pickhaver, St. Joe's Prep Alum 56:00
5. Dan Day, Landsdale Catholic Alum 56:42
6. Nick Scarpello, CB West Alum 56:52
9. Mike Garrity, O'Hara Alum 59:21
11. Phil Celona, Ryan Alum 59:23
14. James Murphy, St. Joe's Prep Alum 61:09
*18. Dan Savage, Cardinal O'Hara Senior 61:49
20. Dave Moyer, Boyertown Alum 62:08
22. Austin Gregor, CB South Alum 62:05
23. Terrance Murphy, St. Joe's Prep Alum 62:31
*28. Jadon Sargeant, St. Joe's Prep Senior 64:22
29. Steve Hand, Haverford Alum 64:24
*31. Ernie Pitone, O'Hara Senior 64:32
*32. Chris Pastore, O'Hara Senior 64:34
33. Jarrett Felix, Upper Dublin Alum 65:19
34. Mike Ciavarelli, Bonner Alum 65:11
36. Quadree Counsel, Bonner Alum 65:59
*38. Drew Pastore, O'Hara Sophomore 66:51
*53. Jim Belfatto, O'Hara Junior 69:37

Also worth noting on the O'Hara squad Jimmy Boyle and Nick Smart worked together to run 76:01 and 75:48 respectively. LaSalle's Jack Magee was just behind in 76:09.

Obviously its hard to know who was all out racing like me and who was just tempoing or trying to get in a good work out like a lot of these guys probably were. I think it is clear that O'Hara was doing some classic pack running as you could see a bunch of their guys grouped at different points in the race. Clearly they have a few youngsters like Drew Pastore ready to step up. We know they have a squad out front, it just comes down to who is going to sneak up to make sure they have 5 guys who have a big day at states. No sign of Kevin James in my brief scan. Hopefully he is healthy.

Olympic Fever

If you have been at home at all during the past week you have probably watched some crazy random Olympic events like archery or white water canoeing or handball, but all that I really am pumped for is the great sport of track and field (besides the occasional basketball, volleyball and swimming, I mean I am a sports fan). But I know most of my readers are high schoolers so I figured I'll spin this a little high schooley. Here are some of the high school marks of the future distance Olympians.

Nick Symmonds: 1:53 for 800m, 4:20 for 1600m, he was also a state champion at 3200m and the 4x4. In college he really took off when he dropped times of 1:45.83 and 3:40.91 for 1500m. He went to a D3 school because he didn't get D1 scholarships.

Matt Centrowitz: 8:41 for 2 miles (negative split), 4:04.09 1600m, Centrowitz still had NCAA eligibility when he medaled at the 2011 world championships in the 1500m.

Andrew Wheating: 3:54 for 1500m, 14:55 indoor 5000m, he made the Olympics at 800m as a college sophomore.

Duane Solomon: 1:49.79 for 800m, he was the 2003 CA State Champion at this event. His 1:43.44 is the third best Season Best of the competitors in the Olympics this year. His NCAA PR was a 1:45.69.

Galen Rupp: 4:01.8 for the mile, 8:03 for 3k and 13:37 for 5k. He also ran 29:09 for 10k. He had set high school records in the 2k, 3k and 5k.

Matt Tegenkamp: 15:26 XC 5k, 8:57 for 3200m and 4:11 for 1600m, he went on to run at Wisconsin where he lowered his 5k PR to 13:30.

Evan Jager: 8:47 for 2 miles, 4:05.68 for the mile in the same meet. He was a part of a 7:40.02 4x800m and had a 1:51 open PR. Jager didn't start running the steeple until this season. He is doing alright so far.

Don Cabral: 14:32 for 5k on the track, 8:56 for 2 Miles, 4:09 for the Mile and he also finished 8th at Footlocker Nationals for Cross Country

Dathan Ritzenhein: 4:05 for 1600m, 8:41 for 3200m as a HS Junior, and 13:44.70 for 5k, just missing the HS record (Rupp would break the mark in the years to come). He won back to back Footlocker Championships including a course record time of 14:29 as a HS Junior.

Lopez Lomong: He helped his team New York squad win XC and Track state titles but his career really blossomed in College at Northern Arizona where he was the indoor 3000m National Champion as well as the outdoor 1500m National Champion.

