The XC Top 50: #40-31

by Jarrett Felix

As a reminder, here's 50-41:
50. Dan Quigley
49. Dan Filler
48. Jack Carmody
47. Liam Galligan
46. Seth Slavin
45. PJ Murray
44. Nick Feffer
43. Grayson Hepp
42. Gabriel Allgayer
41. Zach Skolnekovich

40. Cooper Leslie, Sr Camp Hill (3 A)

Cooper Leslie is fresh off a fantastic track season. After handling himself well on the indoor track, he quickly picked up steam outdoors and capped off the year running about 4:20 for the full mile and 9:34 for 3200m, both very competitive times for AA. He showed excellent strength with some quality doubles in high level meets like the District and State Championships. For Cross, Leslie was the runner-up in A District 3 last year and 30^th at A states. He was also 30^th at the Mid Penn Championships and 10^th in the White Race at Foundation.

Leslie’s track resume is quite impressive, but on the trails he probably was not the best runner on his own team as Blake Behney (honorable mention tier for this list) was 1^st at Districts and 9^th at states after finishing 13^th at Mid Penns. I think both runners could do big things in the A race this year and both should push each other to success. I opted to throw Leslie on the list over Behney because his track season just really impressed me.

An early prediction would be two in the top 10 at states for Camp Hill. But Winchester Thurston gets at least three on the medal stand (WT has one man on this list, but 3 others within my top 100).

39. Patrick Grant, Sr LaSalle (12 AAA)

LaSalle has always been one of the best distance programs in the state. It’s probably not a coincidence that two of the recent sub 4 PA milers (Tom Coyle and Dan Lowry) both went to LaSalle. LaSalle had two medalists in 2012 at States (when the team qualified by taking all five individual spots at their district meet), but since has been shut out of the top 50 individuals in 2013 and 2014. Considering their past success, both individually and as a team, I feel they are due for a big 2015.

Last year’s LaSalle squad was incredibly tightly packed, so picking a runner for a breakthrough was tricky, but ultimately I settled on Patrick Grant. Grant ran 1:57 and 4:23 this past track season and ran some key legs on the team’s successful 4x8. He had a bit of an up and down XC season last year but ran strong for 5^th at PCLs and 12^th at Districts before getting out a bit over his head at states. Although he likely didn’t finish where he hoped, I respect Grant’s fearlessness racing in what I believe was his first trip to Hershey. An added year of experience should really benefit him, as should the intense inner squad rivalry of LaSalle’s tight pack.

38. Colin Wills, Sr Malvern Prep (Independent)

After Wills ran 4:22 for 1600m on the track as a sophomore, he was pretty high on my list for the 2014 season. Although he had a solid fall (39^th at Paul Short, 10^th at Independent States) he didn’t have the breakthrough I was hoping for during his sophomore to junior jump. On the track, however, he really excelled dropping to 4:19 for a full mile at Henderson and adding 9:35 and 1:58 marks on either end. That’s track range few can contend with on this list.

I also like the gutsy running that Wills has done this year. The 1200m is a race built for runners with heart and Wills excelled in that spot, especially under the bright lights of the Penn Relays. I think that speed and heart could translate well to the trails this year. However, with McDevitt graduating and Jaxson and Josh Hoey moving to DT West, Wills suddenly finds himself a bit more lonely at the top. On the flip side, he may excel with a bit less pressure surrounding his running. Last year his team had high expectations for a nationals run and that could have had a negative impact on his performance.

37. Eric Kennedy, Jr Kiski Area (7 AAA)

Kennedy was MIA for most of the middle stretch of the 2014 XC season before emerging from the shadows to pop off a 15^th place finish at districts and earn a state qualifying spot (he finished 65^th at states). He showed great poise in the moment for a sophomore and backed up his performance on the track with times of 4:22 and 9:57.

Kennedy will be looking to make the sophomore to junior jump this up coming season and his track season points to a big break looking ahead. If he can stay healthy all year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him run some very fast marks. It’s worth noting that his brother Brent was a pretty strong runner in his own right, with his big breakthrough coming as a Junior (2^nd at States and qualified for Footlocker Nationals). Eric hasn’t shown he’s quite at Brent level (Brent was 7^th at states as a sophomore plus he added something like a 1:56/4:19 double on the track), but he’s still very talented and could really breakout this fall. Also worth noting Brent was VERY good, Junior year Footlocker Finalists are no joke, even if Eric simply closes the gap to his brother he’s a top 10-12 guy in the state.

A hunch would be he ends up finishing somewhere near where Jeff VanKooten (another talented little brother) was as a junior in the mid-teens.

36. Andrew Hanna, Sr CR South (1 AAA)

As a sophomore in 2013, Hanna had a huge breakthrough at states to sneak through into the top 50, placing 49^th. He carried the momentum from that race into the 2014 season and ran some impressive season races, including strong showing at Belmont, before finishing 3^rd in his league (top returner) and 10^th at districts. He seemed like a good bet for a state medal, but ended up having a rare off day and finished 91^st. Indoors, Hanna kept up the strong momentum as CR South became an early season force in the relays and he added a few sub nine 3ks. Outdoors his hot stretch cooled a bit, but he still ran a strong 9:36 3200m PR at districts, sending him positively into summer training.

