District Week: District 7 Preview

By Jarrett Felix

District 7 = WPIAL. My introductions are getting less and less passionate, but hopefully the introductions are not.

A (3 Teams, 15 Individuals)

Winchester Thurston, the defending state champions and reigning foundation champions, will be looking to take their first district title with their strong roster. A year ago, they lost out to Sewickley Academy and their excellent, deep pack at the WPIAL championships before turning the tables at states thanks to the addition of Shaun Hay. This year, WT is the clear favorite, assuming they end up with their normal team healthy on the starting line. Slowly, the squad has been shrinking down as the Slippery Rock Invitational did not feature Hay or Littman, while the Freedom Invitational did not feature any of their top four runners. That’s a bit of a cause for concern, but my hope is that, just like last year, this team is being extra precautions to get their big guns to the starting line healthy and ready to roll for the meets that matter. Assuming they have their big four (Forsythe, Littman, Hay and Loevner), I think they are basically unbeatable within district borders.

If that’s not the case , expect Sewickley Academy to be waiting. Despite graduating some key pieces, they have stayed impressively relevant in the district and state landscape, particularly because of the great success enjoyed by their top two runners: Griffin Mackey and Ben Clouse. Tim Hanlon has been pretty strong at the 3 spot and after that, although it’s a bit more shaky, the team is more than solid enough to back up the superior front running. It’s not crazy to imagine SA taking 1-2 at districts (although one man stands dramatically in their way) or even 1-2 at states and that is absolutely huge in the team standings. I would bet the defending champs advance.

That leaves one final spot up for grabs and one very confused etrain left to try and pick who it is. Last year, I whiffed big time on this final spot, completely overlooking Greensburg CC (unlike one of my readers who nailed that prediction in the comment section). This year it seems incredibly likely I will miss the big name again. From what I’ve looked at, I’d imagine that Our Lady of Sacred Heart, a consistent district power house who was fourth last year, is going to take down the final qualifying space. They should be motivated and I think they will be well coached and well prepared. Northgate has shown some flashes of potential this season and could very realistically take a trip to Hershey in November. Tyler Wisniewski is an excellent low stick to lead the charge and they return a ton from last year’s top 10 team.

Of course, just about every top team from last year returns a slew of runners so this one could be bananas for the final qualifying spot.

Individually, this will be one of the best district battles in the entire state. All classifications. Griffin Mackey, the Junior from Sewickley Academy, has blazed some fast times out of state, won the foundation invitational and was one of PA’s top finishers at Paul Short. By most standards, he has been the best runner in A this season. But Domenic Peretta, who beat Mackey on this course at this meet last year, has been fantastic on the trails this season. He dominated at Grove City, beat Skolnekovich at MACs and then beat out Noah Curtin and Ben Bickerton at Feedom. He’s been much more active invitational wise in 2015 than 2014 when he won the WPIAL title going away. I think he wins again here at Coopers, but we will see what Mackey brings for revenge at states.

Ben Clouse has been running extremely well while sitting in Mackey’s shadow this year. He’s followed him to top finishes at RWB and Foundation and added a low 16 minute clocking at Paul Short. I think he has set himself up well to finish in the top 5 at this meet and is probably a favorite for top 3. The man who seems to be the biggest threat is Tristan Forsythe from Winchester Thurston. The sophomore has really hit his stride in recent weeks, winning against an excellent field with top AAA and AA runners at Slippery Rock in his last race. Considering that WT has a knack for turning it on at the right time, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Forsythe competing with the top guys in this field and really turning some heads.

Don’t sleep on Cody DiVecchio from Burgettstown. He was off to a bit of a slow start before turning it on in recent weeks, finishing close behind Peretta at Freedom and adding a 16:27 type time in a major invitational. He was 2^nd here last year, ahead of Mackey and then finished top 10 at the state when he got to Hershey. Ben Heim from Washington is also poised for a big race. He’s had a strong season, consistently competing at the top of the field, plus he was a top finisher here last season so he clearly knows how to run the course. Aaron Mylan from Jefferson-Morgan, Ben Barnes from Riverview and Jarrett Boyd from Freedom also get props here as sleeper contender picks.