Leonel Manzano: Manzano ran 1:50, 4:06 and 9:07 at his Texas High School.

PS Thanks to everyone for helping me to 150,000 career views on the blog! It is a cool achievement and this experience has been a great one. Hopefully the 2012-2013 season brings even better results!

Independent League Boys: Where Do They Fit In?

Looking back, last year it was clear Dustin Wilson was the #1 runner in the state of PA for XC (no offense to the other boys like Quinn, Magaha and Shearn) he was an All-American and dominated the races he decided to run. But this year there is no Dustin Wilson anymore, just a bunch of names that we have to try to piece together with the AAA, AA and now A boys. Among that group of potential independent league stars is Ben Ritz, Sami Aziz, Lyle Wistar, and Sam Ritz.

In XC in 2011 at the Independent League Championships Dustin Wilson demolished the field running 16:34 to 2nd place's 17:23 (Ben Ritz). At the regional meet, Dustin Wilson was the top PA runner and the only individual national qualifier. Sami Aziz was the next best independent runner in his first race after a fall out of the country. Aziz was 59th in the race running 17:19. Sam Ritz, as a freshman, was 78th and Ben Ritz was 118th. Austin Pondel was 24th in 16:37 as a point of reference.

The highlight for the independent league boys in XC was on the fast Lehigh course at the Paul Short meet. Sam Ritz ran 16:11 to finish 9th, beating 3 future XC medalists in the process. In 19th was Sam's older brother Ben who finished in 16:30. Lyle Wistar took 25th in 16:33.

But the real prowess of the independent league boys was on the track. Of course Dustin Wilson highlighted the Independent league results (and Quinn Davis, another graduating Senior had a solid and oft overlooked year himself) but it was the returners who really made noise and established themselves as more than just the guy who was second to Wilson.

At the Henderson Invitational the 3200m was littered with Independent league up and comers. Sami Aziz and Ben Ritz took 2-3 behind Wilson in 9:21 and 9:22 respectively. They beat the likes of Sam Williams and Connor Harriman in the process. Lyle Wistar from GFS also hung tough in the 3200m with a 7th place finish in 9:29 beating guys like Tony Russell, Zach Trama, Kenny Leidal, Brett Kelly, Ross Wilson, Sam Webb, AJ Chaborek, Matt Willig and Steve Yannacone. A slew of guys dispersed among my top 50 this year.

The icing on the cake for Ritz had to be a big 1600m to end the season where he launched himself into the PA elite with a massive PR (roughly 8 seconds by my math) and ran 4:12.76 to beat out Wilson and Hibbs, two of the best 3200m runners of 2012. Wistar added a 4:18 PR and freshman Sam Ritz came through with a 4:22 PR.

Ben Ritz finished the season with a 9:22/4:12/1:54 track resume, begging the question, can this guy become a break out XC star? Aziz who has 9:21/4:18c credentials and an indoor 3k medal has proven himself in XC more so than Ritz and is coming off his own mini break out season. The freshman Sam Ritz, who was perhaps the best XC runner of the bunch in 2011, finished the year with a 1:57/4:22 resume.

Track times don't always translate into XC performances, but I like the potential this group has. Don't sleep on this bunch in 2012.

To see exactly where I ranked these guys feel free to go to the "Abridged Version" link on the side of the page under popular posts.