Another positive from the 2014-15 year was the emergence of classmate Joe Maguire (spoiler alert, he’s coming up soon) who had a breakthrough cross season followed by an incredible outdoor season. He should be a critical training partner for Hanna looking ahead. Although Maguire has the momentum after this past spring, Hanna was very good during cross last year (with the exception of states, basically all of his losses were to eventual state medalists or near medalists) and should give his teammate, as well as the rest of district one, all they can handle.

35. Nick Wolk, Sr Peter’s Township (7 AAA)

Wolk spent the majority of the spring mixing it up with Eric Kennedy and Jacob Stupak in the mile, ending the year with a 4:22 state qualifying mark. He also ran a solid 9:49 for 3200m. But Wolk’s battles with the WPIALs elite date back to XC where he was 10^th at the D7 championships. For good measure, he also added a 46^th place finish at the state championships.

The WPIAL is an excellent cross country district and in a variety of races across all three seasons Wolk has positioned himself in the front pack of distance runners. Thus far, he has yet to have the big breakthrough that would catapult him into the top 25, but his consistency and competitiveness make him an easy choice for inclusion on this list.

34. Josh Higgins, Jr Cumberland Valley (3 AAA)

Cumberland Valley is consistently one of the top teams out of District 3 and things were no different this past fall when the team finished 7^th at states (80+ points ahead of the next closest D3 team). Cumby also returns 6 of their top 7 from that squad (graduating their #1 runner Quinn Wasko) and should benefit from the District’s move to Big Spring.

I believe Josh Higgins appears to be the runner most ready to breakout from this group of returners after his impressive spring track season. Higgins ran 9:29 and 4:27 this spring as just a sophomore and qualified for the state championships in the 3200m. He also finished 17^th at both Mid Penns and Districts last year in cross country. I like his strength and trajectory over the most recent seasons.

It is worth noting that Higgins’s teammate and fellow rising junior Yahja Soliman (another honorable mention) ran sub 16 last year at Paul Short and bested Higgins at states. He may usurp Josh’s position on this list before the season is complete.

33. Joe Maguire, Sr CR South (1 AAA)

As mentioned earlier, Maguire and teammate Andrew Hanna had a nice run together a year ago. Last fall Hanna was decidedly better at the cross country races, but Maguire was posting impressive marks close behind. Joe placed 5^th at Suburbans and 19^th at Districts (as mentioned Hanna was 3^rd/10^th). Like his teammate, he struggled to find his footing at Hershey, although unlike Hanna I believe this was his first trip to the state meet.

Outdoors on the track, it appeared that Maguire made a mini leap, pushing his PRs down to 4:23 and 9:26. He added a state qualifying performance out of the loaded District One meet for good measure. After that track season, I’m projecting Maguire takes another big step forward in Cross Country and maybe has enough to get past Hanna in a few races. Regardless, both guys are perfect training partners for success with a nice mix of speed and strength.

32. Kyler Shea, Jr Lower Dauphin (3 AAA)

When Lower Dauphin graduated Jeff Groh and Cole Nissley, two of the best runners in program history, it was unclear how the District 3 champions would be able to reload. Well the good news was state medalist Sean Weidner helped keep a young team to contention in a loaded district, in the process developing two sophomores, Kyler Shea and Colton Cassell (honorable mention), into future district and state contenders. Shea gradually improved over the course of the season, running 24^th at Foundation before clicked off a stretch of 14^th at Mid Penn, 8^th at Districts and then 34^th at States.

Shea added some 3200m times on the track, running 9:31 for 3200m before the season was done. The rising junior now moves into a leadership role alongside a great training partner in Cassell in a program that has proven it can withstand the turnover of graduation. I was impressed with the way he ran a year ago (especially that 8^th place finish at districts) and wouldn’t be surprised to see him keep the school’s medal streak alive in 2015.

31. Tucker Desko, Sr Pennridge (1 AAA)

Fun fact: Tucker Desko is the only runner on the list who did not qualify for the state championships in cross country last year. He was 50^th at the District Championships, which put him among the group of first men out while his teammate Phil Gunderson snagged one of the last spots in. That being said, I’m confident that Desko has the potential to make some big improvements in 2015.

On the track last year, Desko showed steady improvement in the 3k and mile during indoors before finally hitting his stride during the outdoor season. His emergence on the 4x8 was the difference maker in transforming a good team to a great team as we clocked him at 1:53 low on the anchor leg of the squad’s 7:40 relay this spring. Despite his 800m improvement, Tucker is not just a one trick pony. Outdoors he also ran 4:22 and 9:32 in the 16 and 32 respectively showing some impressive top to bottom range.
 

Worth noting, Tucker Desko’s brother Brady made a similar jump his senior year. After Brady ran 4:22 as a Junior and qualified for the state meet in the 1600, he ran about 15:50 at Lehigh and qualified for states (it was an incredibly fast year, took about 16:01 to make it to states). In my eyes, Tucker has showcased better overall range than his brother, more potential and more top end speed so all the tools are there for a surprise at the fast Lehigh course this year. At a minimum I would think Desko could match Dylan Eddinger’s placing at Districts from Boyertown a year ago (around 20ish) as another 800 speedster with good strength.