1. Winchester Thurston

2. Sewickley Academy

3. Sacred Heart

4. Northgate

1	Domenic	Peretta	Beaver Falls	Sr
2	Griffin	Mackey	Sewickley Academy	Jr
3	Ben	Clouse	Sewickley Academy	Jr
4	Tristan	Forsythe	Winchester Thurston	So
5	Shaun	Hay	Winchester Thurston	Jr
6	Cody	DiVecchio	Burgettstown	Sr
7	Ben	Heim	Washington	Jr
8	Ben	Littman	Winchester Thurston	Jr
9	Gannon	Leech	Shady Side	Jr
10	Ben	Barnes	Riverview	So
11	Tyler	Wisniewski	Northgate	Sr
12	Will	Loevner	Winchester Thurston	Sr
13	Chris	Kocent	Sacred Heart	So
14	Jarrett	Boyd	Freedom	Jr
15	Michael	Shannon	Vincentian Academy	Jr
16	Brendan	McGuire	Trinity Christian	Jr
17	Aaron	Mylan	Jefferson-Morgan	Jr
18	Austin	Sperl	Washington	Sr
19	Michael	Noethiger	Avonworth	Jr
20	Tim	Hanlon	Sewickley Academy	Jr
21	Chuck	Adams	Vincentian Academy	Jr
22	Jon	Frye	Greensburg CC	Sr
23	Chris	Noga	Neshannock	Jr
24	Matt	Salem	Shenango	So
25	Nathan	Brown	Riverside	Sr

AA (4 Teams, 20 Individuals)

You would think when you have a large district and a slew of top notch programs, it would be at least somewhat easy to pick out a few teams to make it to states. Usually the A and AA districts don’t have as much depth as the AAA ones, so it would be manageable to sort through and pick out who will advance. But AA District 7 has been giving me a mental breakdown.

Again, I’m far from an expert on this district, but from what I can tell there are (at least) six high quality teams that have legitimate claims to the WPIAL state spots. My top six are Knoch, Beaver, South Fayette, Quaker Valley, Mars and Greensburg Salem and honestly it’s hard to put those six in any sort of order. In these big meets, it’s basically impossible to have 4 or 5 state qualifiers and not qualify as a team, but I could potentially see it happening on race day at Coopers. In fact, if there isn’t a team that has three individual state qualifiers but doesn’t get to states I’ll be very surprised.

Knoch feels like the best team. They ran away with this district last year and have the pieces to grab gold again. Max Freyermuth, Brandon Grumski and John Ejzak all placed in the top 13 a year ago and have been running well enough to do it again. After that, Aidan Neigh has been solid as the #4 after a season as the #5 last year. However, there are a bit of concerns about their depth that could potentially bring them down in a loaded field like this. I doubt that will be the case, especially considering the strength of their low sticks, but it’s a possibility.

Beaver has been my clear #2 squad in the district this season and I expect them to pull out a nice run this year at WPIALs and advance. However, it will be far from easy. Their rivals from the MAC, Quaker Valley and Mars, both beat them at leagues which means they are very vulnerable on race day. The key will be getting a strong day from the Pittner brothers and holding on through five. I think sophomore Sean Rendar might be sitting on a huge race and Riley Lamison is a solid mile with excellent big race experience. Quaker Valley, who was second at MACs just head of Beaver, was 6^th last year in one of the biggest surprises of district week. Usually, you can just pencil this squad in for states regardless of the roster because they are such an excellent program (plus they were housing the district champ in Skolnekovich). The 2015 team has to be incredibly motivated after that defeat and, guess what? They still have the likely district champion. Smiley had a big race at leagues and if he drags Musial or Guild up with him, this squad will have a nice pack in place behind their low stick.