Dinner with Gags

Event:  Join us for a great evening of dinner and drinks with one of the great middle distance coaches in American
History.  Dinner and drinks will be at the Market Street Grille in downtown West Chester, PA.  This is a once in a lifetime
opportunity to get pointers from Coach Gags. We will limit this to 50 people so don’t wait to sign up.
Times:  6:00PM-Arrival and cocktails.
6:45PM-Dinner
7:30PM-Coach Gags speaks with Q & A.
Cost:  $50.00 by August 5.
            $60.00 at the door if there is room.
Dinner:  Dinner choices are Baked Chicken, Broiled Salmon or Pasta Primavera.  Dinner includes a salad and vegetables.  There will also be a dessert table set up.  A variety of quality beers will be included.
Registration:  The bottom of this form can be mailed with a check to Dinner with Gags, 24 South High Street, West Chester, PA 19382.   Checks should be made payable to CCRS.
Bio:  Coach Gags' has coached every level of track and field, from high school athletes to Olympic qualifiers. He began coaching at Roselle Catholic in NJ, later became director of Track and Field at Rutgers University, moved onto become head coach and eventually Director of Track and Field at Georgetown University, founder of the Washington DC based Reebok Enclave elite professional track and field team, founder of the Nike Farm Team in Palo Alto, CA and later became the 1st coach in the resurgence of the Oregon Track Club, the most dominant middle distance club in USA Track and Field. At Georgetown Coach Gagliano produced 140 All-America performers, five Olympians, seven individual national champions, and 23 BIG EAST championship teams. Since coaching professionals exclusively, Coach Gags' has trained countless numbers of athletes to USATF Nationals Finals, World Championship teams, World Championship finals, Olympic Teams and Olympic Finals. Coach Gagliano has brought his wealth of talent and knowledge back home to the NY/NJ area where he will undoubtedly continue his tradition of excellence with his newest venture, the NJ*NY Track Club. Most recently, he coached Julie Culley to a win in the 5000 meters at the Olympic Trials.

If you have more questions about the event I'd encourage you to get in touch with West Chester Henderson's Coach Kevin Kelly. He was the one who sent the information to me and knows much more about things than I do. Hope this sparks some interest, by the way you gotta be at least 21 to get involved. 

Here's a link with most of the information above and then some other details.

http://runccrs.com/results/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Dinner-with-Gags.pdf

XC Times

I'm a huge proponent of the fact that the actual times people run on courses for cross country mean almost nothing. In my rankings, the info is based mostly off who you beat and by how much you beat them. But I can not deny that seeing someone run a 15 low 5k time has an effect on me. So here are some of the fastest returning marks from the 2011 XC season:

1. Dan Jaskowak 15:24 Red, White and Blue
2. Luke Jones 15:31 Lackawanna
3. Max Norris 15:31 Viking Invitational
4. Dan Savage 15:32 Great American
5. Mac Emery 15:33 Viking Invitational
6. Conner Quinn 15:33 Viking Invitational
7. Tony Russell 15:43 District One
8. Francis Ferruzzi 15:45 District One
9. Chris Pastore 15:48 Great American
10. Curt Jewett 15:48 NTL Coaches
11. Brent Kennedy 15:51 Red, White and Blue
12. Connor Harriman 15:52 District One
13. Ean DiSilvio 15:56 Red, White and Blue
14. Tom Coyle 15:56 PCL Championships
15. Sam Williams 15:57 NTL Coahes
16. Kevin James 15:58 Coaches
17. Brendan Shearn 15:58 Northeast
18. Sam Haugh 15:58 District One
19. Austin Pondel 15:58 Big Red

And those are all the guys milesplit has listed under 16 minutes for 5k. What stands out is most of these times came in September. Meaning those courses are either fast as frick or short. Viking and Red, White and Blue stand out. Lehigh has clearly also produced some very fast times. It is a very fast course and the weather at districts co operated this year. Tom Coyle clearly has the most impressive mark on this list, his 15:56 PR came at the PCL Championships at Belmont. On this list, Emery, Russell, Norris, Ferruzzi, Pastore, James and Haugh all didn't snag medals at the state meet in 2011 despite having such fast PRs. Shearn sits with a 15:58 XC PR but a sub 15 5k PR on the track.

Missing from this list of XC fast times are guys like:
Ryan Smathers, Rico Galassi, Sam Aziz, Jack Macauley, Alec Kunzweiler, Vinny Todaro, Jack Huemmler, and Jeff Groh who are all top ranked guys coming in to the 2012 season.

Sam Haugh didn't even make it onto my rankings for this upcoming season. The same can be said for Kevin James. In Haugh's case it remains slightly uncertain whether Haugh will even be a top 3-5 guy for Henderson by season's end as they just have so much depth and he has to very healthy to compete at a top level and handle the mileage. Its up for debate just how high he will finish on the squad.

The good news is, in early September/late August we should have plenty to talk about as there will be fast times at Viking and Red, White and Blue which should spark some interesting conversation.

