etrain's Team Rankings: PIAA A

PIAA A

8. Winchester Thurston (7 A)

Last year the Winchester Thurston boys put on an absurd stretch run to the XC season to swipe the state championship from teams like Sewickley Academy, Northeast Bradford and Elk Lake who had perhaps been more consistent all season. However, once we saw WT’s full, healthy line-up, there was little doubt who was the best team in A. I’d argue that this year’s squad, which returns four of their excellent top five, has the potential to not just be the best A team, but one of the best teams across any class.

Will Loevner (ET #19) was one of the best runners in the entire WPIAL last year, especially during indoors and XC. Moreover, he finished 4th at both WPIALs and states last year during the stretch run of the cross country season. He’s an excellent low stick at the championship level. Behind him, rising Junior Ben Littman is coming off a cross country season that ended with a 10th place finish at the state championships, #2 sophomore in the race behind only Griffin Mackey. He added a solid 9:44 on the track as well. I also believe that classmate Shaun Hay has the potential to have a big breakthrough in 2015. Despite essentially no training during the fall, Hay managed to rally in his first race of the year at the difficult Hershey course and finish 43rd. On the track, when his health was no longer in question, he dropped his 3200m PR all the way down to 9:36. When you add in rising sophomore Tristan Forsythe, who placed 45th at states in the fall before adding an eye-popping 4:27.11 for 2nd at WPIALs (behind only Domenic Perretta, a kid you may have heard from), you have one of the best top fours in the entire state. And all of them are young and on the rise.

Now the question becomes, how can WT fill in the pieces at the #5 spot. It was the same concern going into states last year before Hay showed up out of nowhere and moved them from 4th to 1st. Their 6-7 last year, Geoffrey Cohen and Gordon Pollack were just a sophomore and freshman respectively and have plenty of room for improvement within this great team. There is also always a chance they find another diamond in the rough like Hay or Forsythe who comes flying in to save the day over the final weeks of the season.

If this team rounds out its top five, it’s hard to imagine they won’t be heavy favorites for repeat gold in A.

Elk Lake (2 A)

Elk Lake finished 4th at states last year despite the fact that their top finisher was almost outside the top fifty overall. This team had an incredible pack, but could have used some extra front running to edge out the teams that finished just ahead of them (NEB, Sewickley Academy and Winchester Thurston). The good news, this team was very young last year and 6 of their 7 return for 2015. Dan Bell (46th at States) and Cody Oswald (51st) were 3rd and 2nd at last year’s district championships and both have shown flashes of potential. Oswald is a rising soph and Bell a rising Junior. Also among the returners are Hunter Bedell (53rd at States), Seth Owen, and Hunter Watkins.

Elk Lake is a great program and has a nice history of competing for state titles. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this coaching staff lift these young, up and comers into a position where they can compete for state gold.

Northeast Bradford (4 A)

Northeast Bradford has excelled as one of the best A teams since the A division’s inception back in 2012. They won a state title that year and were serious contenders for gold in 2013 and 2014 (3rd place). The boys return their top three overall, including state medalist Levi Upham and two other top fifty finishers from states in Garrett Smith (34th) and Austin Senn-Bishop (50th).  Winchester Thurston will be tough to beat this season, but NEB has a strong enough top three that if they can round out the rest of their pack they could surprise.

Sewickley (7 A)

The D7 A playoff battle should be cut throat. The 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th place teams from WPIALs all return their entire top sevens for 2015. Winchester Thurston is the defending state champs, Sewickley is the defending district champ, Avonworth and Sacred Heart are hungrier than ever after being stunned out of the state meet last year and Greensburg CC still has a few pieces ready to make waves.

Sewickley loses four of their top seven from states and three of their top seven from districts (the difference being rising sophomore Jared Washington who placed 37th a year ago at WPIALs as a frosh, but did not compete at states). However, they are the defending district champs in a loaded district and showcased some nice depth. Plus they have arguably the state’s best A runner in Griffin Mackey (ET #10) leading the charge.

The team also returns rising juniors Ben Clouse (13th D7, 49th States) who ran a strong 10:05 for 3200m on the track and Tim Hanlon (27th D7) who likely played a role on the team’s successful 4x8. After the strong showing they put on at WPIALs last year, I believe Sewickley has proven they can put together a strong team with great depth and pack running. The extra experience and seasoning that comes with a trip to Hershey should benefit this top three as well as they look to get some revenge on their rivals Winchester Thurston.

Camp Hill (3 A)

Cooper Leslie had a fantastic season on the track, earning himself a place in the ET Top 50 while Blake Behney dominated the stretch run of XC last fall (District Champ, 9th at States) so Camp Hill sits pretty with two of the A division’s best runners on paper. Ian Gabig adds a nice threat at the #3 spot as well. Overall, they return their top five runners from the district championships (which they dominated) and will look to improve on a strong 7th place finish at states. They have the front-runners, but they will have to show they can round out a strong top five if they want to contend for a podium finish at states.

Seneca (10 A)

Seneca has fought through some consistency issues with their young team at the state championships, but has had flashes of incredible potential the last two seasons with notable performances on the track and the grass. The team will be able to lean heavily on rising Juniors Donovan and Phoenix Meyers who placed 18th and 15th respectively at states a year ago. The two led the team to an impressive 6th place finish, but Seneca had to be disappointed to be bested by Mercyhurst Prep (5th at States), a team they had handled well at the District 10 Championships the week before. Gabe Jarema (15th at Districts) will round out a strong top three for Seneca and overall the team gets back 5 of 7 from last year’s squad.