And lastly there is Mars, a team that is baffling me at the moment. They made it to states last year thanks in large part to a 6^th place finish by Nathan Mrdjenovich. He hasn’t quite been the same front runner in 2015, but his team has rallied around him. They have the best pack in the district and they used it to their advantage at MACs in their victory effort. Some of their top guns are young pieces (freshman John Zervos and sophomore Caleb Keys) and it’s unclear just how far up the pack their top guy will be. That’s the big concern if you are a Mars fan.

South Fayette and Greensburg Salem have both displayed killer front running. Greensburg Salem is the big sleeper here who could really make a name for themselves. They killed it at RWB and looked very strong again at Tri States (albeit in a less than loaded field). Their top three are excellent although they were, in part, led by a couple freshmen who will be under a big spotlight at districts. The advantage is they will be an under the radar team, rather than a team feeling the pressure of big expectations. South Fayette on the other hand has two guys who I think could finish in the top five and compete tough for the win in Aaron Pfiel and Sam Snodgrass. That pair has had an excellent season to date and the pack behind them (although a decent amount behind them) seems to be one of the stronger packs on paper. South Fayette’s program history gives me a bit more confidence in this spot, but if Greensburg Salem gets a big run from their 4-5 they will surprise a lot of people.

I’ve got Knoch, Beaver and South Fayette advancing. I’m not incredibly comfortable with it, but it’s nothing compared to the internal struggle Mars vs. Quaker Valley has presented (sorry Greensburg Salem). Ultimately, I went with the Martians by a tiny fraction of an impulse but I have basically no confidence in that pick. I currently have 4 QV guys slotted to qualify for states individually which seems absurd/impossible so something has gotta give during WPIALs. Either I missed some individuals (likely) or I overestimated/underestimated a few squads.

Speaking of individually, Zach Skolnekovich, still just a junior, looks set to run away with this title. If he doesn’t win, I’ll be pretty surprised and pretty impressed by whoever could take him down. This kid is a huge talent and I’d like to see him build some big momentum headed into states. This is a strong field, however, which shouldn’t go overlooked. Ben Bickerton and Bumgarner are both in the middle of excellent seasons, clocking a variety of top five finishes at various points during the season. It wouldn’t surprise me to see either guy in the top 2 at this meet. Samuel Lenze from Indiana Area has also been coming on very strong in recent weeks and excelled mightily on the Coopers Lake course a year ago. The same can be said for Billy Lott of Ellwood City. Don’t sleep on Micky Phillippi from Derry, who is coming off a confidence building win at Tri States or Greg Nero from Hopewell.

1. Knoch

2. Beaver Area

3. South Fayette

4. Mars

5. Quaker Valley

6. Greensburg Salem

1	Zach	Skolnekovich	Quaker Valley	Jr
2	Ben	Bickerton	Southmoreland	Sr
3	Samuel	Lenze	Indiana Area	Jr
4	Aaron	Pfiel	South Fayette	Jr
5	Sam	Snodgrass	South Fayette	So
6	Ben	Bumgarner	Waynesburg Central	Jr
7	Max	Freyermuth	Knoch	Jr
8	Sean	Rendar	Beaver	So
9	Billy	Lott	Ellwood City	Jr
10	Brandon	Grumski	Knoch	Sr
11	Gregory	Nero	Hopewell	Sr
12	Micky	Phillippi	Derry	Sr
13	John	Ejzak	Knoch	Jr
14	Cameron	Binda	Greensburg Salem	Fr
15	Riley	Lamison	Beaver	Sr
16	Jake	Smiley	Quaker Valley	Jr
17	Frankie	King	Greensburg Salem	Jr
18	John	Zervos	Mars	Fr
19	Evan	Klatt	Uniontown	Jr
20	Nathan	Mrdjenovich	Mars	Sr
21	Mark	Brown	Greensburg Salem	Fr
22	Jackson	McTaggert	Trinity	Fr
23	Caleb	Keys	Mars	So
24	Alex	Herman	Deer Lakes	Sr
25	Jake	Pittner	Beaver	Jr
26	Jacob	Hebda	Elizabeth Forward	Jr
27	Anthony	Voto	New Castle	Jr
28	Michael	Cusick	South Fayette	So
29	Luke	Pittner	Beaver	Jr
30	Johnathan	Asay	Freeport	So
31	Lukas	Johhansson	Mars	Sr
32	Robert	Guild	Quaker Valley	Sr
33	Zach	Wahl	West Allegheny	Sr
34	Thomas	Musial	Quaker Valley	Sr
35	Turner	Wilson	Hopewell	Jr