On August 31st, the Viking Invitational should include the likes of Conner Quinn, Max Norris, Mac Emery, Connor Harriman, James Zingarini, Ross Wilson, Chris Berry, Christian Kardish, Sam Webb and Joey Logue. Last year the Viking invite featured 7 runners under 16 minutes and 9 runners who ended up being in the top 50 at states including state medalists Hibbs (1st), Quinn (4th), Magaha (5th), Harriman (6th) and Israel (10th).

Across the state in the Red White and Blue Invitational, North Allegheny, Mt. Lebanon, Kiski and Quaker Valley will look to show off their team prowess and drop some fast times early.

Last year Dan Jaskowak had an incredible break out race at this meet, proving he was a legit force and riding the wave of momentum all the way to a near state championship in November. He will look to defend his title in 2012 against the likes of Brent Kennedy, Ean Disilvio, Hunter Johnston, Ethan Martin, Chris Culley, Luke Schott, Ryan and Alex Archer, Ethan Louis, Roy Hadfield, Jon Faye, Scott Seel, Matt Mcgoey, Cordon Luoco, Pat Miller and George Kelly. A lot of talent here in this race of WPIAL stand outs.

Jaskowak and Kennedy were top 10 guys in 2011 at states and Quaker Valley was the AA state championship squad in 2011. This race last year was littered with future medalists and arguably 3 of the top 6 teams in the state. 8 men were under the 16 minute barrier at this race last year.


Just one more thing I figured I'd throw down, here are the top 3200m returning times, names worth considering for this XC season (I started the guys who were not sub 16):
1. Emery 9:11
2. Jaskowak 9:14
3. Shearn 9:15
4. Macauley 9:15*
5. Harriman 9:18
6. Quinn 9:19
7. Galassi 9:19*
8. Aziz 9:21*
9. Ritz 9:22*
10. Berry 9:23*
11. Martin 9:24*
12. Williams 9:24
13. Jones 9:25
14. Groh 9:27*
15. Barchet 9:28*
16. Ferruzzi 9:28
17. Faye 9:28*
18. Corcoran 9:29*
19. Wistar 9:29*

Those are all the gents sub 9:30

Battle of the Milers: Jack Huemmler or James Zingarini

Zingarini is a solid all around XC runner from Council Rock North, a potential state title contender with perhaps the best top 3 punch in the state. He had a break out year, running his best races when it mattered most at the state championships.

Unfortunately, however, this question all comes down to your interpretation of Mr. Huemmler. Jack had a breakout season of his own which included a 4:12.54 2nd place effort in the 1600m outdoors and a 4:16y indoors for 3rd. He also showed he had 1:54ish 800m ability and doubling back to make states and won the 3200m at the DELCO championships over the O'Hara boys. He clearly has incredible track talent and if the 1600m at Shippensburg played out differently and he didn't have to lead as much of the race as he did, it is possible he may be in Coyle's shoes right now showing off his state gold. Based on his track season, Huemmler is poised to compete for the individual District One title at the fast Lehigh course and battle for a XC state medal.

But unfortunately this fall will not include any 5ks raced on a track. On the trials in 2011 Huemmler did not have the same stand out success that he enjoyed on the track. Early in the season Huemmler was 2nd fiddle to Haven's Jeff Seelaus who turned a lot of heads after his first place finish at the Abington Invitational. Huemmler placed 7th in this race (ironically Zingarini placed 6th in that race, three seconds ahead of Huemmler). The tables turned starting at Paul Short and Huemmler became the leader of the Haven squad, highlighted by a 2nd place finish at DELCOs, a 3rd place finish at Centrals, and a 13th place finish at Districts. But at states, Huemmler couldn't quite master Hershey on his first trip. He finished a disappointing 94th.

At states Zingarini did his best work, finishing right next to Ross Wilson and Chris Trimble taking 36th overall. It highlighted a nice streak of races that included a 25th place finish at Districts in 16:16 and a 4th place finish in the Suburban One National race. On the track he placed 5th at the District One Championships in the 1600m and then 6th at states, running 4:18 both times. He has a resume that suggests he can be a state medalist in 2012.