AAA (3 Teams, 15 Individuals)

First of all, can I just say three teams and fifteen individuals from the AAA WPIAL is absolutely robbery. This might be the second best district in the state and it’s scary to think they will send just 15 individuals. Really good guys are going to be left home.

Second of all, I only just recovered from the madness of predicting the AA WPIAL team race … and now I have to dive back into another incredibly tricky one again! You’re killing me Pittsburgh!

The good news is, I’ve got a lock to start with here in AAA. North Allegheny will win districts yet again. At Tri States, the pack looked fantastic and, most importantly in my eyes, Dieble, Greco and TJ Robinson narrowed the gap that had existed between three and four-five. Dieble came on so strong at the end of last year, he nearly cracked the top fifty at states so seeing him climb back into the top five is very encouraging. I honestly think the Tigers will not just win, but blow the roof off the place. I’m talking three in the top six, six in the top 20 type stuff.

Now things get tricky. On paper, I believe Mount Lebanon has been the clear #2. Yes, I know Chartiers Valley beat them in a regional meet that didn’t show up on the milesplit radar, but I think Lebo has shown up at the big meets like Foundation and really delivered. Their top four are excellent and if that pack can move it’s way from mid to front of the field it’s going to be tough to beat them. Their 5-6-7 are also improving in recent meets which is very encouraging. However, it was definitely odd to see Lebo not toe the line for Tri States. They’ve also avoided many of the big invites this year and went out of state a few times so I’m surprisingly uncertain where their pack fits in against some of these other teams. Plus, they have nearly been knocked out at Districts a couple times in recent years so who knows if a team is ready to pounce on them here. Yet the key word is nearly and, overall, this team finds a way to punch their ticket. I think they do it again and I’m thinking there’s a chance we see a big day out of Gunzenhauser, Harris or Kalapos as a front running presence.  

With Lebo in, that leaves one spot up for grabs and a variety of teams that could take it. I like what Canon-Mac has done this year after their surprise 2^nd place finish in 2014, however, I’m not ready to pull the trigger on them this year. That leaves me with Pitts CC, Seneca Valley, Norwin and Chartiers Valley. And I’ll be honest, I’ve got no clue who to pick. I’d say CV has looked the best overall in invitationals this season and they have a great #1 in Joseph Westrick who is really impressing this season. Pitts CC and Norwin don’t have that low stick on the roster (in my opinion) although Norwin has an underrated top 3 that could really surprise, especially if Dylan Colcombe continues his rise. And don’t forget, Norwin surprised with a 4x8 district championship just last spring so it’s not like they don’t know how to rise to the moment. Pitts CC consistently finds a way to peak well for districts and stay in the hunt. Sam Gatti could be an x-factor and Daniel Young seems like a strong sleeper pick in the individual race. I’m curious to see what Tucker Helms gives them at the 4 spot and if their tight spread holds up in such a big invitational.

But my pick here is Seneca Valley thanks, mainly, to the out of nowhere comeback from Mike Kolor. Kolor is a special talent as he proved on the track last year. When he started to get healthy at the end of last fall, he ran his way to 5^th at districts and top 25 at states. If he is healthy here (and it still might be an if), he transforms this team into a true contender and gives them a big boost of confidence. Without him, I don’t think they can make it to Hershey. However, I will say this is far from a one man team. At Foundation, these guys placed 10^th without Kolor and had just 5 finishers. Grant McCarthy is having a fantastic individual season and Trey Razanauskus came up big for them at Tri States. They are trending up at the right time and I feel this program is due for another trip to states. We will see if they get it.