These two runners are clearly tough to compare. Huemmler boasts a solid XC season that shows potential for improvement with experience and also boasts an incredible, stand out track year. Zingarini, conversely, was the epitome of balance with a very efficient, consistently improving XC season followed by a similar track season that racked him up some state hardware outdoors after a solid indoor campaign. It really all comes down to whether you want to be safe or you believe in taking chances.

I personally do believe in taking chances. I see plenty of potential with Huemmler and he boasts a 4:12 PR. Magaha proved that guys with that kind of talent can turn things around and put it together on the trials in the end. He was arguably the best runner in PA in 2011 for XC and I certainly didn't see that coming based on his past XC results.

This may apply: Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

etrain Stock Exchange

So boys I'm ready to try and get back into consistent posting having finished taking my test this past weekend. I'm still working during the day and running at night but I will have some gaps to fill and I'm hoping that will be with posting.

I came up with this idea while I was watching Dark Knight Rises:

The etrain Stock Exchange

Basically how this works is kind of like the stock exchange. You want to make money. You can buy any runner currently on the top 50 for 51-x dollars where x is the ranking of the individual at this time. Anyone not on the list you can buy for 50 cents. Then as I move people around on the rankings from week to week you can buy or sell other people. You buy and sell based on those same 51-x values for the newest rankings. At the end of the season you will get 61-x where x is the end of season ranking for your runner as payment for your investment. Person with the most money wins.

Note: this is imaginary, not really money.

I'm going to make a facebook group to help answer questions and keep track of everyone's money/acquisitions. If you are interested let me know.

train out

PCL Boys: Tom Coyle or Dan Savage

Yeah I'm going out of order here, sorry kids, take it up with my lawyer, I got save the good stuff for later.

Tom Coyle has quickly become the AAA favorite to win the state title in XC. He was arguably a tactical error away from winning in 2011 and now he boasts state gold in the 1600m and 4:11 and 1:51 PRs. He also bested Savage on the track in Savage's best events, the 3000m and the 3200m. In fact, Coyle's only head to head loss to Savage all year came at the state meet in XC.

But Savage ran his best race when it mattered most. He took a "smarter" race strategy and had a great day on a very tough Hershey course. He is built for the state's course and Coyle, in theory, is better suited for flatter, faster courses.

I know people tend to jump on to bandwagon's pretty quickly after track seasons, sometimes overhyping solid seasons and putting too big of expectations onto the XC season, but Coyle was a top runner at the state meet in his first state level competitive year. He gains experience of the big race, experience of winning, and experience of running with and for a team with guys like Magee and Stone trying to help the squad get to states. That's a powerful piece of motivation. Just ask Dan Savage, who ran his heart out for his O'Hara team each and every race last year, and will do so again this season as they make another title push.

I think Savage ran an outstanding race at states last year, definitely his best race of the season. That has to give him confidence. But Coyle beat him twice in a row at Belmont Plateau, a pretty tough course in its own right. He made a tactical error that I doubt he will make again. In a kicker's race, it's Coyle's to lose.

I have a ton of respect for Savage and I think he will have a great season and another top 5 finish at the state meet in an extremely competitive field. He will put in the mileage and he will work hard. But Coyle has all the momentum right now, he has all the confidence, all the speed, all the doubling strength and all the top level experience.

The only advantage I see Savage having is the fact that he probably doesn't have a target on his back in any locker room besides O'Hara's (because teammates are always chasing the guy in front of them). Coyle, on the other hand, is a household name (or as much of a household name as possible) and every single competitive runner will pick him out of a race and give everything to beat him. He has some pressure of expectation.

All the same I think Coyle is ready to handle it and right now he is the favorite for the AAA state title.

Battle of the Norths: North Penn or North Allegheny?

Well folks, life in Willow Grove Pennsylvania has not been as carefree as I would like it to be, but I'll try to squeeze a post in here while I have a little bit of time. Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day most of the time. I tend to make big plans and have big ideas, but I can't always make them come to fruition. Those who have been following me know that pretty well. I was visiting with my girlfriend this past weekend and no offense to any of you out there reading this, but there is no way in the world I was going to waste any portion of the few moments I have this month with her to post on this blog. This weekend coming up I have my first actuary test and I have been studying that like crazy (think the amount I study the Top 50 and triple it) and this week I will be cutting myself off from the world. Working, studying and running.  If I need a study break, I may end up blogging ... or eating.