Individually, I think this race could be incredibly exciting. Nick Wolk has hands down been the best runner in the WPIAL this year. With all due respect to the others, I don’t think it’s a debate. However, I think he is going to have his hands full at this race. The North Allegheny guys are coming on hard and Migliozzi and Stupak might be ready to finally challenge Wolk when they get to their favorite stage at Coopers. Plus, there is the new exciting presence of Mike Kolor who beat both members of the NA duo and has the raw speed to hang and kick his way to the finish. I still think Wolk is going to win this one and I’m hesitant to put all my chips in on Kolor after just one race. If Wolk wins going away (which is definitely possible) look out for him at states. Lots of crazy things have happened at states before.

I’ll be interested to see if talented junior Eric Kennedy races this week at WPIALs. If he’s healthy, he should compete for a top 5 spot, but he hasn’t raced in months. A similar thing happened last year and he still turned it on at WPIALs, however so you can’t count this kid out. Mark Provenzo has been excellent this year as well, running away from a solid field in a 15:30s type performance. Noah Beveridge had a huge run here last year as a freshman and may be comfortable enough on this course to crack the top 10 as a sophomore. And finally, watch out for my sleeper pick Zach Case of Hampton. Hampton has an excellent history of showing up at this meet and Case could be the next in a long line of successful performers on the Coopers Lake course. He’s a sleeper pick for a top 5-7 spot in this race.

1. North Allegheny

2. Mount Lebanon

3. Seneca Valley

4. Chartiers Valley

5. Pitts CC

6. Norwin

7. Canon-Mac

1	Nick	Wolk	Peters Township	Sr
2	Jacob	Stupak	North Allegheny	Sr
3	Mike	Kolor	Seneca Valley	Sr
4	Marc	Migliozzi	North Allegheny	Sr
5	Mark	Provenzo	Franklin Regional	Jr
6	Sam	Blechman	North Allegheny	Sr
7	Joseph	Westrick	Chartiers Valley	Sr
8	Eric	Kennedy	Kiski	Jr
9	Zach	Case	Hampton	Jr
10	Todd	Gunzenhauser	Mount Lebanon	Sr
11	Ian	Harris	Mount Lebanon
12	Zach	Dieble	North Allegheny	Jr
13	TJ	Robinson	North Allegheny	So
14	Casey	Conboy	Baldwin	Jr
15	Noah	Beveridge	Butler	So
16	Jacob	Greco	North Allegheny	Jr
17	Matt	O'Neill	Norwin	So
18	Daniel	Young	Pitts CC	Sr
19	Tyler	Laughery	Norwin	Sr
20	Micah	Colson	Chartiers Valley	Sr
21	Josh	Kalapos	Mount Lebanon	Sr
22	Jonas	Wudwych	Canon-Mac	Jr
23	Gregory	Schleicher	Pine Richland	Sr
24	Grant	McCarthy	Seneca Valley	Sr
25	Matt	Mansfield	Canon-Mac	Jr
26	Tucker	Helms	Pitts CC	Jr
27	Bryce	Brandenstein	Mount Lebanon	So
28	Dylan	Colcombe	Norwin	Sr
29	Ryan	Zimba	Bethel Park	Sr
30	Michael	Stemmler	USC	Sr
31	Mark	Hartigan	North Allegheny	Jr
32	Sam	Gatti	Pitts CC	So
33	Trey	Razanauskus	Seneca Valley	Jr
34	Bennett	Sneath	USC	Jr
35	Joe	Gatti	Pitts CC	Jr
36	Nick	Marstellar	Bethel Park	Sr
37	Joey	Buehner	North Hills	Fr