But I digress ... I doubt most of you read my blog because you like hearing my life story.

On to the first question on my list of 11 (get cuz it's like etrain11 ... I know I'm clever as frick), who will be better North Penn or North Allegheny?

It is interesting to consider these two as pair not simply because they both start with the word "North" but because they are connected in so many other ways that are actually relevant to cross country. For starters, North Penn and North Allegheny have combined to 4 out of the last 5 state championships (although admittedly 3 of those have been North Penn) and NA added in a second place finish and a trip to nationals in that time period. The teams have racked up a boat load of medalists over these years (and a state champion for each side) and established themselves as the powerhouses of their respective districts and a favorite to make the state meet and compete for a top spot regardless of who is returning on their roster.

But perhaps the greatest similarity as that both squads are in a "rebuilding" phase in this coming XC season. I use the word rebuilding here very loosely because these schools do not really rebuild, they reload. North Penn won back to back state championships and then had back to back runner up finishes at districts after seemingly loosing everyone that mattered out front. Then they won the state championship again.

North Allegheny some how manages to win the WPIAL every year. Gil goes down, Baldwin is killing it, they still win. They lose the bulk of their squad that took the team to Nationals, they find some JV studs, get Logan Steiner from Meadville and then finish higher at states then they did the previous season. Then they won the state championship.

Both teams do the seemingly unthinkable on a regular basis. They are well coached, train hard, and have a lot of kids to pick from in their massively sized schools. Sorry if that offends anybody, but c'mon we are all at least thinking it.

So based on all my praise of how awesome these teams are, I bet you could tell that I think both squads will be back at states and, if everything goes well health wise, I think both teams will finish the year in the top 5 as a team at the state meet. I know my rankings don't say that, but rankings are based more on what the data shows me than my gut.

But ultimately, one team has to be better than the other, there are no ties in cross country (even though we came pretty darn close ....) and my money is on North Allegheny to beat out the state champs in 2012.

And I will tell you why.

But first a look at history.

The last team to repeat as state champions was .... North Penn! They returned an ironic 5 of their top 7 guys and lost 2 of their top 3 runners, but still managed to repeat as state champions. Sounds extremely familiar to this years group of guys doesn't it?

So this is the part where everybody checks to make sure that I said North Allegheny not North Penn. Don't worry boys, I know where I am going with this. What was the difference between the team that repeated as state champs and the squad we are looking at in 2012?

Sam Bernitt.

North Penn pulled a guy from seemingly no where onto their XC squad and turned him into the 10th place finisher at the state championships, running just behind Brad Miles who ironically finish 10th the previous season. That was the difference. Logically, I can't assume North Penn is going to do that again (although let's face it, it could happen) and thus I do not believe North Penn can recapture their magic and make another run to the state title.

Let us go back now, to my favorite school subject (actually it's Math, but it sounds cooler if I phrase it like this) History.

In 2007 North Allegheny finished a hard fought 3rd at the state championships after a WPIAL title. The squad graduated 4 members of their top 7 guys including their two front runners who were state medalists. Their top returner was a freshman who was relatively unproven on the big stage. Sound familiar?

Well in 2008 North Allegheny dropped the hammer on PA XC and qualified for the NXN championships and finished 12th at the meet. They were probably the 2nd best team that PA has seen while I have been following the sport (Coatesville's squad is #1, arguments can be made for the North Penn squads and O'Hara this year).

So we know North Allegheny can take nothing and turn it into a lot more than something with guys already in the system. And I see a lot of guys in their system that they can turn into studs. At WPIALs this past year Luoco and Seel were 9th and 10th! They were the two spots behind Alex Moran and ahead of Tim Appman and Lawtin Tellin who finished in the top 30 at states (Appman was 20th). Mike Meehan was 19th at WPIALs just one spot behind Chris Culley who was 17th at states (still kinda surprised about that jump for Culley so not my most convincing piece of evidence admittedly).

North Allegheny made those guys factors at the WPIAL meet and they beat Mt. Lebanon who up until that point had dominated NA (look at the Tri State results from just a week earlier) and had only barely lost to O'Hara at pre states. And then they beat Lebo again at states and were only 12 points away from being tied for the title as well. If Luoco was the spot behind Moran at states like he was at WPIALs NA would have beaten North Penn by roughly 31 points. Now I know that is kind of a bold statement to make since Luoco's best race was at WPIALs and that may have been Moran's worst, but the point is the difference between North Penn and North Allegheny wasn't all that massive last year and the result easily could have been flip flopped if NA had their best weekend just a week later.

Now that being said, there are reasons to suspect North Penn will do better than NA. For the reasons I stated above I think NA will be better, I think history suggests that they will be incredibly strong again this year and probably will keep the WPIAL title.

But for all of you trying to win a debate against me and are supporting North Penn, here are the points you should use to foil my arguments above:

-North Penn peaked at the right time last year. Their guys ran their best races at the state course, where state's is run.
-North Allegheny is still young and lacks a serious front runner. North Penn has Macauley, a potential top 5 finisher at states, and a host of solid Juniors and Seniors with states experience on the roster.
-North Allegheny has been close to winning titles before, but North Penn has won 3 state titles in the last 5 years.
-Pat Morgan
-Have you seen North Penn's uniforms? They are way prettier.


I think the evidence for NA outweighs the evidence for NP, but feel free to debate on boys. I know you guys are master debaters.

Pop Quiz

So I'm looking to get some opinions on some questions and then I will give you my own opinion after I hear yours, here's what I got ... Who will place higher in XC 2012 at states....
1. Battle of the Norths: North Penn or North Allegheny?
2. Battle of the Defending Champs: Brendan Shearn or Conner Quinn?
3. Battle of the PCL Boys: Tom Coyle or Dan Savage?
4. Battle of the Milers: Jack Huemmler or James Zingarini?
5. The Big Question: West Chester Henderson or O'Hara?
6. Battle of the Henderson Boys: Tony Russell or Reiny Barchet?
7. Battle of the Youngsters: Ethan Martin or Caleb Wakeley?
8. Battle of the Walking Wounded: Max Norris or Jeff Groh?
9. Battle of the Northeast Bradford Boys: Sam Williams or Curt Jewett?
10. Battle of the 3200m Stars: Mac Emery or Jack Macauley or Connor Harriman?
11. Battle for the State Championship: Shearn or Jaskowak, Quinn or Coyle, Williams or Galassi or Jones or Smathers ..... Or Other!

Note Question 11 is the only Question where the answer other is applicable

XC Talk: Kiski Area

Key Returners: Brent Kennedy (Jr), Tyler Snider (Sr), Patrick Miller (Jr), Justin Stascak (Sr)
Key Losses: Richard Lednak
Notable Track Performances: Kennedy 1:56/4:19/9:31, Miller 1:56/4:31, Snider 9:44

The Kiski boys were one of the new up and coming studs in the WPIAL and took the final spot in a very tough D7 Championships in brutal conditions. They then followed it up at the state meet with a solid 9th place finish as a team led by a big time 7th place finish by Brent Kennedy who was just a sophomore. Kennedy was one of the most consistent runners of the year and he was clutch all XC season into the track seasons where he anchored his DMR relay to a medal and then helped their 4x8 medal outdoors. He then stole a medal in the open 1600m in one of the toughest doubles to pull of in Shippensburg. He could do no wrong with success at every distance. All of this as just a sophomore. 


Lednak, however, is a valuable piece to the team's success and he is gone. He was always a solid two miler and big part of the team's success at WPIALs. Yet he is the only big piece missing from the states squad of 2011. 5 of the team's top 6 from Hershey are returning this season including two guys making the sophomore  to junior jump which usually brings big results. Pat Miller, the team's 4th man from states in 2011, ran a 1:56 split on the state's 4x8 squad. Tyler Snider ran a 9:44 last spring which makes him a solid 3rd man for this squad. Then after those 3 things are a little more dicey. Justin Stascak, the team's 5th man in 2011 at Hershey, ran his fastest time of the season at Hershey which is impressive, but it was only an 18:18. Tyler Lookabough is the other returner for this squad, but he was 31 seconds behind Stascak and 2:33 behind Kennedy, which would make for quite the huge spread on this squad. 


Kennedy is an outstanding front runner and has potential to compete for the state championship as an individual and is the favorite in an always tough WPIAL, but this Kiski team has to deal with North Allegheny who is always good and has very solid returners, 3 of their top 7. And North Allegheny has dominated the WPIALs in the last decade and that makes it tough for Kiski to get respect and to get a top 5 finish at states. Look at Lebo, they were very, very good all season but NA still bested them at crunch time.


Kiski has a great leader, a solid top 3, but some big question marks after that. The surer they can get those 4-5 legs, the better this team will do as the season hits crunch time.


Project Top 5 By Season's End
Kennedy (ET #6), Miller, Snider, Stascak, Lookabough

XC Talk: Cumberland Valley

Key Returners: Alec Kunzweiler (Sr), Alex Coburn (Sr), Scott St. Peter (Sr), Ryan Kidd (Sr), Brandon Dunham (Jr)
Key Losses: Abdallah Soliman
Notable Track Performances: Kyle Rhode (Jr)- 4:34, Coburn- 4:22/9:49, Kunzweiler- 4:25/1:53, 7:43.81 4x800m with 3 returners (Kunzweiler, Coburn, St. Peter)


Cumberland Valley has consistently been a D3 powerhouse, but in 2011 the team wasn't quite sure what pieces it had to play with. But Coburn reemerged from injury problems and Alec Kunzweiler began his climb from solid 800m runner to all around stud in both XC and track. The squad ran solid throughout the season but peaked at the right moment, finishing 3rd at Distrits and then 11th at states (the top D3 team). Kunzweiler finished 14th overall at the state meet, the only D3 medalist in the field. 


Outdoors Cumberland Valley's 4x800m squad turned heads throughout the season, culminating in a fantastic finish at the state meet. St. Peter ran solid splits all season around the 2 minute mark, Coburn built a house in the 1:56s and then Kunzweiler powered through a 1:51 anchor carry. All these boys are going to toe the line in XC again this season with new found confidence and state gold already around their necks.

Cumberland Valley is a tough team for me to read. They came on strong at the end of last XC season, hitting their best at the end of the season. Then they followed the fall up with a great spring. Obviously 800m success does not translate directly into XC prowess but seeing Kunzweiler and Coburn run as well as they did this past season combined with their proven XC ability in the past (Kunzweiler 14th last year and Coburn the top freshman in his class) that was a great sign. I'm very high on Coburn this year and he is a sleeper pick for all you guys looking for great runners who didn't make my top 50.

Add in the fact that Cumberland Valley returns everyone from their varsity squad at states in 2011, including 4 will be seniors, and you have yourself a pretty sick looking team.

BUT ...

CV was just 11th at states last year and in front of them sits a Kiski team that returns 5 of their top 7, a Great Valley team that returns 5 of 7, a LaSalle team that returns 4 of 6 (5 of 7 with Greco), a CRNorth team that returns their top 5, a Henderson team that returns 5 of 7, Mt. Lebo returns 4 runners and sick JV squad, NA returns 3 and doesn't rebuild but reload and then of course O'Hara with 4 of their top 5 and North Penn with 5 of 7 as well.

That's a lot of teams to try and jump.

Then you add in the fact that CV was anchored by a big performance by Kunzweiler and a solid one by Coburn. Behind him the team had no other runners under 17 minutes all season. Coburn was the only guy under 10 minutes for 3200m on the track this past spring. At the state meet Kidd ran 17:35 as the team's third man. After Kidd they had no one else under 17:50 at the state meet.

It's hard because I don't follow the D3 guys as closely as the D1 boys, but right now CValley needs to fill the spots after their front runners. They return a lot of pieces, but returning a lot off a team that places 20th isn't the same as returning a few off a team that places 1st. Similar situation applies here but obviously not exactly the same. The "no name" guys need to take that next step to "name" guys in order to put this team on the map, but right now they are the class of a great district in District 3.

Projected Top 5 by Season's End
Kunzweiler (ET #15), Coburn, Dunham, Kidd, St. Peter